Denver Cooking Classes

Love food? Love hands-on experiences? Make them part of your date night, weekend excursion or vacation fun. Let's get stirring, chopping, mixing and tasting with these fun and delicious cooking classes in Denver.

In this food-obsessed city, you’ll find unmatched culinary expertise, unique local ingredients and creative, urban settings — plus opportunities to bond with friends, loved ones and family. Whether you're learning to cook at a popular Denver restaurant or in a gourmet cooking school, you're guaranteed a new and delicious experience. Please check websites in advance for class availability, dates, rates and details.​

COOKING CLASSES AT DENVER RESTAURANTS

Go straight to the source of Denver’s best meals at these favorite local restaurants, which open their kitchens to students on a regular basis.

Bonanno Concepts Chef Cooking Series

Chef Frank Bonanno is one of Denver’s most famous culinary personalities, with nine establishments under Bonanno Concepts and a Food Network Challenge championship to call his own. Bonanno Concepts hosts about 10 classes a year at its various restaurants, from how to make lobster mac n’ cheese (the winning recipe of the aforementioned challenge) at Mizuna to baking sweet and savory pies at Wednesday’s Pie. Each class offers the opportunity to learn from top chefs. Plus, it ends in a three-course dinner with beer and wine pairings.

Panzano

Panzano Restaurant is a locals’ favorite Italian restaurant. Find out their secret sauce (figuratively and literally) at their on-site classes. Panzano’s team of chefs each take their turn teaching the techniques that make the restaurants food so divine. You’ll need to plan ahead for this one, as they are so popular they sell out way in advance.

Stoic & Genuine

Known for their melt-in-your-mouth seafood dishes, Stoic & Genuine now runs a School of Fish cooking class on the first Saturday of every month. Over two hours, you’ll delve into different types of seafood (one class focuses on mackerel, sardines and anchovies while another on oysters, for example) and learn the history and economics of the species before practicing classic and modern cooking techniques.

SLICED! Sushi Making at Izakaya Den

Go behind the scenes of highly regarded sushi restaurant, Sushi Den, and its sister restaurant Izakaya Den, to learn their chefs’ secrets to creating all styles of sushi rolls and nigiri sushi. Then enjoy the company of your fellow classmates during a feast of more than 20 pieces of sushi, plus miso soup and green tea.

GOURMET COOKING CLASSES IN DENVER

These folks are Denver’s most revered culinary gurus and mentors — and they’re ready to pass on their knowledge to you.

Cook Street School of Culinary Arts

This elegant and inviting downtown cooking school is so beautiful and well outfitted, you might find yourself drooling over the kitchen equipment and wood-fired oven before you even start with the food. For both the home cook and those on a professional track, Cook Street classes that are sure to pique your interest. From baking gourmet cookies to how to cook a holiday feast to lessons in beer, wine and spirits — there are dozens of options to choose from.

Uncorked Kitchen & Wine Bar

At this Centennial-based venue, the focus is on the journey of bringing a meal together in every aspect. You’ll be part student, part chef and part diner throughout your dining “event” (as they refer to their classes). Another big focus is on the accompanying wine, which is built in as part of the educational aspect. Uncorked Kitchen’s unique slant on cooking classes make them particularly fun and community driven.

The Seasoned Chef

The Seasoned Chef is cleverly taking advantage of Denver’s exploding culinary scene by bringing the city’s top chefs into its classrooms. A full calendar of basic skills classes, courses on specific dishes such as paella and intensives around a particular culture mean there’s always variety on the menu. Classes are casual and food is enjoyed family-style, with students dining together and complimentary wine available.

Almost Vegan Cooking School

There’s hardly a more charming setting for a cooking class than owner Debbie Devore’s blue-and-white-tiled home kitchen. Her Almost Vegan Cooking School classes are just as delightful, with a very personal approach and feel-good vegan foods. Learn how to create an entire Mediterranean feast or simple, healthy desserts like her beloved vegan dream cream ice cream.

Sur La Table

One of the most popular venues for Denver cooking classes, Sur La Table is way more than just a kitchen supply store with covetable culinary tools. Their gleaming, in-store kitchen welcomes you to express your inner Bobby Flay or Giada De Laurentiis with an ongoing selection of topics such as how to grill seafood to perfection, date night options, cast iron cooking, desserts, and Italian- and French-inspired cuisine. 

Stir Cooking School

This Highlands neighborhood school is in a lovely historic building and is open to all levels, from novices to professionals. Classes run two to three hours for a fun-filled, interactive experience and are offered on a variety of topics including baking, gluten-free cooking, cocktail-making, date-night dishes, vegetarian food and international cuisine.

Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts

This respected culinary institute, located in the foodie haven of nearby Boulder, offers a handful of courses for the casual cook each month. Try your hand at the cuisine of the Cote d’Azur, Indian cooking or date-night dishes — and know that your instructors at Escoffier are of the highest caliber.

COOKING CLASSES FOR KIDS

Little ones love to stir, pour, pat, sift and generally make a mess in the kitchen. Almost all of the schools listed above offer cooking classes for kids — from The Seasoned Chef's Young Chefs series to Sur La Table’s Confident Cooking for Kids and Teens classes — and the following are specially designed for youngsters to foster healthy eating and life skills.

Sticky Fingers Cooking

At Sticky Fingers Cooking, all cooking instructors share a lifetime love of cooking and a passion for cooking with kids. A great summer, spring, fall or winter break activity. Added bonus: you don't have to clean up afterwards.

Children’s Museum of Denver Marsico Campus

Let your kiddo try their hand at being a chef with age-appropriate tools and fresh ingredients. Children’s Museum of Denver Marsico Campus offers free parent-child cooking classes, live demonstrations and paid workshops in The Teaching Kitchen.