Best Online Cooking Classes for Kids

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Why We Chose It

Tiny Chefs is our pick for best online cooking classes for kids. Little ones gain confidence in the kitchen with engaging and enriching online cooking classes, which focus on diverse and creative recipes.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Virtual and in-person classes, camps, and birthday parties
• Appropriate for many ages
• Students can chat questions during live class

Cons

• Private classes and memberships are expensive
• Refunds not offered, only credits for future classes

For ages three to 12, Tiny Chefs offers a series of virtual classes and day camps. Each standard class series includes 10 recipes with a pre-recorded instructional video, shopping list, lesson plan, quiz, and additional activities. Recipes can also be prepared in any order so you can pick and choose which to do and when.

All recipes include easy-to-find ingredients and clear instructions, and Tiny Chef instructors are available to answer any questions within 24 hours. Each recipe also has the ability to "Take it Down a Notch" or "Kick it Up a Notch" based on your child’s experience and age.

Class series themes include Cooking Around the World, American Picnic, Cupcake Wars, Dips & Donuts, Restaurant Creation, and the Art of Cupcakes. Detailed information on which recipes are included in each series is available online.

A 10-recipe series is priced at about $99 per student, but a discounted family registration is available for those with multiple children. Each official registrant will receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course.

Tiny Chefs also offers private virtual cooking lessons for ages four to 18 (roughly $200 per child for a 60-minute lesson).

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Why We Chose It

The Dynamite Shop focuses on empowering children in the kitchen with in-person cooking classes, focusing on dynamic and international recipes from around the globe. From ramen to galettes, children will learn how to cook and bake, helping to make a positive connection towards healthy, whole foods.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Recipes can be adapted for specific allergies
• Drop-in classes and prorated rates are available 
• Ingredients posted well in advance

Cons

• Limited class size
• Most classes are for age seven and older

Founded by two highly acclaimed food writers, the Brooklyn-based Dynamite Shop has taken its classes online, offering virtual programming through Zoom.

The Dynamite Dinner Club program features weekly classes designed for ages seven to 15 to replace their original, in-person afterschool program. Cooking classes deliver essential lessons and culminate in a "hearty, healthy family dinner."

Programming of as March 2021 runs for a 10-week semester with two options for class times daily to accommodate those in different time zones. Students will learn how to make meals such as Thai Curry Noodle Soup, Shepherd's Pie, Spinach & Ricotta Stuffed Shells, Crispy Sesame Orange Chicken, and more.

All menus are adaptable for vegetarian, kosher, dairy-free, and gluten-free diets. Ingredients are sent weeks in advance with the recipes, as well as substitution options, so you have everything you need the day of the course.

The purchase of a lesson also comes with access to their text-based kitchen helpline. If an entire semester is purchased, classes are about $30 each. Otherwise, it's roughly $40 for a single class. Courses are limited in size, so it's important to book early.

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Why We Chose It

With a focus on helping others, King Arthur Baking Company’s Bake for Good outreach program teaches children how to learn, bake, and share their bread with others in need. Free detailed and informative online recipe booklets, planning guides, and videos serve as handy resources throughout the curriculum.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Free community outreach program
• Helpful, informative videos
• Learn math and science of baking bread

Cons

• Focuses mainly on breads, not other foods
• Applications are time-sensitive

King Arthur Baking Company earns a spot on this list for many reasons, one of the main being their Bake for Good program. This free outreach program is designed with students grade 4–12 in mind to teach them how to make bread from scratch using a baking kit provided by the company and how to give back at the same time. The recipe provided for each individual student makes two separate loafs, one for students to keep for themselves and another to donate to someone in need as an act of generosity.

The company also has a variety of virtual, easy-to-understand classes on other bread-based treats like pastries, doughnuts, empanadas, and more for both kids and parents. Prices vary per class but can start around $35 a lesson. Check out their baking school calendar for more information.

They also provide other free, previously filmed online lessons available via their website on how to bake muffins, scones, and even popovers. Each video is about 15 to 30 minutes long depending on the recipe.

Many recipes are even available for download through the Bake for Good Kids Recipe Booklet, which includes helpful tips and techniques in addition to their baking instructions. More recipes are provided through links to the recipe database on the King Arthur website.

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Why We Chose It

Raddish is an online membership community, which features monthly recipe kits with an emphasis on teaching children confidence and culinary skills in a fun and delicious way. Children will feel capable as they prepare healthy meals in their very own kitchens.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Kits ship free in the US
• Appropriate for ages as young as four
• Free educational resources available on website

Cons

• Memberships auto-renew, up to member to cancel
• Nutritional information is not supplied with recipes

Raddish is a culinary club for kids aged four to 14 that delivers monthly cooking kits, but it also offers a selection of free cooking videos archived online via its RadTV Cook-Along series.

Videos vary in length based on the recipes but range from 15 to 30 minutes. In addition to visuals, the Raddish website provides a variety of resources for you to use before you start cooking with your kids, including dietary modifications for recipes, and parent resources.

Learn how to make items such as blueberry pancakes, veggie rainbow and ranch dip, homemade cornbread, pizza dough, as well as fundamental basic cooking lessons, such as how to make scrambled eggs or prepare perfect pasta.

Recipe guides are available for download, some of which include tips for simple educational assignments you can do with your kids while cooking in categories like Math, Social Studies, and Science. Other recipes are from previous programming, such as the Cooking Camp Challenge, but they also come with helpful visuals and lessons designed in a way that is fun for kids to learn.

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Why We Chose It

Children and parents alike can have a blast celebrating vegetables with The Food Literacy Center, a nonprofit dedicated to providing food literacy to the local community and schools. The website features free and educational resources for teachers and families, with fun and engaging foods, such as Shor Nakhod or Cactus Guacamole recipes.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Strong food education philanthropic mission 
• Tons of free online videos
• Helpful printed recipe cards

Cons

• Recipes don’t state age participation recommendations
• Young kids may need extra support from parents

Based in California, this nonprofit organization was founded to inspire kids to eat their vegetables. The Food Literacy Center has since created a free online curriculum with supplemental videos on Facebook and YouTube for you to cook along with your school-age kids.

Lessons include recipes for snacks like Ranch Popcorn and heartier meals such as broccoli and potato tacos, rainbow soup, and spaghetti marinara. The complete curriculum is available for download to go along with videos including a supply list, printable recipe, lesson plan, and activity worksheet. There are even short quizzes for kids to take after they have completed the lesson.

Think of this is as a school-home economics program brought to your personal kitchen. Resources also include lists of basic kitchen tools to have on-hand, as well as some basic cooking tips such as how to prepare dried beans.

Ingredients are all easy to find and inexpensive, making the lessons very approachable and accessible. While the Center is a nonprofit, donations are encouraged to help support their mission and expansion.

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Why We Chose It

Outschool is like Zooming with your very own cooking teacher. Kids from preschool to high school can learn how to cook live in an engaging setting with unique focuses on subjects such as Thai cuisine, classes designed for children with Autism, or sessions that celebrate and honor Juneteenth.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Well-priced 
• Variety of classes designed for children of all ages groups

Cons

• Classes can fill up quickly 
• Class may be live, so timing may not work for all families

Outschool offers cooking classes under the category of Life Skill Classes for Kids and serves as an online marketplace for different instructors around the world to showcase their unique skills.

In fact, there are more than 50,000 classes led by experienced teachers for kids ages three to 18. Examples include the Harry Potter Cooking Camp, Eat the Rainbow Healthy Cooking Camp, the Taste of Jamaica Cooking Camp, Japanese Ramen, Bread Around the World, and many more.

Courses can be filtered by age range, day, format (i.e. live vs. flexible schedule), and length (i.e. single class vs. semester). Many lessons are offered live, but there are also flexible-schedule classes that post content each week and include recipes and video tutorials. The classes encourage interaction through discussion boards.

Video chat is available for questions and interaction with other students throughout each live class. There are also opportunities for forums and private messages with the teacher.

Sessions start at about $10 and increase from there. If you are looking for variety and flexibility at reasonable prices, this is a great resource.

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Why We Chose It

Kids and families take ownership and can learn how to mix, measure, and chop healthy foods together with virtual classes, and there are options to tune into past on-demand classes or even sign up for summer cooking camps.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Classes for ages two and up
• Small class sizes 
• Family members can participate 

Cons

• Regular classes pause during summer for camp programming

Chicago-based The Kids' Table brings virtual lessons to your home via Zoom.

Classes are available for purchase as a five-week series (about $78 per person) or as a single class (roughly $18 per person). Note: there is a 10% discount for sibling registration. Lessons are categorized by age: Tots Can Cook for ages two to four, Kids Can Cook for ages five to 10, and Teens Can Cook for ages 11 to 14.

Parents and students can choose between two sets of menus or join the class for both and attend it twice a week. Current sample menu themes include Cupcake Wars and Summer Sunsations, but they change seasonally. Recipes and ingredient lists are sent about one week in advance, and recipe modifications are available for allergies and dietary restrictions.

The Kids' Table has also added seasonal Virtual Cooking Camp program for students ages four to 14. Classes are small and interactive and provide an opportunity for socialization between students as they learn.

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Why We Chose It

With kids at the helm of the instructional videos, children will have a blast watching peers cook and lead healthy recipe demonstrations. With an archive of online materials, families can rewatch and enjoy past recipes together for years to come.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Pre-recorded videos to watch on demand
• Recipes live on site for future use
• Buy one, give one membership model for families in need

Cons

• Not ideal for younger children

Real Food 4 Kids is an online cooking school taught by kids themselves (ages nine to 14).

The founder started Real Food 4 Kids with the hope of taking out the stress some parents feel while cooking with kids and promote hands-on learning. The school started with a brick-and-mortar location in Des Moines and recently launched its online program.

Classes are purchased in a subscription plan (about $20 per month), or you can commit to quarterly membership with a three-month minimum at roughly $15 per month. Dozens of recipes are available each month across approximately 10 different categories.

Your kids can learn how to make classic favorites like chicken fingers, waffles, and chocolate chip cookie pie as well as sweet potato wedges, mini frittatas, smoothies, crepes, and more. Each dish includes a recipe sheet with ingredients, equipment needs, procedures, and tips on how to get kids involved in the cooking process.

New recipes are added to the website every week and remain on the site for future access.

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Why We Chose It

Two Massachusetts-based female chefs created Kids Cooking Green to inspire and promote nutritional awareness by teaching children how eating locally can reduce our environmental impact.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Online Zoom birthday cooking parties
• Free recipes with interesting food facts

Cons

• Website can be a little clunky

Founded in 2006, Boston-based Kids Cooking Green started as a hands-on, after-school cooking program for children. In addition to teaching children the life skills of cooking and healthy eating, one of the primary goals of Kids Cooking Green has been to highlight the benefits of local food and farming.

With the pivot to a virtual platform, Kids Cooking Green continues to offer regular classes, but now via Zoom instead of in-person. There are several programs designed for kids in kindergarten through their teens.

An example of courses offered includes Friday Family Cooking Classes, featuring farm-fresh meals with ingredients from the Lexington Community Farm that are designed for families to cook together. Private virtual cooking parties for birthdays and other celebrations are also available upon request for ages five and up.

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Why We Chose It

America’s Test Kitchen presents an easy and creative way to incorporate STEAM learning, by creating unique and engaging cooking club curriculums for kids and families to enjoy together.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Surprise monthly boxes of activities, recipes, challenges 
• Informative newsletter for parents/caretakers
• Kids work on independence and collaborative learning skills

Cons

• Boxes repeat every two years
• Some activities are complex and more time-consuming
• Cannot accommodate dietary restrictions

America’s Test Kitchen wants kids to spend more time cooking. Its Kitchen Classroom is a free resource for parents to use as a guide for cooking with their children.

New recipes are posted on the site each week with hands-on activities, experiments, and fun food quizzes designed as a kitchen curriculum based on STEAM education. Examples of recipes include turkey burgers, summer tomato and peach salad, vegetable tacos, and no-churn ice cream.

Each week’s postings include a couple of simple recipes that come together quickly in 15 minutes or so, and then a more-involved recipe for the whole family to join together in the kitchen on a free day. There's also a food-related activity, along with a newsletter for parents that acts as a guide for how to prepare and make the recipes with kids and how to incorporate learning in the kitchen.

Staying true to the mission of America’s Test Kitchen’s, each recipe published on the website has been tested by a group of more than 5,000 kids around the country, so it is truly "kid-tested" and "kid-approved."

For those with little foodies who want even more kitchen time, there is a Young Chefs’ Club program that delivers themed boxes every month (designed for kids ages five and up) and access to exclusive cook-a-long videos, recipes, and activities. Pricing for this is about $25 per month; discounts are available if you commit to a six- or 12-month plan.