The Best Cooking Classes in Melbourne to Sharpen Your Culinary Skills

Slice, dice, bake, blend, grill and garnish your way to glory with the help of these fun and interactive cooking classes. Why spend hours poring over books when you can join expert chefs, bakers and patissiers in the kitchen for a hands-on session? Sign up to one of the best cooking classes in Melbourne to learn all the tips and tricks that’ll help you up the ante on your weeknight repertoire or wow the guests at your next dinner party.

Free to Feed 

Your hearts, stomachs and recipe books will all be filled after a morning at Free to Feed, a beloved social enterprise that delivers refugee-run cooking classes. From their welcoming purpose-built kitchen in Thornbury passionate cooks from Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Syria share treasured recipes from their homelands, as well as the stories that brought them to Australia. You’ll cook, laugh, and at the end, sit down together for a bountiful feast with new friends. 539 High Street, Northcote 

Beginner’s Bread Making at Convent Bakery

Considered one of the best cooking classes in Melbourne, learn the A to Z of baking your own fresh, fragrant bread from within the beautiful surrounds of historic Abbotsford Convent. You’ll get hands-on experience as qualified bakers walk you step-by-step through authentic sourdough techniques, which you’ll use on the day to mix and make your own bread to take home. The day also includes making and eating woodfired scones for morning tea, pizza for lunch, coffee, tea, plus an embroidered apron and organic flour to bring home. 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford

The Essential Ingredient Cooking School 

While the Essential Ingredient is best known for selling gourmet goods and fancy cookware (think canned goose fat and squid ink sachets), they also run a fantastic cooking school. Dip in for interactive, hands-on classes teaching a wide variety of topics across cuisines, techniques, dietaries, baking and more – classes can range from as general as “understanding fish” to as specific as “making your own Thai curry paste”. They often invite well known guest chefs to teach, with past workshops including vegan cooking with Smith & Daughter’s Shannon Martinez and Spanish cuisine with Movida’s Scott Stevenson.

32 Elizabeth Street, South Yarra

La Cucina di Sandra

Experience the joy of Italian hospitality at one of Melbourne’s best cooking classes that’s as much a gregarious dinner party as it is an educational experience. Hosted in Sandra del Greco’s own Richmond home, you’ll watch her prepare traditional meals from regions across Italy including Sardinia, Calabria, Puglia, Sicily and Abruzzo as she imparts the hard-won tips and tricks that’ll have you knocking it out of the park at home. Sip on wine and nibble of finger foods as your charming host does the heavy lifting, before you all sit down together for a three-course feast. She’ll send you home with clear recipes for all the dishes from the night so you can replicate her success at your next dinner party. 62 Lyndhurst Street, Richmond

Relish Mama

Let mama show you the way at this much-loved cooking school that will take you around the world. Founder Nellie Kerrison and an array of guest chefs teach students to create irresistible dishes from countries including Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Greece and many more. Relish Mama’s approach is casual and adaptable, meaning you can make their recipes work for any kitchen set-up and skill level, while specialised classes for gluten-free, dairy-free and FODMAP friendly dietaries will make you a dinner party expert. 1/347 Bay Road, Cheltenham

Gânache Chocolate School 

Did you know that cocoa wonderland Gânache also offers decadent classes at their very own chocolate school? Learn to make velvety truffles, melt-in-your-mouth macarons and even your own tempered chocolate bars under the careful guidance of their expert chocolatiers. You’ll be buzzing with new knowledge (and a sugar high) as you taste and create your way through the morning. 250 Toorak Road, South Yarra 

CAE 

Learn the essentials of cooking at the Centre of Adult Education (CAE), where they offer comprehensive, hands-on courses from their on site professional kitchen. Attend a pizza masterclass, learn to ferment vegetables, whip up authentic pho or simply enhance your knife skills (there’s even a kitchen boot camp for complete newbies!) All the classes are a combination of demonstration and hands-on experience, so you’ll be armed with ready-to-go skills to take home. 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Spice Bazaar

Spice Bazaar is your passport to international deliciousness. Each of their fun, interactive classes centre on a particular cuisine – examples include Thai, Japanese, Sri Lankan or Mexican – teaching you to cook several dishes covering starters to main to dessert. For example, if you sign up to the Thai class, you’ll start off with spicy fish cakes before moving onto pad thai, holy basil beef salad and seafood green curry, then ending with coconut black sticky rice for a sweet finish. 79 Victoria Street, Seddon 

Loving our pick of the best cooking classes in Melbourne and hungry for more? Apply your new kitchen skills to some of our favourite pasta, salad and healthy dinner recipes, or impress your family and friends with these (actually very easy) bread recipes. Once you’ve tackled those, look further to the cookbooks we trust to help us achieve dinner party greatness.