Take home more than photographs. A New Orleans cooking class puts you in front of a chef who explains why the roux comes first — then sits you down to eat the results. Compare watch-and-learn classes against hands-on kitchens, from $39 to $158, and pick the one that fits your trip.
New Orleans cooking classes split cleanly into two formats, and visitors who book the wrong one are usually disappointed. In a demonstration class a chef cooks in front of you, explains as they go, and you eat the result. In a hands-on class you are at a station with a knife, making the roux yourself.
A demonstration class costs less — $39 here, against $158 for the hands-on kitchens — and asks nothing of you but attention. A hands-on class puts a pan in front of you, which is the difference between watching a roux come together and knowing when yours has gone too far.
One thing worth knowing before you book: none of these are career courses. They are single sessions built for visitors, most of them ending with everyone sitting down to eat, and several send you home with the recipes so the dish survives the flight.
Five cooking experiences, from a demonstration with the meal included to a hands-on kitchen where you make the roux yourself — and one that pairs a class with a cocktail walk. Compare what each includes and pick the one that suits how you like to learn.
Top ratedOperated by New Orleans School of Cooking
Operated by Destination Kitchen Tours
Operated by The Mardi Gras School of Cooking
Operated by The Mardi Gras School of Cooking
Operated by Gray Line New Orleans
Our Top Pick for First-Time Cooks
Discover the basics of Louisiana cooking with a morning or afternoon cooking class where you will prepare New Orleans specialties such as gumbo, jambalaya, and pralines. Find out more about cajun and creole culinary traditions and folklore, followed by a meal after the class.
Enjoy the class which takes place in a renovated molasses warehouse built in the early 1800s in the heart of the French Quarter. Visit the store and see some of the best locally sourced products, which is also the home of the famous Joe's Stuff Creole Seasoning, beloved by local chefs and visitors.
Learn about the fascinating history of New Orleans, and how culture and cuisine are interwoven. Follow along and learn how to make mouth-watering creole and cajun dishes and dig in after the class. Taste some local beer, and tasty iced tea and lemonade.
At the end of the class, you will receive a coupon to use in the general store. Take home copies of the recipes so you can recreate the dishes for friends and family.
Program of Menus:
10:00 AM Class
· Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday: Gumbo, Jambalaya, Bread Pudding and Pralines
· Monday: Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Pecan Pie and Pralines
· Tuesday: Gumbo, Jambalaya, Bananas Foster and Pralines
· Thursday: Corn & Crab Bisque, Shrimp Creole, Bananas Foster & Pralines
· Friday: Crawfish Etouffee, Shrimp and Artichoke Soup, Bread Pudding, Pralines
2:00 PM Class
· Saturday: Crawfish Etouffee, Shrimp and Artichoke Soup and Pralines
· Sunday, Tuesday: Corn & Crab Bisque, Chicken Etouffee and Pralines
· Monday, Thursday, Friday: Gumbo, Jambalaya and Pralines
· Wednesday: Gumbo, Chicken Creole, Pralines
You sit, the chef cooks, and the commentary runs throughout. This is the relaxed end of the New Orleans cooking class spectrum — good for mixed groups and anyone who would rather watch than chop.
The class covers authentic Cajun and Creole recipes and the folklore attached to them, taught by the New Orleans School of Cooking.
Everything cooked becomes lunch. Iced tea, lemonade and a local beer are served with the class — all of it included in the $39 price.
Guests who are gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, vegan or allergic to seafood are offered a single substitute meal of Gumbo Z'Herbes and Creole Z'Herbes. The operator asks to be told by phone or at check-in.
You leave with copies of the recipes, which is the practical difference between a cooking class and a food tour.
A three- or four-course Cajun and Creole meal, made in front of you or by you — then eaten at the table where it was cooked, with the recipes to take home.
Our New Orleans Food Tour team recommends reviewing these practical details before booking. The information below is based on the tour operator’s published guidance, so you know what to expect and can arrive prepared for your experience.
See what travelers say about learning to cook in New Orleans — choosing between watching a chef and working a pan, the dishes they took home and the instructors who made it stick.
“Took my parents, who are in their seventies and were not going to be chopping anything. The demonstration format was perfect — chef talking the whole way through, everyone seated, and a proper three-course meal at the end. Thirty-nine dollars well spent.”
“I did the hands-on roux class at the Mardi Gras school and came home able to actually make the thing. Chicken and andouille gumbo, shrimp étouffée, bananas foster to finish. The chef let mine go too far once, deliberately, so I would know what that looks like next time. That is the bit a recipe card cannot teach you.”
“We wanted one booking that covered both halves of the trip, so we took the class-and-cocktail-walk combination. Morning at the cooking school, spice packet and recipes handed over, then out to a few bars with a guide who knew which stories were true. It finishes at a jazz pub. Worth saying it is twenty-one and over, which we nearly missed at checkout. The bar stops are the part we are still describing to people back home.”
The classes listed here start at $39 for the demonstration-style Cajun and Creole class and $158 for the hands-on classes at the Mardi Gras School of Cooking. The combined food walking tour and cooking class experience starts at $127.
Some are. The Hands-on Cajun Roux class at the Mardi Gras School of Cooking states that it is. The Cajun and Creole class at the New Orleans School of Cooking is a demonstration — you watch the chef and eat the result. Where an operator does not publish the format either way, we leave it out rather than assume.
Yes. The Hands-on Cajun Roux class states it takes place in the French Quarter, the food walking tour and cooking class experience meets inside Roux Royale at 600 Royal Street, and the cooking class and cocktail walking tour meets at the New Orleans School of Cooking, 524 St Louis Street.
The Cajun and Creole class includes the full meal you watched being cooked, served with iced tea, lemonade and a local beer. The hands-on classes at the Mardi Gras School of Cooking include complimentary wine, beer, sodas and water, and you eat what you prepare.
It varies by operator and only two publish one. The Hands-on Cajun Roux class allows children over 10 who are willing to take part. The cooking class and cocktail walking tour has a minimum age of 21, because of the cocktail element.
No. Everything on this page is a single session for visitors, lasting an afternoon and ending in a meal. Louisiana culinary schools and professional cooking programmes are a different thing entirely and are not listed here.
Also worth comparing: French Quarter Food and Drink. Or read our guide to the best food in the French Quarter before you book anything at all.
Five New Orleans cooking classes compared, from $39, all with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.