The 12 Best Oaxaca City Cooking Classes

1.Flavors of Oaxaca: Cooking Class with No Set Menu and Local Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 333 reviews · 4 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $75Our pick

At Casa Crespo in Oaxaca City, you’ll tour a local market with Oscar or another English-speaking guide, then help prepare a changing Oaxacan menu. Expect hands-on chopping, grinding, seasoning, cooking, drinks, and a shared meal. Menus can include mole negro, tortillas, soup, ceviche, tacos, dessert, and vegetarian dishes.

“Nicely paced market tour and cooking class! The different settings and pacing made it easy to stay engaged. We also enjoyed the balance between hands-on opportunities to cook and Oscar and the staff helping with clean up and set up to keep the class moving along efficiently. We had a nice group of just 6 of us and we enjoyed lunch together. They also served us a margarita, some mezcal, and iced tea. No complaints!”

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2.Traditional Oaxaqueña Cooking with Grandma’s Recipes

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 260 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $90Top rated

Meet Chef Adhey Andrade and her husband Enrique in central Oaxaca, then ride to their home for a hands-on cooking class built around Grandma’s recipes. You’ll make hot chocolate, salsas, chileajo con verduras, chile rellenos, and fresh fruit, with ingredients, instruction, drinks, and round-trip transport included.

“Was excelente every thing was great and very friendly people food was very good and company was great .”

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3.The Real Traditional Oaxaca culinary Cooking experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 251 reviews · 5 hours (approx.) · from $100

Spend about five hours cooking in Santa Cruz Xoxocotlan with Miguel Angel, Jose, and their team. Visit a local market, gather garden ingredients, taste several moles, and prepare tortillas, empanadas, soups, and other Oaxacan dishes. Hotel pickup may be available, and the class is offered in English for up to 10 people.

“It was fun, thorough, the procedures were well explained.The crew was excellent! It was the cooking experience we were hoping for! The location was lovely. Our food was delicious! Our host & chef had a great sense of humor and was very patient! 😂”

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4.Oaxacan Vegetarian Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 235 reviews · 4 hours (approx.) · from $70Best value

Spend about four hours walking through Oaxaca’s Merced neighborhood, shopping for fresh produce, tasting local ingredients, and cooking a vegetarian Oaxacan meal. Victor and his team teach traditional techniques, including tortillas, salsa, rice, vegetables, and mole, before everyone eats together. The class is in English, private to your group, and returns to the meeting point.

“Armando was an excellent host! He took us to the local market and explained the cultural significance of the ingredients. Then we came back to the cultural center and made the meal from scratch, down to the tortillas. He was very accommodating of a food allergy and adjusted the menu accordingly. The space where the event was held is also really cool, and offers art workshops. We will be back!”

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5.Traditional Cooking Class with Minerva Lopez

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 197 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $119

Meet Minerva Lopez in Oaxaca City for a six-hour cooking day that begins at Mercado de Abastos. With English translation from Amy, you’ll shop for local ingredients, visit a masa stop, then cook in Minerva’s outdoor kitchen. Choose mole, tamales, corn dishes, or a seasonal menu, with vegetarian and vegan options available.

“This was just what we hoped it would be! Minerva took us to the market to shop for the meal we were going to prepare. She is so knowledgeable and such a great teacher. Authentic cooking over an open fire and comal. It was a hands on experience and we learned so much!”

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6.Vegetarian Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 139 reviews · 3.5 hours · from $70

Spend 3.5 hours with an English or Spanish-speaking chef, visiting a local market before preparing a seasonal salad, vegetarian main dish, and dessert. Guides such as Victor and Quetzali explain Oaxacan ingredients, cooking traditions, mole, chiles, herbs, and mezcal. The group is limited to four, with ingredients, equipment, drinks, and recipes included.

“The cooking class was an incredible experience! We stated with a visit to the market and got to try all sorts of goodies, before heading back with our fresh produce to get cooking. Viktor was a brilliant guide, he made everyone feel included and welcomed. We cooking an amazing range of veggie dishes and it was great getting to try new dishes. We met some lovely people on the class who all shared the same love of good food! Would recommend to anyone”

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7.Traditional Oaxacan Cooking Class with Market Visit

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 80 reviews · 5.5 hours · from $133

Travel from Oaxaca with a bilingual guide and driver, shop for ingredients in a local market, then cook with hosts such as Gerardo, Sandra, Samuel, Alicia, or Silvia. Prepare regional dishes, handmade tortillas, mole, tamales, and local drinks in a family home, sometimes alongside a traditional textile workshop.

“We went to a family in Teotilan and the whole experience is very unique and wonderful. Edgar (our guide) and David (our driver) picked us up right on time and the car is very clean. We drove to Teotilan which took about 35 min and met with our cooking teacher Alicia. Then we gathered the ingredients from the market and made it back to the kitchen to start preparing a local dish. They accommodated the fact that I cannot take spicy food and still gave us a whole experience of preparing everything from scratch that is authentic here that I can safely eat. All the other ladies who work there…”

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8.Oaxaca de Juarez: Traditional Oaxacan Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 31 reviews · 5 hours · from $87

Baldo meets you at Santo Domingo Temple and takes you to his family’s mountain village kitchen outside Oaxaca. With Sonia, Teresa, Esperanza, and the team, you’ll make tortillas, tetelas, memelas, tlayudas, sauces, and mole using firewood, charcoal, a comal, and metate. English and Spanish classes welcome vegetarians and vegans with advance notice.

“This was such a fantastic day out! The whole experience was so thought out and created such a fun and authentic day. The food was delish too ☺️”

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9.Traditional Oaxacan Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 17 reviews · 5 hours · from $116

Meet Hector and Aurora downtown, shop for ingredients at a local market, then ride to their village kitchen about 20 minutes away. You will make chocolate, bread, tortillas, memelitas, tetelas, empanadas, sauces, and a traditional mole. The class is hands-on, limited to six people, and offered in English or Spanish.

“The entire experience was wonderful! Both options for English and Spanish. Market run was fantastic and hector was very informative about the food, locations, ways of cooking, and history of Oaxaca. Lovely time!”

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10.10 Mexican Salsas Cooking Class with Taco Tasting

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 11 reviews · 2 hours · from $80

At Casa Crespo in Oaxaca, Chef Oscar Carrizosa leads a two-hour class on 10 Mexican salsas, from salsa verde and Xnipec to Macha and borracha. You will learn how chiles such as árbol, chipotle, jalapeño, and habanero change a recipe, then taste tacos with each salsa. English and Spanish instruction, drinks, and wheelchair access are available.

“The quality of the ingredients an the used tool were great! Also the food at the end was delicious and well prepared together with the made salsas. I wasn‘t sure about the chef, he seemed to be stresses and rushed trough the preparation. Questions were answered in a little annoyed way and i didn‘t feel super welcomed. I was lucky to have some fun cooking partners that made it more fun and we could at least have some laughs together, since the chef wasn‘t having it 😄”

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11.Traditional Oaxacan Food Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 10 reviews · 5 hours · from $116

Spend five hours exploring Etla market and cooking in a local home with hosts such as Hector, Aurora, or Keri. Prepare memelitas, empanadas, mole, chocolate, and more, then eat while Tita’s Mixe stories are translated into English. Groups are limited to six, with Spanish and English guides.

“Hector was an excellent host. He was a great chef and a perfect teacher. He provided wonderful warmth in his home, and made us feel like life long friends round for a wonderful meal and sharing of fun and experience. Definitely the highlight of my stay in Oaxaca!!”

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12.Cooking Class with No Set Menu &Local Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 7 reviews · 4.5 hours · from $80

Join Oscar Carrizosa in Oaxaca for a four-and-a-half-hour cooking class built around your group’s menu choices. Visit a local market, learn about ingredients and traditional dishes, then dice, grind, fry, season, and share the meal you prepare. English and Spanish classes, vegetarian menus, and gluten-free options are available.

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