The first-ever cooking show hit British TV screens in 1937. Called Cook’s Night Out, it was hosted by French chef Marcel Boulestin and consisted of five 15-minute-long episodes. Back then, there were less than 20,000 television sets in the UK, so only a privileged few could tune in to watch Boulestin show them how to whip up omelets and dinner party dishes.
Things are very different today, of course. Now, millions of viewers around the world watch countless cooking shows across platforms like Netflix, YouTube, and the Food Network. And they are incredibly influential. In 2019, for example, one study found that children who watch cooking shows with healthy foods are more likely to choose healthy foods to eat themselves and vice versa.
Despite this, most US cooking and food-focused shows still feature a lot of red meat, although research confirms meat-heavy diets aren’t doing our health any favors (red meat is associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer). But that said, the number of shows with an emphasis on plant-based cooking—which, research also suggests, is associated with a reduced risk of disease—is increasing.
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7 cooking and food-focused TV shows to stream next
Below, we’ve picked out a few of the best cooking shows to queue up this summer that highlight how delicious, interesting, and versatile plant-based ingredients can be.
Apple TV+
1‘Omnivore’
Given the title, you might expect this show to be a meat-frenzy, but Apple TV+’s Omnivore will actually follow Noma’s René Redzepi as he learns more about plenty of plant-based foods, including bananas, chiles, corn, rice, and coffee, on a culinary adventure around the world. That said, seafood and pork will also be featured, so it’s not a completely vegan show. Speaking about Omnivore, Redzepi said in a statement: “This journey has reinforced one undeniable truth: food is everything. You can tell any story worth telling through what we cook and how we eat. Because food is never just food; it’s a window into our lives, our history, and our world.”
Omnivore will hit Apple TV+ on July 19.
YouTube Originals
2‘It’s CompliPlated’
Tabitha Brown’s It’s CompliPlated first hit the Food Network in 2022. In the series, the popular social media personality, entrepreneur, and cookbook author guides contestants through a string of plant-based cooking challenges that involve things like making ballpark snacks that aren’t fried and southern comfort food that is totally meat-free. “These chefs cook from the heart and their food is mind-blowing—viewers are sure to have a blast and be inspired for their next family dinner,” Brown said in a statement.
It’s CompliPlated is streaming now on Amazon Prime.
Food Network
3‘Beat Bobby Flay’
The concept behind Beat Bobby Flay is simple. Contestants cook their hearts out in a bid to make a tastier dish than Bobby Flay, a renowned American celebrity chef and restauranteur. Often, Flay wins—but not always. In 2023, for example, vegan chef Rachel Klein won the show with a meaty vegan cheesesteak made with maitake mushrooms.
Find out more about Klein’s winning episode here.
Channel 4
4‘The Great British Baking Show’
The Great British Baking Show (or The Great British Bake Off, as it’s known in the UK) has long been a hit in the US, largely because of its emphasis on comradery, teamwork, and just all-round wholesomeness. While contestants usually create their bakes with eggs, milk, and butter, there have been some stand-out vegan moments. In 2018, the show hosted its first-ever vegan week, and in 2021, it welcomed its first vegan contestant, Freya Cox. In 2023, David Schwimmer took part in the Stand Up to Cancer celebrity special and received a Paul Hollywood handshake for his vegan pie.
The Great British Baking Show is streaming now on Netflix.
Netflix
5‘Sugar Rush’
Lovers of all things sweet will also love Sugar Rush, another Netflix baking show. The series follows professional teams as they compete to make show-stopping cupcakes, confections, and cakes for a prize fund of $10,000. In a 2020 Christmas episode, Sugar Rush featured its first vegan baker, Anna Castellanos. “It took me a year to even get noticed as a vegan baker,” Castellanos told VegNews in 2021. “I would apply to all sorts of networks and the only one that reached out was Netflix.”
Find out more about Castellanos’s episode here.
Hulu
6‘Chopped’
Chopped is all about getting the best out of the unexpected. In every episode, four top chefs compete to create delicious, mouthwatering dishes with random ingredients provided to them on the day. Head back to 2019 to find the show’s vegan episode aptly titled No Meat? No Problem!.
Chopped is streaming now on Hulu.
Peeled
7‘Peeled’
In 2022, America’s first-ever totally vegan cooking show, Peeled, hit YouTube. The show was co-created by Hell’s Kitchen contestant Chef Josie Clemens, and hosted by popular vegan chef Babette Davis and health expert Shabnam Islam. Watch contestants as they battle it out for the title of Hottest Vegan Chef. “As a vegan and a foodie, I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with cooking shows,” said Peeled’s creator, Star Simmons. “Peeled allows vegans and vegetarians to enjoy cooking shows again and gives plant-based culinary arts a platform to be taken seriously.”
Peeled is streaming now on YouTube.
For more plant-based stories like this, read:
Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England’s southern coast.
Here at VegNews, we live and breathe the vegan lifestyle, and only recommend products we feel make our lives amazing. Occasionally, articles may include shopping links where we might earn a small commission. In no way does this effect the editorial integrity of VegNews.
