From unique stories to varying characters and colorful styles, it’s all there. But there is one thing that many anime do really well: food presentation. True, it may not seem that big a thing to note. However it has been found that food in anime almost always finds a way to look both lovely and highly appetizing. And remember, these are drawings. There are quite a few food-focused cooking animes that are pretty fun to watch. While food anime shows a different appreciation for food, it’s still a genuinely entertaining genre of anime to check out. Now cooking anime on the other hand, it shows an extra dimension to food appreciation and presentation. There is an added visual interest when it comes to cooking anime shows. Often times, the two get mixed with each other and that’s not exactly a bad thing. But with this list, the focus will be mainly on anime that features cooking. Or at the very least, features cooking in some way in the plot. Have a look and see what you think!
25. Silver Spoon
Three words: an agricultural exploration. That’s what this series is. Mainly through the eyes of on Yuugo Hachiken, a studious young man who decided to enter an agricultural school to escape stress from his parents. You may wonder how this would fit in a cooking list, well read on. More than seeing how food is grown and raised, the series also manages to slip in some good cooking scenes. There’s just something fascinating about seeing the agricultural side of things and how it ends up as a meal. There isn’t much to note in terms of the cooking aspect in the series but it does present well and the series leaves a nice impact with its plot and characters.
24. Wakakozake
Ever just crave a certain meal after a long day? Murasaki Wakako certainly does, and the series follows her trips to different places enjoying a good meal and drink. In many ways the series can be considered as a type of travel cooking show. While it may portray different places and the meals you can enjoy there, it also features some good cooking moments. Overall it’s a rather relaxing anime with a lot of good food moments to enjoy. Given that there’s more on enjoying meals and drinks rather than making the meal, you could say that the series makes for a more relaxed watch. Which is great after a long day of work!
23. Bartender
One could argue that this series should not be considered as a cooking piece vs some others… however, making alcoholic beverages all day counts as preparing food in my book! Especially since the series explores how different drinks work together and what makes them so distinct. It’s a series that is different in many ways to traditional anime. Yet you can’t help but appreciate the detail they go into when it comes to the creation of drinks and how it impacts people in the show. A bartender named Ryuu stars in this series and helps different people offering them drinks that somehow become what they need. It’s not every day that you find an entire series featuring bartending so if you’re into this kinda thing I say hop on it.
22. Ristoranto Paradiso
From the first episode of the series, this anime finds a way to draw you in whether it be by the story, characters, or (weirdly enough) the food. There’s a certain depth to the story as it explores different characters, mainly Nicoletta and how she finds more about her mother through a restaurant called Casetta dell’Orso. The series features a lot on Italian cuisine and the exploration of characters. But also does show a good amount of cooking to enjoy too. Much of the series is rather engaging in terms of the different stories and how they relate to different characters. The fact that it finds a way to mix and focus within a restaurant just adds layers to the series. It’s a fascinating watch.
21. JK Meshi
For those that are into short but cute series, this is something to check out. Mainly featuring high school girls learning to cook simple meals, it’s a rather simple series. However each episode manages to slip in some good cooking lessons and food facts too. There isn’t much plot but there’s plenty to enjoy here. And it’s quite cute in its own way. Compared to the previous entries, it does a good deal more cooking. The series has less than 5 minutes per episode so it is a quick watch. As a cooking series, it’s not too bad and dishes out some interesting facts. If you’re looking for a quick series featuring simple meals and girls bonding, you might want to give this a shot. It won’t take much time to invest into either.
20. Cooking with Valkyries
Some may recognize these characters from the popular hit game Honkai Impact 3rd. The connection only reaches to the characters though, as the anime series is more like an alternate side story. Each episode is a few minutes of cute girls creating simple meals. The format is similar to the previous entry, but in comparison there seems to be more focus on cooking and how simple ingredients can make a good meal. In short: it’s a rather wholesome mini series featuring cute girls making meals from ingredients that you can get in almost any grocery store. A rather plain but enjoyable series that has plenty of advice on simple home cooking and learning to make your own meals.
19. Bonjour Sweet Love Patissier
This is yet another short series. But this time it features sweets. There is more focus here on romance given that it’s about a girl named Sayuri entering confectionery school and meeting some handsome and talented males. However it does have some good moments of baking and crafting up some desserts. The variety of desserts found in the series is rather interesting actually. And the way that each character has a certain style adds to the sense of realism. Being as short as it is, there could have been more in the baking aspect (I think). It is sweet and enjoyable nonetheless. So if you’re looking for a short but sweet series with a premise built around romance and baking, add this to your watch list.
18. Isekai Shokudou
Honestly, this series has a heavy focus on fantasy and food appreciation together. However it does also show a good amount of cooking or speaking on it. The series essentially features a restaurant… but it’s no ordinary restaurant of course. This restaurant has a door that opens to another world every Saturday. Yep, it’s anime so what did you expect? Every episode features different foods and characters appreciating them. It’s interesting that the characters are somewhat like food critics and note on how the food is made. The cooking scenes are not all that many, but there are a good number of shots to appreciate throughout the show. Isekai Shokudou brings a more laid back feeling to the isekai theme. As a food/cooking anime I think it makes for a good mix of food and fantasy.
17. Yuru Camp
While it is true that this is primarily a camping series, there is cooking to be found. Mainly cooking that can be done when you go out camping. You could consider it a second feature of the series to enjoy, as long as you’re into the great outdoors. Yuru Camp tells of a group of girls bonding through camping. But it also has a good level of food appreciation along the way. Most of the meals are rather simple but enjoyable to watch being made. This is a series that essentially shows an appreciation for beautiful nature and some good food to go with it. So if you enjoy a fun series featuring the outdoors and good meals you should totally check this out.
16. Rokuhoudou Yotsuiro Biyori
There are many cooking shows that feature either a female cast or a shounen male. This series takes a left turn by being a slice of life anime featuring an all-male cast. The way it presents different meals and sweets is also highly pleasing. But I think this one will please a female audience quite a bit more. There aren’t a lot of works that feature Japanese sweets so this is a nice addition. Of course, there are also a few cooking scenes to enjoy here too. And while a slice of life tale featuring four males working in a Japanese style cafe isn’t all that weird, it is a pleasantly obscure series. Overall this is a fun anime that features both Japanese sweets and traditional meals. A low-key show with lovely looking treats sprinkled in.
15. Isekai Izakaya Nobu
Here’s another series that features a modern place with a door that opens to another world. What’s up with these plotlines? What makes this show different is that it features more on alcohol and meals that go with it. Each episode features different meals to enjoy with a drink, and even features a live action segment on the meal. It’s a different format to a usual anime but it makes for an interesting watch. I totally understand why some may not like it, but I’d say at least give it a try if you’re open minded. The other world is also more medieval and characters don’t always have a one-off appearance there. So there’s an overall mix of food and alcohol appreciation with a look into what makes the meal different. A simple but different type of anime to enjoy.
14. Muteki Kanban Musume
This is a rather unorthodox anime to say the least. The series tells of Miki Onimaru, a poster girl who works for her mother’s Chinese food restaurant. Initially you would think that the series is mainly about cooking with fighting mixed in. Well, there is a lot more fighting than you would expect. This results in there being less focus on the cooking, but the series does have plenty of it. A rather odd series, to be frank, but it does have some appeal to it. Give it a try if you’re into quirky stuff.
13. Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi
Mixing supernatural and cooking is something you don’t always see(well, outside of Japan). But Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi makes it work. Cooking is not always featured but there are moments to appreciate. Initially this started as a series of novels and was on a young girl named Aoi being swept away to become the bride of a demon. She ends up opening a small cafe and majority of the plot shows how her cooking impacts different people. This can lean more towards the supernatural genre but the way it implements her journey with cooking deserves such a high spot on this list. To put it simply, it’s a sort of cooking journey involving the supernatural. So for those that are into the supernatural and want to see something a bit different, this is a good series to plug into. You could also check out some reviews to see what you think before diving into the pilot.
12. Oishinbo
A cynical food critic named Yanaoka and a female writer are assigned to make a piece on Japanese cuisine and culture. You would think this would be more of a cultural and food appreciation series, but no. This actually features some solid culinary work as well! There’s a heavy emphasis on Japanese culture and Japanese cuisine being a top feature. And that means there are plenty of cooking moments featured within the episodes. Not many know the series with it being rather old(first aired in the 1980s). But it does hold up well as a food/cooking series even for modern times. More than having a look at cooking and how ingredients are used in the cuisine, there is some plot to keep things interesting along the way.
11. Piace: Watashi no Italian
Want to go for different cuisine for a change? Then why not Italian since that’s what the Piace anime features. It’s a short series but it packs as much cooking and different Italian dishes as it can. Now it can be a bit fast paced but it does have interesting characters and does its best in terms of presentation. The story mainly tells of heroine Nanase and her growth in an Italian restaurant. The way they show her learning and how she ends up making her own dish is really quite interesting. You could say that this is a bit of a quirky series. But it’s also a rare series that explores another cuisine outside of Japan so that’s really quite inspiring.
10. Adorable Food Goddess
When you start this series, just expect a few surprises. While it begins with a girl named Ye Jiayao finding herself back in time in the body of Ye Jinxuan, it becomes about… more. A lot more. There’s quite a mix of genres with this anime. But cooking is prevalent in the series and clearly the animation effort really took a focus on this aspect. The plot may come off a bit strong but you can still enjoy the lovely cooking while you delve into the story. I also like how this anime explores how different ingredients can be worked together, even if its mentioned in passing. The plot and characters can be debated whether they’re truly enjoyable or not. But the way this show presents cooking is quality work.
9. Mister Ajikko
We have a rather old show with Mister Ajikko, initially airing just under 100 episodes during the late 1980s. This was the first cooking series to be released as an anime in Japan. It features a young culinary prodigy named Yoichi and explores his growth as a chef as he competed against different people. Plenty of focus on how the food is made and what makes it so good. So really this is a true classic of the anime genre. For all intents and purposes, this is also a pure cooking anime. So why is not ranked as #1 on this list? Well you have to consider the age of this show and all the new cooking anime as well. It’s still an enjoyable series and stands strong as a cooking anime even with age, and I totally recommend checking this out if you’re into older shows from that era. But just know there is a lot more cooking anime content to go around.
8. Toriko
In a world where food is different from what we know, this series tells of Toriko, a Gourmet Hunter who seeks to find the rarest and most delicious ingredients. You read that right. The cooking aspect of the series is featured via Toriko’s partner and chef Komatsu. More than Toriko’s story, the series also shows Komatsu’s story as a chef and how he grows. In a way, the series is both a food and cooking journey(literally hunting for food) mixed with a good deal of action. It’s creative, it’s different, and definitely an anime to check out for some good shounen fun involving food.
7. Chuuka Ichiban!
Not many may know this series given that it was from the 90s. But with the release of its sequel series at the end of the twenty teens, this is a series to take note of. It is set within China and tells of a young boy named Mao and his journey to becoming a legendary chef like his mother. Given the setting of the series, it is expected that it would majorly feature Chinese cuisine. It does feature plenty but mixes a lot of east Asian stuff in there. What makes this so high on the list is how theatrical it can be with the cooking scenes. True, it can a bit over the top with it. But this adds a fun factor to the show. Basically, this is an oldie but a goodie for food fanatics.
6. Yakitate Japan
Bread. That is the star of this anime series. The story tells of Azuma and how his love for bread has him aiming towards making the best breads of all time. If this sounds surprising then you really gotta check out more anime. There’s a lot of creativity to be found within the series and it can be over the top at times, but still feels grounded in a true storyline. Being a shounen-esque series featuring bread-making though, it is somewhat expected to be quirky. It’s rather goofy but the way it delves into baking bread is rather fascinating. As a cooking series, this is one of the more memorable pieces from the classic era of anime spanning in the mid-2000s. Now I know that a series about bread-making alone may not seem like much. But trust me, Yakitate!! Japan found a way to make things interesting.
5. Yumeiro Patissiere
Now this one is about baking rather than cooking, but it takes a top spot in how it explores baking to a tee. Featuring Ichigo’s journey to becoming a true patissier, along with other talented characters, this story has legs. The way it explores different baking and dessert recipes makes up a lot of the high points of the show. Other than these topics are how quirky and endearing the characters can be as the series progresses on. As a shoujo series, it can stray more towards the romantic and dramatic side. But still, the baking aspect remains strong and you can’t help but develop an appreciation for it. Cute and sweet with a side of quirky would be the best way to describe the show.
4. Koufuku Graffiti (Gourmet Girl Graffiti)
If you’re fond of anime featuring cute girls doing cute things, this is a series to check out. The entire show features an appreciation of good food with good company. The best way to describe the series would be a fluff piece that’s guaranteed to entertain. It’s not entirely elaborate on the cooking process, but you can appreciate the bonding that the characters go through. The main story features a young girl named Machiko who found joy in cooking when she meets her young cousin and bonds with her, especially as she looks towards marriage and learning to become a good wife. It’s a feel good story with an emphasis on enjoying a homemade meal and what it means to cook for other people. Some interesting points in the mixed reviews on MyAnimeList so check out that page if you want some more details.
3. Emiya-san Chi no Kyou no Gohan
In many ways this series may be considered quite similar to the previous entry. The difference between the two is that with Koufuku Graffiti, it features more appreciation of eating together with someone and enjoying food. With this series it takes more focus on the general process of creating the meal, and the time spent together. The idea that meals can bring us together. This anime is essentially an alternate slice of life tale to the Fate saga. You don’t have to necessarily have to know the entirety of the Fate series for this one, so don’t worry. But also if you’ve never seen it it’s also pretty great. This is a very relaxing series with a simple plot following ideas of a heartwarming home meal. You’ll get all those fuzzies from watching, plus you even have a chance to learn some cooking along the way. Note: If you’re looking for this in English it goes by the name Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. The subbed version would be arguably better to watch, though.
2. Amaama to Inazuma
Heartwarming is the best way to describe this series as well. Featuring a father and daughter who once settled with store-bought meals, they begin learning to cook along with a new high school friend. The way the series shows the characters and the effort they go through in learning is delightful. There’s just a real feeling to their progression as the show goes on. Another thing that makes this series great is how the characters behave with one another. Just the way the series balances cooking and bonding makes you want more. Sure, you could consider it another slice of life piece featuring cooking. But there is a lot of sweetness and substance to be found here that you pick up more in subtext.
1. Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Of all the series listed here, Shokugeki no Souma reigns supreme as the embodiment of a great cooking anime. To describe it simply: it’s the shounen version of a cooking journey involving a school that raises student ranks via food battles called “Shoukegi.” As a cooking anime, it takes number one for exploring different styles of storytelling with different characters. What’s more, it takes into account the importance of learning and what it means to work in the food industry. But these lessons can apply anywhere in life: you should always be striving to be better. Then there is the creativity of the meals and the beauty of their presentation that draws you in. Reaching its fourth season as of this writing, Shokugeki no Soma continues to take a top spot as the best cooking anime you’ll want to check out.
