The Best Cooking YouTube Channels You Should Subscribe To
YouTube is one of the best places to find recipe inspiration and learn new skills in the kitchen. There are so many talented chefs and home cooks who are sharing their knowledge and recipes!
This post does not include “basic” channels like Tasty and Food Network. This is a list of cooking YouTube channels that we actually use for recipes, techniques, and inspiration. We’ve listed them in alphabetical order (not ranked), as all of these YouTubers deserve equal recognition for the food and knowledge they share with the world.
Remember to smash that subscribe button if you find someone new who you love! 😉
Notes:
Subscriber stats in this post are accurate as of May 4, 2026.
We’ve include links to relevant cookbooks in this post. These are affiliate links that help us earn a small commission from your purchase (at no cost to you). Each purchase supports the blog so we can continue to make content! If you use these links, we really appreciate it!
Adam Ragusea
2.62M YouTube Subscribers
Adam Ragusea has a little bit of everything — from recipes to food science to stuff you should just know. From his insane lasagna to his weirdly convincing video on why he seasons his cutting board and not his steak, Adam is full of food wisdom. He isn’t fussy or fancy! He just likes to cook good food. We like that.
Anti-Chef
537K YouTube Subscribers
We’re hooked on watching Anti-Chef. Mostly because he’s making recipes that we have no interest in making. (Maybe one day, when we have the same patience as him.) He’s cooked his way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Marco Pierre White’s White Heat 25.
If you’re interested in the big-name chefs, you’ll want to subscribe to his channel!
Binging with Babish
10.5M YouTube Subscribers
It’s difficult to succinctly summarize Binging with Babish. The channel started as recreating food from movies and TV, but now also includes tier-lists and eating everything at different restaurants. His videos are universally excellent and mouth-wateringly delicious — so much so that we have done several posts using Babish as a reference, such as Pasta Aglio e Olio.
He also has a series titled Basics with Babish which focuses on some of the more fundamental skills that all cooks should know. Although we may disagree with Babish on what constitutes a basic skill (*cough* sous-vide *cough*) it’s still a great series that gives you plenty of recipes to practice your skills on and to build up a solid foundation of cooking.
If you can’t get enough Babish, check out his Binging With Babish cookbook which features 100 recipes recreated from your favorite movies and TV Shows, or his new Basics With Babish cookbook.
We love Babish’s sense of humor, and will be forever thankful for the commenter who told him to make gator-wine. IYKYK.
Brian Lagerstrom
1.77M YouTube Subscribers
Brian is a professional chef and baker, so you can expect videos about how to make the perfect loaf of bread to how to make pasta salad three different ways. If you love a channel with organized playlists like we do (is that weird?) you’ll like Brian’s channel. His playlists make it so you can easily hone in a specific topic and learn all about it (we really enjoy the pizza playlist).
Byron Talbott
1.47M YouTube Subscribers
Byron Talbott is a YouTube Chef who we randomly stumbled upon. He has a wide variety of videos on his channel, from basic techniques like different types of cuts, to the more fancy restaurant style dishes like smoked trout and fennel pesto. We’ve used Byron’s channel and recipes to find inspiration (such as the potatoes pictured in the video thumbnail below — SO GOOD).
Bruno Albouze
1.04M YouTube Subscribers
Have you ever wanted to watch an older, super fit, French guy make delicate desserts and whisper sweet nothings into your ear? If yes, then you’re going to want to watch Bruno Albouze. While he doesn’t strictly do desserts, most of his videos, especially the recent ones, focus on fancy desserts. We must admit that neither of us have the courage or confidence to attempt to recreate one of his fancy desserts yet, but we hope that one day in the future we will.
ChefSteps
1.36M YouTube Subscribers
If this channel had a motto it would be, “SOUS-VIDE EVERYTHING!” All joking aside, ChefSteps is an interesting channel to watch. It contains a few simple, beginner level recipes such as this one for pancakes, and it also contains some high level, Michelin star restaurant, gastronomic bullshit like this recipe for soubise fluid gel. To be fair, we’re a little salty that we don’t have the equipment, time, or knowledge to cook like this. There are a lot of very interesting videos to watch, and it is a pretty good repository of techniques for all cooks to know.
Claire Saffitz
1.47M YouTube Subscribers
Claire’s channel mostly features recipes from her cookbook, Dessert Person. This cookbook is AMAZING — everything in it is a certified banger. We’ve made her Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies, Carrot and Pecan Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese, Pineapple Upside-down Cake, and her Chocolate Chip Cookies to name a few. There are savoury recipes in her book as well, but as the title suggests, it’s mainly focused on desserts!
Since her cookbook’s release, she has been releasing step-by-step video guides for each recipe. She also has brought back the “I Tried Making _____” series we loved when she was on Bon Appétit!
Ethan Chlebowski
2.4M YouTube Subscribers
Ethan remasters recipes from other YouTubers and also shows you how to make restaurant style food at home (with lower calories too!) He also has many compelling videos about food science, and answers questions such as, “is expensive pasta worth it?” and “are expensive eggs actually worth it?”
It’s been awesome seeing his subscriber count grow!
You should probably subscribe too. Just do it.
Erwan Heussaff (FEATR)
3.67M YouTube Subscribers
Erwan is half Filipino, half French, and living in the Philippines. You’ll find a wide variety of food on his channel! From homemade kimchi to how to make crêpes — he has a bit of everything. Of course if you’re also interested in learning about Filipino cuisine, you should subscribe.
Epicurious
6.26M YouTube Subscribers
Epicurious has one of our favorite series called 4 Levels. Each episode they challenge chefs of three levels — an amateur, a home cook, and a professional chef to make their version of a dish. Then, a food scientist reviews their work and breaks it down. It’s super educational and is great for beginner cooks to get new ideas on how to level up their cooking. (The blind taste test videos with pro chefs are fun to watch too!)
It’s also fun watching people fail during their 50 Person Prep Challenge series. Can you separate an egg? You’re ahead of the curve!
Chef Frank (Proto Cooks, listed later in this post) also has a great 101 series for beginner cooks, teaching you how to master different dishes, from pancakes to brownies.
First We Feast
15.5M YouTube Subscribers
First We Feast is known for Hot Ones — the show with hot questions and even hotter wings. That’s why it’s on this list. Yes, the channel’s focus is on the interviews vs your more traditional food content, but it still deserves a spot on this list.
They have a bunch of old series that they’ve stopped producing videos for such as also Food Skills and The Burger Show.
Food Wishes
4.68M YouTube Subscribers
“Hello this is Chef John from Food Wishes.com.”
As soon as you watch a few of his YouTube videos, this line will get stuck in your head! You’ll either love his voice or hate it, but even if you dislike it at the start, we guarantee that it’ll grow on you. Chef John is a great source of recipe inspiration — he posts new recipes consistently and offers simple recipes from his Instant Mac & Cheese to more complex recipes like Beer-Braised Lamb Shanks.
Gordon Ramsay
22M YouTube Subscribers
Subscribe for Gordon Ramsay’s recipes, stay for the clips of Kitchen Nightmares. Not much else to say here, it’s Gordon Ramsay! Don’t be an idiot sandwich, like and subscribe.
He has a cookbook that covers 100 recipes to cook in 30 minutes or less, which we appreciate. Not everyone has time to make a 3 Michelin-star quality meal for supper!
Fun fact: Gordon Ramsay also made it into our food memes post.
Internet Shaquille
839K YouTube Subscribers
We like Internet Shaquille because his videos are to the point. There’s no fluff. His videos are short and sweet. (Besides this one, it’s the exception. 😆) He also has strong opinions about subscription services, and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.
You should most definitely subscribe. Seriously.
J. Kenji López-Alt
1.75M YouTube Subscribers
J. Kenji López-Alt is the Chief Culinary Consultant of Serious Eats. If you already know about this site, then you should definitely subscribe to Kenji. If not, you should still subscribe! Kenji’s cooking show has something for everyone! Learn how not to f&#k up a caprese salad, how to make weeknight sausage ragu, and much much more.
He is also the author of The Food Lab! It’s a great foundational cookbook that will help you become a better cook — you’ll learn the science behind why a recipe tells you to do something, which then you can then apply to other things that you cook. 10/10 would recommend.
Jun’s Kitchen
5.3M YouTube Subscribers
Like cats? Like Japanese food? You need to watch Jun’s Kitchen! His videos are calming and always include curious cats that watch him cook — sometimes he even takes a cat for a ride in the basket on his bike while sourcing fresh ingredients. IT’S ADORABLE. Come for the food, stay for the cats.
He doesn’t regularly post, but his videos are cute so we’re keeping him on this list.
Laura in the Kitchen
3.96M YouTube Subscribers
Laura Vitale will help you make food that everyone will love! From Italian antipasti to caprese chicken pasta, Laura is cooking up delicious Italian recipes. If you need recipe inspiration, Laura is your girl — she posts new recipes a few times a week!
Love Italian-American classics? Check out her cookbook.
Maangchi
6.51M YouTube Subscribers
Maangchi’s channel is all about cooking, eating, and enjoying Korean cuisine with family and friends. Learn how to make delicious Korean side dishes like Japchae, or how to make your delicious bulgogi and save money eating out. Never had Korean food before? It’s time to change that.
Check out her cookbook, Maangchi’s Big Book of Korean Cooking, which features her favorite dishes that she has perfected over the years.
Matty Matheson
1.63M YouTube Subscribers
We absolutely love this guy. Matty is so lovable. And loud. And awesome. That’s all. Subscribe for chaos.
(Also, check out our post where we review his new food products!)
Munchies
5.35M YouTube Subscribers
Munchies is a food channel by Vice. It holds a special place in our hearts as our first ever post was based on a Munchies recipe. (Which is actually by Matty Matheson. Yea, the guy above this channel.) If you want more Matty like us, subscribe to Munchies. (But they have a lot of other great content too such as their videos featuring Action Bronson and their How-To playlist.)
My Name Is Andong
703K YouTube Subscribers
Andong deserves more love. The production quality is high and he’s relatable. He covers topics ranging from coleslaw around the world to pantry essentials for quarantine. His videos are all over the place, but in a good way. You don’t know what he’s going to talk about next!
Mythical Kitchen
4.32M YouTube Subscribers
If you like Hot Ones, but want another food-focused interview show, check out their Last Meals series. Josh is an amazing interviewer!
“Every person has exactly two things in common, we all gotta eat, and we’re all gonna die.”
Mythical Kitchen also has series titled Grocery Store Battles and Fancy Fast Food (both which are self-explanatory). Josh and his team are always pumping out food content so there is SO MUCH TO WATCH. And it’s so good too.
NYT Cooking
1.27M YouTube Subscribers
NYT Cooking features multiple chefs, so you’ll find cuisines from all cultures! They also sometimes feature celebrity guests via their Kitchen Tours series (we love the video where Antoni from Queer Eye shows us his 10 favorite things in the kitchen). You’ll also find Claire and Sohla on this channel sometimes (who are also mentioned in this list).
NYT released a cookbook called No-Recipe Recipes: [A Cookbook]. We can’t wait to get our hands on this!
P.S. — who else is addicted to NYT’s Connections game?
ProtoCooks with Chef Frank
173K Subscribers
Frank has been a professional chef for 24 years. You may recognize him from the 4 Levels series on Epicurious! (You might also see some guests on his YouTube channel from the 4 Levels series. 👀)
We love Frank’s infectious smile and positive attitude. He doesn’t post often anymore, but show him some love anyways and subscribe.
Sam The Cooking Guy
3.86M YouTube Subscribers
Sam is fun to watch. If you like meat, you’ll LOVE his channel. If you make everything he makes, you’re guaranteed to gain a few pounds. But that’s okay, the food he makes is delicious. This guy knows how to cook! (We’re very jealous of his backyard BBQ set up.)
Sam also has a cookbook called Recipes with Intentional Leftovers. He’s here to save you from mediocre leftovers. (Thanks, Sam!)
Seonkyoung Longest
2.23M YouTube Subscribers
Seonkyoung Longest has video for almost every Asian dish that you can think of! From traditional shoyu ramen to pad thai — she has you covered. She also has videos about life in Korea and Japan if you’re interested in learning more about authentic food from those countries.
She sadly stopped posting 7 months ago due to cyberbullying after appearing on a reality TV cooking show on Netflix.
Sohla and Ham
53.5K YouTube Subscribers
We LOVED Sohla on Bon Appetit. Then… shit happened and many creators (justifiably) left. Sohla then started to appear as a guest on many other YouTube channels, hosting Stump Sohla on the Babish Culinary Universe, Off-Script with Sohla on Food52, Mystery Menu on NYT Cooking, and Ancient Recipes on HISTORY channel.
Now she has a channel with her husband Ham, go subscribe! 🔥
Also check out her new cookbook, Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook. (It’s A++.)
Uncle Roger (Nigel Ng)
10.6M YouTube Subscribers
HAIYAA! How could we not have included Uncle Roger on our list earlier? We’re ashamed.
Follow Uncle Roger if you want to learn how to master fried rice and the magic of MSG, subscribe to Uncle Roger.
Yeung Man Cooking
1.55M YouTube Subscribers
Yeung Man Cooking focuses on easy plant based recipes. If you’re vegan, you’ll want to subscribe! Even if you’re not, Wil’s plant based dishes look delicious. We appreciate how he edits his videos, it makes it so easy to follow along and cook alongside while watching!
You Suck at Cooking
3.69M YouTube Subscribers
“You suck at cooking, yeah you totally suck.”
Does this channel need an explanation? Subscribe.
What’s your favourite cooking YouTube channel? Let us know in the comments below!