For nearly as long as television has existed, the medium has offered audiences programming devoted to the most delectable-looking of life’s necessities: food. As much as the fondant-covered landscape has definitely evolved over the decades, with all manner of fanciness and competitiveness put into play, a core slice of the Food TV spectrum sticks to the simplest of all formats, a chef in a kitchen showing viewers how to make scrumdiddlyumptious meals.
Many of these shows share something in common, but not so much a particular culinary culture or ingredient. Rather, they can spark instant hunger cravings just from thinking about throwing an episode on. (Not so much the case with a lot of Seinfeld's best food moments, but I always crave a black-and-white cookie.)
Grab your most stylish bib and napkin set, your favorite movie theater snacks (rebranded for TV purposes), and make your way through the following buffet line of shows that will make you want to cook six-course meals, shows that will spark midnight munchies, and shows that might spark impulse trips across the globe. And if nothing so impulsive, at least the decision to switch over to some great food movies available to watch.
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
The king of culinary travel series, Anthony Bourdain hit the road with Travel Channel in 2005 for the masterful No Reservations. The insightful and eye-opening series takes viewers’ appetites everywhere from bowls of bone marrow soup in Singapore to cheese plates in Italy to pots of fish curry in India. Even the more extreme cuisines Bourdain tries out in the locations he visits start to look surprisingly appetizing after hearing his earnest descriptions.
Iron Chef
One of the most influential cooking competitions of all time, Iron Chef introduced U.S. viewers to a host of drool-worthy Asian dishes across the culinary spectrum (albeit through Food Network re-broadcasts). The battle results are never as impactful to me as the envy I feel regarding the judges tasting everything Chefs Sakai and Morimoto bring to the table. If only I could pan-fry this envy…
Rachael Ray
On top of the success of 30 Minute Meals and $40 a Day, celeb chef Rachael Ray debuted her long-running daytime talk show in 2006, offering viewers hundreds of daily dinner ideas that often hit the heights of the Yummo scale. Like many instruction-based shows and segments, Rachael Ray is ideal for when one’s appetite is limited to what’s readily available in the kitchen. Or a neighbor’s kitchen.
Somebody Feed Phil
One of the early candidates for Netflix’s best food shows, Somebody Feed Phil is the second meal-centric series from Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal, who brings a rather unique non-chef-fy vibe to the travel docu-series that perfectly complements all of the amazing dishes Rosenthal grubs down (without overdoing it) on around the world, from butcher shops in New Orleans to barbecues in Rio to utensil-worthy sandwiches in Santiago.
America's Test Kitchen
On the nerdier side of the culinary TV spectrum is America’s Test Kitchen, the long-running instructional cooking show where the whole premise is based on chefs testing themed recipes dozens of times in order to perfect them, while dishing out tips and tricks on what to do and not do when preparing at home. If you want perfect chocolate chip cookies, perfect grilled fish, perfect lemon ricotta pancakes and more, look no further than ATK (and Cook’s Illustrated Magazine).
Nailed It!
Considering all of the often non-edible monstrosities that the contestants slop together each season, Nailed It! Isn’t a go-to for vicarious hunger pangs, but I can’t make it through an episode without wanting all the cake in my immediate vicinity. To the point where it’s become a Pavlovian response to just want cake anytime Nailed It! comes up. Jacques Torres’ mastery of chocolate is a super-sweet bonus.
Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives
One of Food Network’s longest-running and most popular series, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives turned Guy Fieri into a culinary superstar, but even the oldest episodes remain rewatchable not for the host, but for the gobsmackingly delicious dishes he scarfed down across the country. (Somehow without packing on extra pounds.) From meatloaf sandwiches to seafood stews to barbecue to kebabs, Triple D is full of highlights that inspire travelers to seek out the restaurants that earned the Fieri seal of approval.
The French Chef
Not much can be said about Julia Child that hasn’t been already, but it’s a sign of her talent and impact that her seminal cooking series The French Chef can instantly make one’s stomach grumble with hunger, despite the fact that its final episode was produced in 1973. Not all of Child’s dishes may stand the test of time, but her takes on soups, pastries, and giant pieces of meat will always do the trick.
Top Chef
Few shows on TV set the bar for visuals of pure appetite-driving succulence the way that Top Chef has in the years since its Bravo debut in 2006. This show would make me hungry even if it was just relegated to Quickfire Challenges, but adding the jaw-dropping Elimination Challenge meals sends it up through the stratosphere. A good Top Chef episode will leave viewers hungry for roughly 30 different dishes, and even the biggest fail is worthy of gnawing on. (Exception: two dishes that made Tom Collichio spit up.)
Chopped
With its limited-time challenges and ingredient baskets that occasionally feature frightful options, Chopped can make viewers want to scream, but still manages to whet appetites thanks to the seemingly endless number of competitors that have graced its kitchen over the years. If chicken feet and durian don’t get your interest, just skip to the next round or two, and you’re sure to find something to mentally savor over.
Emeril Live
Just hearing the word “Bam!” can instantly still bring super-chef Emeril Lagasse to mind, thanks in large part to his long-running cooking series Emeril Live, which capitalized on his already strong popularity at Food Network. As a Southern Louisiana native, I’m particularly prone to drooling over Emeril’s signature NOLA flavors, especially when seafood is involved.
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
The fourth and final of all-star Anthony Bourdain’s mouth-watering shows, Parts Unknown marked his transition from Travel Channel to CNN. 12 seasons of dishes around the globe that any one person would be lucky enough to have some of, much less everything that Bourdain sat down to feast on. The Emmy-winning Parts Unknown will remain an important show beyond the food and cravings it inspired, for shining a spotlight on as many corners of the globe as it did, and in part because Bourdain’s death occurred between the eighth and final seasons.
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
Even if many of Food Network’s most familiar faces weren’t involved with The Best Thing I Ever Ate, the series would still be quite the mouth-watering influence, based on its title alone. But all the talented chefs sharing their favorite meals just means all of the food on display is on an A+ tier, regardless of whether the themes are tied to breakfast, lunch, dinner or desserts. My brain gains so much weight watching this show.
Great Chefs
PBS made its mark as a go-to channel for food fanatics years before Food Network entered the picture, and it was the initial home for one of TV’s most prolific food celebrations, Great Chefs (as well as its various spinoffs and specials). With so many hundreds of episodes out there, there are still plenty of world-class chefs whose dishes I have yet to start fantasizing about while standing in front of an empty pantry.
Unwrapped
Not all hunger is sparked by Michelin-starred restaurants or the apex of grandmotherly home cooking, and the Marc Summers-hosted Unwrapped can easily spark a craving for one (or all) of the myriad snack foods explored. Wendy’s Frostys? Check. Carnival food? Most of the cereal aisle? Check. I think it’s time to hit the grocery store.
Beat Bobby Flay
One of the best kinds of food competition shows, like Iron Chef, involves a lineup of hopefuls taking on a renowned name in the biz, and seemingly every episode of Beat Bobby Flay features a dish worth daydreaming about from the award-winner and/or his competitors. Especially when Flay is in his wheelhouse and the sauces are flowing.
Take Out With Lisa Ling
Journalist Lisa Ling took her talents to the world of Asian takeout restaurants in America for the captivating Max series Take Out with Lisa Ling. A series with much more on display than just amazing food, the streaming series definitely shines an overdue light on various hot spots and mouth-watering dishes from various Asian families and restaurant owners.
Binging with Babish
Home cook Andrew Rea is one of the most entertaining YouTube personalities in the food realm, due to his full-on embrace of pop culture’s most famed eats and drinks. Specifically, his series Binging with Babish brings to life dishes from everyone’s favorite TV shows and films, from The Simpsons’ root beer noodles to UHF’s Twinkie Wiener sandwich to Parks and Rec’s Turf ‘n’ Turf. Your taste buds’ mileage may vary, but I kinda want all of it.
Cupcake Wars
When savory cravings are too much to deal with, conjuring up thoughts of Cupcake Wars is an easy way to get the sweet tooth crying for attention. I’m admittedly not all that interested in the competitive side of the long-running Food Network hit, but am a total sucker for endless amounts of buttercream-coated displays. Cupcake wrappers optional.
Chef's Table
Netflix’s Chef’s Table is the still relatively rare food docu-series that focuses entirely on a different chef in each episode, without hosts or presenters distracting viewers from all the culinary masters’ fantastic dishes being created around the world. For those who prefer more focused high-calorie daydreams, the BBQ and Pizza spinoffs deliver some obsession-worthy visuals in and of themselves.
Supermarket Sweep
For anyone who lacks the innate desire to go grocery shopping, the classic Supermarket Sweep gamifies the process in a way that manages to get me hungry every time. The concept of a no-budget grocery shopping excursion is straight from heaven itself, even if I’m more likely fantasizing about bakery desserts and the candy aisle as opposed to high-priced items to cook with.
Cooking With Master Chefs
World-renowned chef Julia Child hosted the PBS series Cooking with Master Chefs, and authored the companion book of the same name, which saw her sharing meals prepared by such greats as Jacques Pépin, Emeril Lagasse, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken. Though it only lasted a single season, the meals cooked in the 16 episodes stand up to anything else worth dreaming about.
Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy
I’d tune into Stanley Tucci hosting a show about mop heads, such is his watchability, and the fact that CNN’s Searching for Italy combined the actor with some of the most gorgeous locations and dishes around the country is lagniappe. (Wait, that’s French.) Knowing I’ll likely never get to experience any of those meals myself, all I can do is live vicariously through my own memories of watching this show.
Good Eats
A food series like few others, thanks to the informative and charismatic stylings of host Alton Brown, Good Eats doesn’t rely on haute cuisine to get viewers interested in the grub we’re shoving in our faces. While forced learning doesn’t work for me with literature and other art forms, Good Eats makes me feel both smarter and hungrier after watching, even if it doesn’t really add to my life to know where beef jerky originated.
Iron Chef America
While Iron Chef America didn’t set out to replicate everything its source series did with its Japanese masters, the Food Network spinoff did also boast Masaharu Morimoto, and similarly never failed to deliver dishes worth dreaming about, regardless of how simple or complicated the battles’ ingredients were. Seeing Chopped judges like Marc Forgione, Geoffrey Zakarian, and Alex Guarnaschelli on the competitive side was a plus beyond all the yumminess.
The Great British Bake Off
As fans are well aware, much of the fun in watching The Great British Bake Off is all the feel-good vibes on display, but there have been more than enough delectable delights prepared on the UK series to make me forget all about the hosts’ witty rapport with the amateur chefs with all these different biscuits floating around my brain.
The Layover With Anthony Bourdain
The third of Anthony Bourdain’s food-embracing series following A Cook’s Tour and No Reservations, The Layover gave the esteemed chef the challenge/pleasure of spending the titular timeline in major cities all over the world, with the limitations of air travel layovers. From local haunts to more touristy destination meals, the show gave viewers plenty of edible visuals, and is possibly the best food show to watch while actually flying on an airplane. If only more than two seasons were produced.
Knife Fight
Debuting on the now-defunct Esquire Network, Knife Fight was hosted by Top Chef Season 2 champ Ilan Hall, and went hard on culinary battles in front of rowdy crowds, with off-the-wall ingredient line-ups to challenge the all-star chefs. It’s not necessarily the lamb belly or sweetbreads that get me salivating, but the wide array of large-scale meats and seafood that get turned into late-night delights.
MasterChef
The forever-outspoken Gordon Ramsay became a TV mainstay for being harsh in the kitchen, but MasterChef is the show to watch for anyone who wants to spend the evening dreaming about eating whatever meals put the biggest smiles on Ramsay and the other judges’ faces.
Down Home With The Neelys
Regardless of anything that happened behind the scenes with Patrick and Gina Neely that led to their show ending, Food Network’s Down Home with the Neely’s is a go-to for fans setting up barbecue grills in their brains, with so many excellent meat dishes and sides prepared across its multiple seasons.
Is It Cake?
Before this bizarro Internet phenomenon and Netflix’s trend-inspired competition series Is It Cake?, I didn’t know it was possible to feel cravings for a beach ball or a piñata or the Mona Lisa, but Is It Cake? made that happen.
Guilty Pleasures
This entry is kind of a no-brainer since it features a slew of Food Network greats and other celebs divulging their most desired dishes that might be viewed as shameful in any other context beyond celebrating glutinous urges. This is definitely the kind of show that will have you sitting up suddenly in the middle of the night, wondering why nobody sells bacon coffee cake in your immediate area.
And those are just some of the food shows that make me hungry!
