Best Cooking Anime

Lots of people make a nice big batch of popcorn before watching their favorite shows, but what about fans who want to sink their teeth into some serious meals? Cooking shows are immensely popular, so much so that even fictional food made in the world of anime has entranced fans for years.

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By  Jessica Faith

Food is an amazing way for people to connect, and the stories told through Japanese animation with those themes are truly a sight to behold. Even if they're drawn with pen and paper, some of the dishes shown in anime are absolutely mouthwatering as well.

Updated January 11, 2024 by Oluwatokiloba Folami: A lot of work goes into cooking as it is a delicate process that some people might find intimidating. The cooking process is quite hard to capture through animation but anime creators make it look effortless. They show the intricate details and the delicious, drool-worthy results that make viewers want to have a taste. The urge to want to reach out for the screen and have a taste for the food or have a craving is what can be considered a trademark for a good cooking anime. Cooking anime turns simple ingredients into masterpieces while celebrating the artistry of food and showcasing the emotional connections food creates.

1 Kirakira Precure A La Mode

Magic And Desserts

• Release Date: Jan 28, 2018
• Genre: Action, Gourmet
• Studio: Toei Animation
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll

Ichika tries to bake a cake for her mom but this act kickstarts her journey as a magical girl who uses baking to fight evil. While baking a cake, a fairy named Pekorin appears because he detects happiness in her cake. Just as Pekorin detected that happiness, categorized as Kirakiraru, evil fairies can also detect it and show up to steal it.

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By  Patrick Armstrong

Ichika manages to defeat the evil fairy who showed up to try to steal the happiness in her cake and her magical girl journey begins as she decides to stop every evil fairy from stealing any dessert with Kirakiraru. Kirakira Precure a la Mode is a magical girl anime that combines dessert making with magic and follows Ichika as she uses the power of sweets and desserts to fight evil.

2 Sushi Police

Focuses On Japanese Sushi

• Release Date: Mar 31, 2016
• Genre: Comedy, Gourmet, Mystery
• Studio: KOO-KI
• Streaming Service: N/A

Sushi Police focuses on the Sushi Police as the name implies. It is a global food agency whose mission is to make sure no restaurant in Japan serves fake Japanese sushi. To do that, they will do whatever it takes to find and bring down any restaurant that serves fake Japanese sushi.

This anime showcases traditional Japanese sushi. The beautiful visuals of perfectly made sushi, from glistening sashimi to seasoned nigiri, show the precision and beauty of Japanese food. The drool-worthy sushi scenes will make viewers want to have authentic, high-quality Japanese sushi.

3 Antique Bakery

Focuses On French Desserts

Following one passion can be scary but Keiichirou faces his fear head-on as he quits his high-paying job to open a bakery. Keiichirou hires a head pastry chef, an assistant pastry chef, and a waiter and officially starts his pastry business. Together, they go through the ups and downs of running a bakery.

Keiichirou and his staff make beautiful pastries like chocolates, tarts, and mille-feuille. Antique Bakery stands out for its focus on French desserts and the emotional connections food creates, which will make viewers feel and crave something sweet.

4 Bartender

Perfect Drink For Every Situation

It has become quite normal for individuals to look for an escape from their daily dilemmas or from the stressful day they have had at work, and this is where Ryuu comes in. Ryuu makes the best cocktails ever in the world of Bartender. His drinks are known to be so good that they can soothe a person’s worried mind.

He bartends at Eden Hall, a bar so prestigious and hidden that not anyone can get in. To get into this bar, one has to be invited by the host. Bartender showcases the thought and delicate actions Ryuu puts into making his cocktails. He connects with each of his customers to make the perfect drink to take their worries away.

5 Cooking With The Valkyries

Highlights The Simple Act Of Sharing Meals

• Release Date: Jun 28, 2019
• Genre: Comedy, Gourmet
• Studio: Blade, Thundray
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll

Valkyries are known to be responsible for choosing which soldiers die in battle and bringing their souls to Valhalla, the hall of the slain, where they are honored and prepared for the afterlife. They are seen as protectors and guides for brave warriors. However, these brave warriors have a life outside the battlefield, and Cooking With The Valkyries captures that.

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When the Valkyries are not in battle, they are busy making memories and eating good food. This anime is intimate and heartwarming as each episode showcases the Valkyries going through every cooking process with care and love.

6 Today's Menu For The Emiya Family

Showcases The Joy A Simple Meal Can Bring

• Release Date: Jan 25, 2018
• Genre: Gourmet, Slice of Life
• Studio: Ufotable
• Streaming Service: Crunchyroll, Prime Video

Shirou spends his time cooking and each episode of this anime shows him cooking different meals. With no threat of war looming over his city, Shirou now has peace of mind and can live his life peacefullly. He ventures into cooking because he enjoys it and when he is not in the kitchen cooking, he is at the marketplace looking for new ingredients to turn into mouthwatering meals.

Although Shirou is on a tight budget, his cooking has not been anything but delicious. His incredible cooking skills have unsurprisingly attracted many people to him from far and wide as they want to try out his food. This anime showcases Shirou’s joy when it comes to cooking and as guests from various cities visit his house, he shows them the step-by-step process of how to make the different meals he loves.

7 Cinderella Chef

Delicious Drama Meets Historical Adventure To Create A Dazzling Meal

Ye Jiayoa loves cooking so much that she wants to be a chef. She is always down to try and experiment with Chinese recipes until one day it goes wrong, and her cooking kills her. Luckily, her life does not end there, as she reincarnates as Jinxuan Ye, a politician's daughter in Imperial China. All Jiaxuan wants is to be able to cook, but she gets kidnapped by some bandits.

Not swayed by the danger, she finds herself in as she just wants to cook and try out new recipes, Jiaxuan makes the best of her horrible situation and uses her superb cooking skills to charm the bandits.

8 Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie

A Sumptuous Display Of Confectionery Arts

Fans who have a sweet tooth might find Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie very appealing, as it tells the story of a young girl who aspires to be a pastry chef. Sayuri loves sweets and loves making them even more. She gets a scholarship to a prestigious school that trains pastry chefs, and life seems to be going well for her.

However, she soon discovers that making sweets on a professional level might not be as easy as she thought. However, Sayuri’s love for making sweets is stronger than every obstacle or challenge that pastry school throws at her.

9 Delicious In Dungeon

A Flavorful Journey In A Dungeon That Is Both Thrilling And Mouth-Watering

When adventurers come across a dangerous monster, they do their best to ensure that they do not end up as the monster’s meal. However, when adventurers defeat these monsters, fans rarely see the adventurers eat the monsters. Delicious in Dungeon is an anime that changes the narrative as fans are introduced to Senshi, a dwarf who specializes in cooking and eating defeated monsters.

The taste of victory is indeed sweet, and Senshi makes sure he savors the taste of his victories by eating the monsters he defeats. Laious, the main protagonist, creates a party of adventurers to save his sister from being the meal of the feracious red dragon, and Senshi joins the party with his cooking utensils because he wants to have a taste.

10 Oishinbo

Exploration Of Japanese Cuisine, Combining Instructional Features With Tantalizing Animation

• Release Date: Oct 17, 1988
• Genre: Comedy, Gourmet, Slice of Life
• Studio: Shin-Ei Animation

Food is probably the only thing that makes Yamaoka Shirou happy. This journalist is on the quest for the ultimate menu as he tries restaurants all around Japan. Yamaoka’s father is a food critic, and he believes that his father values food more than everything else, but even with this knowledge, Yamaoka still follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a food critic himself.

Drama aside, this anime takes viewers on a journey as Yamaoka and his lucky colleague, Kurita Yuko, try out all the dishes available in Japan, from homemade ones to exquisitely made dishes.