15 Cooking Classes in Tanzania Worth Booking

1.Zanzibar Cooking Class & Spice Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 77 reviews · from $40Our pick

Meet a local host such as Lutfia or Rashid for a five-hour Zanzibar food experience. Shop for ingredients at Darajani Market, taste unusual fruits and spices at a community farm, then cook and eat several local dishes, including pilau and banana recipes.

“After buying goods at the market, visit of a spice farm. Azusa Spice Farm. Then cooking a 4 plates meal. Marvelous with a lot of tips to prepare rice pilau for exemple ou banana. The lady who gave the cours was exceptional. Warmly recommended.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Spice Farm Tour with Traditional Cooking Lesson

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 77 reviews · 3 hours · from $65

Meet your English or Swahili-speaking guide at Stone Town’s Old Fort or arrange hotel pickup. Walk among cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper, taste tropical fruit, help make coconut milk and cassava dishes, then eat a farm lunch.

“The spice tour was so fun! It was very informative. I loved learning about all of the plants and their uses. Everyone was very kind, and our guide and driver were especially great.”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Half-Day Kuza Cave Swimming Adventure and Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 44 reviews · from $13Best value

Spend four hours at Kuza Cave near Jambiani swimming in clear cave water, exploring Swahili history, cooking with coconut and spices, and enjoying music. The Kuza Cave Culture Centre supports local education projects. Lunch, fees, and taxes are included, but transport is not.

“Most beautiful caves we have seen. We however had to ask to be shoen the other attractions as the guide was attending to four groups. The tea garden was disappointing. But once again - the caves were stunning and swimming there was some experience. We did not partake in the vooking as my wife was not well”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.NGO Lifted Strong – Traditional Tanzanian Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 39 reviews · from $50Top rated

Join Joyce and the LISCO team in Arusha for a three-hour, small-group cooking session with local Mamas. Prepare dishes such as samosas, soup, ugali, rice, vegetables, or cooked bananas, learn Swahili ingredient names, and support women facing poverty, illness, and domestic violence.

“Its more like "cooking together" than like a real cooking class but it was a nice afternoon with those lovely women and we really like the food. Don't bei afraid to take the walk to Lifted Strong, it's just a little bit far from main street, but no worries!”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.Traditional Tanzania Cooking Class & Food Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 34 reviews · from $42

Your guide picks you up in central Arusha, leads a 30-minute food-market visit, helps you choose two dishes, then takes you to Sanawari for a hands-on class in a simple local kitchen. Guides such as Israel, James, Jack, and Lameck have led this experience.

“From start to finish, this experience was beyond exceptional. Our guide and chef was not only incredibly friendly and welcoming, but also deeply knowledgeable about Tanzanian culture and cuisine. What made this class so special was thaRead more”

Check availability →Read our full review

6.Cooking and Sewing & Jewelry Workshops in Arusha

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 14 reviews · from $33

Meet Glory and the women of WEHAF for a hands-on Arusha workshop. Choose Tanzanian cooking, where you make chapati or pilau, or combine sewing with Maasai jewelry making. You will visit the mama center, share tea and a snack, and leave with a local handmade souvenir.

Check availability →Read our full review

7.Mnemba Dolphin Tour, Clear Kayak, Cooking Class, Horse Riding

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 14 reviews · from $220

Spend nine hours exploring Zanzibar with a private guide and driver. Snorkel near Mnemba Island, kayak at Kendwa, taste tropical spices, cook a Swahili meal, and ride along the beach. Guides may include Mohamed, Ali, Abdul, or Andy. Hotel pickup, lunch, water, and transport are included.

“Brilliant full day trip, Mohammed was our guide and made sure all our needs were met throughout, great Knowledge of Zanzibar too. The dolphin tour & the cooking class was the best part of the day. All round excellent day out”

Check availability →Read our full review

8.Traditional Zanzibar Cooking Class including Spice Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 14 reviews · from $68

Start at 9:30 with pickup and an air-conditioned ride to Kizimbani, where guide Lukem and local host Hassan may lead you through a spice farm. Harvest ingredients, cook Zanzibari dishes with a local woman, then return to Stone Town around 2 p.m.

“This was a lovely experience! We had an on-time pickup. We enjoyed exploring, learning, smelling, and tasting the spices of Mtausa Spice Farm. And even more we enjoyed cooking as a group; our dishes turned out great! My only suggestion is Read more”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.A private half day spice farm with a cooking lesson

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 13 reviews · from $90

After a 10:00 a.m. hotel pickup, your private guide takes you north to see vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, tropical fruit, and other plants where they grow. You then cook and eat a traditional Zanzibar dish in a local home. Guides named Machano, Messa, and Mussa have led past departures.

“It’s was a perfect trip that i have ever done in my life, nice swahili foods alot of the experience in this. The one who arrange for us tha tours was a very nice guy and he also have an experience for this this. Hope to came back next time in Zanzibar Zanzibar Hakuna Matata.”

Check availability →Read our full review

10.Traditional Tanzania Cooking class& Food Market Tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.9 · 12 reviews · 5 hours · from $45

Start with hotel pickup near Arusha city center, then visit a local food market with guides such as Liroy and Israel. Shop for ingredients before cooking plantain, chapati, ugali, vegetables, and optional meat with chef Neema. The five-hour tour ends with a shared meal and recipes to take home.

“It’s a very nice day with the guides (Israel and Leroy) The guides were very attentive and interesting. We visit 2 markets and take the time with the peoples, and buy the food for cooking. The chef Neema was very nice too. She is very good chef and its funny to cook together. A beautiful moment with this people.”

Check availability →Read our full review

11.Full-Day Private Tour in Zanzibar with Cooking Class

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · from $110

Spend 9 to 12 hours with a private guide exploring Stone Town, its slave-trade sites, Sultan’s palaces, old doors, and Freddie Mercury’s former home. Shop at Darajani Market, tour a spice farm, then cook and eat a traditional Zanzibar lunch in a local home.

“The tour started with Yaseen driving us along with our tour guide Khamees explaining everything. We walked through the forest and arrived to a Zanzibari primitive shack where everything was set for a cooking lesson.”

Check availability →Read our full review

12.Cooking Class Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 9 reviews · from $90

Meet at Tembo House Hotel at 9 a.m. for a five-hour Swahili cooking class with a local Zanzibari chef. Shop for ingredients, cook over a charcoal brazier, and eat what you prepare. Vegetarian dishes can be arranged, and groups are limited to six.

“A wonderful opportunity to watch and participate in the preparation of a delicious Zanzibar meal made over a coal stove in a home. Halisi Africa Tours did a great job adjusting the schedule and preparations due to the weather (currently in the Read more”

Check availability →Read our full review

13.Private Market Tour and Tanzanian Cooking Class in Moshi

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 7 reviews · from $86

William guides you through a Moshi market before taking you to Shida’s mud house for a private cooking class. Grate coconut with a traditional buzi, cook ugali over a wood fire, and eat with the family. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

“I wanted to experience Tanzanian culture and this was the perfect way to start off. Mama Shida's son William picked me up at my Hotel and gave me a private tour of the local market. We picked up local ingredients, talked with vendors, and I tried dried sardines and other frRead more”

Check availability →Read our full review

14.Zanzibar Cooking Class [Swahili food test ] and Spice farm Private tour

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 6 reviews · from $59

Start with a three-hour walk through Tangawizi Spice Farm, touching and tasting cloves, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, and tropical fruit. Then join Mama Africa for cassava harvesting, coconut milk making, and Swahili cooking. Private transport, lunch, and entry fees are included.

“+great customer service (Amina was our guide) -you’ll want to plan to tip several different people (guide, cooking class, coconut drink, driver) so have a lot of change in cash or shillings as they do not take cards for that or purchases. It’s definiRead more”

Check availability →Read our full review

15.Spice tour and cooking class (local food)

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews

Spend about eight hours at a Nungwi spice farm with guide Sultan and local cooks. Walk among spices, choose ingredients, prepare dishes such as spice rice and coconut sauce, then eat together. Pickup is offered, and the private tour costs $155 for up to two people.

“The spice tour and cooking class are both an amazing experience and made for a great day. The tour guides involved are extremely knowledgeable and all around incredible people to get to know. Can’t recommend this enough!!”

Check availability →Read our full review