Best Food TV Shows To Watch In 2026
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2 days ago
Foodies, sink your teeth into these programmes
Chefs have been popping up on our screens pretty much since TV was invented – from the old-school Philip Harben to modern-day celebrity cooks like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay. Yet over the years, the world of food TV has evolved. While there’s still a place for traditional cooking programmes, there are also documentaries, fictional shows, cooking competitions and more.
Here we bring you some of the best food TV shows to watch in 2026, which will not only inspire you to get in the kitchen, but also shed light on different cultures across the world – plus see inside the high-pressure lives of chefs.
Food TV 2026: Documentaries, Reality TV, Competitions
(c) Netflix
Being Gordon Ramsay
One of the world’s most famous chefs, Gordon Ramsay is no stranger to the small screen. From his early days on Hell’s Kitchen to judging on MasterChef, he’s renowned for his fiery personality – as well as his prolific restaurant empire. But a new Netflix documentary shows Ramsay from a more intimate and personal angle. Being Gordon Ramsay is a six-part series following the lead-up to the opening of his latest London food empire at 22 Bishopsgate, which opened last year and cost a whopping £20m. The show will also offer a behind-the-scenes look at Ramsay’s family life with wife Tana and their six children. We hear from Tana about the struggles of being married to a high-profile chef, and Ramsay acknowledges that his job has made him an absent parent at points – as well as reflecting on his ‘torrid’ relationship with his own father. All episodes available to stream on Netflix.
Image courtesy of BBC
Flaming Feasts
Welsh food has been historically overlooked, argues chef Chris ‘Flamebaster’ Roberts. The firebrand cook takes viewers up and down the lengths of Wales in the BBC’s new six part series, Flaming Feasts, to try the country’s natural larder with a healthy side of char. You can expect drama, as the chef prepares a whole-cow cookout over 30 unsleeping hours – to feed 300 – as well as passion, as Roberts fights the corner for the country’s culinary traditions. It’s a fascinating insight into the work undertaken by Welsh growers, harvesters, fishers and farmers, and how often locally the food is taken outside its community to make up international export. Plus, the 25-stone chef undertakes a fishing trip in a vessel smaller than a washing basket, ‘like a drunken duck’.
Watch Flaming Feasts on BBC One at 11:30AM on Saturday 28 March (or a day earlier on BBC One Wales, at 7:30PM). bbc.co.uk
Gill, Sumayah, Dylan, Illiyin, Christiaan, Georgie and Nelly.
The Great British Bake Off
It’s a bittersweet time for Bake Off fans: Prue Leith recently announced she was leaving the show, but we now know she’ll be replaced by another national treasure, Nigella Lawson. The food writer and TV chef said she is ‘bubbling with excitement’ about her new role, describing it as a ‘huge honour’ to be entrusted with such a beloved show. We haven’t yet got a release date for the next series, but it usually kicks off on a Tuesday evening in September and will likely follow the same format as previous years, which sees a line-up of amateur bakers competing across a series of Signature, Technical and Showstopper challenges. New for 2026 is ‘Audience Choice’ week, where viewers are given the reins to set the challenges. Returning in autumn 2026; previous series are available to stream on Channel 4.
Jimi Famurewa, Jay Rayner and William Sitwell (c) BBC / Shine TV
MasterChef: The Professionals
After a tumultuous couple of years for MasterChef which saw long-time judge Gregg Wallace sacked following allegations of misconduct, the show is kicking off a new era. First up is series 18 of spinoff MasterChef: The Professionals, starring new judge Matt Tebbutt (Saturday Kitchen) alongside Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti – as well as appearances from guests like critics William Sitwell and Jay Rayner. As usual 32 professional chefs will be battling it out through a series of tough culinary challenges, with the three finalists embarking on an Italian cooking adventure before attempting to deliver the best three-course meal of their careers in the Grand Final. Three new episodes drop each week on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The Heat
Love Island meets MasterChef in this juicy new reality series from ITV. Hosted by broadcaster Olivia Attwood, the show follows ten chefs who travel to Barcelona to work under prestigious chef Jean-Christophe Novelli. So far, so normal. But this isn’t your typical cooking competition show: in The Heat the cameras keep rolling outside of the kitchen, which means we’re privy to all the behind-the-scenes drama too – think unexpected romances and fiery disputes. But the contestants must keep their heads in the game to impress Novelli, who is on a mission to find the next culinary star. First episode drops on 24 February 2026 on ITV2 at 9pm, with new episodes then released daily.
BBC / Optomen Television Limited / Kate Hollingsworth
Great British Menu
This BBC stalwart has remained one of the most popular cooking shows on TV since it launched back in 2006. It returns for series 21 this February, complete with a fresh new line-up of 32 hopeful chefs from across Britain and Northern Ireland who compete in a series of regional battles. The theme for 2026 is movies: fans can expect dishes inspired by the likes of James Bond, Wallace and Gromit, Harry Potter and Notting Hill, with this year’s final banquet hosted by a line-up of big names from Britain’s film industry. Great British Menu is judged by long-standing chefs Tom Kerridge and Lorna McNee, alongside newbie Phil Wang who took over from podcaster Ed Gamble. First episode drops on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 24 February 2026 at 7pm, with three one-hour episodes screened each week for the first eight weeks followed by five episodes in the ninth week.
The Bear
One of the most talked about food shows of the modern day is The Bear, Disney+’s brilliant restaurant drama created by Christopher Storer, which has run for four seasons with a fifth recently confirmed. It follows a young chef called Carmy (played by Jeremy Allen White), who returns to Chicago to run a family sandwich shop following the tragic death of his brother. Prepare for sweaty palms and nail biting: The Bear is renowned for capturing the high-pressure, frenetic atmosphere of a restaurant kitchen, particularly in the early episodes. Season two is a little less anxiety-inducing, with more emotional depth, following the team as they pack up shop and focus on a new venture. All episodes available to stream on Disney+.
Celebrity Bake Off 2025 (c) Mark Bourdillon
Celebrity Bake Off
New Great British Bake Off may be a while off still, but in the meantime we’ve got the celebrity version to look forward to. The star-studded show – which raises money for Stand Up To Cancer – is back this spring, complete with a cohort of newbies: famous faces this year include influencer Molly Mae-Hague, radio presenter Scott Mills, comedian Joe Wilkinson and actor Ambika Mod, among others. Hollywood will be joined by Bake Off: The Professionals’ Cherish Finden to judge the stars’ baking efforts, with Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding returning to the tent as hosts. Returning spring 2026 to Channel 4.
Ugly Delicious
Netflix documentary series Ugly Delicious sees chef David Chang – founder of the Momofuki group of restaurants – travelling to culinary hotspots around the world and delving into their signature dishes. Instead of looking at haute cuisine, though, Chang focuses on comfort food: from the pizzas of New York to street tacos in Mexico. The series explores the stories behind dishes, as well as charting culture through food. In season two, there’s a more personal edge as Chang turns the camera on himself, looking into work/life balance for chefs as he prepares for the arrival of his son. One episode puts steak in the limelight, asking what a ‘steak dinner’ means to different people; another sees Chang travelling to India to explore its immense impact on food across the world. Available to stream on Netflix.
Chef’s Table
What goes on inside the kitchens of some of the world’s best chefs? David Gelb and Brian McGinn’s hit series Chef’s Table gives us a glimpse, taking us behind the scenes of prestigious restaurants – from Nancy Silverton’s perennially packed LA hotspot Osteria Mozza to Adeline Grattard’s fine dining restaurant in Paris. The show presents cooking as an art skill – expect lots of close ups of extravagant dishes, with food and chefs elevated to an almost godly experience. More recent series are more down-to-earth, profiling chefs at the helm of more affordable restaurants such as Asma Khan, founder of Darjeeling Express in Covent Garden. Available to stream on Netflix.
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat
Based on her bestselling book of the same name, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a cooking show led by Iranian-American chef Samin Nosrat, exploring what she believes are the four key principles of cooking. We watch Nosrat as she travels to places like Italy and Mexico, exploring how different parts of the world incorporate these pillars into their cuisine. Her enthusiasm for food is palpable, and the show is designed to convince the audience we too are capable of making delicious things. Expect cinematic close ups of food – but also more realistic shots, like Nosrat sneaking a bite of a meatball while it’s cooking. Available to stream on Netflix.
Nadiya’s Time To Eat
In her BBC cooking show, former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain presents a series of recipes for time-poor people who want to eat well. Half hour episodes see the cheerful host offering easy shortcuts for tasty dishes, from ten-minute omelettes to a fish bake fleshed out with spaghetti hoops. We learn how to turn pancakes into a traybake treat, a hack for speeding up bread-making, and the quickest method for making ice cream. Feeling inspired? You can find some of the recipes in her book of the same name. Available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
