Cooking Classes for Kids, Teens and Adults
Join us in our Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley kitchens for hands-on cooking classes! We focus on making delicious, nutritious recipes approachable for all ages. (Yes, all—our Tater Tots series starts at two years old!) You’ll learn knife skills, how to build flavor and customize recipes, and so much more. Of course, we eat what we cook—you won’t leave hungry!
Family Classes
Cooking is more fun when the whole family joins in! Bring the family together in our kitchen and learn side-by-side to prepare delicious meals. Classes are tailored for children and teens with a family adult. Share your favorite food memories and traditions, build healthy relationships with food and cooking and let the kids show off all their emerging kitchen skills!
Adult Classes
Whether you’re a seasoned home cook or just finding your feet in the kitchen, our adult cooking classes (ages 18+) offer new techniques and plenty of culinary inspiration. From our foundational Basic Skills series to specialty workshops like sourdough baking, knife skills, and regional cuisines, you’ll learn new tips and tricks and feast on your delicious results!
Spring Break and Summer Camps
In these day-long or week-long camps, children in grades TK-6th will explore new flavors and techniques, and of course come home with some seasonal recipes to share. Plus, we go beyond the kitchen with art, science, and gardening activities—all tying in with food exploration.
Click here for all Summer Camp info.
After-school Classes
Teaching at local schools is AtoZ's bread and butter—it’s how we started out! With our mobile kitchen carts, we bring everything we need to our partner schools for students to prep, cook and enjoy a delicious meal after school. Each week we introduce new recipes and skills (Julienne cuts! Blanching! Balancing flavors!), cook with real stoves and sharp knives, and enjoy each others company over a shared meal. Cleaning up together is even FUN! Your child must be a student at one of our partner schools in order to participate in these series.
Want AtoZ at your child’s school? We’re always looking to expand our teaching programs in the Santa Barbara area. Ask your principal, PTA/PTO President, or after-school program coordinator to fill out this form!
Santa Ynez Valley Classes
We recently expanded to the Santa Ynez Valley and are thrilled to offer a variety of family-friendly and adult classes in various locations throughout the valley. Our Culinary Educators keep things fun and delicious with easily repeatable, mouth-watering recipes featuring seasonal and local produce. You’ll leave with a full belly and recipes to perfect at home!
Tater Tots Classes
Our "Tater Tots" classes are designed for toddlers and their caregivers. The focus of this series is curiosity and discovery. Children can play with their food! Led by our instructor, the kids can smell, touch, taste and even tear apart their fruit and vegetables. There is more than one way to enjoy our food!
No Tater Tots classes currently on offer…check back soon!
Scholarships Available
As Santa Barbara’s only non-profit cooking school, we strive to bring our programming to as many people as possible and are happy to provide scholarships whenever we can. We offer the following scholarship policy:
Afterschool: One semester, per year, per child
Summer Camp: One week max per summer, up to 75% off
Holiday Camp: One day, up to 100% off
Adult Class: Up to 25% off, up to 3 classes, per person, per year
Food as Medicine: Up to 75% off, up to 2 sessions per year, per person
If you are interested in applying for a scholarship please fill out this form.
