Oaxacan Vegetarian Cooking Class
Recommended by 96% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Oaxaca City, Mexico
- 4 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Sample Menu
Starter
Salad
Fresh salad of local products
Main
Traditional Oaxacan Main Dish
Some Festive Mole or a cooked dish to share
Dessert
A sweet surprise
A sweet surprise
What's Included
- Snacks
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Bottled water
- Lunch
- Cooking materials
- Kitchen equipment
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- TeoLabXicoténcatl 609, Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oax., Mexico
The class starts at Xicotencatl 609, Col. Centro, show up at the reception and show your reservation code.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
1
Espacio Mezcal
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Jason_B
What a brilliant experience this was, a real highlight of our time in Oaxaca. Thank you Victor for sharing your culture and family history with us, it was a privilege. The trip to the market was interesting, the cooking fun and the food to eat amazing. Great to get the recipes to take home. Can’t recommend this enough!
Reviews
4.9
based on 263 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Samuel_G, Jul 2026
Nice afternoon learning how to make authentic Oaxacan soup, quesadillas, and memelitas. A thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Teresa_B, Jun 2026
This is a very interesting afternoon of going to a real market in a non-touristy corner of Oaxaca. Quetie (sp?) shopped with us, identified unfamiliar fruits for us, and then let us back to the big kitchen where in a friendly and clear way she instructed us and how to make a wonderful vegetarian soup with corn and spinach and how to make delicious tortillas by hand and mamelas and quesadillas. Diego concocted a fantastic mango with mescal cocktail. My daughter and I loved it and have already gone shopping at our local Mexican store back in Chicago to try to re-create the menu. We appreciated these hard-working and friendly young people of Oaxaca who shared their culture and skills very generously with us. I highly recommend them.
Karen_K, Jun 2026
This is a brilliant way to learn how to cook a traditional Oaxacan meal with a vegetarian twist. Victor made us feel included, and happily shared his knowledge -: from going to the local market to select ingredients, to making and eating a wonderful meal including mole, rice, guacamole, tortillas, empanadas and fruit. Drinks included traditional chocolate, mezcal and Jamaica juice. Highly recommended.
L_H, May 2026
Great fun going to the market en cooking together. Was lucky to only have the cooking course with 1 other nice visitor, in low season. We had so much fun. The food was delicious, the guidance was good. Thanks!
Michael_B, Apr 2026
Nice. Quetzale, our teacher helped us learn about many new fruits and had us do the cooking with little lessons. I had always wanted to learn how to make tomatillo salsa and that happens to be what we made. I’d highly recommend the class. I eat most meats etc but it didn’t matter. I wanted to learn about sauces and we got a good basic Mole and the Tomatillo salsa in one evening and then got to eat the food we made.
Stephanie_S, Apr 2026
This cooking class was so enjoyable. Our group made so many dishes to enjoy at the end and even though many tasks were split up, I still left having a good sense of how to make each dish. The tortilla/quesadilla making was a highlight.
FatimavanEerdAlbahza, Mar 2026
Local and authentic vegetarian cuisine. Local products and knowledge.
Victor and Wendy were the perfect hosts, the pace was great and humour never failed. I learnt so much and the end result was impressive. Delicious foods with amazing salsas. Thanks Victor for sharing your knowledge and insight!
Cynthia_H, Mar 2026
Fabulous experience and learned so much! The food we prepared was a huge feast and delicious! Casual and friendly group.
Dominika_D, Feb 2026
Delicious meal and a nice amount of information on produce and Oaxaca! Let's go again:) A little bit of a hurry finishing.
terisa_t, Feb 2026
This was probably in the top three highlights of our trip. I hate doing things that feel overly manicure tourism and Victor made this both accessible for non English speakers and encouraged us to learn some Zapotec language. He’s got a super behind each ingredient and we squeezed so much into these few hours—mole, tortillas, and chocolate. It’s hard to describe how much we learned by going to a market and learning what makes quesillo of Oaxaca unique directly from the artisans themselves. I got so much more than just “here’s how to cook this”—more like: here’s what thousands of years of love and history express itself in food. We ate in a group in a long table and by the end, everyone felt like friends.
Joanne_d, Feb 2026
Very friendly and knowledgeable instructor. Kitchen/studio well set up for class. Market tour was informmative and the food we made absolutely delicous. Mole recipe simple enough to recreate at home. Great experience!
Jason_B, Feb 2026
What a brilliant experience this was, a real highlight of our time in Oaxaca. Thank you Victor for sharing your culture and family history with us, it was a privilege. The trip to the market was interesting, the cooking fun and the food to eat amazing. Great to get the recipes to take home. Can’t recommend this enough!
Sheena_C, Feb 2026
We had a wonderful cooking class. Very informative and fun, the class was interactive and we can’t wait to try this dish at home
Dafna_S, Jan 2026
A very well run tour with friendly guides who have their routine down to a science. The meal we prepared from foods purchased together in the market. Despite the rustic nature of the kitchen, a complex and delicious meal was prepared and enjoyed, aesthetically arranged on our plates.. We loved our experience. .
Kamilla_P, Jan 2026
Such a great experience! Victor is so good at telling stories about the culture of Oaxaca and the food that is made during the class.
Margaret_H, Jan 2026
An absolute must-do experience. Cannot recommend enough. Amazing food and the class leader was exceptional.
Rheannin_B, Dec 2025
Amazing experience! Victor was a great chef who had an excellent team. He shared a lot about historical ingenious cuisine with us and taught us to cook amazing food. I value the efforts to purchase local food as well. Absolutely recommend this to others!!
Jinshang_W, Dec 2025
In this class you would be able to experience /observe the cooking process of quite a few signature dishes. The whole process started from grocery shopping in the mercado (traditional market). In the market, we had a chance to taste the local cheese as well. The format of cooking class itself was different from what I had in Thailand where everyone cooked a whole set of three to four dishes. Here it was more of a collective work and the downside was that you only knew/experienced the steps that you were assigned to though it was understandable as the dishes we worked on were signatures but complicated. (Mole, quesadilla, etc.)
Deborah_W, Dec 2025
It’s an excellent, in depth, well-organised, hands-on cookery class - which produced delicious results! Despite around 20 in our group, our chef/teacher organised us superbly. First a market visit to learn about the fruit, veg and cheese we would be cooking with and tasting. Then aprons on and we were assigned tasks: chopping nopal (cactus) and other veg; preparing the tortilla/quesedilla dough; making pico de gallo salad, sauteeing zucchini, cooking rice and a superb mole recipe: nuts, cinnamon, sesame seeds, chillies. We all mucked in brilliantly well and the results were a vegetarian banquet - dare I say best meal of the trip! Recipe sheets can be photographed or accessed via QR codes. Cannot recommend highly enough.
Nicole_P, Dec 2025
This experience was wonderful, we went to a smaller neighborhood. Market learned a lot about local ingredients and tried some too, then returned to the Etnofoods facility and made a fantastic lunch. I really recommend this for meet eaters too.
ELIZABETH_G, Nov 2025
Victor was an amazing teacher of Oaxaca, the cuisine and how to cook it step by step! Best mole (and the rest of the food!) I've ever had! My favorite memory from my short trip by far.
Hazel_P, Nov 2025
Great experience, Victor and team were amazing and the food delicious and healthy. Loved it and highly recommend
Samuel_S, Nov 2025
Couldn't recomend this class more highly. Victor was an incredible teacher, sharing his families traditional recipies, giving a comprehensive insight behind Oaxacan cuisine, the history around it and then the techniques used. The food we cooked was absolutely delicious. I can't wait to get back home and try recreate them. Victor was also very encouraging to us as non spanish speakers and helped us improve along the way. His team working with him were also very lovely
Joakim_V, Jul 2025
Absolutely amazing. Victor made the experience, really interesting. We went to the marked and bought ingredients for our cooking. Then we learned a lot about how food was made by his grandmother and it tasted really good.
This has been the absolute highlight of our Mexico adventure. And we will recommend it to everyone who has plans of going to Oaxaca.
Thank you Victor!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi there,
Thanks so much for your review! 🌱 We’re so glad Victor made the cooking class such a memorable experience. From wandering the market to trying his grandmother’s recipes, it sounds like a really fun and tasty day.
We’re thrilled it was a highlight of your trip and thank you for spreading the word!
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
Levi_D, Jul 2025
It was great! Delicious food and good company. We prepared a mole with mushrooms, rice, sautéed zucchinis and similar vegetables, tortillas, and empanadas. Everyone was very knowledgeable and friendly and our group was 9 people.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Levi,
Thank you for your lovely review! 🌱 We’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed the cooking class and the delicious food you prepared with the group. From mole with mushrooms to tortillas and empanadas, it sounds like a full and tasty day!
We’re glad the team made the experience so friendly and informative, here’s to many more culinary adventures!
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
Denise_S, Jul 2025
First, Quetzal took us to a small Mercado which was not crowded. This allowed her to show us different types of fruit and vegetables without being in anyone’s way. We tasted quesilla and bought 2 types for our meal. We walked back to Etnofood with our purchases and went to the kitchen space. She gave clear instructions to each of us on what to prepare. For our class, we made a soup and memelas, so we cut vegetables and pressed masa. The food was delicious, and it was a great way to learn about Oaxacan flavors.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Denise,
Thank you for sharing your experience! 🌱 We’re delighted you enjoyed the cooking class with Quetzali and the visit to the small market, it’s such a great way to explore local fruits and vegetables. It sounds like the hands-on preparation of soup and memelas made for a fun and tasty learning experience!
We’re so glad you enjoyed the flavours of Oaxaca and the class overall.
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
Diane_S, May 2025
The vegetarian cooking class was more than just delicious food! We learned about Zapotec culture and history from our knowledgeable and friendly guide, Victor. The class was the perfect combination of traditional methods and modern takes on Oaxacan recipes. I would recommend this experience to anyone.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Diane,
Thank you so much for your lovely review! 🌱 We’re thrilled you enjoyed the vegetarian cooking class and that Victor could share insights into Zapotec culture and history along the way. It’s wonderful to hear that the mix of traditional techniques and modern twists on Oaxacan recipes made the experience so enjoyable.
Thomas_E, May 2025
Fun class that gave us a unique perspective on sustainable cooking in Oaxaca. Loved visiting the market, though it was almost closed down for the evening so I wonder if the morning session would be more interesting. Learned several fun recipes including a delicious mole with several local herbs we’d never tried before.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for sharing your experience! 🌿 We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed the vegetarian cooking class and exploring sustainable Oaxacan cooking. It’s great that you discovered new local herbs and had fun with the recipes, especially the mole!
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
Kathy_H, Apr 2025
This cooking experience was amazing! I wish we’d done it earlier in our visit because we learned a lot about Oaxacan food. The instructors were excellent and we really enjoyed the other people in the class. Plus we ate one of the best meals we’ve had here and we helped cook it!!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Kathy,
Thank you so much for your lovely review! 🌿 We’re delighted to hear you enjoyed your Oaxacan Vegetarian Cooking Class and that it left such a delicious impression. There’s nothing quite like helping to create a meal and then tasting the results!
We’ll be sure to pass on your compliments to the instructors—they’ll be thrilled to hear how much you appreciated them. And we completely agree, meeting fellow food lovers always adds a special flavour to the experience.
We’d love to welcome you back anytime for more culinary adventures in Oaxaca!
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
Abby_D, Apr 2025
Victor was fabulous. He taught us a ton, had a great personality and the food we made was amazing I would highly recommend.
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi Abby,
Thank you so much for your lovely words! 🌿 Victor will be thrilled to hear he made the class both fun and informative. We’re delighted you enjoyed cooking—and of course tasting—your Oaxacan creations. Nothing beats a kitchen full of laughter and delicious food!
We’d absolutely love to welcome you back for another culinary adventure sometime.
Warm regards,
The Etnofood Team
From $69.65
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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