Authentic Cooking Class in Puerto Vallarta with Local Chef, Manu
Recommended by 99% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
Overview
Foodies who love to sample local cuisine when they travel will enjoy the opportunity to learn how to make Mexican food for themselves. Visit your local chef's home and learn to make a variety of Puerto Vallarta specialties, including mahi mahi ceviche and flamed plantains. You'll use fresh, seasonal ingredients to create a feast. Enjoy eating your meal after and learning skills to take home.
- Learn more about Mexican culture and cuisine
- This is a private cooking class just for you and your party
- Food and local beer are included
- Your host and instructor is a professionally trained chef
Sample Menu
Starter
Mahi mahi ceviche or ahi tune poke with avocado
Starter
Shrimp sopes or sopa de elote con rajas con crema (corn soup with poblano)
Main
Smoked marlin tacos with flamed plantains or beef shanks and nopales (cactus)
What's Included
- Private cooking class with your host Manu
- Home cooked Mexican meal
- Local beer or white wine
- All Fees and Taxes
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Otilo Montaño, Primavera de Vallarta, 48313 Puerto Vallarta, Jal., Mexico
Please meet Manuel at his home in Otilo Montaño. The above is a generic location. Please check the 'Before you go' section on your voucher, the above only offers neighbourhood details, and not the exact address. Exact address can be found in your ticket upon booking confirmation.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.What To Expect
1
Traveling Spoon
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Service animals allowed
- Stroller accessible
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Please note: this is not a professional cooking class, rather an experience to visit a local home to meet a local chef and share culture and cuisine together.
- Manu has a small and friendly lapdog. If you are uncomfortable around dogs, just let him know - he's happy to keep him in a separate room during your experience.
- 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
Richa_M
I am vegetarian and my husband is not and Chef Manu tailored to both of us. We started at the most intimate market where Chef Manu knew all the vendors and walked us through all the options of food there was. He asked about our likes, dislikes, food aversions and we came up with a coconut ceviche for me, a sea bass ceviche for my husband, and an oyster mushroom dish as well (in addition to two types of salsas). I expressed interest in a particular coconut dessert as well and Chef Manu went out of his way to another street food vendor and found it for me!
We then were welcomed into his home where my husband and I learned so many valuable cooking skills and techniques.
The food was AMAZING and we are still dreaming about how great it was. We definitely recommend this experience with the market tour.
Reviews
5.0
based on 94 reviews
Debbie_T, Feb 2026
It’s a ‘can’t miss’ tour. Being guided through the Mercado and seeing Chef Manu carefully select the ingredients for your meal and explain the various differences in products he was picking for your meal just made it so personal an experience. When arriving at his home you feel less like a guest and more like a friend. And he cooks an amazing meal! Very willing to take the time to answer questions and even teach skills! We have been slicing fresh peppers wrong our whole lives! Glad to be set straight! We all stopped talking when the food was served and that is the absolute best review you can give because you’re just too busy eating. Can’t recommend enough how wonderful we found this and have now decided it will always be included in our future trips to PV.
Rob_S, Jan 2026
Chef Manu is amazing!! He made some delicious authentic dishes. Introduced us to new flavours. Restaurants are nice, but a personalized one on one is next level.
Jackie_P, Dec 2025
We had a wonderful experience. We learned a lot and the food was amazing! I highly recommend this cooking class.
Richa_M, Dec 2025
I am vegetarian and my husband is not and Chef Manu tailored to both of us. We started at the most intimate market where Chef Manu knew all the vendors and walked us through all the options of food there was. He asked about our likes, dislikes, food aversions and we came up with a coconut ceviche for me, a sea bass ceviche for my husband, and an oyster mushroom dish as well (in addition to two types of salsas). I expressed interest in a particular coconut dessert as well and Chef Manu went out of his way to another street food vendor and found it for me!
We then were welcomed into his home where my husband and I learned so many valuable cooking skills and techniques.
The food was AMAZING and we are still dreaming about how great it was. We definitely recommend this experience with the market tour.
Peter_G, Nov 2025
We had a delicious meal that Manu prepared from scratch with consisting of sea bass, shrimp, and various sauces. He was very accommodating in making a non-seafood dish (gorditas) for my daughters. Manu is very personal, a good conversationalist, and an experienced chef. I would highly recommend this activity. It was one of the highlights of our stay in Puerto Vallarta!
Mary_A, May 2025
Such a great experience! The blend of spices, peppers and other fresh ingredients made it a fantastic experience. Locally fresh caught fish and shrimp were so delicious. Chef Manu has fantastic knife skills too!
Carol_S, Mar 2025
Chef Manu is so talented and has a charming way about him. We talked, he demonstrated, we laughed and ate the delicious food he made while we watched. His dog Max makes the day complete.
James_C, Feb 2025
Great experience. Very personal host learned new cooking skills and excellent receipes. Well worth the time Would recommend it to everyone who enjoys cooking and food.
Tish_J, Nov 2024
, Manu was a wonderful host and chef and the food was absolutely delicious. We all loved the entire experience and Manu , Max and the family were just lovely and very accommodating.
Nick_H, Oct 2024
Had a great time with Chef Manuel. He taught us how to make chicken enchiladas and ceviche. He even taught us how to property cut onions and peppers. It was a great time.
George_D, Sep 2024
We met st the fish market to learn about various fish. Then we went to Chef Manuel home for cooking lesson. Overall great experience and I feel like I can recreate the recipes at my home now too.
Mike_D, Apr 2024
Amazing experience. Manu was a fantastic chef and the food was delicious. Felt very comfortable and had many laughs and stories to share. Highly recommended!!!
Douglas_S, Feb 2024
Manual made the best food we’ve had here in PVR! Bar none! Excellent tour with him in the market and the food couldn’t have been more fresh and tasty! Excellent!!
Glenna_P, Jan 2024
The chef explained his culture and the history of the cuisine very well. And the food he prepared was delicious. Nice experience if you wish to sample authentic Mexican food without participating in the preparation. Informative and enjoyable.
Peter_S, Nov 2023
This was the second time we have booked a cooking class with Manuel. We brought friends along so we had a party of 4. A brief chat about our likes and dislikes was followed by an introduction to the local market where we bought Parrot-Fish, Steak and fresh vegetables for the Ceviche and Volcan Crispy Tortillas that were to follow.
Manuel is a sociable host, and we met Max his lovely dog, and sat drinking wine, chatting about food and watching a chef at work. The food was incredibly tasty - with a couple
of salsas for us to complement the food.
I really enjoyed the Ceiche and the Steak/Cheese mix on the Volcan was very tasty. A great experience and a wonderful morning had by all. Top Notch. Highly Recommended.
Peggy_H, Oct 2023
Manu was a wonderful host, great chef, amazing food. I may even use my new knife skills!
My friend and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening.
Jake_F, Oct 2023
What an awesome experience! Manu was a great host and was a wealth of information about the area and things to do. The food was amazing and he gives you the recipes to try later on your own. Be sure to meet Max! 5 stars for sure. Don’t pass this one by. Oh, and look for the tour where you get to go to the market with him, we missed out on that but wish we could have done that.
Kim_T, Oct 2023
If you want to discover truly authentic regional food crafted by a talented chef, this is your kind of expetience. We highly recommend the Market Tour add on! So much to learn!
Charles_D, Sep 2023
Had a wonderful experiencing with chef Manu! He was very kind and knowledgeable about where and how to find the finest ingredients that he picks out for your experience but....that's after having a conversation with you about what your taste buds are yearning for. He then creates a personalized menu that will exceed all your expectations. This guy is a master!! Our palates were satiated and we walked away with a rich understanding of where and how our meal was created. Do this!!!!! My husband and I will definitely book this again in the near future with friends. 🙂 He has an adorable puppy you can cuddle if you needed any more convincing.
Eric_H, Sep 2023
I've taken cooking tours before but this was by far one of the most genuine one. We meet Manuel at the marker where we shopped for the food he was preparing for us. He walked through the recipe, cooking techniques through casual conversation. The meal was excellent. We had a wonderful experience and works highly recommend this to anyone who wants a genuine, authentic experience that is curated according to your likes.
Lawrence_E, Apr 2023
Going to market to get everything we needed for our meal and learning how to cook it! Awesome experience!!
GayLee_K, Dec 2022
Chef Manuel's teaching style was clear, supportive and entertaining. The ingredients where fresh and he she's his he sources them and why.
Daniel_M, Nov 2022
Delicious food, very informative class. Manuel is a great teacher and very charming! I would recommend this to everyone!
Scott_D, Jul 2022
It was our honey moon. Spending the evening with Manuel was perfect. I love learning new techniques. How was simple and perfect.
Isabella_A, May 2022
My group and I had an amazing time at Manu’s cooking class! The food was delicious and he gave us great personalized advice for when we cook at home. We can’t wait to try recreating the recipes at home! Manu was fun to talk to and gave us a ton of food recommendations for Puerto Vallarta. If we ever return to PV we will definitely be taking a class w him again, or signing up for one of his food tours!
Greg_M, May 2022
We spent a wonderful day in Puerto Vallarta with Manuel coming from our cruise ship the island princess. We learned how to properly make ceviche and became a fan of this dish. The cheese enchiladas were wonderful with the local cheese and the simple red sauce Manuel shows you how to make. What a wonderful way to spend lunchtime in Puerto Vallarta. Would recommend this to all visitors
kathyfinley2013, Feb 2022
Our experience with manual was a highlight of our trip. Not only did he prepare us a fantastic meal, he gave us restaurants recommendations and good cooking overall instruction. Definitely something that’s a must do when visiting Puerto Vallarta.
Lauralee_H, Dec 2021
What a great way to learn how to cook authentic Mexican cuisine! Manu shared his extensive knowledge of cooking creativity, ingredients, knife handling and humor while making us feel completely at home. We would love to experience another class in the future.
Lucas_S, Nov 2021
Warm, inviting, delicious
Absolutely by far one of the most memorable experience’s in Puerto Vallarta!!
Thank you Manuel so very much!
Michael_B, Jan 2021
Manuel demonstrated excellent technique and we definitely learned a few things. Meal was one of our best ever!
From $119.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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