Sicilian Cooking Class in Taormina

Recommended by 92% of travelers

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Sicily, Italy

4 hours (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Go beyond restaurant dining and dig into Sicily's traditional cuisine on this exclusive chef-led cooking class in central Taormina. Join a professional Sicilian chef to purchase ingredients at the local market, then head back to the restaurant kitchen to get to work. Learn about the history of the regional cuisine as you prepare a 3-course meal from scratch, then sample your handiwork over lunch (served with wine).

Improve your cooking skills with a hands-on, chef-led cooking class
Visit Taormina's market to see how locals purchase their ingredients
Learn about Sicilian specialties as you prepare a 3-course lunch
Cover lunch by sampling the dishes you've created, served with wine

Sample Menu

Starter

Sicilian Caponata

Mixed sauted vegetables with sweet & sour sauce

Main

Hand-made maccheroni with tomato sauce

Maccheroni are freshly hand made by the customers. Sauce is prepared with fresh tomatoes.

Main

Fish "alla ghiotta" style

Fish is cooked with tomatoes, garlic, parsley, capers and olives.

What's Included

Local multilingual guide
Lunch
Coffee and/or Tea
Water
Wine
Apron
Cooking certificate
Snacks

Extra alcoholic beverage

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Ristorante Pizzeria Porta Messina
Largo Giove Serapide, 4, 98038 Taormina ME, Italy
The Restaurant Porta Messina is besides the Porta Messina Arch.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.10:00 am

What To Expect

Meet up with your host and professional chef near Porta Messina in the historical center of Taormina and begin your day of indulging in the cuisine of Sicily. Walk around the outdoor food market, taking in the various fruits and vegetable and listening to the food sellers yell out their goods for potential buyers. Aide the chef in picking out ingredients for your meal and discuss what makes the perfect seasonal ingredient for the meal.

Then walk to nearby restaurant to begin the next phase of the day: cooking. Strap on an apron and get ready to create a delicious meal. Learn about the unique landscape and soil of Sicily that breeds excellent vegetables; that the volcanic soil is the ideal fertile dirt in which to grow veggies. And learn how the waters around Sicily produces some of the most delicious seafood in the Mediterranean.

Chop vegetables. Make pasta. And sear meat and fish. While the menu changes regularly based on what's in season, expect dishes like Parmigiana di melanzane (baked eggplant, layered with tomato and Parmesan) or pasta al pesto di pistacchi – pasta with a pesto sauce made from pistachio nuts.

When the cooking is complete, pull up a seat to a table in the restaurant to devour your delicious meal. Wash it down with some locally made wine. The cooking and eating experience finishes after you've eaten and sampled some local wine. Before heading out of the restaurant, receive a certificate that you completed the course.

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Minimum numbers of 2 apply.
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible

Near public transportation
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Kristina_H

We echo all the positive comments already left… this is one experience you need to book today! Frederico was an excellent and patient chef. I enjoyed my time at the market place where we got to sample fruits we do not have in the US, including a two pound lemon where you eat the pith. We made so many different kinds of pasta and eggplant parmesan and feasted on an array of cheeses and fruits. We had a group of eight and by the end of four hours we felt like we had six new friends. Truly a “must-do” in Taormina!

Reviews

4.7

based on 171 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

By far the best thing ive...

Victoria_P, Nov 2025

By far the best thing ive done in my life. Cooking was excellent, Wine was free flowing and we made some great friends too

Great experience!

Elizabeth_H, Oct 2025

Francesca was a fantastic teacher, highly recommend! We made 4 different things, pasta, eggplant parmesan, swordfish rolls and fish in salt. The class is in the middle of a working restaurant so it was noisy but a lot of fun. Taormina is a cute town as well. I would highly recommend this experience!

Book This Adventure Now!

Kristina_H, Apr 2025

Not a good experience

Rosemarie_R, Sep 2024

The class consisted of approximately 30 people which is much too large a group. The advertisement described a small group experience so we expected the group size to be 12 people or less. Paolo and staff demonstrated but it was extremely difficult to see and hear instructions. Extremely disappointed with this class

Wonderful

Judy_S, Sep 2024

Chef was so attentive and fun! Loved the class! Well worth every penny! The town is lovely. The variety of food was very interesting.

A must-do!

Danise_G, Sep 2023

Chefs Giovanni and Paolo were so fun and personable, really created the best experience. The food was amazing - we made four different dishes and had an excellent meal. Met great people from around the world. Restaurant setting was perfect. Can't recommend this enough - would definitely do it again on future trips!

Lovely experience, food and location

Charlotte_G, Sep 2023

The service was great. A lot of explanation about local food at the market. And later on cooking at a beautiful location with the local products from the market. The food was amazing. The chefs from the restaurant showed us how its done and the we git to get our hand dirty. Thank you for the great experience!

Such a fun day!

Rebecca_C, Jun 2023

One of my favourite days ever! Had so much fun cooking with everyone, a great way to meet people as a solo traveller and learn a lot too. The staff made sure you had enough food and wine throughout! I’ve recommended this to everyone who’s asked for a cooking class in central Taormina. Definitely a spurge money wise but I think it was worth it!

Bellissimo

Jenny_T, May 2023

The Chefs and Guides were brilliant. It was interactive, informative and a lot of fun. We ate copious amounts of local dishes and drank lots of good wine. The whole experience was perfetto!

Response from Host, May 2023

We are so happy to know that you loved the Cooking class. Our chef are generous and share their secrets with customers. Come back soon!

Magnificent!

DianeA, May 2023

Wonderful experience - would HIGHLY recommend! Great time making pasta, fish and drinking wine with new friends!

Shopping, instruction,...

Gracepollak, Oct 2022

Shopping, instruction, comraderie and food. Family interaction was great. The whole experience was enjoyable.

Response from Host, Oct 2022

That is the goal we wish to reach! Thanks for your beautiful words indeed. Warm regards.

A wonderful family feel

art_c, Oct 2022

Everything from the market to the restaurant that we cooked in was a great experience. The chef and his family were very welcoming and informative. The recipe and food were fantastic!!!

Response from Host, Oct 2022

What a great review, we appreciate so much your comments and feedback. Warm regards.

Wonderful experience

Raymond_M, Oct 2022

Mimmo did a wonderful job teaching us how to prepare a Sicilian meal. Very passionate and knowledgeable. Highly recommended!

A morning well spent

Paulette_F, Oct 2022

Five course lunch that we prepared and later ate was excellent. The instructor Giovanni was engaging and humorous, he explained some of the realities of the food industry beyond simply recipes and preparation techniques, and the meal prep was a lot of fun.

A Good expérience

Tomo_G, Oct 2022

I think the market part was a waste of time.. it would have been MUCH better to have Giovanni show how he made his tomato sauce from scratch… l also hope that he will send us the receipts … we had given our emails, two days ago and still we haven’t received yet 😂😂

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Hello, this is very unfair, writing a 3 stars review only because you did not appreciate the local touch of the market that many other customers love, but above all, you are missing the recipes, but you do not indicate your email address. You can imagine the chef sends thousands of recipes by mail every season and sometimes there can be a mistake on the address and this is not the chef's fault. Please resend the email address to us and we will immediately send the recipes to you. Regards, SAT Group Customer Care.

A great experience of flavour and learning new skills

Howard_S, Oct 2022

This was great fun from start to finish and Nimmo is an excellent host and teacher as well as cook. We never would have found the market we went to with him to buy the produce on our own! And the ingredients were fresh that day. Back at the restaurant we learnt so much. From how to hand make pasta (in lots of different shapes), to making pesto Sicilian style, a main course packed with flavour - including the obligatory lemons - and a vegitable dish typical of the region. They took great care with my fish and seafood allergy, and I noted catered well for the vegetarian in our party. Well worth the time and the money.

Least favorite cooking class in Taormina

Natashya_B, Sep 2022

Not worth it. This was probably my least favorite cooking class I’ve done (and I’ve done several in Taormina). The instructor was really rude and made a lot of negative remarks to the people cooking. He was extremely condescending which made everyone feel uncomfortable. The drinks were stingy (unlike other classes you’re welcomed with a drink or cappuccino, endless wine, and homemade lemoncellos at the end) this class made 4 people share 1 bottle of water! And literally a tasting of unlabeled wine in a glass jug. The aprons are not the same as other classes just cheap throw away fabric that’s wasteful, no certificates for the kids. I don’t mind being outside- it was very beautiful but we were all sweating into the food. Don’t even get me started on the actual cooking lesson. We were all given steak knifes and told to just hack at the ingredients. No formal chopping - it was weird. You make two pieces of pasta per shape… that’s it- just two chances to make a pasta shape. For the price this was just not worth it compared to the other classes. To sum up the experience the instructor never even came out to say goodbye/ thanks for coming or to formally end the class. We all just quietly looked at each other and awkwardly left one by one as if we had over stayed our welcome. Even if it was free I would be hesitant to go back. I’ve been to 50+ countries and love food, I don’t think I’ve ever written a negative review but vacation time is valuable and I hope this helps someone pick the best experience.

Response from Host, Sep 2022

Hello, reading your review we feel so frustrated as we always receive wonderful reviews on our cooking classes, so it really looks weird to us. Plus, on that day we had two different restaurants operating the cooking class, but since you do not give us your surname, we are not able to understand which restaurant and host is regarding your review. In any case, normally in our classes you have plenty of food and beverages, we have joyful chefs and staff, besides certificates for all and nice aprons. We really do not understand. Please send a message to our booking@satgroup.it in order to better understand and provide more explanations on the matter. Thank you in advance and sorry for the eventual inconvenience caused. Warm regards. SAT Group

The BEST cooking class EVER done!

Lindsay_K, Aug 2022

This was my favorite!! We were welcomed by Dominic and went to his beautiful restaurant. There were 2 other couples-which was nice to have a small group making the experience very personal and inviting! We made three Sicilian dishes, all which were extremely delicious-it was by far my favorite tour we’ve ever done! Highly recommended!

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Hello, we are so happy to read that our cooking classes become the highlight of customers visiting Taormina. It is indeed a great satisfaction for all of us that put so much passion in this job. Please come back soon for our Pizza Making class, our Arancino and Cannolo making classes. Regards. Customer Care SAT Group

A nice day cooking with Chef Mimmo

Claes_E, Jul 2022

Learning how to cook good Siciliansk food, Caponata, making pasta, Sicilian pesto and Involtini di Pesce Spada, It was fun and good 👍

Response from Host, Jul 2022

That's great! we profusely thank you for your nice review. Chef Mimmo will appreciate. Regards, SAT Group Guest Relations Manager

Fantastic cooking in Taormina!

Timothy_F, Jul 2022

Great time at this cooking class. Met some great young couples from Australia and had a wonderful time preparing great Sicilian dishes with chef

Response from Host, Jul 2022

This is one of the coolest thing during our cooking class: meeting nice people and starting a friendship while learning and having fun. Thanks for your wonderful review. Regards. Guest Relation Manager SAT Group

Fun Authentic Sicilian Cooking Class in Taormina Italy.

Gabriela_P, Jul 2022

We just loved the entire experience. Chef Mimmo was amazing, fun, easy to work with and talented. He made the entire experience fun while teaching us about the local food, tastes and the culture of the Sicilian people.

Fabulous day!

Angie_R, Jun 2022

This was a fun experience, with easily transferable recipes to make at home. We met new people and had a great time!

Response from Host, Jun 2022

Good occasion for making new friends besides learning techniques. Thanks a lot! Warm regards, SAT Group

Best Day in Sicily. We made our own pasta!! Can't wait to do it again.

Deborah_B, May 2022

THEE BEST day in Sicily by far!! Our instructor/chef Dominic was a warm, lovely person who took us shopping for all the ingredients at the local market, carefully explained everything we were going to make, showed us how to make pasta from scratch, and took us through all the steps in creating a fantastic 3 course lunch. Dominic is talented, well organized, fun to be with and has a great passion for food. I HIGHLY recommend this fabulous experience!!

Response from Host, May 2022

So nice to read, Dominic is so pleased. Thank you a thousand times. Warm regards, Customer Care Manager.

Fantastic cooking class

Janet_P, May 2022

The cooking class was fabulous. We each had hands-on experience making maccheroni and caponata. Dominic, Ivano, and mamma were fun and helpful and we were in a lovely outdoor area of their restaurant. I highly recommend this class

THE BEST!

Beth_W, Oct 2021

Can’t say enough good things about this awesome experience. It was so much fun and we made the most incredible meal and the chef was amazing. Don’t miss this if you enjoy cooking, eating and fun! Each person in the class felt the same.

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Thank you Beth, we remember you. It was such an honour to meet you. See you next time in the future!

Best Cooking Class

Sallie_B, Sep 2021

Best experience of my trip to Taormina! I’ve taken many Cooking Classes before but this one tops them all. It was a true learning experience in the Sicilian cooking techniques; shared family recipes that we were able to shop for local fresh ingredients at local market , cook together in small group and enjoy eating and drink local wines, lemonechello made from lemons picked fresh from a limoncello tree at our table. Staff were professional, clean and organized. Met snd made friends with couples from a Germany and France. By the end of day felt like Family .

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Hi Sallie, such a pleasure to receive your review, it really makes us happy to do this job as the satisfaction of customers is our satisfaction. See you soon back in Taormina. Warm regards, SAT Group staff

Best cooking experience

Laoise_G, Sep 2021

Our morning with chef Dominico was incredible, we made so many things, learned so much and ate the most delicious food. Would highly recommend!

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Domenico will be very glad to receive this awarding review. Many thanks. SAT Group

Amazing cooking class - highly recommend!

Samantha_G, Sep 2021

This cooking class was amazing. We met the chef in downtown Taormina and then walked to the local market to pick up ingredients for our meal. At the restaurant we were given water and wine while we cooked our 3 course meal. The instructions were clear, fun, engaging and educational. I cannot recommend this class enough!

Response from Host, Oct 2021

This is the best promotion for our Sicilian Cooking Class, a tru discovery of Sicilian culture. All the very best, SAT Group staff

Totally worth the money! Loved it.

Jennifer_L, Sep 2021

Excellent day! Stefan and Luca were amazing - we were taught many dishes and provided so much food to eat along the way. Top quality activity and lovely people. Highly recommend!

Response from Host, Oct 2021

That's great. The best satisfaction! Stefano and Luca will be so happy to know. Thank you and regards.

Lorenzo!!! Great memories and laughter!

Nicko_L, Aug 2021

This was hands down so much fun! Not your run of the mill class, Giovanni and his crew were attentive, informative, and went above and beyond to make the class fun. We met great people from across the globe and had plenty of laughs over food and wine. Truly a memorable experience and I highly recommend taking the class - you won't regret it!