Facts are facts. If you can’t cook, you won’t be able to make it in a self-sufficient lifestyle.
Why? Because food requires preparation.
You can’t be self-sufficient yet living on processed foods. I’m making it my mission to give you as many tools as I can to help you learn this basic skill for your own survival.
Whether you’re on a journey of self-sufficiency, or you’re someone who has recently realized cooking is a necessary part of adulting, you’ve come to the right place.
I didn’t learn how to cook until after I was married with a child, but I’m self-taught thanks to the internet and cooking YouTube channels. If I can learn, you can too.
Here are a few of the best cooking YouTube channels to help you get started:

1. Binging with Babish
Do you enjoy binge-watching television shows or movies? Let your love for television inspire you to become an excellent cook.
You can, thanks to this awesome cooking YouTube channel. Babish teaches cooking basics but also shows you how to create amazing meals inspired by some of your favorite TV shows and movies.
2. How to Cake It
Are you more interested in learning how to bake instead of only basic cooking skills? This is an excellent channel for you.
Yolanda creates amazing masterpieces! You can get step-by-step instructions on how to make delicious cakes which will appeal to both eye and stomach.
3. You Suck at Cooking
When you read this title, you may agree with it. Thankfully, this channel can help you change things and teach you how to make delicious recipes in the process.
I love this cooking YouTube channel because it shows you how to prepare meals you won’t be able to wait to eat. Start binge-watching this channel and hopefully the title won’t apply to you for long.
4. Food Wishes
If you’re in the market for a tasty meal, you should check out this channel. He shows you how to make a variety of dishes and narrates the process in detail.
The great thing about this cooking YouTube channel is he covers an array of cuisines. Regardless of what style of food you’re looking for, you’ll most likely find it here.
5. Pro Home Cooks
This is one of the cooking YouTube channels which originally started as a duo between brothers. Their channel has since split into two channels.
Pro Home Cooks is one of the brothers teaching you easy-to-cook recipes and sharing basic cooking basics you must know to thrive at cooking. As for the other brother, he took his channel in a non-cooking direction, but if you’d still like to keep up with him, you can find him at You Enjoy Life.
6. Serious Eats
Serious Eats is a blog, and it has a cooking YouTube Channel as well. They share a variety of delicious videos which covers everything from how to make food to how to enjoy more complicated foods.
If you’re interested in knowing everything from how to eat a lobster, how to mince herbs, all the way down to how to cook a whole chicken, this channel has you covered.
7. Tasty Cooking YouTube Channels
This channel has it all! If you’re wanting to learn how to make desserts, they have you covered. Do you need to know how to cook comfort food? They have it!
Have you recently started a new diet? This channel can even show you how to cook delicious foods for a variety of different lifestyles. Whatever you want to cook, Tasty can most likely help you learn.
8. Food Network
Food Network is a channel on cable television, but they’ve learned many people no longer reach for their remotes.
Instead, they reach for their laptop or cellphone to watch YouTube. Therefore, they’ve made it easy for you to watch a variety of easy-to-follow cooking videos from their best stars.
9. Pioneer Woman
The Pioneer Woman isn’t only a blog, a show, or a woman who makes some of the most desirable recipes, but she now has her own cooking YouTube channel too.
If you’re learning to cook, The Pioneer Woman is a great place to start. Her recipes are easy to follow, delicious, and will keep you inspired throughout your cooking journey.
10. Preacher Lawson
If you watch America’s Got Talent, you may be familiar with Preacher Lawson. My family discovered his YouTube channel after seeing him on television.
Not only is he hilarious to listen to, but he creates amazing and easy dishes. They’re perfect for the beginner cook.
11. It’s Tuesday Night Somewhere with Melissa d’Arabian
When I first began cooking, Melissa d’Arabian was my hero. She hosted a show on Food Network called $10 Dinners.
For a mom of young children who were on an extremely tight budget, this saved my grocery budget many times. She has her own YouTube channel which shows you how to make easy, inexpensive, and tasty meals quickly for a busy weeknight.
12. Nana’s Cookery
Nana’s Cookery isn’t nearly as popular as it should be, but I had to share it because if it wasn’t for this woman, I’d still be relying on store-bought pie crusts.
She makes everything (even the hard recipes) seem easy. The steps are simple and presented in a way even the newest cook can figure it out.
13. Simple Cooking YouTube Channels
When first learning to cook, it’s helpful to cook simple meals. The fancier you go, the easier it can be to become discouraged.
The Simple Cooking Channel provides a variety of helpful videos on cooking simple recipes. They breakdown the process into manageable pieces which is a great benefit for the new cook.
You now have 13 different cooking YouTube channels to check out. Give them a try to see which ones will help you conquer the task of cooking.
Though cooking may get a bad wrap from some people, it’s necessary for survival. It’s also vital in your efforts to save money, helps you to use the foods you grow in your garden, and can help you lead a healthier lifestyle.
