The Best Food Documentaries to Binge Watch Right Now
Updated: Nov. 17, 2023
In a world where binge-watching TV shows is the norm and knowing the secret of your favorite sauce is a must, it's no wonder streaming platforms have added food docu-series and documentaries for our viewing pleasure.
Chef’s Table (Netflix)
OK, this one’s a show. But this Emmy-nominated series allows viewers the chance to experience bits of the personal lives of the featured chefs as well as learn secrets from their kitchens. In addition to other great adventures, you can watch as beloved chef and Zen Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan creates vegan delights for her community.
Cooked (Netflix)
If you’re a fan of The Omnivore’s Delight and In Defense of Food, then this is a must-watch for you. From best-selling author and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney this four-episode series can help you appreciate the history and value of cooking in our society—from the most basic elements of fire, water air and earth.
Rotten (Netflix)
From the team that brought you Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown come these six episodes that sometimes reveal a little more than you may be ready to know about food. This film exposes information from scientists, doctors, farmers and fishermen that isn’t always easy to hear, but definitely worth knowing.
Ugly Delicious (Netflix)
Join James Beard Award-Winning Chef David Chang and Academy Award-Winning Director Morgan Neville for eight episodes of cuisine and world travel with writers and chefs, artists and activists. You are taken beyond beautiful workspaces and shown simply delicious cuisine ranging from Viet-Cajun food in Houston, pizza in Tokyo, home cooking in Copenhagen and more.
City of Gold (Hulu)
Sit back and celebrate Los Angeles’s colorful and vibrant ethnic-style cooking. Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold guides us through food trucks and his latest strip-mall discovery. Visually experience Oaxacan grasshopper soup, Thai specialty pad see ew, as well as the rich history of the immigrants who reside in the City of Angels.
Food Evolution 2017 (Hulu)
Settle in as the heated debate over issues with GMOs is examined. Narrated by astrophysicist and author Neil DeGrasse Tyson, this film travels to Hawaii, New York, California and Africa as it relies on scientific explanations in its efforts to make its point. By the end, whether you take a side or not, you are certainly far more educated on the topic.
A Year in Champagne (Hulu)
Explore six houses, from small to large, and get a behind-the-scenes look at prominent champagne producers such as Bollinger and Gosset. Respected wine importer Martine Saunier guides us through this second installment in a trilogy of wine films that educate us about the effects of weather and land on our bubbly of choice.
Food Choices (Sling TV)
This documentary seeks to educate us about the effects of food on our diets and its impact on our health, as well as that of our planet. It addresses many of the misconceptions about how and what we eat, through the opinions of well-known experts. Be prepared to challenge everything you thought you knew about eating.
Food Chains (Sling TV)
Brace your heart and mind to be affected by the less-than-pretty side of how food gets to our tables. This film goes beyond struggling farmers and looks closely at the system that forces them to sell their produce at low prices, thus also causing them to pay their workers unfair wages.
