Rio Cooking Class: 9 Dishes & Caipirinhas in Ipanema

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.92 (1,120 reviews) 95% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/37

Duration3h 30m

GroupUp to 30

LanguagesEN · FR +1

Mobile ticketAccepted

Cook nine Brazilian dishes and leave with the recipes memorized, not just written down

A 3.5-hour cooking class in Ipanema, Rio, where you make nine Brazilian dishes from scratch—cassava sticks, pão de queijo, picanha steak, seafood moqueca, farofa, brigadilho and sides—then drink unlimited caipirinhas you've learned to mix. The instructor tailors cooking tasks to your level, whether you're a novice or experienced; classes run small (up to 5) or larger (up to 10), and you choose after booking. Photos and a recipe ebook arrive the next day.

The Experience

Three and a half hours in an air-conditioned studio in Ipanema, and you'll have made nine dishes. Start with cassava sticks—golden outside, tender in—then move to pão de queijo, the Brazilian bakery staple that comes together in fifteen minutes. The instructor shows you how to work the dough, and by the time it's baked, you're already prepping the picanha, Brazil's prized cut, oven-roasted low and slow. Seafood moqueca comes next: fresh fish simmered with coconut milk and dendê oil, the kind of ancestral recipe that tastes like it took hours but moves faster when someone who knows it is standing beside you.

Between the cooking, you're mixing caipirinhas—the lime muddled fresh, the technique shown, the drink unlimited because the class runs on the idea that you learn by doing it more than once. Buttered cassava, toasted farofa with banana, garlic rice and vinaigrette sauce fill out the spread. Brigadilho, the Brazilian fudge that tastes like a crunchier Rice Crispy treat, closes the savory part. Then comes an Amazonian liqueur, handcrafted from wild fruits, the kind of thing you toast with at the end of a night like this. If you don't drink alcohol, the instructor teaches tropical fruit juices and mocktails instead—just let them know when you arrive.

The class runs in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese, and the instructors are chosen for how they interact with people as much as what they know. They'll adjust the cooking tasks to fit your level—a novice and an experienced cook can be in the same class and both learn something. You choose whether you want a smaller group (up to 5) or a larger one (up to 10) after you book, and they'll tell you which days fit. The next day, photos from the class and a recipe ebook arrive in your email, so you can remake any of it at home.

What’s included

Nine dishes you make from start to finish—cassava sticks, pão de queijo, picanha steak, seafood moqueca, buttered cassava, toasted farofa with banana, garlic rice, vinaigrette sauce and brigadilho.
unlimited caipirinhas (or tropical juices and mocktails if you prefer).
Brazilian soft drinks and water.
photos and a recipe ebook sent the next day.
instruction in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese.

Good to know

Wheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for heart conditions

Operated by Cook in Fiesta

Is this one for you?Book the shared class if you want to cook alongside other people and keep the cost down; choose the private option if you'd rather set your own time and customize the menu for your group. The optional market tour adds a morning exploring where Cariocas buy their ingredients, and the liqueur tasting at the end lets you sample six traditional Amazonian spirits if you want to extend the night.