Cooking Class La Fortuna: Learn to Make Costa Rican Casado

Mix a cocktail, cook a casado, eat dinner at a farm kitchen near El Salto waterfall

A cooking class in La Fortuna where you learn to prepare a traditional Costa Rican casado meal—picadillos, guisados, handmade tortillas and more—starting with a lesson on the farm ingredients, then mixing the Kiss of the Cacique cocktail before cooking and sitting down to eat together. Hotel pickup and drop-off are included, and the class runs about two and a half hours with a live guide in English or Spanish.

The Experience

You arrive at your hotel in La Fortuna with a free afternoon and no plans to eat yet. The driver picks you up and takes you five minutes outside town to a hidden spot next to El Salto waterfall, where the cooking class kitchen sits. Before you start cooking, you walk the garden and farm where the ingredients come from—the vegetables, the herbs, the sources of what you'll handle in the next couple of hours. It grounds the meal in the place itself instead of just the recipe.

First comes the cocktail: you learn to mix the Kiss of the Cacique, a tropical Costa Rican drink that tastes like the country tastes. Then you move to the main work—chopping vegetables from local providers, building a casado the way Ticos do it. Picadillos, guisados, pollo sudado, tortillas you make by hand. The guide walks you through each step, and you're not watching a demonstration; you're doing it, your hands in the work. The kitchen is small and the group stays manageable, so there's room to ask and to learn at your own pace.

When the food is ready, you sit down together and eat what you made. Coffee comes after, and there's time to swap recipes and talk about what you'll cook when you're home. The driver takes you back to your hotel with the taste still there and the muscle memory of how to do it again.

What’s included

• Cooking class instruction in English or Spanish.
• hotel pickup and drop-off.
• farm and garden tour.
• tropical cocktail mixing.
• preparation of a full traditional casado meal with handmade tortillas, picadillos, guisados and pollo sudado.
• sit-down dinner of what you cooked.
• coffee and recipe sharing after the meal.

Good to know

Wheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Desafio Adventure Company

Is this one for you?The class is hands-on cooking from start to finish—you're chopping, mixing and cooking the whole time, not watching a demo—so come ready to work in the kitchen for a couple of hours. If you want to eat well and learn something you'll actually use at home, this one sticks with you longer than a restaurant meal.

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Top questions

Can I do this cooking class if I have food allergies or dietary restrictions?

Yes. The class accommodates gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan and other dietary needs—let them know when you book what you need, and they'll adjust the ingredients and the meal.

What exactly is a casado, and what will I learn to cook?

A casado is the traditional Costa Rican plate meal, and you'll prepare picadillos (a savory hash), guisados (stewed vegetables), pollo sudado (sweated chicken), handmade tortillas and the other components that make up the full dish. You'll also learn to mix the Kiss of the Cacique cocktail before you start cooking.

Do I need to arrange my own way to the cooking class, or is pickup included?

Hotel pickup and drop-off in La Fortuna are included in the class. The drive to the kitchen takes about five minutes.

Is this cooking class suitable for children?

Yes, children from age 5 are welcome. The class is hands-on and interactive, and younger children can participate in the cooking and the meal together with adults.

How long does the whole experience take?

The class runs about two and a half hours from pickup to drop-off, including the farm walk, cocktail mixing, cooking, dinner and coffee.