Tuscan Cooking Class Siena: handmade pasta & wine dinner

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.85 (355 reviews) 91% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/11

Duration4h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · IT

Mobile ticketAccepted

Can you really make pici pasta by hand in an afternoon?

You'll spend three to four hours learning to make five traditional Tuscan dishes from scratch — fresh pasta, soup, a main course, sides, and dessert — under the guidance of Francesco, who's been teaching this since 1996. The class includes all ingredients, techniques, and a full dinner with local wine at the end. You'll leave with recipes written down and the muscle memory of how to make pici by hand.

Step-by-step itinerary

Tuscan cooking class and dinner

Arrive at cooking school in Siena
Learn to prepare starter soup
Make fresh handmade pasta
Cook main dishes with local ingredients
Prepare typical Siena desserts
Enjoy dinner with Tuscan wine

The Experience

So yeah, Francesco's been running this cooking school since 1996, and the first thing he does is hand you flour and eggs and doesn't let you overthink it. The Siena cooking class moves fast — you're not standing around watching a demo, you're actually rolling out pasta, learning the sauce, tasting as you go. The group stays under fifteen people, which means you're not crammed in, and he'll catch your mistakes before they become disasters. The menu changes with the season, but you're always making at least five dishes: maybe pappa con il pomodoro (that's bread and tomato soup, and it's simpler than it sounds), pici with aglione sauce, a meat dish with roasted potatoes, and a Siena cake for dessert.

What gets you is the handmade pasta part. Not the idea of it — the actual doing. Francesco shows you the technique once, then your hands are in the dough, and you realize how much muscle memory goes into something that looks effortless when someone else does it. The ingredients are all local and seasonal, so what you're learning isn't some generic Italian cooking — it's what people in Tuscany actually make at home. If you need vegetarian or gluten-free, they'll adjust the menu before you arrive. And because you're learning in a real cooking school, not a tourist kitchen, the whole thing feels less like a class and more like someone's letting you into how they actually cook.

When the cooking's done, you sit down with your group and eat everything you just made. There's a quarter-liter of local Tuscan red wine per person, and it's included, which means you're not doing the mental math at the end. The meal is the whole point — you taste what you made, you see how it comes together on a plate, and you get handouts with all the recipes so you can actually recreate this stuff when you're home. Private morning classes at 10 AM are available if you want to book alone or with just your people, but the group sessions run in English and have a friendlier energy because everyone's learning at the same pace.

What’s included

Your class includes a complete traditional Tuscan menu prepared from scratch — appetizer, soup, handmade fresh pasta, a main course with sides, and dessert.
You'll learn practical cooking techniques and receive written recipes to take home.
The final dinner is served with a quarter-liter of local Tuscan red wine per person.
The experience takes place in a real cooking school run by Francesco, a local chef with over 25 years of teaching experience, and the atmosphere is friendly and informal rather than formal instruction.

Good to know

Wheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by scuola di cucina di lella

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to actually cook, not watch — you're making five dishes with your hands, not observing from a stool. The small group size (max 15) and Francesco's focus on Tuscan family recipes mean you'll learn techniques you can use at home, not just follow a script for the day.