Love to eat and travel? If you answered yes, these foodie TV shows are designed just for you.
Culinary experts are on a mission to find the tastiest food across the country and they’ve allowed us to join them in their search for the best global cuisines to the best trips for travel cooking. From cultural classics to local spotlights to budget meals, there’s a show to meet every adventurous eater’s television tastes. Plus, there are shows available to watch and stream on Netflix, Youtube, Hulu, the Cooking Channel, HBO Max, and Paramount+, as well as a few favorite Food Network and PBS food travel shows.
Thanks to these culinary shows, you can travel the world without leaving your couch. Here are the top 20 TV shows every traveling foodie should be watching.
1. Burgers, Brew & ‘Que
Calling all meat lovers. Follow world-renowned chef Michael Symon as he eats and drinks his way through the nation’s best classics: burgers, barbecue, and beer. Stream it on Discovery+.
2. Cheap Eats
Food author Ali Khan is on a mission to find cheap eats for breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. He has only 12 hours and $35 to spend. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly TV show for your next foodie travel trip, this is it. Watch it on the Cooking Channel or stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
3. Chuck’s Eat the Street
History buffs unite! Chuck Hughes, my culinary heartthrob, will take you on a tour of the most famous and historic streets in America and show you the food they have to offer. Watch it on the Cooking Channel or purchase it on Amazon Prime Video.
4. Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives
Guy Fieri is the host, obviously. Watch him travel the country in his 1967 Chevy Camaro to taste the best diners, drive-ins, and dives. Watch it on Food Network or stream it on Discovery+.
5. Eat St.
Eat St. is a show dedicated to the tastiest and messiest food trucks that are found all across America. It’s not just about the food; the food is always accompanied by an inspirational story from the featured chef. Watch it on the Cooking Channel.
6. Heat Seekers
If you’re looking for a flaming hot road trip, check out the restaurants that chefs Aarón Sanchez and Roger Mooking have taste-tested. These culinary heat chasers take you on a tour of the hottest foods and restaurants in the nation. Stream full episodes for free with the Cooking Channel.
7. Sinful Sweets
British chef and cookbook author Harry Eastwood takes you along on her journey to find the most decadent bakeries and sweet shops in America. I don’t know about you, but I am all in for a road trip dedicated to my sweet tooth. Catch it on Food Network and the Cooking Channel.
8. Unique Eats
Have you ever wondered what experts in the culinary industry love to eat? Watch Unique Eats to create your own road map of the most revolutionary restaurants in America. The places that are featured are America’s most exciting and unique restaurants. These chefs are seriously thinking outside the box. Watch it on the Cooking Channel or stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
9. Unique Sweets
Unique Sweets will keep you updated on the most innovative and creative desserts in America. Be prepared for a sugar rush. Watch it on the Cooking Channel or stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
10. The Great Food Truck Race
Follow celebrity chef Tyler Florence as competing teams of chefs visit cities across America to sell their food truck specialties on The Great Food Truck Race. Watch it on Food Network or stream it on Discovery+, Amazon Prime Video, or YouTubeTV.
10. Taco Trip
Taco Tuesday is so last year. Why settle for tacos one day out of the week when you can follow chef Aarón Sanchez’s taco adventures across the country? He’s on a mission to find the hottest and tastiest tacos that our beautiful nation has to offer! Stream it on Amazon Prime Video.
12. No Reservations
In his Emmy Award-winning series, iconic chef Anthony Bourdain travels the globe to explore the cities, villages, and countries that offer life’s truest surprises. Watch it on YouTubeTV, Amazon Prime Video, and Discovery+.
13. Somebody Feed Phil
Join Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal as he travels the globe to take in the local cuisine and culture of Bangkok, Lisbon, Mexico City and more in this Emmy-award winning series. All four seasons are available to stream on Netflix.
14. Salt Fat Acid Heat
Chef and food writer Samin Nosrat travels around the world to demystify and explore the central principles of what makes food delicious in this mini-series based on Nosrat’s James Beard Award-winning book of the same name.
Salt Fat Acid Heat follows Nosrat as she travels to home kitchens of Italy, the southern islands of Japan, the heat of the Yucatán, and to Berkeley’s Chez Panisse — where she began her culinary career — to explore the central principles of what makes food delicious and how people can easily incorporate the elements into every dish they make. Stream it on Netflix.
15. Ugly Delicious
James Beard Award-winning chef David Chang stars in this travelogue that sends him on a journey to culinary hot spots around the world. He is joined by writers, activists, artists and other chefs — including the likes of TV host Jimmy Kimmel, and comic Nick Kroll — who use food as a vehicle to break down cultural barriers. Watch it on Netflix.
16. Chef’s Table
Watch as some of the most renowned chefs in the world share their deeply personal stories, inspirations, and unique styles. Each chef’s discipline and culinary talent is explored while he or she prepares an awe-inspiring creation in this Netflix series.
17. The Chef Show
Chef Roy Choi and director Jon Favreau travel to different locales around the world and celebrate different flavors, cultures and people while experimenting with their favorite recipes and techniques. Favreau and Choi not only embrace their passion for food, but they also showcase their love of bringing people (including the cast of Avengers) together for a delicious meal. Check it out on Netflix.
18. Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi
In Taste the Nation, award-winning cookbook author Padma Lakshmi takes audiences on a journey across America, exploring the rich and diverse food culture of various immigrant groups, seeking out the people who have so heavily shaped what American food is today.
Lakshmi breaks bread with Americans across the nation to uncover the roots and relationship between our food, our humanity, and our history, ultimately revealing stories that challenge notions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be American. Stream it on Hulu.
19. Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy
This Emmy-nominated series follows Tucci around different parts of Italy as he samples local dishes while also learning about the people behind the dishes in casual and creative ways.
Searching for Italy has two seasons, which are both available on Discovery+ and CNNgo. I will gladly watch any TV shows or movies featuring Stanley Tucci, tbh!
20. It’s Alive with Brad
Join Bon Appetit’s Brad Leone on a wild, roundabout, and marginally scientific adventure exploring fermented foods and more, from the Tillamook Cheese Factory in Oregon and crabbing in Alaska, all the way to fly fishing in Montana. Plus, it features a slew of celebrity guests, including Babish of Binging with Babish, Rodney Scott, and Salt Fat Acid Heat’s Samin Nosrat. Stream it on YouTube.
Grab your remote, a fancy snack, and get to watching all these wonderful foodie TV shows!