Review Best 3 Cooking Classes in Amman

Amman, Jordan’s sunbaked capital, is famous for its ancient Roman ruins, sweeping desert views, and proximity to iconic sites like Petra and Wadi Rum, but most visitors leave without scratching the surface of its incredible, underrated food scene. The city’s culinary landscape is a delicious mashup of Bedouin traditions, Ottoman influences, Levantine staples, and generations of family recipes passed down in home kitchens across its winding hillside neighborhoods.

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Taking a cooking class here is one of the most meaningful ways to connect with local culture, far beyond the standard tourist restaurant hop. You won’t just learn to make iconic dishes like hummus and mansaf – you’ll hear the stories behind them, meet the people who’ve perfected the recipes over decades, and get to take a very edible souvenir home with you. We rounded up the three best cooking classes in Amman for every type of traveler, from total kitchen newbies to seasoned home cooks.

1. Sitti’s Kitchen Amman: Hands-On Levantine Home Cooking

This tiny, family-run class is the gold standard for authentic, no-fuss Jordanian home cooking, hosted by a warm, chatty local grandmother everyone calls Sitti. Tucked away in a quiet residential corner of Jabal Amman, far from the tourist crowds of downtown, the class starts with a walk to Sitti’s favorite neighborhood souk, where you’ll help pick out fresh mint, ripe tomatoes, house-baked za’atar, and a bottle of cold-pressed local olive oil to use in your meal. Over the next three hours, you’ll learn to make four core Levantine dishes from scratch: creamy, garlicky hummus, crisp fattoush salad tossed with warm khubz, spiced chicken musakhan, and sweet, syrup-soaked knafeh, all using Sitti’s 40-year-old family recipes that were passed down from her own grandmother. There’s no fancy equipment, no strict timing, and no pressure to get every step perfect – Sitti will laugh off your mistakes, refill your mint tea whenever your cup runs low, and make sure you leave with skills you can use in your own kitchen back home.

This class is perfect for every type of traveler: solo visitors looking to meet locals, couples on a romantic trip, and even families with older kids (children as young as 8 are welcome, and the hands-on tasks are easy enough for beginners of all ages). After you finish cooking, you’ll sit down to eat the full meal with Sitti, her husband, and any other guests in the class, while she shares stories about growing up in Amman in the 1970s and how food has always been the center of her family’s life. It feels less like a tourist activity and more like being invited into a loved one’s home for dinner, which is exactly the kind of authentic experience most travelers come to Jordan looking for.

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• Best time to book: Aim for a weekday morning 9am slot, especially if you’re visiting during peak travel season. The souk is far less crowded before the afternoon tour groups arrive, the produce is at its freshest in the morning, and you’ll get far more one-on-one time with Sitti than you would during a busier afternoon class.
• Booking tip: Reserve your spot at least 2 weeks in advance via their Instagram page or WhatsApp number (they don’t have a formal website). The class only takes 6 guests at a time to keep the experience intimate, and slots sell out 3-4 weeks ahead during the mild spring and fall travel seasons.

2. Downtown Amman Street Food & Home Cooking Experience

If you love grabbing street food as much as you love cooking from scratch, this class is made for you. Run by a local chef who spent 10 years working in restaurants across the Middle East before returning to Amman to share his city’s food culture with visitors, the class is split into two equal parts: a 45-minute walking tour of downtown Amman’s best street food stalls, followed by a hands-on cooking session in a small studio just off Rainbow Street. During the tour, you’ll stop at three family-run stalls that have been operating for 20+ years: you’ll try fresh, crispy falafel stuffed with pickles and tahini, warm manakish topped with za’atar and olive oil, and a cup of creamy sahlab spiced with cinnamon and rose water, all while your guide explains the history of each dish and how street food has shaped Amman’s food scene over the decades.

After the tour, you’ll head to the studio to make a full, shareable meal: you’ll learn to stretch and bake your own fluffy khubz, season and fry your own falafel, whip up a tangy, garlicky tahini sauce, and shape and bake walnut-stuffed ma’amoul cookies for dessert. The vibe is casual, loud, and fun, with plenty of time to swap travel stories with other guests, and the studio can fit up to 12 people, making it perfect for groups of friends or family travelers who want a more social experience than a small, intimate home class. It’s also a great pick for first-time visitors to Amman who want to understand the full scope of the city’s food culture, not just the fancy restaurant dishes you’ll find in travel guides.

• Best time to book: Go for the 3pm afternoon slot, which avoids the worst of Amman’s midday heat during the walking tour, and wraps up right around 7pm, so you’ll have a full dinner to eat after the class and won’t have to go hunting for food elsewhere. The 10am morning slot is also a good pick if you prefer to get your cooking done early in the day.
• Booking tip: If you’re traveling with a group of 4 or more, email the studio directly 3 weeks ahead of your trip to request a private group slot. They often waive the small 10% group surcharge for bookings of 6 or more, and they’re extremely accommodating of dietary restrictions – just let them know if you’re vegan, gluten-free, or have nut allergies when you book, and they’ll adjust all the recipes for you.

3. Levantine Fusion Cooking Class at The Jordan Kitchen Studio

For travelers who already know their way around a Levantine kitchen and want to try something a little more unique, this Rainbow Street studio class is the perfect pick. Run by a Jordanian-Lebanese chef who trained in professional kitchens in Beirut and Amman, the class blends traditional Jordanian recipes with modern Levantine fusion twists you won’t find in most home cooking classes. Over 3.5 hours, you’ll learn to make four dishes: spiced lamb mansaf slow-cooked in a tangy jameed sauce with a pomegranate molasses glaze, roasted cauliflower hummus topped with crispy pine nuts and pomegranate seeds, lemon-garlic grilled fish marinated in sumac, and a modern twist on knafeh infused with orange blossom water and topped with crushed pistachios. The chef also includes a 30-minute bonus segment where he explains the shared culinary history of Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, and how small tweaks to traditional recipes have shaped the unique food scene you find in Amman today.

This class is ideal for more experienced home cooks who want to level up their Levantine cooking skills, or food lovers who are curious about the regional influences that make Amman’s food scene so unique. It’s also a great pick if you’re planning to host a Levantine dinner party when you get home, as all the recipes are easy to scale for a crowd and use ingredients you can find in most Western grocery stores. The studio has a bright, open layout with a small outdoor patio, and after the class you’re welcome to hang around and chat with the chef and other guests, or head out to explore the nearby Rainbow Street cafes and live music venues.

• Best time to book: Aim for the 5pm weekend evening slot, which wraps up right around 8:30pm, giving you plenty of time to walk around Rainbow Street after class for a drink or dessert if you want to make a night of it. Weekday slots are also great if you prefer a smaller group, with only 4-6 guests per class on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
• Booking tip: Check the studio’s public Instagram page 7-10 days before your trip for last-minute cancellation slots. They often release 1-2 spots a few days out for 20% off the regular class price, and every booking includes a free printed recipe booklet with step-by-step instructions for all the dishes you make, so you can recreate them easily at home.

No matter which class you pick, you’ll leave Amman with more than just a full stomach and a stack of new recipes – you’ll have a deeper understanding of the city’s culture, and a connection to the local people who’ve spent generations perfecting the dishes you’ll get to make yourself. Food is the heart of Jordanian hospitality, and these classes let you experience that warmth firsthand, in a way no guidebook or restaurant meal ever could.