Best Food Documentaries on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime

A customer gets food from a truck from a smiling employee.

Hunting for the distilled wisdom of foodies, chefs, and tastemakers from all over the world?  You won’t have to look any farther than your own remote. From coffee to street food, hours of mouthwatering content await you. Check out the best food documentaries on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime.

 

 

Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi

Year: 2020
Starring: Padma Lakshmi
Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)

Cookbook author and former host of Top Chef Padma Lakshmi tours the nation, sampling the dizzying variety of flavors and cultures that make up American cuisine.

Absolutely nothing is off the table, from exotic meats to all-American staples.

Stream this documentary series on Hulu here.

 

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Year: 2019
Starring: David Chang, John Legend, Seth Rogen
Rating: 80% (Rotten Tomatoes)

David Chang travels America in this exciting, fast-paced take on a documentary food tour. Because his own excitement for food is so infectious, he’ll have you laughing and celebrating right alongside him.

Along the way, he’s also joined by celebrity judges.  Together, they savor the very best that this big, wide nation has to offer.

You can stream this series on Netflix here.

 

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Year: 2006
Starring: Guy Fieri
Rating: 91% (Google Users)

This original godfather to all documentary food tours stars the iconic Guy Fieri.

From San Diego to New York, all the way to Portland, he’ll show you the little pockets of “Flavortown”; Hiding in every Southern small town, East Coast dive bar, or California food truck.

It’s the first of its kind.  In fact, many would say that no food documentaries or series have measured up to it since.

You can stream this series on Hulu or Amazon Prime.

 

Coffee For All

 

Year: 2017
Starring: Elizabeth Cardiello, Martin Malharro
Rating: 84% (Google Users)

This is a passionate, slow-burn portrait of the best coffee in the world—Italian espresso.

Moreover, it’s about the roasted beans that bring people together, all over the world.

You can stream Coffee for All on Netflix here.

 

F*ck, That’s Delicious

 

Year: 2016
Starring: Action Bronson, Meyhem Lauren, Big Body Bes
Rating: 8/10 (IMdb)

Before he was an all-star rapper, Action Bronson was a New York chef.

Now this chef-turned-artist returns to his roots. His quest: to find the most delicious food ever created.

Along the way, he and his contemporaries sample everything from fine wine to bagels. The result is a show that’s truly, awesomely universal.

You can stream F*ck, That’s Delicious on Hulu here.

 

Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody

Year: 2020
Starring: Paik Jong-won
Rating: 90% (JustWatch)

For more than fifty years, Korea has slowly become obsessed with delicious, fatty, layered pork belly.

This succulent, soft meat is often served as bacon in the United States.

In Korea, however, it’s more than just one thing. It’s the butter-soft meat in Korean ramen shops, as well as the savory trick to great sauces and stir frys.

And don’t worry: while the trailers often lack English subtitles, the actual episodes do not.

You can stream Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody on Netflix here.

 

Cooked

Year: 2016
Starring: Michael Pollan, Isaac Pollan
Rating: 8.1/10 (IMdb)

Author Michael Pollan transforms the building blocks of food into lessons about ourselves, and where we came from.

He explores the evolution of food through humble ingredients such as wheat and water. Additionally, by dissecting their origins in the culinary world, he reveals how far we’ve come—and where we’re going next.

You can stream this title on Netflix here.

 

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Year: 2018
Starring: Samin Nosrat
Rating: 100% (Rotten Tomatoes)

Join host Samin Nosrat while she explores the four basic elements of every dish: salt, fat, acid, and heat. What’s more, each element gets its own dedicated episode.

With boundless curiosity, Samin reveals the secrets lurking in every excellent dish you’ve encountered during your life.

It’s the foundation of the culinary world as you’ve never seen it before.  Stream it on Netflix here.

 

Flavorful Origins

Year: 2019
Starring: Hao Chen
Rating: 90% (Google Users)

This Mandarin-language series explores the cuisine of a country almost as large as America: the ancient land of China.

Flavorful Origins is informative, of course.  However, it’s also an intimate view of home-cooked meals and locally grown ingredients.

Stream it on Netflix here.

 

via GIPHY

As informative as they are, these food documentaries also feel intimate and comforting. Truthfully, watching them is like sharing a meal with someone else’s family.

 

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