The 9 Best Cooking Classes in Samarkand

1.Village Tour with Plov Cooking Class & Home Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 29 reviews · 8 hours · from $59Our pick

Travel from Samarkand to a rural village with an English-speaking guide such as Asrorbek or Javokhir. Shop for ingredients at a local bazaar, cook plov and non over a live fire, share a family meal, and walk through the village, farms, and gardens. Expect an eight-hour day with warm hospitality and plenty of conversation.

“This experience was far beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for. You are invited into a local village home and treated like family, as they welcome you with love and a display of kindness that is unseen in the West. They create a beautiful, safe space in which you can share your cultural differences in a way that is simply full of wonder and free of judgement. It's so much more than a cooking class and a village tour. The warmth of the people I met will stay with me for a long time. I learned so much from Eshkuvatov (my guide) about the history of Uzbekistan and…”

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2.Uzbek Cooking Class in a Village Home

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 22 reviews · 5.5 hours · from $52Best value

Leave Samarkand for a traditional village home with guide Bekjon. Help prepare plov over a wood fire and shape mantu dumplings with his family, then share the food over tea. You can explore the garden, meet farm animals, and learn about Uzbek home life during this 5.5-hour experience.

“We had a great time with our guide Bekjon who told us all about the village lifestyle and very happily answered to all our curious questions, plus he and his sister in law showed us how to prepare traditional Uzbek manti and plov. The mantis particularly were delicious!”

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3.Cooking class in Samarkand with local life experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 19 reviews · from $63

Spend about five hours in Samarkand with guide Akram and a local family. Visit Siyob Bazaar, help prepare plov, shashlik, and samsa, share a home-cooked meal, and stop at the Samarkand Bukhara Silk Carpets factory. Vegetarian and vegan options can be arranged with advance notice.

“This was a great way to see how people outside the obvious tourist destinations in Uzbekistan really love. Plus we got to make some traditional food and it was delicious! Akram, our guide, was fantastic - interesting and interested. Highly recommended!”

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4.cooking traditional food in Samarkand with local people

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 17 reviews · 5 hours · from $62

Meet your host, explore Siab Bazaar, then travel 14 km from Registan Square to Ravot village in Toyloq district. With Akram or Navruz and their family, you can help prepare Uzbek dishes, bake bread in a tandir, and share lunch or dinner. Transport, an English-speaking guide, and hotel, airport, or station transfers are included.

“Amazing guide who really showed us real, authentic part of Uzbekistan. Totally recommend.”

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5.Private Samarkand Cooking Class with Market Tour & Transfers

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 14 reviews · from $72

Meet Shodiyor or another local guide at Samarkand Family Guest House, visit a neighborhood market near the railway station, then drive 15 kilometers to Eshim Oksok. With Barchinoy, cook plov and salad or bake bread in a tandir before sharing the meal at home.

“It's our favourite experience in Uzbekistan. Highly recommended. Shodiyor is a elegant French teacher. We went to market together, bought all the ingredients for plov, cut carrots with lovely family members in this beautifully decorated hRead more”

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6.Cooking Class in the Village with Local Family in Samarkand

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · from $65

You’ll visit a Samarkand bazaar, then join a local family in their village home to prepare Uzbek dishes such as plov, manti, dolma, samsa, or shashlik. Hosts including Navruz, Goli, and Gulrux have guided past sessions. The five-hour private tour may also include Konigil paper-making, oil-meal, and pottery stops.

“We had a wonderful day with Goli and her family! She picked us from our hotel and brought us to her local market where we were able to try new things. Cooking was a fun and slow experience. I wish we could’ve participated even more e.g. collecting firewood or rolling the dough.”

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7.Plov Cooking Class at Local Uzbek House

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $65

Ali guides you through Siyob Bazaar before taking you to his family home, about 10 minutes from central Samarkand. You’ll choose ingredients, cook plov in a traditional qozon, then eat at a dastarkhan with bread, salads, and tea. Private transport and hotel pickup make this a relaxed four-and-a-half-hour food experience.

“We enjoyed this tour a lot. The tour started at the bazaar, where Ali showed us around while buying some ingredients for the plov. Then his brother drove us to his home, which is perhaps 10 minutes from the city centre. He and his family had Read more”

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8.Samarkand Local Family Cooking Class and Siyob Bazaar Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $65

Start with a one-hour visit to Siyob Bazaar, then join Akramjon and Rushana for four hours of home cooking, conversation, and lunch. Prepare Uzbek favorites such as plov, shashlik, and samsa, with vegetarian dishes available on request. Hotel pickup, drop-off, and transport are included.

“This was truly the most unique tour I’ve ever booked. An absolute must for anyone wanting to truly understand Samarkand. Together with Akramjon and Rushana, I had the rare opportunity to learn all the details of making traditional Read more”

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9.Cooking class with local family

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · 5 hours · from $65

Spend five hours with Navruz or Guli and their family in Samarkand. Shop at a local bazaar, cook plov, shashlik, and samsa from scratch, share lunch, then visit Konigil paper factory and local craft workshops. A private, English-speaking experience with transport, water, and lunch included.

“Great local experience! Navroʻz is super welcoming and very knowledgeable about the history of Uzbekistan and all traditions! He will bring you at his place with her wife and parents and they let you cook together from scratch. It’s not only about cooking but learning local traditions, costumes and history. A different way to discover the real Samarkand ! Highly recommended.”

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