The 10 Best Cooking Classes in Uzbekistan

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 Culture, Food, Crafts & Pottery Masterclass

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 24 reviews · 3.5 hours · from $85

Spend 3.5 hours with guides Yusuf, Julia, or another English-speaking host exploring Uzbek crafts, customs, and Silk Road trade. Visit artisans, shape and decorate your own pottery, then eat plov, non bread, salads, and green tea. Your fired piece is ready in up to two weeks, with shipping available for an extra fee.

“We had the pleasure of touring with Yusuf and Julia, and they made our first day in Uzbekistan unforgettable. From the moment they picked us up, we felt welcomed and comfortable in Tashkent. They shared so much interesting information about local culture, traditions, and beliefs, which helped us understand the city on a deeper level. The pottery course was a highlight—fun, hands-on, and the master really cared about helping everyone create a beautiful piece to take home. If you think it’s not worth it, you’re wrong—it definitely is! After that, we enjoyed a delicious plov dinner and had a long, friendly conversation that felt more like spending time with friends…”

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3.Cultural Exploration & Pottery Masterclass

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 24 reviews · from $85

Spend 3.5 hours with Yusuf exploring Uzbek crafts, Silk Road traditions, textiles, dolls, wedding customs, and pottery. Then shape and decorate clay with local artisans before sitting down to palov, non bread, salads, green tea, and water. Pickup is included, but drop-off, glazing, and pottery shipment are not.

“Yusaf is a knowledgable and kind tour guide who listened to what I wanted to focus on. The potter is quite skilled and has created a technique to preserve Uzbek designs through carving pottery. Lynch was delicious and filled with historical Read more”

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4.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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5.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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6.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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7.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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8.Legends and Crafts: Suzani Masterclass & Cultural Immersion

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · 3 - 3.5 hours · from $90

Spend three to three and a half hours with guides such as Yusuf and Yulia, learning Uzbek legends and Silk Road craft traditions at Navruz Park, then making a small Suzani embroidery. Finish with plov, salads, bread, green tea, and a take-home souvenir. Hotel pickup is available, and the private tour runs in English, Polish, Russian, or Uzbek.

“I’m so glad I did this. It was a nice ending to my trip. Exploring handicrafts & then trying my hand at one (I was terrible 😂 ) & an amazing dinner.”

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9.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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10.Plov and Samsa Cooking Class in Tashkent

★★★★★★★★★★4.3 · 6 reviews · 3 hours

Spend three hours in a private Tashkent cooking class learning plov and samsa from a local host team. You will cut onions, carrots, and meat, prepare rice, roll dough, cook the plov, and bake samsa. The class is offered in English or Russian, with vegan preparation possible for the plov.

“The experience was absolutely wonderful. The host family was incredibly friendly, professional, and welcoming. They prepared a wide variety of traditional snacks, desserts, and tea, which made us feel at home right away. The cooking process was very well organized and hands-on. We didn’t just follow instructions — we learned many useful techniques and details, and the hosts explained everything patiently. The whole family was warm and engaging, and their English communication was excellent. The travel company also arranged a great driver who handled the pickup and drop-off smoothly, which made the whole experience very convenient and stress-free. The food we made was delicious, and they even...”

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