Here are 5 Cooking Classes We're Loving Around Indianapolis

Bored of the same old dinner and movie date night? Cooking classes are a great way to enjoy delicious food, have a good time, and expand your culinary knowledge. Chefs across the Indianapolis area offer a wide variety of hands-on classes, so even if burning toast is the extent of your cooking skills, I guarantee you’ll have fun.

Make Macarons at Circle City Sweets | $125

If you’ve been in Indianapolis for any time at all, I hope you’ve had the privilege of running into Cindy Hawkins at one of the local farmers’ markets or at her business inside The AMP at 16 Tech. The award-winning chef is known for having some of the best croissants in the city, but she also produces a wide variety of other French-style pastries and bread.

Lucky for us, she enjoys sharing her wealth of knowledge. You can sign up for one of her macaron classes (and take home around 100 macarons!) or learn how to make croissants and Kouign-Amann during her laminated dough class. 

Make Cheese at Tulip Tree Creamery | $60

Tulip Tree Creamery co-owner Fons Smits produces a line of fresh and aged pasteurized cows’ milk cheeses and cultured butter that continuously win awards, including most recently at the 2024 World Cheese Awards. And brie-lieve it or not, you can learn how to make cheese from the award-winning cheesemaker.

Tulip Tree Creamery offers three levels of cheesemaking classes: fresh mozzarella, ricotta and burrata, butter, gouda, and cheddar. Classes start at $60 per person and include cheese sampling as well as taking home the cheese you made.

Make Pasta at Angelo’s Italian Market | $80

We can all agree fresh pasta is far superior to boxed pasta, but the task of making it can seem daunting and arduous. Fortunately, Angelo’s Italian Market hosts pasta-making classes in which you can learn the secrets to making delicious homemade pasta using kitchen tools you probably already own.

Beginners can take Pasta Making 101. During the class you’ll make the dough, learn how to roll it out, and create a few different pasta shapes. If you enjoy that class, you can continue on to Pasta Making 201, in which you’ll learn to make stuffed pasta. In the end, everyone takes home between 12-16 ounces of pasta.

Make Pie at My Sugar Pie | $40

My Sugar Pie has received national attention for serving up some of the best pie in the country (Oprah is a fan). People love their light and crispy crust which is from owner Kelly Maucere’s mother’s original recipe.

Maucere wants to teach you how to make her acclaimed treats in her downtown Zionsville kitchen. My Sugar Pie hosts a class most Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Class offerings include mini pies, whoopie pies, shortcakes, and more.

Make Sushi at Katsumi’s Teaching Kitchen | $115

Homemade Japanese food like sushi and ramen can seem unattainable, but one local chef wants to change that. Mori Lemau, owner of Katsumi’s Teaching Kitchen, teaches students proper techniques for creating authentic Japanese dishes at home. Most people are surprised to learn it isn’t very complicated.

You can sign up for an intro to sushi making class, a Japanese street food class, or a ramen noodle class. In the span of two and a half hours, Lemau will walk you through the fundamentals and give you a history of the food. She holds classes at the Beech Grove business Thursday through Sunday each week.