Madrid Cooking Classes: Paella, Tapas & Market Visits
Madrid cooking classes: make paella and classic tapas, often with a market visit, then eat your dishes with wine or sangria. What you make and how to book.
The short version: a Madrid cooking class teaches you to make paella and classic tapas, often starting with a visit to a local market to shop for ingredients, then cooking and eating your dishes with Spanish wine or sangria. It is the most hands-on way to take Spanish food home from the capital. Here is what you will make and how to book.
At a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What | Hands-on class: often a market visit, then cook and eat |
| You make | Paella, croquetas, patatas bravas, tortilla, sangria |
| Setting | A cooking studio or a chef’s kitchen in the centre |
| Time | About 2.5 to 4 hours |
| Good for | Couples, families, groups, rainy days |
What you make
The centrepiece is almost always paella, cooked the proper way in a wide flat pan, either seafood, mixed or Valencian-style. Around it you learn a couple of tapas: homemade croquetas, patatas bravas with two sauces, tortilla espanola, and often a jug of sangria to go with the meal. Market-visit classes start at a food market so you shop for the ingredients first.
How a Madrid cooking class works
Most classes are small and fully hands-on: you do the chopping, the sofrito and the rice yourself, guided by a chef, then sit down to eat everything you made. Morning classes often include the market visit; evening classes tend to be tapas-focused.
Our pick: the Madrid Paella & Tapas Cooking Class with Market Visit shops at a local market, then teaches paella plus homemade croquetas and patatas bravas, with a drink and snack.
Want paella from its birthplace? See Valencia paella cooking classes.
Compare more destinations: the best cooking classes in Europe.
Frequently asked questions
What do you cook in a Madrid cooking class?
Usually paella plus a few tapas such as croquetas, patatas bravas and tortilla espanola, often with sangria, then you eat it all together.
How much is a Madrid cooking class?
Group classes generally run around EUR 60 to 110 per person; market-visit and private classes cost more.
Do Madrid cooking classes include a market visit?
Many morning classes start at a local food market to shop for ingredients; evening and tapas-focused classes often skip it.
Book a Madrid cooking class
Compare Madrid cooking classes, or taste your way around first on a Madrid tapas tour.
