The Best Online Cooking Classes For Healthy Eating

Ever enter the kitchen and feel a bit lost? You may have the goods to make something delicious, yet lack the imagination and ability to throw things into a pan and create a culinary masterpiece.

If so, I feel you. Though I’m a food editor, I’m still someone that loves having either visual aids or direct instructions when preparing new recipes.

Vloggers have been documenting their What I Eat in a  Day videos on YouTube for a few years now, and they’ve become an online phenomenon, with people watching the videos by the millions.

But some other channels are dedicated to bringing fresh and innovative recipes to the YT audience, and teaching them how to cook – not only in terms of sharing recipes, but also information about techniques, nutrition, food hacks and more.

A fan of the medium myself, here’s my pick of the Best Online Cooking Classes for healthy eating. They’ll teach you how to shop, how to cook, and what’s best for your body. They’ll make you look forward to every meal, and who knows – they may even get you started on a health kick!

Bon Appetit!

The Best Online Cooking Classes for Healthy Eating

1. Vegan Cooking with Love

Michelle Johnson very clearly talks through each and every recipe all whilst showing you on-screen what she’s doing. How do you cut the tofu? How hot should I have the oil? Having visual representation makes the process a whole lot easier and this is such a great cooking channel for anyone from a beginner to a someone more experienced in the kitchen.

Plus, with the jazz sounding background music and the silky voice of Michelle, the whole channel has a very laid-back vibe.

Best for: Those that like familiar recipes, but want to make them vegan and healthy. Also great for people who are hard of hearing, as Michelle has easy-to-follow subtitles on screen for every recipe.

Recipes: All kinds of marinated tofu such as BBQ and sweet chili and lime, soups, carrot pate and there’s even a vegan broth!

Extras: Michelle has a whole section of videos on knife skills, which is brilliant for anyone just learning to cook and who need to brush up on their wielding of the knife (and to lower the risk of losing a finger).

More information here.

2. The Sexy Vegan

Now, without bringing sexism into the mix, it’s pretty refreshing to find a male vegan cooking channel. So many of the channels are women, so it’s great to find that one of the best online cooking classes is given by a man, spreading that vegan message via delicious food! The sexy vegan behind this channel is chef Brian L. Patton and if you’re looking or some light relief (or eye candy) this channel is for you.

Brian’s commentary as he cooks is hilarious, and the way he talks you through the recipes makes them easier to grasp. This might not be a channel for first timers, as you have to be pretty fast to cook along with it, however it’s a great channel to watch and take notes.

Best for: Those who like comfort food. Think: vegan pizzas and thick, fully loaded sandwiches. And those who aren’t adverse to the odd swear word.

Recipes: You’ll find a host of  versatile recipes that have been given a vegan make-over, from  pizza and strombolini, to stuffed dates and a paella.

Extras: Brian does reviews of vegan friendly products such as deodorants and snacks. There’s even a goofy  mix of songs for some light relief.

More information here.

4. Healthy Grocery Girl

Megan Roosevelt is the founder of Healthy Grocery Girl, a channel that is known as the number one family friendly dietitian channel on YouTube. Which isn’t surprising as HGG, has over 1 million followers.

This is one of the best online cooking classes for busy families. Megan shares easy tips and recipes to incorporate a clean and healthy, natural way of living into their lives with new videos every week. She has a really fun yet realistic approach to healthy living, and her videos are a mixture of being playful yet informative.

Not only is Megan an internationally published author, but she’s also a nutrition expert for television and magazines. This girl knows her stuff!

The recipes are perfect if you’ve just started to cook more clean and healthy as Megan not only engages with the audience but there’s also concise lists of what you’ll need on screen, followed by a narrated step-by-step.

Best for: Those  who enjoy healthy eating and learning about the properties of foods.

Recipes: Heaps of  healthy drinks and chia pudding recipes alongside more indulgent treats like carrot cake cookies and vegan nacho cheese!

Extras: Megan does a series of food and beauty hauls, alongside some What I Eat in a Day videos. Oh yeah, and there’s the occasional rap in there, too.

More information here.

5. Peaceful Cuisine

Who knew cooking could be quite so, uh, well peaceful? Chef Ryoya has put together a cooking channel that just feels so Zen. It’s essentially a vegan cooking channel that bakes to calm, soothing music. No words are needed for the videos as all of the ingredients are listed below the videos, so you can just work alongside Ryoya.

This is definitely a channel for those at a more intermediate level of cooking, as there’s no much aid except for the list of ingredients. It’s perfect if you’re confident in the kitchen and can just throw it all together like Chef Ryoya.

Best for: A bit of Japanese food and calm cooking. With the option to have background music or not, this is a great channel if you like to cook without a narrating voice over.

Recipes: There’s  such a range of different foods, from vegan dumplings and gomoku okowa (sticky steamed rice) to delicious desserts such as cheesecakes, and even a banana cream pie!

Extras: Lots of extra videos such as travelling videos, and informative Q&As.

More information here.

6.  Jason Wrobel

Jason Wrobel is the host being the J-Wro Show, a vegan cooking channel that comes with a host of information to help you live the best, vibrant life that you can. You’ll find this tattooed, Polish-Puerto Rican dish of a man infectiously animated and passionate as he talks about food and ways to keep healthy.

Jason gives very clear and precise cooking instructions alongside a video of each step. But if you’re not someone who knows how to chop an onions or mince garlic, then you may want to brush up beforehand, as you won’t see Jason prepping on screen. But if you’ve got the basics down in the kitchen, his recipes are easy to follow as Jason’s cooking instructions really informative.

Plus you’ll learn heaps of new information!

Best for: Those  that like engaging and funny hosts (albeit a little geeky) and want to make foods for different moods.

Recipes: There’s a ton of salads, basil limeade, and also heartier foods such as kimchi pancakes and spicy soba noodles.

Extras: Loads of informative information and products reviews, alongside a pretty great video on how Jason healed his depression.

More information here.

7. Simply Quinoa

The name is a little bit of a giveaway, but the basis behind Simply Quinoa is…well, quinoa. Alyssa is the brains behind the channel, which was created to showcase just how how easy it is to make both nutritious and tasty recipes from scratch. They all have that one ingredient in common, which is a great thing for us all, as quinoa is a great form of plant based protein, and packs loads of other health benefits, too!

Alyssa made the decision to ditch the junk from her diet, and replaced it with natural, whole foods and it took her just days to see the benefits – now you can experience that as well. This channel is great if you have a knowledge of healthy, clean ingredients as they’re used in every video. You may find yourself thinking what is that a few times if not.

Best for: Those who eat gluten free – quinoa flour is a staple on this channel, and is used for tons of great baking recipes. Also great if you love quinoa, for obvious reasons.

Recipes: This channel features a lot of healthy recipes that have been ‘veganised’, such as a Caesar salad and a vegan ‘chicken’ salad bowl, but as I said, this is a great channel for gluten free baking, too.

Extras: Alongside popular What I Eat in a Day Videos, there are also food hauls and meal prepping videos. There is also a group of videos that showcase some cooking tips, such as how to cook and rinse quinoa which is such a great aid for beginnings – I wished I’d found that video sooner when I first used  that grain!

More information here.

8. Lacey Baier

Lacey is the editor and main writer behind channel A Sweet Pea Chef. Not only does she like to blog about food but she’s also a health and food coach who knows the importance of clean eating. Stacey works to help make the bridge between food and life that little bit easier with fuss free, clean eating recipes that can be made easily from scratch.

Lacey has a very calming voice which makes the videos seem all the more engaging. I’d recommend this channel to those that know their way around the kitchen as there’s no ingredients lists to follow on screen (the recipes are listed on the website)  and the videos are very fast paced.

Best for: Learning about food as well learning ways to cook healthier.

Recipes: This channel features a  range of healthy recipes  for different dietary lifestyles. Some dishes such  are vegan friendly, yet some make eating meaty foods healthier if you haven’t yet ditched the flesh.

Extras: There’s a  section on this channel dedicated to teaching skills for learning to eat healthier. This is perfect if you’re new and looking for informational help to ease that transition, and the videos are full of tips and information that will make it seem easy peasy!

More information here.  

9. Edgy Veg

If you consider clean and healthy recipes to be a bit on the bland side, then you should pay attention to Candice and James of Edgy Veg. They’ve made it their mission to revolutionise the way we view vegan foods – expect a LOT more than endless salad and smoothie recipes!

The Edgy Veg is dedicated to re-creating firm favourites in both a vegan and healthy way but one that will satisfy even the most sophisticated of palettes – I mean, black pineapple ice cream, anyone? YESSS! There’s also some food hack videos that make things like cutting a mango much easier. And if you’re worried that this may be too advanced for your cooking skills, there’s a section of easy-to-make videos, too.

Best for: This is one of the best online cooking classes  for people who enjoy videos with a quirky, fun commentary. Candice makes everything seem fun!

Recipes: This channel has everything from healthy recipes to re-creations of vegan ‘junk food’ so it’s great if you’re wanting to cook healthy with a treat, too. Plus there’s vegan bacon.

Extras: There’s a section of fun videos such as taste tests, back to school meal ideas (perfect if you have kids) and there’s even a discussion section where Candice and James talk about a range of topics.

More information here.  

10. Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver’s laddish persona is always a pleasure to watch in the kitchen – he’s perpetually cheerful and shows you just how easy cooking any of his recipes can be. There’s rarely an exact measurement with this guy! It’s just ‘throw a dash of this’ or ‘chuck a lump of that’ into something. Simple!

Jamie’s not a vegan chef, but he does emphasise overall health, and he does include some vegan food in his recipes often.  Plus there’s the fact he was  one of the original forces behind revolutionising the way we see food.

The best part is that they’re all filed away into folders so you can search easily for whichever recipes suit your dietary needs.

Best for: People who like to wing it with food; there’s no anal retentiveness to Oliver’s approach to cooking.

Recipes: Moroccan tagine, Sicilian pasta, Mushroom risotto and more.

Extras: There’s a huge variety of recipes in Jamie’s well organised index,  plus Jamie  accept challenges people set him when creating recipes.

More information here.  

11. Honestly Healthy

One of the first British proponents of clean eating and an alkaline diet, Natasha Corrett has changed people’s lives with her blog, Honestly Healthy, and her similarly named YouTube channel.

All recipes here are fairly easy to make, so long as you have a good food processor, and are focused on alkaline, rather than strictly vegan, foods. Her goal is to make your body more alkaline, through food. It’s easy!  Eating dishes like her pesto pasta spirals, sugar free desserts and flavourful quinoa salad ensure that your body avoids acidity, which can cause various diseases, including cancer.

Best for: Of course, this is one of the best online cooking classes for people who focus on an alkaline diet.

Recipes: A real mix of foods from  an Asian noodle salad to a sprout and pea salad.

Extras: There’s an Honestly Healthy advice section which is great for listening to videos of Natasha explaining an alkaline lifestyle alongside the benefits of certain foods such as turmeric and chia seeds.

More information here.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlcFVcyCLmA

12. The Vegan Corner

Plant based channel the Vegan Corner is basically a vegan cook’s dream come true. I mean, who knows how to cook better than Italians? And this channel was put together by a group of Italian chefs to introduce low-fat vegan cuisine to the public. Videos walk you through step by step, showing you exactly how everything should look. There’s no talking in most of them, just written and visual instructions.

Best for: This is one of the best online cooking classes for people who really like carbs. There’s heaps of pasta based recipes to choose from on this channel that have been made, of course, healthier.

Recipes: There’s lots of pasta recipes such as lasagna  and linguine  some sweater treats such as custardy date bites and vegan blondies.  

Extras: There’s a  DIY cosmetics section on this channel that shows you how to make your own beauty products. Thee’s tutorials to make things such as lip balm, body scrub and even deodorant.

More information here.  

13. FabLunch

Olga Bykina is the founder of FabLunch, a website and YouTube channel that she launched after years of researching and learning all that she could about both nutrition and healthy eating. Today, Olga shares her recipes with the world with videos that really clearly and simply demonstrate each step of the process.

FabLunch is basically a library of delicious recipes that  covers all of your meals. Even if you’re a beginner to cooking you can follow Olga’s videos. Not only does Olga have the most calming voice she also talks about the benefits of foods and shows you what will go into the recipe before making it in front of you.

Best for: This is one of the best online cooking classes for people who love smoothies and soups: Olga is a huge fan of both. Also great if you like to learn about food as Olga will list why the foods going into her recipes are food for us.

Recipes: Lots of salad and smoothie recipes with a mix of vegan meatballs and PB&J cupcakes.

Extras: There’s a section of fun vlogs to watch to catch a glimpse into Olga’s life, alongside  some catch up Q&A’s where Olga talks about anything new.

More information here.  

14. HealthNut Nutrition

The face behind HealthNut Nutrition is Nikole, a self-proclaimed ‘health nut’ herself. Based in Canada, Nikola will take you through each step you need to create each recipe, from how to chop and season veggies to how to tell if something in the oven is done. This channel’s pretty fun – it’s got cheerful music, an upbeat vibe, and even the occasional competition! Oh, and plus there are loads of delish, healthy desserts.

Best for: Anyone that is a fan of clean living. Nikole not only promotes clean, healthy eating but she also promotes clean beauty products so it’s an all rounder.

Recipes: This is one of the best online cooking classes for healthy pastas, like her version of spaghetti carbonara, roasted chickpeas, vegan chocolate brownies and more.

Extras: There’s a section of How To videos that go on to show quick and easy ways to either chop something or cook it, which is perfect if you’re new to cooking. There’s also monthly favourite videos and Q&A’s.

More information here.  

15. hot for food

Dynamic vegan duo Lauren and John probably need no introduction. They’ve built up a pretty large following thanks to the way they’ve reinvented the way we view vegan food.

What can you expect to find? The real question is what won’t you find! Lauren and John cook up foods that we all love and enjoy  – they just so happen to be vegan versions. Their channel is perfect if you’re just going vegan and are struggling to let go of your ‘go-to’ foods  as they’ve made heaps of recipes from tacos and nachos to burgers and mac and cheese. Plus they have this knack of making the recipes look super easy to make!

These videos are quite fast paced, so I’d ease in with some recipes from the ‘easy to make’ section first.

Best for: Anyone  that just loves food. Even non-vegans will drool over these recipes.

Recipes: You will find everything you desire on this website, whether it’s a burger, a hot dog, a plate of nachos or a healthy salad. Can you tell I love this channel?

Extras: Lauren also has her own channel where she regularly uploads What I Eat in a Day videos, vlogs and discussion videos on different topics.

More information here.  

16. Deliciously Ella

Another lady that probably needs no introduction; Deliciously Ella!  Not only does Ella have a collection of cookbooks under her belt, a successful Deli bar  and popular cooking classes in the heart of London, Ella also contributes a variety of her recipes online to her YouTube channel.

There’s a versatile selection of recipes that will have you learning to cook with real ingredients in a fun and tasty way. Ella’s way  of teaching is so engaging, and she’s so charming, you’ll soon become a professional in the kitchen.

Best for: This is one of the best online cooking classes for plant-based vegans, as this is the lifestyle Ella follows and this is the type of food she makes.

Recipes: A whole host of recipes from stuffed sweet potatoes and brown rice risotto to sweeter treats such as Ella’s super delicious  sweet potato brownies.

Extras: What I Eat in a Day vlogs and Q&A’s. There are also little insights and recipes from Ella’s cookbooks.

More information here.