My detailed list of movies for foodies provides recommendations that go beyond the big screen. Fiction, non-fiction, TV and cinema, all in a variety of genres, with plenty of numnums. Find your feast for the eyes below!
Note: Though I have included details on where to watch each recommendation, availability on streaming services is likely to differ based on location.
Contents
- TV & Movies for Foodies
- Ratatouille (2007)
- Somebody Feed Phil (2018 – )
- The Bear (2022 – )
- Parasite (2019)
- Luca (2021)
- Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico (2023)
- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
- Chef (2014)
- The Great British Bake Off (2010 – )
- Julia (2022-2023)
- Bao (2018)
- The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
- Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
- Tampopo (1985)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Chocolat (2000)
- Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
- Like Water for Chocolate (2024 – 2025)
- The Farewell (2019)
- Goodfellas (1990)
- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
- TV, Docs & Movies for Foodies
TV & Movies for Foodies
As someone who loves both food and the worlds of film & TV, I am always happy to find a happy marriage between the two. I would go as far as saying that movies & TV that significantly feature food are the ultimate comfort watch.
My recommendations below cover a wide range of genres and cater for multiple tastes, giving you plenty of choice for a variety of moods that you may be in. Anyone else hungry?
Ratatouille (2007)
Let’s start my movies for foodies recommendations with a classic. Disney Pixar’s story about a Parisian rat who dreams of more – in this case, cooking proper food – and finds himself guiding a hapless chef in training, is up there with one of their finest pieces of cinema, in my opinion.
There are plenty of animated dishes to feast your eyes on in this lovely family film. It’s where I learned that cheese and strawberries are delicious together.
Where to watch it: Disney+
Somebody Feed Phil (2018 – )
This is by far my favourite food & travel show EVER. Phil Rosenthal takes us across the globe to a whole array of places that are celebrated for their food.
Occasionally joining in on the culinary fun are his family, friends, and famous faces in entertainment. As is expected considering he is the writer behind comedy cult classic, Everybody Loves Raymond (1996 – 2005).
His humour is endless, the food is always drool-worthy, and the sign offs featuring calls with his parents are guaranteed to warm the cockles.
I’ve genuinely got a list of eateries to visit around the world as a result of watching this show. Phil genuinely loves food, so I reckon he’d approve of my movies for foodies recommendations.
Where to watch it: Netflix
The Bear (2022 – )
Drama, heart, food.
If kitchen workplace dramas are your vibe, this one is a must-see. It’s award winning for good reason. After a world-rattling death in his family, a talented chef from the fine dining sphere returns home to run his family’s local sandwich shop.
The Bear actually does involve delicious dedicated food shots, as well, which isn’t always the case when it comes to kitchen-set fictional dramas.
Where to watch it: Disney+
Parasite (2019)
The film that arguably (finally) showed Bong Joon Ho off in the West. There is SO much brilliance to this film, it needs an entire dissertation on it just to scratch the surface.
It’s not one for a family film night where little ones are in attendance, but it’s one heck of a commentary on the class struggles in South Korean society.
A destitute family cleverly infiltrates a wealthy family by filling job posts in their house one by one.
If you’ve seen a K-Drama or two before, you’ll know that food features heavily throughout the screen stories of the country. It’s an integral part of the society, and Bong Joon Ho uses it as a storytelling tool in this cinematic work of art.
Where to watch it: Netflix, Prime Video
Luca (2021)
If Italian food and stories about facing your fears and pushing beyond your comfort zone are your thing, Pixar’s Luca is a lovely watch for all ages.
Plus, Giulia reminds us all of the importance of carb loading to fuel physical training. As Colt reminds us in The Fall Guy (2024): carbs are essential for basic brain function.
Where to watch it: Disney+
Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico (2023)
Another food travel show for my movies for foodies list, this time focusing solely on the culinary wonders of Mexico.
I spent a good portion of my teen years watching Desperate Housewives and am a fan of Only Murders in the Building (just to name a couple of Eva Longoria’s works), so no arm twisting was needed to give this travel show a watch.
Mark my words: I am going to Oaxaca to taste chocolate made the traditional Mayan way at least once in this lifetime.
Where to watch it: BBC, Prime Video
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
I can’t put together my recommendations for movies for foodies and not include anime. It’s full of delicious looking food and is one of the things the genre is renowned for.
Howl’s Moving Castle is one such film. Studio Ghibli whipped out the frying pan to whip up some seriously tasty breakfasts, feeding not just people, but fire, too.
Calcifer eating the egg shells is so satisfying and makes me even more peckish! Not for egg shells, though.
This movie is a very apt watch for the spring season, too.
Where to watch it: Netflix
Chef (2014)
Chef is a fun watch, despite some kitchen workplace stress in a few scenes. What I like most about it is the celebration of food truck food!
Street food has been gaining proper recognition more recently as some of the best food in the world. Food trucks are absolutely a part of that, and Chef is just one cinematic story that shows how a food truck can make so many people happy.
Where to watch it: Netflix
The Great British Bake Off (2010 – )
Sure, there is plenty of choice when it comes to reality cooking shows. I’ve watched my fair share, that’s for sure, and I certainly have a few favourites.
My number one, though? The Great British Bake Off, also known as The Great British Baking Show in other parts of the world.
The end of summer usually means one thing for me: GBBO is starting soon. I LOVE it. Twelve new amateur bakers enter the tent each year, ready to bake up a storm.
It’s also the very definition of wholesome; a must-watch in my movies for foodies recommendations.
Where to watch it: Netflix, Channel 4
Julia (2022-2023)
A highly rated series inspired by the life of renowned chef, Julia Child, and her pioneering cooking show, The French Chef, which kicked off the cooking-on-TV style of entertainment.
Julie & Julia (2009) is also inspired by Child, though it follows the story of a food blogger who sets out to learn how to cook like the famed cook.
Food galore, friends. That’s what movies for foodies are all about.
Where to watch it: HBO, NOW, Prime Video
Bao (2018)
If you haven’t seen Disney shorts, they are absolutely worth watching! Gorgeous little nuggets of art and storytelling.
Bao is about a Chinese-Canadian mother whose son has left home, leaving her to struggle with empty nest syndrome. When one of her handmade dumplings comes to life, she takes it as another chance at motherhood.
Dumplings are cute whether they come to life or not. Tasty, too.
Where to watch it: Disney+
The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)
Fleeing political violence in their Indian home following both business and personal losses, the Kadam family settles in France. They open their own eatery, creating tension between themselves and the head of the Michelin-star restaurant situated directly opposite them.
French cuisine and Indian cuisine collide, with Dame Helen Mirren and Manish Dayal fueling the hob flames.
Where to watch it: Prime Video, Netflix
Lessons in Chemistry (2023)
This is a great series that follows sharp-as-a-tack Elizabeth Zott, whose dreams of becoming a scientist in the 1950s are repeatedly shut down by a male dominated industry.
As cooking is a passion of hers that falls under the science umbrella, she reluctantly accepts a job as television cook. Teaching the nation how to cook isn’t her only intention, though.
Brie Larson is stupendous in this series where food plays a key part.
Where to watch it: Apple TV+
Tampopo (1985)
Not for young eyes, trust me on this one, friends. Food is frequently used in *spicy* situations of a different kind. You’ve been warned.
A truck driver decides to help a family-run noodle place flourish in their business. If you love Japanese cuisine (same) and have a particular love for noodles, this one is a comedy cracker.
Ken Watanabe is in it. Need I say more?
Where to watch it: Prime Video
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
The one film that is guaranteed to make me want to plunge my entire body in melted chocolate. Swimming, drinking, eating. All in one go. Anyone else?
Based on Roald Dahl’s literary classic, this Tim Burton adaptation makes the factory’s confectionery feel simultaneously retro and futuristic.
Does anyone else remember when you could actually buy Wonka chocolate in shops when this film was being promoted? What a time.
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Wonka (2023) are also options if this is your vibe; the latter makes me want flavoured chocolates more than any other food.
Where to watch it: Sky,
Chocolat (2000)
Yeah, friends. I’m still on the chocolate hype. Except this time, we’re in a rural French town in the 1950s, and each of the residents needs a taste of the good stuff for one reason or another.
Thankfully, a mother and her daughter drift in with the wind and open a chocolate shop to help disrupt the restrictive, rigid way of living that has a hold over this quaint town. All through the power of chocolate.
The film is based on the book of the same name. If you’re lining this one up for a movie night, I would suggest pairing it with a hot chocolate at the very least, friends.
Where to watch it: Netflix, Prime Video
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011)
One for the documentary lovers.
Watch sushi master Jiro Ono at 85 years young as he continues to work in his famous Tokyo-based restaurant. Sushi is the dream, sushi is the reality for this renowned chef along with his son and heir, Yoshikazu.
As the saying goes, all good things come in small packages, as is certainly the case with Jiro’s ten-seater restaurant!
Sushi is the main dish and philosophy is the accompanying side dish.
Where to watch it: Plex, Prime Video
Like Water for Chocolate (2024 – 2025)
More chocolate, but not on its own.
Adapted from the book of the same name and following the 1992 film adaptation, this version of the story demonstrates the healing power of food, and its ability to light the fire of passion within.
Lots of delicious looking food is cooked up in this romantic drama.
Where to watch it: HBO
The Farewell (2019)
A cracker from A24 (as expected from this studio). Headstrong Awkwafina returns to China with her family after hearing that her grandmother has little time left to live.
She struggles with her family’s decision to keep Grandma out of the know about her health, and they arrange a wedding to spend time with her one last time.
It sounds like a really heavy watch, but there is comedy in it. So many of the integral scenes take place around during a meal, so food is regularly present.
Where to watch it: Netflix
Goodfellas (1990)
Scorsese at his finest, demonstrating how food plays a key part in the Italian American community (mob or otherwise).
Aside from the inclusion of a *unique* way to cut garlic cloves, the film features important meetings taking place over supper; cooking between drug runs, and eating pasta while keeping under the radar.
Where to watch it: NOW, Sky, Prime Video
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
The right way to wrap this list of movies for foodies is with a film that I know never fails to make me hungry.
Why does food look just as good, if not better, when animated?
Heck, even the burgers look good… and I don’t eat meat.
Where to watch it: Sky, Netflix, NOW
TV, Docs & Movies for Foodies
Food + movies = a joyful couple of hours.
Food IN movies + food to eat while watching movies = the ultimate way to spend an evening in.
I do hope you have found this post useful, friends. I could talk about food and films for hours without running out of steam. I’d probably need a cake and a cup of tea to keep the furnace firing, but that’s no biggie.
Let me know in the comments what your favorite food focused movies and TV shows are!
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