“Hi, my name’s [show’s host] and welcome to [show title], where contestants are challenged to create delicacies that are out of this world. But there’s a unique twist: not only are the contestants expected to impress our judges, they also have to [twist]”. 

We know how it goes, and we eat it up every time. Modern cooking shows pride themselves on bringing a different approach to the format. Some are hit-or-miss, but there are some you just can’t help but binge-watch.

1/4 My Million Pound Menu

Most shows give contestants a working station and ingredients to work with. UK reality series My Million Pound Menu says that it’s not enough—they give the contestants a whole restaurant instead.

Once they’re happy with the concept, contestants have to open a real pop-up restaurant for two days to impress a panel of judges: entrepreneurs looking to invest in their food businesses. If the entrepreneurs like what they see, they’ll offer deals to the restaurateurs to help them run their own place. Think cooking competition meets Shark Tank.

My Million Pound Menu is streaming on Netflix right now.

2/4 Cooked With Cannabis

Also streaming on Netflix, Cooked with Cannabis is exactly what the name suggests: meals cooked with recreational marijuana. 

Each episode, chefs are tasked with creating THC-infused, full course meals under a given theme. The winner gets $10,000. As you dive into the show, you quickly realise that marijuana is harder to use than you might think, and infusing it into every single dish throughout the courses is a tall challenge for the professionally-trained chefs competing.

When we think of cooking competitions, our minds usually recall a high-intensity atmosphere with people running around shouting “Yes, Chef!”. However, everyone present in Cooked With Cannabis is laidback and—at times—downright silly.

3/4 Baking Impossible

We’ve seen baking shows. We’ve seen shows that use some sort of engineering or science. We’ve never seen them both at the same time—until Baking Impossible.

This show pairs bakers with engineers, and challenges them to bake wonderful delicacies that could withstand the episode’s stress test. In the very first test, competitors have to create a cake-based sailboat that has to float on water while fans attempt to blow it off course. The challenges throughout the series don’t get any less wild.

With a panel of judges consisting of engineers and chefs, it is not only a fun show to watch but an educational and inspirational experience for the whole family. The first season is streaming on Netflix.

4/4 Nailed It!

Baking shows typically feature professional bakers creating fascinating creations. There’s nothing wrong with that, but Nailed It! answers the question no one asked: what if we wanted the fascinating creations, without the professional bakers?

 Nailed It! challenges amateur bakers to create highly-detailed three-tier cakes, gravity-defying cake pops, and many more. Watch the bakers marvel with something they’ve never tried before, and root for them in their hopeful execution. With comedian Nicole Byer as host and professional chocolatier Jacques Torres as head judge, we’re treated to a baking show that is fun, wild, and chaotic like no other.

Streaming on Netflix, you can find six seasons of the show, as well as international and holiday spin-offs.