Cooking Shows to Help You Through the Holidays

Daniel Hautzinger

December 12, 2023

A French walnut tart cut into slices, with a slice on a plate with cream

'Milk Street' and other shows can help you out for the holidays, with desserts like this French Walnut Tart and other recipes. Credit: Milk Street

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Whether you're looking for new recipes or simply want to enjoy watching other people make festive treats, the season around the holidays at the end of the year feels like the perfect time to cozy in and watch some food shows to help you get into the holiday spirit. We've got plenty of holiday specials from food shows, as well as some shows that just have great recipes for the holidays, for you to stream via the PBS app or video.wttw.com. (Some require a WTTW Passport membership.)

If you really want to luxuriate in holiday cooking shows, we have a marathon of them on WTTW beginning at noon on Sunday, December 17. And if you're looking for other holiday programming to keep the joy alive this season, we've got a whole slate of shows ready for you.

America's Test Kitchen

Holiday desserts tend to go all-in on chocolate or peppermint, which are delicious, but it can be nice to have something to cut through that richness with brightness and acid. America's Test Kitchen offers a cranberry curd tart in a holiday-centric episode.

Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Kitchen

In a special holiday episode of Milk Street, learn a recipe for Argentinean-style stuffed pork loin followed by an elevated take on pecan pie, courtesy of France. If you want to continue with the French dessert theme, try an episode featuring some showstoppers such as an almond rum cake.

The Dooky Chase Kitchen: Leah's Legacy

Get a taste of Christmas, Creole-style, in a holiday episode of this show focusing on the legendary New Orleans restaurant.

How She Rolls

In "A Very Carrie Christmas," baker Carrie Morey navigates the holidays with ham biscuits and eggnog.

J Schwanke's Life in Bloom

This one doesn't involve food, except some cranberries as a centerpiece, but livening up your holiday table can only add to the enjoyment of a feast! Host J Schwanke demonstrates how to decorate with and enjoy flowers at Christmastime.

Julia Child

In three episodes of Cooking in Concert, Julia Child prepares holiday-worthy feasts and centerpieces, including with the help of Jacques Pépin. And in Baking with Julia, you can learn how to prepare a number of delectable desserts with celebrated pastry chefs and bakers.

There are not any explicitly holiday episodes of The French Chef available for streaming. But we figured it was worth a reminder that you can revisit Julia Child's classic show. And the holidays are the perfect time to try out something ambitious and rich, like boeuf bourguignon, souffle, or apple charlotte!

Julie Taboulie's Lebanese Kitchen

Join Julie Taboulie to make Lebanese sweets like knefeh and baklava in a holiday episode.

Lidia's Kitchen

An episode dedicated to celebrations isn't explicitly about the holidays, but a winter panzanella is perfect for the season.

Mary Berry

The grande dame of British cooking brings us various holiday specials, from Mary Berry's Ultimate Christmas to two episodes of Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites and the upcoming Mary Berry's Highland Christmas, which is not yet available for streaming but premieres Monday, December 18 at 8:00 pm on WTTW.

New Scandinavian Cooking

Host Andreas Viestead makes some of his Christmas favorites in Eastern Norway's Savalen, plus common Norwegian holiday food, in a season 9 holiday episode. In a season 2 special, he makes a Scandinavian holiday feast, including mulled wine.