15 Best Cooking Movies That Will Make You Hungry

Julie & Julia

• Released: 2009
• Rated: PG-13
• Memorable quote: “You are the butter to my bread, you are the breath to my life.”

Every foodie knows that Julia & Julia is one of the best cooking movies out there! Meryl Streep stars as famous chef and cookbook writer Julia Child in this charming ode to the romance of cooking. Stanley Tucci shines as her devoted husband. Half the film follows Child’s adventures, while the other half focuses on Julie (played by Amy Adams), the real-life blogger who struggled to follow Child’s recipes and documented her successes and disasters online.

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Ratatouille

• Released: 2007
• Rated: G
• Memorable quote: “Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you. You need only to be aware to stop and savor it.”

Cooking movies don’t have to be just for grown-ups—parents and kids alike will enjoy Disney Pixar’s ode to French cuisine. Ratatouille follows determined little rodent Remy on his adventures to become a chef. Remy befriends a garbage boy named Alfredo Linguini with the same dream. The two aspiring chefs clash with a villainous restaurant owner determined to foil them at every stop. Bon appetit!

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No Reservations

• Released: 2007
• Rated: PG
• Memorable quote: “I wish there was a cookbook for life, you know? Recipes telling us exactly what to do.”

There’s no shortage of cooking movies that have a dash of romance mixed in. In No Reservations, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart play star-crossed chefs competing for culinary perfection. Catherine loses her edge after she gains custody of her niece (played by Abigail Breslin) after a family accident. Aaron comes aboard to help out as her kitchen underling, but his skills threaten to take over the lead role. It’s the perfect love-hate conflict to stir up some love. Highlights include gorgeous shots of artistic food platings.

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Chocolat

• Released: 2001
• Rated: PG-13
• Memorable quote: “I’ll come ’round sometime and get that squeak out of your door.”

If you prefer your cooking movies more sweet than savory, then Chocolat is the film for you. Set in 1959, it stars a sparkly Juliette Binoche as the single mom owner of La Chocolaterie Maya, where the ingredients are literally dusted with magic. Johnny Depp plays the handsome traveler who shows up to sweep Juliette off her feet. Your mouth will water as the camera pans across the delectable delights. The scene where the oppressive mayor, played by Alfred Molina, finally indulges in some chocolate is a celebration of giving in to temptation. Watch with a box of bonbons close by!

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Waitress

• Released: 2007
• Rated: PG-13
• Memorable quote: “Dear Baby, I hope someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight and that’s all they do. They don’t pull away. They don’t look at your face. They don’t try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms and hold on tight, without an ounce of selfishness to it.”

Not many cooking movies can say they’ve ended up on the Broadway stage! Keri Russell stars as a talented pie-maker trapped in a bad marriage in this film that was adapted into a hit musical. After discovering she’s pregnant, she unleashes transformative power when she bakes her famous pies. Waitress is all about women’s creativity in the kitchen—look out for pies with names like “Marshmallow Mermaid” and “Bad Baby.” Nathan Fillion shows up as her doctor love interest, but the highlights of this one take place in the kitchen!

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The Hundred-Foot Journey

• Released: 2014
• Rated: PG
• Memorable quote: “If your food is anything like your music, I suggest you turn it down.”

A delightful dramedy, The Hundred-Foot Journey uses fusion cooking to send a positive message about multicultural acceptance. An Indian family fleeing violence finds a haven in a tiny French town. They buy a restaurant to start over but soon find themselves embroiled in competition with the bistro next door. Helen Mirren has a stake in the other restaurant, so she tries to sabotage the Indian cafe. But she learns a big lesson when the townspeople vandalize the new start-up. Soon enough, competing chefs are falling in love as they combine ingredients in a delectable merger of recipes and cultures.

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Like Water for Chocolate

• Released: 1993
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “Tita, my great aunt. She will continue to live as long as someone cooks her recipes.”

This beautiful Mexican romance film is infused with magic and the mysteries of every great cook. Like Water for Chocolate follows the story of a young woman whose food has the power to affect whoever consumes it with her mood at the time. Her tears cause intense emotion. And when she adds in some rose petals, passions rise. She’s forbidden from seeing her great love because of class differences, but the magical recipes keep the two close.

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Pieces of April

• Released: 2003
• Rated: PG-13
• Memorable quote: “Do you know that good feeling that often comes from being helpful? … I’m not having that feeling.”

Katie Holmes and Patricia Clarkson play mother and daughter in Pieces of April, a drama about the stress of making Thanksgiving dinner. It’s hard enough to get the special meal perfect, but when the oven breaks, pressure skyrockets. Holmes’s makeshift meal and limited cooking skills are crises enough without adding in mom’s cancer. Good food, family and a little help from your friends prove that comfort food really does have the power to heal.

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Big Night

• Released: 1996
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “To eat good food is to be close to God.”

Critics loved this cinematic love letter to Italian cooking. Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub shine as rival brothers trying to keep their restaurant afloat. When a famed singer is supposed to make an appearance, the two throw everything into creating a perfect feast for the big night. The stakes are high in this ode to culinary perfection, and Big Night is a true celebration of Italian cuisine.

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Soul Food

• Released: 1997
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “One finger won’t make an impact, but you ball all those fingers into a fist, and you can strike a mighty blow.”

This popular movie takes place around the crowded, lively dinner table of a family dealing with their matriarch’s illness. In Soul Food, the table overflows with comfort staples like macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, potato salad and mouthwatering biscuits, and Vanessa Williams, Nia Long and Vivica A. Fox show up as sisters who know that all good cooking comes from the heart. Love really is food for the soul.

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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

• Released: 1971
• Rated: G
• Memorable quote: “A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men.”

In one of our favorite cooking movies, most of the food isn’t even real—but the imagination is what makes it iconic. The best parts of this Gene Wilder classic are the set pieces in the factory that show us how Everlasting Gobstoppers are made or how to turn a person into a blueberry. With chocolate rivers, golden eggs and edible teacups, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory will have you craving candy! The early musical number “The Candy Man” is a special treat that’s satisfying and delicious.

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Burnt

• Released: 2015
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “People eat because they are hungry; I want to make food that makes people stop eating.”

Bradley Cooper gets bossy with love interest Sienna Miller in the romantic drama Burnt, about earning hard-to-get ratings for top-notch cuisine. Cooper is a chef trying to get his edge back after rehab. Cooking is a high-stakes art form, but its true power is the way it allows redemption—with some romance on the side.

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Mystic Pizza

• Released: 1988
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “What the hell do you think Leona really puts in that pizza?”

Who doesn’t love a movie about pizza? Of course, it’s also about sisterhood, friendship, love and finding yourself. Julia Roberts stars in Mystic Pizza, an ’80s flick about a young waitress working at a Mystic, Connecticut, pizza shop with her sister and their best friend. Their boss and mentor, Leona, makes the best pizza in town, but her business needs more than just locals and summer tourism to survive. The girls believe that getting a renowned TV food critic will be just what they need to attract new customers and revive the business to financial stability. And we must say that the piping hot pizza in every scene truly does look superb!

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Chef

• Released: 2014
• Rated: R
• Memorable quote: “I may not do everything great in my life, but I’m good at this. I manage to touch people’s lives with what I do, and I want to share this with you.”

Carl Casper, played by Jon Favreau, is an acclaimed chef who uses his senses of taste and smell to whip up unique culinary creations. Unfortunately, his boss isn’t fond of his culinary art and wants him to stick to the menu. But when a restaurant critic brutally picks apart his cooking skills for the food his boss forces him to make, his frustrations go viral in a video confrontation between him and the critic. With his career in hot water, his ex-wife suggests refurbishing an old food truck so he can have the freedom to create and cook whatever he wants. He travels across America with his old colleague and son by his side to rebuild his reputation as a culinary connoisseur. And along the way, his passion for cooking and love of food also help him bond with his family and find his purpose in life. Chef will make you laugh, smile and salivate. Trust us, those Cubano sandwiches look muy delicioso!

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Because I Said So

• Released: 2007
• Rated: PG-13
• Memorable quote: “God couldn’t be everywhere, so that is why he invented mothers.”

Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton make a hilarious but endearing pair in Because I Said So, about an overbearing mother who posts a dating ad for her hopelessly single daughter. Aside from the usual trials and tribulations that come with any mother/daughter relationship, the beautifully ornate cakes and chocolate soufflés they bake from scratch look absolutely scrumptious. To all the movie buffs with a sweet tooth, this is just one of the many cooking movies for you!

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Source:

• IMDb