Last updated: October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson. See our review methodology.
The verdict: Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking I is the right starting point for almost any MasterClass subscriber serious about home cooking. It is forgiving for beginners, useful at every level, and builds from knife skills to beef Wellington in 20 lessons.
Our rating: 4.7/5 | Best for: Beginner-to-intermediate home cooks | Lessons: 20, 3h 54m | Watch with the 30-day guarantee →
Who is Gordon Ramsay and why does this class matter?
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According to MasterClass, Ramsay’s restaurants have collectively earned seven Michelin stars, including three at his eponymous London restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea. MasterClass also notes that he trained in France with Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon. His TV career (Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, Kitchen Nightmares) made him the most recognizable working chef in the English-speaking world.
What separates Ramsay’s MasterClass from his TV persona is patience. The shouting and kitchen-drama theatrics that define his shows are absent. What is left is a working chef demonstrating technique with warmth and clear teaching intent.
This class is the entry point we recommend for almost any new MasterClass subscriber interested in cooking. Ramsay teaches at the level of “you’ve never made a good scrambled egg before” and works up to a restaurant-grade beef Wellington. Two lessons tell his own story, from training under masters to running his own kitchens.
What’s in Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass
- Length: 20 lessons, 3 hours 54 minutes in total
- Structure: “Method” lessons teach a technique; “Make” lessons use it in a dish; “Mastering Ingredients” lessons cover buying and handling vegetables, fish and meat
- Focus: Foundational cooking technique with applied recipes
Notable lessons
- Knife skills (18 minutes): the most fundamental kitchen skill, taught slowly and in detail
- Breaking down a whole chicken and a whole fish: two butchery lessons, each followed by a dish that uses the result (chicken suprême with root vegetables; salmon with shellfish minestrone)
- Eggs: the “Elevated Scrambled Eggs” lesson, and a poached egg with mushrooms on brioche
- Pasta from scratch: separate lessons on making and on rolling pasta dough, then lobster ravioli
- Beef Wellington: the signature Ramsay dish and the longest lesson in the class (24 minutes)
- Mastering ingredients: short lessons on vegetables and herbs, fish and shellfish, and beef, lamb and pork
The full lesson list
| # | Lesson | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | 3:53 |
| 2 | Gordon’s Journey: Learning from Masters | 10:06 |
| 3 | Method: Kitchen Layout | 6:50 |
| 4 | Mastering Ingredients: Vegetables & Herbs | 16:42 |
| 5 | Make: Poached Egg & Mushrooms on Brioche | 8:32 |
| 6 | Method: Knife Skills | 18:42 |
| 7 | Make: Elevated Scrambled Eggs | 6:28 |
| 8 | Method: Breaking Down a Whole Chicken | 9:00 |
| 9 | Make: Chicken Suprême with Root Vegetables | 17:33 |
| 10 | Mastering Ingredients: Fish & Shellfish | 14:10 |
| 11 | Gordon’s Journey: Becoming a Master | 12:58 |
| 12 | Method: Breaking Down a Whole Fish | 13:25 |
| 13 | Make: Salmon with Shellfish Minestrone | 16:15 |
| 14 | Method: Making Pasta Dough | 12:57 |
| 15 | Method: Rolling Pasta Dough | 15:49 |
| 16 | Make: Lobster Ravioli | 15:59 |
| 17 | Mastering Ingredients: Beef, Lamb & Pork | 5:51 |
| 18 | Make: Beef Wellington | 24:18 |
| 19 | Advice for Life | 3:08 |
| 20 | Closing | 1:26 |
Lesson counts and running times come from each class page on masterclass.com, read on 13 October 2026. MasterClass re-edits classes from time to time, so check the class page before you plan around a specific lesson.
The follow-up: Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes
Ramsay’s second class, Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home, comes with the same membership. It runs 15 lessons and 4 hours 14 minutes, and each lesson is a complete restaurant dish:
- Red wine poached egg with asparagus and mushrooms
- Crispy duck with red endive and spinach
- Pomme purée
- Cauliflower steak with olives and mushrooms
- Rack of lamb with Thumbelina carrots
- Roasted eggplant with basil and feta
- Grilled baby leeks with miso broth and caviar vinaigrette
- Three Szechuan-style chicken dishes (a whole roasted chicken, hoisin chicken, and chicken breast with udon)
- Sesame-crusted tuna with cucumber salad
- Fried branzino with Thai chili lettuce cups
- Raspberry soufflé
Take Cooking I first. Cooking II teaches through dishes, not methods, so the knife and butchery work from the first class makes it far easier to follow.
See Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home on MasterClass
Watch Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking I →
The strengths
The pace is right for almost every level
Ramsay teaches knife skills as if you have never held a knife, and scrambled eggs as if you have made them wrong all your life. That is the right choice for the broadest audience: experienced cooks still pick up refinements, and beginners are never lost.
The personality is dialed back
Hell’s Kitchen Ramsay is exhausting in long doses. MasterClass Ramsay is calm, focused, occasionally funny and often warm. The class works as teaching because the theatrics do not get in the way.
Production quality is exceptional
Multi-camera production and careful food styling make the dishes look as good as they should taste. Even within MasterClass’s high baseline, this class is visually strong.
Every method is followed by a dish
The class pairs each technique lesson with a recipe that uses it: break down a chicken, then cook a chicken suprême; break down a fish, then cook salmon with shellfish minestrone; make and roll pasta, then make lobster ravioli. You practice each skill straight away, which is what makes it stick.
The workbook and recipes are practical
The class guide has the recipes in written form, so you can cook from it without re-watching the videos.
Beef Wellington alone justifies the subscription
The Wellington lesson is the class’s finale and its longest lesson, from searing the beef and making the mushroom duxelles to wrapping, baking and slicing. Most home cooks have never attempted Wellington. After this lesson, they can.
The weaknesses
Equipment requirements creep up
Most lessons need only a good knife, a board, a skillet and a pot. The pasta lessons are much easier with a pasta roller, and breaking down a fish goes better with a flexible filleting knife. If you are starting from scratch, put the money into the chef’s knife first.
British ingredient terminology occasionally trips up American cooks
Ramsay sometimes uses British names (rocket for arugula, courgette for zucchini, prawns for shrimp, coriander for cilantro). It is minor friction rather than a real problem.
Limited vegetarian content
Ramsay’s first class is built around chicken, fish, shellfish and beef, with one lesson on vegetables and herbs and two egg dishes. Alice Waters’s class or Dominique Crenn’s vegetarian class fits plant-forward cooks better.
The Wellington is real work
The lesson is 24 minutes, but the dish is not: the duxelles, the wrapped beef and the pastry each need time to chill before the next step. Plan a long afternoon for a first attempt, and do not expect it to match Ramsay’s on day one.
It is shorter than its reputation
At 3 hours 54 minutes, Cooking I is a compact class. If you want hours of material from one chef, add Cooking II (another 4 hours 14 minutes) or move on to Thomas Keller’s three classes, which run about 18 hours.
Who should take Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass
The Beginner Home Cook
You are learning to cook and want someone to teach the fundamentals patiently. This is the strongest beginner cooking class on MasterClass.
The Intermediate Cook Wanting to Level Up
You can already cook basic meals but want better technique. The knife skills, butchery and pasta lessons sharpen skills you thought were already good enough. The Wellington is your reach project.
The Aspirational Home Chef
You watch cooking shows, you have eaten at fine restaurants, and you want to bring some of that into your own kitchen without going to culinary school. Ramsay’s two classes are the bridge.
Who should skip Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass
The Advanced Home Cook
If you already have Ramsay-level fundamentals (and have made a Wellington before), Thomas Keller’s MasterClass goes much deeper on technique. Ramsay’s first class will feel basic to advanced cooks.
The Vegetarian/Vegan Cook
Ramsay’s curriculum is meat- and fish-heavy. Alice Waters for seasonal cooking, Dominique Crenn for vegetarian fine dining, or Yotam Ottolenghi for Middle Eastern cooking are better fits.
The Recipe-Focused Cook
If you want a stack of quick weeknight recipes for this month, Ramsay’s pace and Wellington-level ambition will frustrate you. America’s Test Kitchen’s ATK Classes, or any recipe-focused subscription, serves that need better.
How does Ramsay compare to other MasterClass cooking instructors?
| Instructor | Best for | Difficulty | Lessons | Running time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon Ramsay I | Beginner-to-intermediate fundamentals | Beginner | 20 | 3h 54m |
| Gordon Ramsay II | Restaurant dishes at home | Intermediate | 15 | 4h 14m |
| Thomas Keller (3 classes) | Advanced technique | Advanced | 75 | 17h 50m |
| Massimo Bottura | Modern Italian | Intermediate | 14 | 3h 46m |
| Gabriela Cámara | Mexican home cooking | Intermediate | 13 | 3h 26m |
| Aaron Franklin | Texas BBQ (smoker needed) | Intermediate | 16 | 4h 36m |
| Alice Waters | Seasonal, market-led cooking | Beginner-intermediate | 17 | 3h 47m |
For every cooking class on the platform, see our 10 best MasterClass cooking classes, ranked. To compare MasterClass with YesChef, Rouxbe and other platforms, see the best online cooking classes.
What it costs to watch
You cannot buy Ramsay’s class on its own. Every MasterClass class page reads “Get this class and 200+ more,” and the membership is the only way in.
| MasterClass plan | Price | Devices at once | Offline downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $120 a year ($10/month, billed annually) | 1 | No |
| Plus | $180 a year ($15/month, billed annually) | 2 | Yes |
| Premium | $240 a year ($20/month, billed annually) | 6 | Yes |
All three plans include every class, cooking included. MasterClass does not sell single classes: every class page reads “Get this class and 200+ more.” The 30-day money-back guarantee covers first-time purchases made on the MasterClass website; renewals and memberships bought through Apple or Google follow those stores’ rules (our cancellation and refund guide has the steps). Prices are from MasterClass’s checkout; on 13 October 2026 its homepage still read “Starting at $10/month, billed annually” and no sale was running. MasterClass ran 50% off annual memberships for Black Friday in both 2024 and 2025 (see our Black Friday tracker), and a gift membership renews automatically after its first year unless the recipient turns renewal off.
MasterClass also sells a separate AI product: MasterClass On Call has an AI coach built with Gordon Ramsay. On 13 October 2026 its page showed the beta “starting at $7.50/month” (billed annually; $15 a month on the monthly plan). It is a different subscription from the classes reviewed here.
Final verdict
Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking I earns 4.7/5 in our scoring. It is not the deepest cooking class on MasterClass (that is Thomas Keller), and it is not the most surprising (that is Massimo Bottura’s modern Italian). It is the most useful starting point for almost any new MasterClass subscriber serious about home cooking.
If you can only watch one cooking class on MasterClass, watch this one. If you will watch three, watch this one first.
For broader context, see our MasterClass worth-it analysis or MasterClass vs Coursera comparison. For more cooking-class options, see our cooking classes ranking.
Watch Gordon Ramsay with the 30-day guarantee →
Can you learn Gordon Ramsay’s cooking for free?
Partly, and it is worth knowing how far free gets you before you pay. Ramsay’s own YouTube channel had 22 million subscribers when we checked on 13 October 2026, and it is full of free recipe videos. The MasterClass class page also has a free trailer, and a friend who is a member can share a 14-day Guest Pass with you.
What the paid class adds is order and depth. Each technique lesson is followed by a dish that uses it, the knife skills lesson alone runs 18 minutes, and the 24-minute Wellington lesson walks through every stage rather than cutting to the finished dish. Every lesson also ends on a pointer to the class workbook, which has the written recipes. If you only want one recipe, the free videos are enough. If you want to learn to cook, the sequence is what you are paying for. We don’t link to the “free download” copies of the class that turn up in search: they are unofficial uploads.
| Free (YouTube, trailer) | MasterClass membership | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | From $120 a year (Standard) |
| Structure | Single recipes, no set order | 20 lessons, method then dish, plus a 15-lesson second class |
| Written recipes | Varies by video | Workbook for every lesson |
| Other classes | None | 200+ classes, including Keller, Waters and Bottura |
| Refund | Not applicable | 30 days on first-time web purchases |
Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home, lesson by lesson
The section above lists Cooking II’s dishes. Here is what each lesson actually teaches, with running times, because the second class is more vegetarian-friendly than its reputation: lessons 2, 5 and 7 are vegetarian, and lesson 8 is too if you leave out the caviar. Lessons 9 to 11 are built around one whole chicken, roasted once and used three ways.
| # | Lesson | Length | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | 3:34 | Why he came back for a second class and how the dishes work for dinner guests. |
| 2 | Red Wine Poached Egg, Asparagus, and Mushrooms | 26:06 | A vegetarian main: sauteed and pureed vegetables, with eggs poached ahead of time for fast assembly. |
| 3 | Crispy Duck with Red Endive and Spinach | 24:31 | Duck breast rendered in its own fat for crisp skin, with a quick cherry glaze, wilted spinach and caramelized endive. |
| 4 | Pomme Purée | 18:48 | His mashed potatoes: a waxy potato, a ricer and flavored cream. |
| 5 | Cauliflower Steak, Olives, and Mushrooms | 19:15 | A vegetarian main: seared cauliflower “steaks” with olive pistou and porcini mushrooms. |
| 6 | Rack of Lamb with Thumbelina Carrots | 24:08 | Rack of lamb seared then oven-roasted, with a mint yogurt sauce and glazed carrots with star anise. |
| 7 | Roasted Eggplant With Basil and Feta | 22:50 | A vegetarian side: taking the bitterness out of eggplant, then roasting it in its skin with Turkish spices. |
| 8 | Grilled Baby Leeks, Miso Broth, and Caviar Vinaigrette | 19:45 | Grilled baby leeks poached in miso broth, with a caviar vinaigrette (leave out the caviar to keep it vegetarian). |
| 9 | Szechuan Roasted Whole Chicken | 13:00 | Trussing and roasting a whole chicken in a Szechuan pepper crust, then carving it for the next two lessons. |
| 10 | Hoisin Chicken and Pickled Daikon | 19:15 | The thighs from lesson 9 as crispy hoisin chicken with quick pickles, plated for sharing. |
| 11 | Szechuan Chicken Breast and Udon Noodles | 15:25 | The breast from lesson 9 with udon in a quick aromatic broth, his take on chicken noodle soup. |
| 12 | Sesame Crusted Tuna With Cucumber Salad | 17:04 | Seared tuna treated like a steak, with quick-pickled vegetables, cucumber “noodles” and a yuzu dressing. |
| 13 | Fried Branzino With Thai Chili Lettuce Cups | 14:36 | Trimming, marinating and shallow-frying a whole branzino, served as build-your-own lettuce cups. |
| 14 | Raspberry Soufflé | 15:25 | Souffle technique: height, crisp edges and timing. |
| 15 | Closing | 1:16 | His closing advice: cooking is a marathon, so keep practicing and adapt each dish. |
Lesson titles, running times and descriptions come from the class page on masterclass.com, read on 13 October 2026. MasterClass re-edits and renames classes from time to time, so check the class page before you plan around a specific lesson.
See Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home →
A two-week cook-along plan for Cooking I
Cooking I is short enough to finish in two weeks if you cook along, which is the only way the lessons stick. Here is the order we would use:
| Days | Watch | Cook |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Lessons 1 to 4 (kitchen layout and vegetables, about 37 min) | Nothing yet. Set up your board, knives and pans the way he shows. |
| 3 to 4 | Lessons 5 to 7 (eggs and knife skills, about 34 min) | Scrambled eggs every morning until they come out right; practice the knife cuts on onions and carrots. |
| 5 to 7 | Lessons 8 to 9 (chicken, about 27 min) | Break down a whole chicken and cook the chicken supreme. |
| 8 to 10 | Lessons 10 to 13 (fish, plus part two of his story, about 57 min) | Fillet a whole fish if your store sells one; otherwise cook the salmon with bought fillets. |
| 11 to 12 | Lessons 14 to 16 (pasta, about 45 min) | Make pasta dough, then the lobster ravioli. |
| 13 to 14 | Lessons 17 to 20 (meat, Wellington and closing, about 35 min) | Beef Wellington on a free afternoon: the chilling between stages takes longer than the lesson. |
Start Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking I (30-day guarantee) →
What Reddit cooks say about Ramsay’s MasterClass
The first-hand threads on r/Cooking are older (2017 and 2019), but they are frank. One member who enjoyed the class said they basically watched Ramsay cook and would have been disappointed if they had paid for that class alone. Another, who had access to the whole catalog, said Ramsay shows useful tricks on knife work, herbs, fish and meat but only scratches the surface. A third read the lesson list and counted five lessons (1, 2, 11, 19 and 20) as biography rather than cooking, and suggested free alternatives such as Jacques Pepin’s and America’s Test Kitchen’s shows. The same member who found Ramsay light said Thomas Keller was the better teacher with much more content.
That matches our verdict. Ramsay’s first class is the right start for a beginner, and it works best as one class among several in a membership, not as a reason on its own to pay $120. If you already cook well, go to Thomas Keller instead.
What MasterClass members say, and how to avoid the renewal surprise
People searching for this class mostly ask what it costs, whether it is free, and whether MasterClass can be trusted. It is a paid annual membership with a 30-day refund window on first-time purchases, and the main complaints about the company are about billing, not the classes.
MasterClass’s Trustpilot page had a TrustScore of 1.6 from 1,178 reviews when we read it on 13 October 2026. Trustpilot itself notes that MasterClass has not invited customers to review recently, so the page leans toward people with a problem. We read the 60 most recent reviews (March to September 2026). 49 gave one star, and most of those were about billing, not classes: an annual membership that renewed automatically, trouble finding where to cancel, support handled by an AI chatbot, and 50% refund offers after a renewal had gone through. Several people who received a gift membership said activating it asked for a card that would renew. The content complaints that did come up said classes felt basic or like a long TED talk. The few happy reviewers praised the instructors and the production, and the most useful advice came from one of them: pause, take notes and treat it like a class, not a show.
None of that is specific to this class, but it should change how you buy:
- It is an annual charge. The class page says “Starting at $10/month, billed annually”: the monthly figure is the yearly price divided by twelve, and the membership renews each year until you cancel the renewal.
- The refund window is 30 days. MasterClass’s FAQ says it offers a full refund within 30 days of the date you bought the subscription, and that there are no refunds for partially unused membership periods.
- Cancel the renewal early if you only want one year. MasterClass says you cancel renewal on the Settings page of your account, and the membership will then not renew. Doing it the day you join, or putting the renewal date in your calendar, avoids the most common complaint above.
- Certificates are extra. MasterClass Certificates are a separate product with their own price, not part of the membership.
Our MasterClass cancellation guide walks through the steps, including memberships bought through Apple or Google, which those stores handle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass worth it?
Yes for beginner-to-intermediate home cooks. Its 20 lessons move from kitchen layout and knife skills to breaking down a chicken and a fish, fresh pasta, lobster ravioli and beef Wellington, and the pace is forgiving for beginners. It comes with a MasterClass membership, which starts at $120 a year.
How long is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass?
Cooking I is 20 lessons and 3 hours 54 minutes. Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home adds 15 lessons and 4 hours 14 minutes. Both come with any MasterClass membership.
Should I take Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass before or after Thomas Keller’s?
Before. Ramsay teaches fundamentals at a forgiving pace that Keller’s classes assume you already have. Watch Ramsay first, cook from it for a few weeks, then move on to Keller.
Is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass good for beginners?
Yes. Despite his TV reputation, the class is patient. It starts with how to lay out a kitchen and how to hold a knife before any recipe.
Does Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass cover vegetarian cooking?
Only a little. Cooking I has a vegetables and herbs lesson and egg dishes, but most recipes are meat or fish. Cooking II has a cauliflower steak and a roasted eggplant dish. For plant-forward cooking, Dominique Crenn, Alice Waters or Yotam Ottolenghi fit better.
What kitchen equipment do I need for Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass?
A good chef’s knife, a large cutting board, a heavy skillet and a large pot cover most lessons. A pasta roller makes the two pasta lessons and the ravioli much easier, and a sharp flexible knife helps with breaking down the fish.
What is the difference between Gordon Ramsay Cooking I and Cooking II?
Cooking I teaches methods (knife skills, breaking down a chicken and a fish, pasta dough) and applies each in a dish. Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home is 13 restaurant dishes, including crispy duck, rack of lamb, three Szechuan-style chicken dishes, sesame-crusted tuna and a raspberry souffle.
Is the beef Wellington recipe really achievable at home?
Yes, with patience. The lesson itself is 24 minutes, but a Wellington needs chilling between stages, so plan a long afternoon for a first attempt and expect the second one to be better.
Does MasterClass have a Gordon Ramsay AI coach?
Yes, as a separate product. MasterClass On Call has an AI coach built with Gordon Ramsay; on 13 October 2026 its page showed the beta starting at $7.50 a month, billed annually. It is not included in a regular MasterClass membership.
Is Gordon Ramsay on MasterClass?
Yes, with two classes: Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking I (20 lessons, 3 hours 54 minutes) and Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Home (15 lessons, 4 hours 14 minutes). Both come with any MasterClass membership. MasterClass also sells On Call, a separate AI coach product built with Ramsay.
How much is Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass?
You can’t buy it on its own. It comes with a MasterClass membership: Standard is $120 a year, Plus $180 and Premium $240 (checkout, 13 October 2026), and every plan includes both Ramsay classes and 200+ others.
Is there a Gordon Ramsay MasterClass workbook?
Yes. Every lesson ends with a pointer to the class workbook, which holds the written recipes. It downloads from inside the class with a membership.
Is MasterClass a scam?
No. It is a real subscription service. Most complaints on its Trustpilot page are about annual memberships that renewed automatically and refunds asked for after the 30-day window, so cancel the renewal in your account settings if you only want one year.
Can I watch Gordon Ramsay’s MasterClass for free?
Only for a short time. The class page has a free trailer, and MasterClass’s FAQ says memberships include 14-day Guest Passes that members can share with friends, so a friend who is a member can give you two weeks of access. Memberships themselves have no free trial; the 30-day money-back guarantee on first-time purchases is the closest thing. We don’t link to the unofficial uploads and downloads that show up in search results.
Does MasterClass renew automatically, and how do I cancel?
Yes. Memberships are billed annually and renew each year until you cancel the renewal, which you do on the Settings page of your MasterClass account. MasterClass offers a full refund within 30 days of purchase, but its FAQ says there are no refunds for partially unused membership periods, so cancel the renewal before the renewal date if you don’t want a second year.