Top 5 Food Network Shows

No single channel or individual is more responsible for the rise of modern foodie culture than Food Network. From scientific analyses of ingredients to high-adrenaline cooking competitions, the channel offers programming for all audiences. From someone who has consumed Food Network since elementary school, here are the top five shows the Food Network has ever produced.

5. “Barefoot Contessa”

Ina Garten’s “Barefoot Contessa,” the oldest show on Food Network’s schedule, has earned a place in the American home — if not as a source of easy entertaining tips, then as a meme about store-bought vanilla. The classic cooking show may be critiqued as boring by some, but there’s something beautiful and refreshing about scenic shots of Garten’s garden, her trips to the grocery store, and Michael (Ina’s florist and friend) coming to visit weirdly often. Her high brow recipes may not be the easiest, fastest, or cheapest to make at home, but they are nonetheless delicious.

4. “Good Eats”

Alton Brown is perhaps best known today for “Cutthroat Kitchen,” a show that incorporates America’s favorite things: food, capitalism, and betrayal. However, “Good Eats” is clearly the better show. Essentially the “Bill Nye the Science Guy” of the culinary realm, this show explores the science of cooking and the history of food preparation. Original uses of music, cinematography, and characters created a unique viewing and learning experience, something that’s hard to find in a sea of food-based programming.

3. “Giada at Home”

Giada De Laurentiis is a Food Network goddess and icon. “Giada at Home” features Italian cuisine at its most approachable, particularly with De Laurentiis’ own casual and inviting demeanor. As with “Barefoot Contessa,” the show features the host’s family and friends, and shots of De Laurentiis narrating casually perched on a couch make viewers feel, well, at home.

2. “Chopped”

“Chopped” expanded beyond the realm of Food Network to become an American cultural fixture after landing on Netflix. While the premise may seem trite now, over nine years after its release, Chopped may be one of the network’s most interesting concepts, and more importantly, one of their best executed. In each episode, host Ted Allen introduces a series of baskets with unusual ingredients that chefs must incorporate into their appetizers, entrees, and desserts for a chance at $10,000. With dramatic meltdowns, increasingly ridiculous ingredients, and high stakes, this classic makes 45 minutes fly by easily.

1. “Food Network Star”

This may not be an obvious choice, but this meta, dramaticized recruitment process is extremely riveting. It’s essentially “America’s Next Top Model” for food media stars and features chefs put through tests of culinary skill and screen presence to survive weekly eliminations and win a Food Network show of their own. This show wins out with its top-notch judges, high production quality, and actual narrative. Plus, it brought us Guy Fieri.

Honorable Mentions:

“Iron Chef America”

This show brings some of the best chefs, cooking, and production value to the table, but it ultimately loses its heart in the professionalism.

“The Best Thing I Ever Ate”

This program all about the favorite foods of acclaimed chefs and Food Network stars is an underrated gem. It’s like “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives,” except it has culture.

—Staff writer Jenna X. Bao can be reached at jenna.bao@thecrimson.com.