Every Foodie Needs To Watch These 19 Netflix Shows And Documentaries

This is the best cooking documentary series on Netflix right now. Each episode focuses on one of the world's most famous chefs, and it shows how they work, what inspires them, and what their daily lives are like. Even the opening credits are a work of art! And Netflix added its fourth season earlier this spring, and it focuses on all things pastry.

Count this spin-off as an extra season of Chef's Table, but focused fully on French goodness.

This series is based on a best-selling manga about a diner owner — known as "the Master" — who prepares any dish that his customers ask for, as long as they bring their own ingredients. Tune in for the amazing Japanese comfort food and Tokyo-at-night vibes, but stay for the amazing stories and human connection.

This is a documentary based on food writer Michael Pollan's book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, which talks about the impact that cooking has made on civilization. Each of the episodes focuses on one of the four elements (fire, water, air, and earth) and how it affects cooking, which in turn affects our history and our culture.

This travel show follows celebrity chef David Chang around the world in the company of other chefs and comedians. Along the way, they'll tackle age-old taboos about the way food "should" be prepared, and whether or not things like sushi pizza should be a thing.

If you can't get enough of Parts Unknown, load up on all five seasons of this Anthony Bourdain-produced and narrated show, which explores the creative processes of international celebrity chefs.

This 6-episode Netflix original series follows the creator of Everybody Loves Raymond, Phil Rosenthal, as he travels to cities like Tel Aviv, New Orleans, and Lisbon to take a deep dive into their gastronomy, culture, and traditions.

Here's a show the rest of us non-celeb chefs will identify with: Three home cooks must recreate famous cakes, with little time and barely any instruction. The winner gets $10,000, but we kind of all win by getting to watch their all-too-relatable mishaps unfold.

This one's another Netflix original baking reality show, but it's more traditional, pitting amateur pastry chefs against each other for a shot at a $100,000 prize.

This 12-episode series is the adaptation of the manga Samurai Gourmet, by Masayuki Kusumi. The main character, Takeshi Kasumi, is a retired 60-year old who spends his free time dining out — and daydreaming about what life as an ancient samurai would be like.

This is like The Great British Bake Off meets Family Feud, but in the most feel-good way.

This fictional series stars David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess as two friends who decide to open up a Greek restaurant in the Bronx and become entangled in the world of mobsters and debt lords.

This doc takes the spotlight off celebrity chefs and artfully plated foods to talk about the greater consequences our cooking choices have on the planet and our health.

This 2014 documentary, starring Katie Couric, tackles the issue of childhood obesity in the U.S. and the role that the food industry has played in its rise.

This one's another documentary that examines the relationship between humankind and food, and how it all affects the environment. It's more optimistic, though, and spotlights farmers and other leaders of the sustainable food movement.

If the idea of finding the world's best steak is making you salivate, this one's for you.

If you think hosting a barbecue is just about throwing some burgers on the grill, this documentary will change how you see this form of cooking in the context of human history and cultural exchange.

This quirky and iconic documentary from 2004 is still worth a watch if you haven't seen it yet. The premise: director Morgan Spurlock decides to eat McDonald's exclusively for 30 days and accept the option to "super size" when asked. You'll never think about fast food the same way again!

If you loved the first episode of Chef's Table, you can get more of Italian chef Massimo Bottura in this documentary about the soup kitchen he openeed for the 2015 Milan Expo.