In the world of anime, there are plenty of series that revolve around cooking, from Toriko to Food Wars!, and even a few classics like Cooking Papa and Fighting Foodons. That said, plenty of anime outside of the genre have talented chefs. After all, cooking is an important life skill that's not limited to the realm of a professional kitchen or restaurant.
Because people don't become experts in something overnight, these characters often have a backstory where they were expected to learn to cook meals from a young age. Then again, some characters have near-supernatural levels of natural skill in the kitchen, being able to prepare lavish dishes out of almost nothing.
10 Sailor Moon: Makoto Kino Is A Talented Chef Thanks To Living On Her Own
Makoto Kino of Sailor Moon was conceptualized to be both the most masculine and feminine of the Scouts, being a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to her talents, including athletics, gardening, sewing, cleaning, skating, and, her top skill, cooking. She regularly makes treats and lavish meals for the other Scouts.
In the original manga, Mako is an orphan living by herself, so learning to cook was a necessity for her, and she excels at it. In fact, her dream in life is to own a flower and cake shop. In the Sailor Stars anime, she even gets invited to appear on a cooking show.
9 Pokémon: Brock Picked This Up From Years Of Taking Care Of His Siblings
In Pokémon, Brock found himself becoming a parent to his younger siblings at a young age, thanks to his father leaving home to pursue his goals and his mother either doing the same. In the dub, his mother passed away instead.
Because of this, he learned to be an excellent cook. Even when he decided to go off with Ash and Misty on their adventures, he would often prepare food for himself and his friends, most notably cream stew and rice balls. According to the dub, he's can apparently make jelly doughnuts from scratch.
8 Space Dandy: Pops Has Secured The Future Of Ramen
Pops, also known as the Ramen Alien, is a mysterious being who runs a ramen cart in a wormhole. He learned to make the dish from Earthlings thousands of years ago and has kept the dish going well into the future.
As many chefs put their heart and soul into their dishes, it's been noted that Pops goes so far as to flavor his ramen with his own tears.
7 Urusei Yatsura: Lum Is A Healthy Reminder That Taste Is Subjective
At first glance, Lum from Urusei Yatsura seems like she's terrible at cooking, with her making things inhumanly spicy and Ataru utterly terrified to eat what she makes. In one story, dumplings she makes have the side-effect of turning humans into werewolf-like creatures.
However, it's soon revealed that she's actually a talented chef by the standards of her home planet, and other alien characters love it. It's been noted that even her human dishes are technically well-made, it's just that she has a higher tolerance for spices than the average human does.
6 Monster Musume: Kimihito Is A Perfect Host
In Monster Musume, Kimihito welcomes various monster girls into his home, including a centaur, harpy, and a mermaid, all thanks to a clerical error. However, as it turns out, he might be more suited for the job than expected, as he's actually a very talented cook.
Despite only having meager ingredients on hand, he is capable of making high-quality meals. One story has him getting a chance to prepare a meal at a restaurant, and he prepares a lavish feast.
5 Toradora!: Ryuuji Takasu Makes Food So Good, People Feel Compelled To Eat It
In Toradora!, Ryuuji Takasu is a misunderstood kid who people mistake for a delinquent but is actually a talented househusband in the making. This is thanks to having grown up in a fatherless household and having to help take care of his mother. He's not only a great cook but an excellent tailor as well.
In one example of his skills in the kitchen, he once prepared a curry that was so intensely delicious, people couldn't stop eating it despite it being too spicy for them to handle.
4 Black Clover: Charmy's Magic Sheep Cook For Her
In Black Clover, Charmy is so defined by her gluttony that she eventually manifests Food Magic. One of her most famous spells is summoning a sheep that prepares food for her.
The spell is actually pretty practical because the food the sheep prepares for her restores mana and magical energy.
3 Fruits Basket: Tohru Honda Pretty Much Runs The Sohnma Household
In Fruits Basket, Tohru had learned to cook from her mother at a young age. The skill sees a lot of use during the story's present, as she offers to cook and clean for the Sohma family after they take her in. According to supplementary material, she can prepare Western and Chinese dishes as well as Japanese ones.
2 One Piece: Sanji Can Turn Discarded Food Into A Five-Course Meal
In One Piece, Sanji is the cook of the Straw Hat Pirates. He's extremely talented when it comes to the technical aspects of cooking. For instance, he can tell what was put into a cake just from the smell alone. While at a marine base, he was able to transform parts of food other cooks discarded, like potato skins and broccoli stems, into a luxurious meal.
Among the other Straw Hats, Nami is actually shown to be a talented cook in her own regard, but she, unfortunately, had the habit of charging high prices for what she made, even to her fellow crewmembers. One story has her temporarily taking on the cooking job during Sanji's absence, but she still uses Sanji's recipes, hinting that he's still the master.
1 The Way Of The Househusband: Tatsu Really Paid Attention In Cooking Class & Is Really Skilled At Handling Knives
Technically speaking, The Way Of The Househusband isn't a cooking anime, but when it comes to the life of a househusband, it goes without saying that cooking often comes up. Tatsu is a former yakuza, now married to a career woman. And in his new life, he's shown to be a talented cook.
His skills are attributed to taking cooking classes, and he's certainly paid close attention, being able to prepare Japanese dishes and foreign pastries. As a former yakuza, he's also quite talented when it comes to using a knife, like slicing, carving, or chopping.