Private Mérida Cooking Class in a Local Yucatecan Home




Private Mérida Cooking Class in a Local Yucatecan Home
Experience Details
Step inside the kitchen with Sofia for an authentic, hands-on cooking lesson of Yucatecan and Mayan delicacies. Sofia prepares traditional Yucatecan dishes such as sikil pak (traditional pumpkin seed dip), sopa de lima (chicken soup with lime) or empanadas de chaya, and pollo o cochinita pibil (perhaps the Yucatan’s most famous dish of slow-cooked chicken or pork which has been marinated in an achiote and sour orange marinade, wrapped in banana leaves).
Sofia will teach you to prepare traditional recipes from scratch so be prepared to get your hands dirty. You will learn to prepare an authentic Yucatecan meal that includes a fiery habanero salsa. Enjoy the delicious meal you helped prepare with your host (and her family on occasion) in her modest home in Merida. Please note that Sofia runs a homestay so while your experience will be private, there may be other guests present in her home. Enjoy this private, authentic, immersive Yucatecan food experience with a local!
Sample Menu
What You Get
Good To Know
- Guests interested in a more in-depth master class that includes preparing traditional dishes such as pollo pibil or sopa de lima may request this option in advance. Please note that it extends the experience by approximately 2 hours or more.
- This is not a professional cooking school or chef-led culinary course. Rather, it is an opportunity to visit an authentic local home, connect with a Mérida resident, and share Yucatecan culture, traditions, and cuisine together.
- This experience takes place in Sofia's private home, which also operates as a homestay. Your cooking class is private, though other guests may be present on the property.
- For added convenience, choose the tour option with transfers, which includes round-trip transportation between your Merida hotel or vacation rental and Sofia's home.
- Sofia's home does not have air-conditioning. During warmer months, the kitchen can become hot while cooking.
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
What You’ll Experience
Meeting & Pickup
C. 17ᴬ 102A, Calle 17ᴬ, Yucatán, Mexico, MX, 97205
Open in Google MapsThis experience ends at the meeting point.
Cancellation Policy
Cancel your booking at least 24 hours before the experience start time to receive a full refund.
We stayed at a private home in Merida for the first week of June and had a fantastic guide from ToursByLocals - Hernan E. -- who spent 5 days with us and also picked us up from the airport and dro...read more










Very very long, hot and chaotic. Sofia was disorganized and time management was a real issue. We didn’t eat for over 5 hours (class started at 5 and we didn’t eat until 10:15). Nothing was prepped ...read more
Sophia was great! She welcomed us into her home and gave us a great overview of her family's history. She then took us to the market and to the Tortilleria to watch them make tortillas using a ma...read more
Thank you, Sofia, for such a wonderful day! We chose relleno negro as the main dish. She showed us a few different ways of serving the dish, including in tacos and making our own salbutes. We opted...read more


Our cooking class with Doña Sofia was a truly remarkable experience during our stay in Merida. It was just my wife and I, and we were treated to not only a thorough lesson on the history, ingredie...read more





