8 Uzbek Plov Cooking Classes in Samarkand Worth Booking

1.Village Tour with Plov Cooking Class & Home Visit

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 29 reviews · 8 hours · from $59Our pick

Leave Samarkand with an English-speaking guide such as Asrorbek, Bekjon, or Javokhir, shop for plov ingredients at a local market, then cook over a live fire in a village home. You will also share a family meal, walk through rural surroundings, and may see bread making, farming, crafts, or folk music.

“This experience was far beyond anything I could have imagined or hoped for. You are invited into a local village home and treated like family, as they welcome you with love and a display of kindness that is unseen in the West. They create a beautiful, safe space in which you can share your cultural differences in a way that is simply full of wonder and free of judgement. It's so much more than a cooking class and a village tour. The warmth of the people I met will stay with me for a long time. I learned so much from Eshkuvatov (my guide) about the history of Uzbekistan and…”

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2.Uzbek Cooking Class in a Village Home

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 22 reviews · 5.5 hours · from $52Best value

Bekjon collects you in Samarkand and takes you to his family home about an hour away. With his mother and relatives, you prepare plov or mantu, cook over a wood fire, meet village animals, explore the garden, and share tea and food in a relaxed Uzbek home.

“Bekjon came to pick us up and welcomed us with his family in his traditional village. We prepared the ingredients together, then moved outside where the plov was cooked in a traditional way. While waiting, he invited us to try traditional wedding clothes and explained local traditions. When the dish was ready, we all enjoyed the plov together. It was delicious and truly representative of Uzbek culture. A warm and authentic experience. Thank you!”

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3.Cooking class in Samarkand with local life experience

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 19 reviews · from $63

Spend about five hours in Samarkand with a local family and guide Akram. Visit Siyob Bazaar, help prepare Uzbek dishes such as plov, shashlik, and samsa, share family time, and stop at a silk carpet factory. Vegetarian options are available with advance notice.

“It was a very great experience, we cooked tipical dishes with both vegan and with meat options. Our host was great!”

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4.Private Samarkand Cooking Class with Market Tour & Transfers

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 14 reviews · from $72

Start at a neighborhood market near Samarkand railway station with Shodiyor or Sunnat, then visit his family home in Eshim Oksok. Help prepare plov and salad, or bake bread in a wood-fired tandir with Barchinoy, followed by a shared home meal.

“It's our favourite experience in Uzbekistan. Highly recommended. Shodiyor is a elegant French teacher. We went to market together, bought all the ingredients for plov, cut carrots with lovely family members in this beautifully decorated hRead more”

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5.Cooking Class in the Village with Local Family in Samarkand

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · from $65

Start with hotel pickup and a market visit, then head to a village home near Samarkand for Uzbek cooking with a local family. Prepare dishes such as plov, manti, dolma, shashlik, or samsa, then visit the Konigil paper factory, an oil meal site, and a pottery workshop. Private groups only.

“We had a wonderful day with Goli and her family! She picked us from our hotel and brought us to her local market where we were able to try new things. Cooking was a fun and slow experience. I wish we could’ve participated even more e.g. collecting firewood or rolling the dough.”

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6.Plov Cooking Class at Local Uzbek House

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $65

Join Ali in Samarkand for a four-and-a-half-hour plov class. Shop for ingredients at Siyob Bazaar, cook in a traditional qozon at a local home, then eat with bread, salads, and tea. Private transport, groceries, an English-speaking guide, and hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

“We enjoyed this tour a lot. The tour started at the bazaar, where Ali showed us around while buying some ingredients for the plov. Then his brother drove us to his home, which is perhaps 10 minutes from the city centre. He and his family had Read more”

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7.Samarkand Local Family Cooking Class and Siyob Bazaar Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · from $65

Spend about six hours with Akramjon and Rushana, beginning at Siyob Bazaar before joining a Samarkand family to prepare plov, shashlik, and samsa. You’ll share lunch, hear about local customs, and take part in a private, hands-on home visit. Vegetarian dishes can be arranged.

“This was truly the most unique tour I’ve ever booked. An absolute must for anyone wanting to truly understand Samarkand. Together with Akramjon and Rushana, I had the rare opportunity to learn all the details of making traditional Read more”

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8.Cooking class with local family

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · 5 hours · from $65

Join Navruz or Guli for a private five-hour Samarkand experience that begins at a local bazaar and continues in a family home. You will help prepare Uzbek dishes such as plov, shashlik, and samsa, then visit Konigil paper-making, oil meal, pottery, or rug-making workshops.

“I enjoyed the personal touch of Guli making sure I understood everything well, and also in being able to go to their home to cook the dishes. She was very accommodating, and after the cooking class, we went to the paper making place from the 1st century. We also went to a really interesting famous rug making place, where all the rugs are made by hand. It was great!”

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