Famous Female TV Chefs

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This list of famous female TV chefs is listed by their level of prominence, with photos when available. This greatest female TV chefs list contains the most prominent and top women known for being television chefs. These popular female TV chefs are also found on most entertaining celebrity chefs and the best cooking TV shows of all time. There are thousand of females working as chefs in the world, this list highlights only the most famous female female chefs on TV. Historic TV chefs have worked hard to become the best that they can be, so if you're a woman or girl aspiring to be a TV chef, then the people below should give you inspiration.

When it comes to TV cooks female chefs are everywhere. Among the female TV chefs names below are Giada De Laurentiis, Cat Cora, Julia Child, Rachael Ray, and more. Featuring popular celebrity chefs, British female TV chefs, Italian female TV chefs, great TV chefs of history, and others, this list has many names you probably recognize from your favorite cooking shows.  

Who are the most famous female TV chefs? Who are the best female TV chefs? While this isn't a list of all female cooks on TV, it does include many female TV chefs names you know and some you're sure to love!

  • Julia Child

    Julia Child

    Born in Pasadena, California on August 15, 1912, Julia Child was an American television personality and author acclaimed for bringing French cuisine to the American public. Her life's journey was a fascinating one; from her early years as a prank-loving child, to her service in the OSS during World War II, and her eventual rise to culinary stardom. Child attended Smith College, majoring in History, but her life took a significant turn during World War II. She joined the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) where she had a significant role, producing classified intelligence reports. It was during her posting in Sri Lanka that she met Paul Child, her future husband, who introduced her to fine cuisine. It was only after their relocation to France that Child discovered her real passion - French cooking. She attended the famous Le Cordon Bleu cooking school, and later collaborated with Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, to write the cookbook entitled Mastering the Art of French Cooking. This book was groundbreaking as it made sophisticated French recipes accessible to American home cooks. Child's engaging personality and distinctive voice captivated audiences when she demonstrated the recipes on her television show, The French Chef, which was wildly successful and earned her multiple Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. Julia Child's legacy lives on, transforming the way Americans approach food and cooking, and inspiring countless professional chefs and home cooks worldwide.
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  • Rachael Ray

    Rachael Ray

    Rachael Ray has forged a remarkable path as a renowned television personality, businesswoman, and author, establishing herself as a household name. Born on August 25, 1968, in Glen Falls, New York, she was imbued with a love for food from an early age. Lessons from her Sicilian grandfather and restaurant-managing parents led to her unique style of "30-minute meals", bringing a fresh perspective to home cooking. Ray's culinary journey started with candy-counter managing at Macy's, then moved to the fresh food department. This experience spearheaded her successful stint at Cowan & Lobel, where her fast meal cooking classes gained popularity. The success led to a CBS TV segment, propelling her into the national limelight. She later established herself through several Food Network shows like 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, and $40 a Day. Her vibrant personality and approachable recipes resonated with viewers, earning her three Daytime Emmy Awards. In addition to hosting TV shows, Rachael Ray authored numerous cookbooks, further cementing her authority in the culinary world. She expanded her reach beyond the kitchen by launching her own lifestyle magazine, Rachael Ray In Season, and a line of kitchen products. Through her Yum-O! organization, she combined her passion for food and philanthropy, aiming to educate children about cooking and provide aid to families struggling with hunger. Over the years, Ray's influence has grown well beyond cooking, making her one of the most recognizable and influential figures in the food industry.
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  • Giada De Laurentiis

    Giada De Laurentiis

    Giada Pamela De Laurentiis (born August 22, 1970) is an American chef, writer, and television personality. She is the host of Food Network's Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's Today. De Laurentiis is the founder of the catering business GDL Foods. She is a winner of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host and the Gracie Award for Best Television Host.
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  • Paula Deen

    Paula Deen

    Paula Deen, born as Paula Ann Hiers on January 19, 1947, is an American culinary icon, television host, and author known for her Southern charm and traditional cooking style. Deen was raised in Albany, Georgia, where she cultivated a deep appreciation for Southern cuisine from her grandmother. Her humble beginnings, including her struggle with agoraphobia, a condition that often kept her at home, greatly influenced her life and career. In fact, it was during this time that Deen turned to food, a consistent source of comfort, which ultimately led to her successful career in the culinary industry. In 1989, Deen started The Bag Lady, a catering business run out of her own kitchen, providing meals to local offices. It was a stepping stone to her first restaurant, "The Lady & Sons" in Savannah, Georgia, which quickly became a popular haunt among locals and tourists alike. This success led to her first cookbook, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cooking, published in 1998, introducing her delicious recipes to a broader audience. Deen's easy-going approach to cooking, coupled with her enchanting personality, caught the attention of the Food Network, which resulted in her show Paula's Home Cooking launching in 2002. Beyond her culinary ventures, Deen has also made her mark as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. She launched Paula Deen Enterprises, which includes a magazine, Cooking with Paula Deen, and a product line featuring cookware, food items, and more. Despite facing criticism and controversy over her cooking‚ health implications and personal indiscretions, Deen remains a significant influence in the food industry.
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  • Cat Cora

    Cat Cora

    Catherine Ann Cora (born April 3, 1967) is an American professional chef best known for her featured role as an "Iron Chef" on the Food Network television show Iron Chef America and as co-host of Around the World in 80 Plates on Bravo.
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  • Lidia Bastianich

    Lidia Bastianich

    Lidia Giuliana Matticchio Bastianich (Italian: [ˈliːdja matˈtikkjo baˈstjaːnitʃ]; born in Pula, February 21, 1947) is an Italian-American celebrity chef, television host, author, and restaurateur. Specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine, Bastianich has been a regular contributor to public television cooking shows since 1998. In 2014, she launched her fifth television series, Lidia's Kitchen. She owns several Italian restaurants in the U.S. in partnership with her daughter Tanya Bastianich Manuali and her son, Joe Bastianich, including Felidia (founded with her ex-husband, Felice), Del Posto, and Becco in Manhattan; Lidia's Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh; and Lidia's Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri.
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  • Ina Garten

    Ina Garten

    Ina Rosenberg Garten ( EYE-nə; born February 2, 1948) is an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and a former staff member of the White House Office of Management and Budget.Garten had no formal training in cooking; she taught herself culinary techniques with the aid of French and New England cookbooks. Later, she relied on intuition and feedback from friends and customers to refine her recipes. She was primarily mentored by Eli Zabar (owner of Eli's Manhattan and Eli's Breads) and food connoisseur Martha Stewart. Among her dishes are cœur à la crème, celery root remoulade, pear clafouti, and a simplified version of beef bourguignon. Her culinary career began with her gourmet food store, Barefoot Contessa; Garten then expanded her activities to several best-selling cookbooks, magazine columns, self-branded convenience products, and a popular Food Network television show.
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  • Sara Moulton

    Sara Moulton

    Sara Moulton (born February 19, 1952) is an American chef, cookbook author and television personality. In an article for The New York Times, Kim Severson described Moulton as "one of the nation’s most enduring recipe writers and cooking teachers...and a dean of food television and magazines."She was the on-air food editor for Good Morning America, a morning news-and-talk show broadcast on the ABC television network, from 1997 through 2012. She was the chef of the executive dining room at Gourmet for 20 years, a stint that ended only when the magazine ceased publication in 2009. Between 1996 and 2005, she hosted Cooking Live (1997–2002), Cooking Live Primetime (1999) and Sara's Secrets (2002–2005) on the Food Network, becoming one of the original stars of that cable-and-satellite-television channel during its first decade. In all, Moulton's career in television and cooking spans nearly 40 years. Moulton is the author of several cookbooks and videos including Sara Moulton Cooks at Home (2002), Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals (2005) and Sara Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners (2010). In 1982 she co-founded the New York Women's Culinary Alliance. Since 2008, Moulton has been the host of Sara's Weeknight Meals, a cooking show distributed by American Public Television. From August 2012 through October 2018, Moulton was the author of a weekly cooking column for the Associated Press. In October 2016, Moulton joined Christopher Kimball's "Milk Street Radio," a weekly show broadcast by National Public Radio, as a cohost.
  • Mary Ann Esposito

    Mary Ann Esposito

    Mary Ann Esposito (born August 3, 1942 in Buffalo, New York) is an American chef, cookbook writer, and the television host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito, which started in 1989 and is the longest-running television cooking program in America. Esposito has published over a dozen cookbooks.
  • Zonya Foco

    Zonya Foco

    Zonya Foco, RD, CHFI, CSP (born Zonya Edwards on March 21, 1963 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is an Professional Speaker, television chef, and writer. She focuses more on healthy eating than on dieting. Foco received her bachelor's degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1987 and worked for eight years as a clinical nutritionist for the Michigan Heart and Vascular Institute at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. Zonya has appeared on local newscasts, nationally syndicated daytime talk shows, and QVC. She has been published in Prevention, Today's Dietitian, Total Health, and Fast and Healthy Cooking.
  • Anne Burrell

    Anne Burrell

    Anne W. Burrell (born September 21, 1969) is an American chef, television personality, and former instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She is the host of the Food Network show Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and co-host of Worst Cooks in America. She was also one of Iron Chef Mario Batali's sous chefs in the Iron Chef America series and appears on other programs on the network such as The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She was a contestant on the fourth season of The Food Network competition show, The Next Iron Chef Super Chefs being eliminated in episode 6. She was also a contestant on the first season of Chopped All-Stars Tournament, winning the "Food Network Personalities" preliminary round to advance to the final round, where she placed second runner up to Nate Appleman (winner) and Aarón Sanchez. In 2015, Burrell won the fourth installment of the Chopped All-Stars tournament winning $75,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She also hosted the series Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell in 2012–2013.
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  • Alexandra Guarnaschelli

    Alexandra Guarnaschelli

    Alexandra Maria Guarnaschelli (born 1972) is a chef and executive chef at New York City's Butter restaurant and was executive chef at The Darby restaurant before its closing. She appears as a television personality on the Food Network shows Chopped, Iron Chef America, All Star Family Cook-off, Guy's Grocery Games, and The Best Thing I Ever Ate. She hosts Alex's Day Off and The Cooking Loft on Food Network and Cooking Channel. In 2012, she won that season of Iron Chef America. In 2013, Guarnaschelli's first cookbook was published. Old-School Comfort Food: The Way I Learned to Cook mixes autobiographical details with favorite recipes from her professional life that she adapted for the home.
  • Daisy Martinez

    Daisy Martinez

    Daisy Maria Martinez is an actress, model, chef, television personality and author, who hosts a PBS television series, Daisy Cooks!, which launched on April 15, 2005.
  • Tina Nordström

    Tina Nordström

    Maria Kristina "Tina" Nordström Holmqvist (born 6 August 1973) is a Swedish celebrity chef and television personality from Helsingborg, Sweden. She hosted the second season of New Scandinavian Cooking on PBS stations on American television, replacing Andreas Viestad as host of the show; she was succeeded by Claus Meyer. She also appeared in a subsequent series featuring the same cast in rotation called "Perfect Day", produced by Tellusworks/Anagram Produktion and directed by Andreas Lindergard. Besides the cookery show Mat ("Food"), which she made together with Tomas Tengby, she has written cookbooks—Tinas mat ("Tina's food"), Tina and Jättegott Tina. Nordström won the Swedish Let's Dance television show in 2008. In 2009, she produced Tinas cookalong, with Gordon Ramsay as a guest cook.From 2014, she is part of the jury in Sveriges yngsta mästerkock, the Swedish version of Masterchef Junior.
  • Sandra Lee

    Sandra Lee

    Sandra Lee Christiansen (born July 3, 1966) is an American television chef and author. She is known for her "Semi-Homemade" cooking concept, which Lee describes as using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items. She is the de facto First Lady of New York as the partner of 56th and current governor Andrew Cuomo.
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  • Robin Miller

    Robin Miller

    Robin Miller has been a TV personality, food writer and nutritionist since 1990 and she is the author of ten books, including Robin Takes 5 and the New York Times bestseller, Quick Fix Meals. Her popular show, Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller, aired on Food Network for 5 years. She currently lives in Scottsdale, AZ with her two sons.
  • Ingrid Hoffmann

    Ingrid Hoffmann

    Ingrid Hoffmann (born April 10, 1965) is a Colombian-American television personality and restaurateur, who hosts the Food Network series Simply Delicioso and the Spanish-language cooking and lifestyle show Delicioso on Galavisión. Her cookbook, Simply Delicioso: A Collection of Everyday Recipes with a Latin Twist, was published on February 8, 2008 by Clarkson Potter. The Spanish version is titled Delicioso: Una coleccion de mis recetas favoritas con un toque latino.
  • Leah Chase

    Leah Chase

    Leyah (Leah) Chase (née Lange; January 6, 1923 – June 1, 2019) was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art and Creole cooking. Her restaurant, Dooky Chase, was known as a gathering place during the 1960s among many who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and was known as a gallery due to its extensive African-American art collection. In 2018 it was named one of the 40 most important restaurants of the past 40 years by Food & Wine. Chase was the recipient of a multitude of awards and honors. In her 2002 biography, Chase's awards and honors occupy over two pages. Chase was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2010. She was honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Southern Foodways Alliance in 2000. Chase received honorary degrees from Tulane University, Dillard University, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Madonna College, Loyola University New Orleans, and Johnson & Wales University. She was awarded Times-Picayune Loving Cup Award in 1997. The Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana named a permanent gallery in Chase's honor in 2009.
  • Jill Davie

    Jill Davie

    Jill Davie is the Chef de Cuisine at Josie, a Los Angeles restaurant owned by Josie Le Balch. Davie has worked at Josie Restaurant since its founding in 2001. She has appeared as a prominent guest chef on several Food Network shows. She was a contestant on The Next Iron Chef, but was eliminated in week two of the competition. Davie studied at the Culinary Institute of America, and was one of the Top Ten Student Chefs in 1996. She received the Food and Wine Baby Chef award by Julia Child. She also gained public notice as Sunkist's Lemon Lady, writing articles for their web site and travelling around the world to appearances to promote lemons. She is also the co-host (with David Myers) of Shopping With Chefs on Fine Living TV.
  • Mildred G. Swift

    Mildred G. Swift

  • Nadia Giosia

    Nadia Giosia

    Nadia Giosia (born May 12, 1980), known professionally as Nadia G, is a Canadian celebrity chef, comedian, and punk rock singer who transitioned her web cooking series into a TV cooking show. She was the host of Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen, which has appeared on Cooking Channel, Food Network Canada and Food Network UK. The show ran for three seasons on television, but started as a YouTube web-series. Starting July 14, 2014, she starred in a new series on Cooking Channel called Bite This with Nadia G. Giosia also launched a feminist rock, comedy, and food festival in Los Angeles in 2015 called Riot Grill and plays in punk rock band called The Menstruators.
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  • Arlene Williams

    Arlene Williams

    Arlene Williams (January 9, 1946 - September 20, 2017) was the host of Cornerstone Television's show At Home With Arlene Williams. The show has been on the air weekly since July 1991. It has been in over 100 markets in America, and in Jamaica, Eastern Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The show gives viewers simple recipes and cooking hints along with Arlene preparing the food and giving directions on how to make it. Arlene died on September 20, 2017. A native of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Arlene started cooking when she was nine years old. Born into a Pastor's home, she learned very early what it meant to entertain and prepare good tasty meals for very special guests. Her mother taught her well and encouraged her to "try" recipes that seemed difficult. Much patience and love on her mother's part turned Arlene into an accomplished cook, something her father and brothers benefited from greatly.
  • Marcela Valladolid

    Marcela Valladolid

    Marcela Luz Valladolid (born July 19, 1978) is an American chef and author. She was the host of the Food Network television series Mexican Made Easy, and a judge on the Food Network television series Best Baker in America.
  • B. Smith

    B. Smith

    Barbara Elaine Smith (born August 24, 1949), professionally known as B. Smith, is an American restaurateur, model, author, businesswoman and television host.
  • Amy Finley

    Amy Finley

    Amy Finley (born 1973 in San Diego, California) is an American cook and writer, who was the winner of the third season of The Next Food Network Star awarded a commitment to host a cooking show on the Food Network. Her program The Gourmet Next Door premiered on October 14, 2007, and aired for six episodes before Finley, citing a family crisis, cancelled further episodes and moved with her husband and children to a rural farm in Burgundy, France, an episode she chronicled in How to Eat a Small Country.
  • Florence Hanford

    Florence Hanford

    Florence P. Hanford (née Peirce) (June 23, 1909 – July 1, 2008) was a home economist who was best known for her television cooking show Television Kitchen, which aired 1006 episodes between 1949 and 1969. The show was aired live at 2:30 PM Wednesdays on Channel 3 in Philadelphia, WPTZ-TV, which was the only airwave available in Philadelphia at that time, and later on Channel 6. It was sponsored by the Philadelphia Electric Company and was one of the earliest televised cooking shows, closely following that of James Beard. She published books of television recipes in 1964 and 1969. She grew up in Bristol, Pennsylvania, and studied home economics at Temple University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in education in June 1931. She married Harry B. Hanford the same month. She worked as a substitute teacher and also taught cooking to nursing students at Temple University prior to her employment with Philadelphia Electric (now PECO). In 1947 she auditioned for a cooking show position after it was learned that the model previously selected couldn't cook. The show was called Television Matinee, which evolved into Television Kitchen. She and her husband built a farmhouse in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, in 1947, where she lived until shortly before her death. They raised race horses there. She also produced prize-winning needlepoint. Her husband died in 1978; they had no children. The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia [1] posthumously inducted Hanford into their Hall of Fame in 2009.
  • Rachel Khoo

    Rachel Khoo

    Rachel Khoo is chef, writer and broadcaster, with her own BBC series.
  • Melissa d'Arabian

    Melissa d'Arabian

    Melissa Donovan d'Arabian (born October 1, 1968) is an American chef and television show host. She won the fifth season of Food Network Star in 2009. Following her victory, she went on to host Ten Dollar Dinners on Food Network.
  • Lisa Faulkner

    Lisa Faulkner

    Lisa Tamsin Faulkner (born 19 February 1972) is an English actress, presenter and celebrity chef. She played the role of Fi Browning in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders in 2017.
  • Jenny Bristow

    Jenny Bristow

    Jennifer Ann Bristow BEM is a Northern Irish cook and cookery writer. She is best known for her cookery television series produced by UTV.