Culinary Instructor

Also called: Chef Instructor, Cooking Teacher

Teaches cooking at culinary schools, community colleges, high school CTE programs, or recreational cooking schools.

A day in the life

You demo knife cuts and sauces, then coach 16 students through cooking them while grading their technique. Recreational instructors teach date-night pasta classes. Many former chefs love the steady hours.

Pay over a career

Starting
$38k
Typical
$62k
High
$95k

Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.

Training

Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Industry experience plus associate or bachelor's degree.

Ways in: 2-year college, 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: Under $15k.

Majors to look at: Culinary Arts, Education.

Outlook

Growing about average (about 2% over 10 years).

Will it last? Our AI estimate

Low risk for 10 years. Video lessons support classes, but teaching knife skills and cooking in a kitchen lab stays hands-on.

Start now, in high school

Classes: Culinary arts CTE, Speech, Chemistry.

Official data: O*NET occupation 25-1194.

More Food Innovation, Science & Media careers

Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.