Teen Battle Chef

Teaching Culinary Skills and Fostering Healthy Behaviors

Teen Battle Chef (TBC) is a unique hands-on culinary and nutrition education program designed as a cooking competition where everybody wins invaluable lifelong skills.

Who is this program for?

The turnkey program is designed for teaching cooking and nutrition to adolescents in Middle or High Schools, After-School Programs, Summer Programs, Community Organizations, and Faith Centers.

“Thank you for creating this wonderful program. It was my favorite activity of the year, and it truly felt like I was making a difference in my students' lives and health.”

- Teacher Sacramento, CA

“This program helps you realize that eating healthy isn’t expensive nor is it time consuming! It’s totally possible for kids my age.”

- Student, Bronx NY

“I told my mom about TBC and what we cook. She started to buy some of the new vegetables, and now we cook and eat together as a family."

- Student Harlem, NY

“Before TBC I thought healthy food was boring and wouldn’t taste good. Now I see there are so many delicious healthy foods I can make or buy."

- Student Bronx, NY

Bring the Life Skill of Cooking to Your Youth

Host our Teen Battle Chef evidence-based program and watch youth grow beyond their comfort zone. Contact us to plan your competition.

Teen Battle Chef is an exciting skills building program for adolescents from 11-18. The ‘battles’ are weekly cooking competitions, conducted in teams in the style of a cooking show.

These presentations help build youth’s self-esteem through public speaking, teamwork, and sharing meals family style - all in a spirit of fun and excitement.

TBC is ‘turn-key’ and adaptable to a variety of settings, facilities and needs. Instructors can be trained quickly through a combination of on-demand video and virtual culinary training sessions - available anywhere in the USA or beyond. The curriculum is comprised of lesson plans to teach nutritionally-balanced, multicultural recipes, nutrition basics, food justice and seasonality. All that is needed to run TBC is access to a sink.

Program Features

8-10 week curriculum
3 Leadership track curricula for students to conduct wellness projects
A dozen recipe ‘battle plans’ complete with nutrition and cultural details
Participant handouts teaching Smart Goals and a Daily Journal for mindful eating
‘Make One, Share One” take-home activities to translate skill development in class to home
SNAP-Ed approved across the US
Program evaluation tools (surveys, student reflections, teacher and student focus group guides)

Measurable Benefits

Teen Battle Chef has demonstrated the following outcomes across multiple cohorts:

90% of participants make food and lifestyle improvements
74% attained and sustained a healthy weight
80% achieved and sustained a healthy weight up to seven years post-program.
82% report summer or post high school job placement.

An 85% decrease in cell phone “screen time.”
Increased academic success, attendance, graduation rate, and SAT scores
Reduced depression/anxiety
90% report positively influencing food habits of friends and family

Teen Battle Chef in action

Learn about our Impact

Our methodologies are field-tested and evidence-based. Browse our research and documented behavior change impacts.

Teen Battle Chef News & Resources

Teen Battle Chefs Collaborate on New School Breakfast Items

New York City high school students were invited to NY Public Schools Office of Food and Nutrition Services to collaborate on new breakfast items for citywide menu…

Teens and Police Growing Trust One Spoon at a Time

Thanks to a strategic partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and the NYC Department of Youth and Community development…

USDA Announces Teen Battle Chef Adopted into the SNAP Ed Toolkit

The SnapEd toolkit debuted to provide a compendium of model evidence-based nutrition education programs that states could adopt.

Teen Battle Chef: Demonstrating Sustained Effect

FamilyCook has maintained a connection with many youths who stay connected to our team to learn about jobs and share their career milestones…

Ready to try Teen Battle Chef?

Let’s get you connected with one of our culinary education specialists to discuss your goals. We can help you determine if a Teen Battle Chef program is right for your students.