Best Food Tours in Cusco: Market Visits, Cooking Classes & Street Food Walks

Cusco’s food scene is rooted in the same Andean agriculture that sustained the Inca empire — native potato varieties, highland quinoa, Andean herbs, and fermented corn traditions that have run continuously for centuries. A food tour here is less about restaurant hopping and more about understanding how altitude, pre-Hispanic agriculture, and Spanish colonial influence combined into something that tastes unlike anywhere else in South America.

There are three main formats: San Pedro Market visits, hands-on cooking classes that usually include a market shopping component, and street food walks around the historic centre. Here is how each works, who runs them well, and what to expect to pay.

San Pedro Market: The Starting Point for Most Tours

Mercado de San Pedro, a 10-minute walk from Plaza de Armas, is where the majority of Cusco food tours begin. The covered market runs across two main halls and several outdoor sections — produce, meats, cheeses, dried goods, juice stalls, and a central dining area where vendors serve full lunches. Most tour operators use it as a classroom rather than a shopping destination.

On a guided market visit you would typically cover: native potato varieties (there are over 3,000 in Peru, and the market stocks dozens), fresh and dried ají peppers, chicha de jora (fermented corn drink), choclo (giant Andean corn), altitude-grown herbs, and fresh cheese. The meat section — including cuy (guinea pig) — is part of most tours, though guides adjust the pace if the group prefers to move through quickly.

What to try at the juice stalls: freshly blended fruit combinations using lucuma, granadilla, and maracuya (passion fruit). Prices at the stalls are approximately S/3-6 per glass as of 2026 — a fraction of what you would pay at a tourist cafe two blocks away.

Half-Day Market and Cooking Class Tours

This is the most popular format: a market walk of approximately 60-90 minutes followed by a 2-3 hour cooking session at a dedicated kitchen nearby. You shop for ingredients as part of the tour, then cook and eat what you have prepared.

Cusco Culinary Tours runs a morning market-to-table session covering chupe de camarones (Andean prawn soup), lomo saltado (stir-fried beef), causa (potato dish), and chicha morada drink. Tours depart at 09:00 from the San Pedro area, run approximately 4 hours total, and include all ingredients plus lunch. Prices from approximately USD 55 per person as of 2026. Maximum 10 participants. Book via their GetYourGuide listing (search “Cusco cooking class market”).

Cooking with Doña Feliciana is a smaller, more informal option run from a home kitchen in the San Blas neighbourhood. Sessions cover Andean staples including papa a la huancaina (potato in spicy cheese sauce), rocoto relleno (stuffed pepper), and cuy if the group requests it. Approximately USD 45 per person as of 2026 for a 3.5-hour class. Maximum 8 participants. Book directly through GetYourGuide or contact via San Blas guesthouses who work with her regularly.

Peruvian Cooking Experience (search the name on GetYourGuide) runs slightly larger groups and adds a pisco sour demonstration to the standard cooking session. Duration approximately 4 hours, price from approximately USD 60 per person as of 2026. They also run evening-only sessions at 17:00 which work well for travellers with mornings occupied by site visits.

Full-Day Cooking Experiences

Full-day programs typically include a longer market visit, a visit to a local family home or agricultural plot outside the city, cooking, and a full shared lunch. These are suited to travellers with a specific interest in Andean food culture rather than a quick taste of Peruvian cooking.

Sacred Valley Cooking and Market Day combines a morning drive to the Pisac market (approximately 45 minutes from Cusco), a visit to a Quechua farming community, and an afternoon cooking session at a hacienda near Urubamba. Operators include several listed on GetYourGuide under “Sacred Valley cooking class.” Duration approximately 8 hours including transport. Prices from approximately USD 95 per person as of 2026. This option works best on Pisac market days (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday).

Chocolate-making workshops are a separate niche. Two operators in central Cusco — ChocoMuseo (Calle Garcilaso) and Choco Museo (Calle Hatunrumiyoc, different business) — run 2-hour chocolate-making classes covering cacao origin, fermentation, and hands-on bar making. Prices approximately USD 25-35 per person as of 2026. Good for a half-day activity that does not require physical exertion at altitude.

Street Food Walks

Street food walks are less structured and suit travellers who prefer to eat continuously rather than cook. A good walk covers Plaza Regocijo vendors (anticuchos in the evening), Mercado Central snacks, Calle Mantas for empanadas, and one of the San Pedro juice stalls.

Peru Food Tours by Locals (available on GetYourGuide) runs an evening street food walk starting at 17:30 when the anticucho grills and picarones (doughnut) vendors set up. Duration approximately 3 hours. The walk covers 8-10 tastings including anticuchos (beef heart skewers), chicharrones, picarones, and an empanada or two. Price approximately USD 35-45 per person as of 2026.

For independent street food eating: the best anticuchos in Cusco are outside the market and in the residential streets rather than on the tourist strip. Ask at your hostel where the evening grill vendors set up that week — locations shift.

Practical Details

Altitude: Cusco sits at 3,400m. Cooking classes involve standing in a kitchen for 2-3 hours. Most operators provide water and suggest arriving having eaten lightly. If you are arriving the same day, consider an afternoon class rather than a morning session to allow a few hours to acclimatise.

Group size: Smaller groups (under 10) produce noticeably better experiences. Operators advertising maximum 8 participants tend to have higher guide-to-participant ratios and more hands-on cooking time. Larger group tours (up to 20) are cheaper but cover less ground.

What to bring: No special equipment required. Most cooking classes provide aprons. Wear comfortable shoes for market walks — San Pedro’s floors are uneven and can be slippery near the meat and juice sections.

Booking: Use GetYourGuide or contact operators directly via their San Blas area guesthouses. Avoid booking through hotel concierges in the Plaza de Armas area — they add a commission and cannot always guarantee the quality of the class you get.

For context on what you will be eating, the food to try in Cusco guide covers the specific dishes in detail. If you want to eat out rather than cook, the Cusco restaurant guide covers the best options by neighbourhood.