This page compiles information about the best culinary and baking schools in Colorado.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual wage reported by chefs and sous chefs in Colorado was $70,130 as of May 2023, while bakers reportedly made $40,030 per year, on average, higher than the national average for this profession.
As more restaurants and dining places are expected to open, employment for chefs and head cooks across the United States is projected to grow 7 percent by 2034.
Employment for bakers in the United States is projected to grow 6 percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average for all occupations.
You can start a rewarding career in this field by completing one of the programs offered by the schools in our list.
Programs offer hands-on training and lead to certificates or associate degrees, preparing students for careers as station chefs, sous chefs, pastry chefs, restaurant managers, catering managers, and other food service specialist roles.
The training focuses on teaching skills such as: food preparation, culinary safety and sanitation, baking principles, contemporary cuisine, and more.
Students can graduate in a few months or a couple of years, depending on the credential they want to pursue.
We encourage you to read our list to find out more about what Colorado culinary schools have to offer.
#1Pikes Peak State College
About the School
Pikes Peak State College offers training programs for high school students and adult learners.
The college offers a quality education that gets students where they want to go without costing too much.
Financial help and scholarships are available for students who qualify.
Courses Offered
The Culinary Arts program gives students the opportunity to choose from specialties like baking and pastry, food service management, sustainable cuisine, or general culinary arts.
Students are guided through various cooking styles, essential knife skills, and food safety by expert chef-instructors.
An Associate of Applied Science degree is available for students who want to break into the industry.
Multiple certifications are also available for professionals who want to try a new hobby.
The curriculum teaches skills such as:
- National sanitation standards
- Management skills and food costing
- Cooking techniques
- Food production and processing
- Customer service
- Knife and cutlery skills
- Understanding the culinary industry
- Basic cake decorating techniques
- And more
The degree and certificate options available at Pikes Peak State College include:
- Culinary Arts, Baking Pastry Associate of Applied Science
- Culinary Arts Associate of Applied Science
- Culinary Arts, Food Service Management Associate of Applied Science
- Culinary Arts, Sustainable Management, and Dietary Cuisine Associate of Applied Science
- Advanced Culinary Certificate
- Baking Certificate
- Culinary Arts Certificate
- Culinary Production Certification
- And more
Contact Information
- Address: 5675 S. Academy Blvd. Colorado Springs, CO 80906
- Phone: 719-502-2000
- Website: https://www.pikespeak.edu
#2Emily Griffith Technical College
About the School
Emily Griffith Technical College is a public, postsecondary, and adult education arm of the Denver public school system.
It is one of the three area technical colleges in the Colorado Community College System.
Courses Offered
The Culinary Arts program at Emily Griffith Technical College can be completed in six months by full-time students and in 11 months by part-time students.
The program is available in a hybrid format.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
Students need 952.5 hours to complete the culinary program.
The program provides students with hands-on experience cooking a wide variety of cuisines and dishes.
They also learn the ins and outs of the restaurant and hospitality industries and how to run their own business or food truck.
The program features lectures and demonstrations from experienced chefs.
Contact Information
- Address: 1860 Lincoln St., Denver, CO 80203
- Phone: 720-423-4700
- Website: https://www.emilygriffith.edu
#3Colorado Mountain College
About the School
Colorado Mountain College offers a Culinary Arts program that helps students turn their passion for food into a rewarding career.
The degree program is designed to transform love of cooking into the skills and confidence needed to thrive in today’s professional kitchens.
Students participate in hands-on culinary labs where they explore classical techniques and modern, global cuisines.
They learn by doing, tasting, creating, and perfecting.
The program pairs culinary training with courses in restaurant operations, leadership, and hospitality fundamentals.
Courses Offered
The two-year Culinary Arts Associate in Applied Science curriculum includes courses such as:
- Vegetable preparation
- Introduction to stocks, soups, and sauces
- Introduction to Garde Manger
- Intermediate Soups and Sauces
- Breakfast preparation and cookery
- Nutrition for the hospitality professional
- Food and beverage service
- Baking principles and ingredients
- Intermediate Garde Manger: Charcuterie
- And more
Contact Information
- Address: 802 Grand Avenue, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
- Phone: 970-945-8691, ext. 8327
- Website: https://coloradomtn.edu
#4Colorado Mesa University
About the School
Colorado Mesa University offers a Culinary Arts program that prepares students for a dynamic career in a field that blends art, science, craft, entertainment, hospitality, and health.
Students learn in a spacious state-of-the-art commercial kitchen lab.
Classes are kept small so students receive individual attention from a faculty of experienced chefs, caterers, bakers, sommeliers, farm managers, and restaurant owners.
Courses Offered
The following degree options are available:
- Culinary Arts- Associate of Applied Science
- Food Preparation- Technical Certificate
A Technical Certificate in Food Preparation requires the completion of courses such as:
- Culinary Program Fundamentals
- Food Safety & Sanitation
- Introduction to Sustainable Cuisine
- Introduction to Foods
- Center of the Plate
- Introduction to Baking
Program-specific certificate requirements include 17 semester hours.
Contact Information
- Address: 1100 North Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501-3122
- Phone: 970.248.1020
- Website: https://www.coloradomesa.edu
#5Douglas County Legacy Campus
About the School
Douglas County Legacy Campus offers a Culinary & Hospitality Pathway developed through a partnership with the Colorado Restaurant Foundation and the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.
Courses Offered
The recommended course sequence includes:
- Basic Cooking- a course that serves as an introduction to fundamental cooking skills, methods, theories, and techniques
- Basic Baking- students learn basic skills in food preparation and presentation while implementing food safety and sanitation standards.
- Food Service Manager- a course that introduces essential skills for professional foodservice management, including food and kitchen safety, professional and quantity culinary and baking techniques, production planning, and kitchen management
- And more
Students also demonstrate proficiency in food safety and sanitation principles, learn to incorporate sustainable food practices, including local food sourcing, composting, upcycling, and seasonality.
Contact Information
- Address: 10035 S. Peoria St., Lone Tree, Colorado 80134
- Phone: 303-387-7800
- Website: https://www.legacycampus.org
#6Cook Street School
About the School
Cook Street School of Culinary Arts offers comprehensive Culinary Arts certificate programs designed to elevate students’ careers.
In just one year, students get to build their kitchen acumen to work in a large-scale kitchen or launch their own private chef business.
Courses Offered
The following professional programs are available at the school:
- Culinary Arts Programs
- Baking & Pastry Program
The Culinary Arts Program is an accelerated program that includes 80 percent of time cooking and gives students the opportunity to master both classic techniques and modern fusion styles in a hands-on environment.
The Baking and Pastry program includes courses such as:
- Bread Fundamentals
- Tarts, Custards, Meringues, Sugar
- Choux & Cakes
- Cookies, Quick Breads & Lamination
- Frozen Desserts, Alternative Pastry & Chocolate
- Regional & International Desserts
- And more
Contact Information
- Address: 43 W. 9th Ave, Denver, CO 80204
- Phone: (303) 308-9300
- Website: https://cookstreet.com
#7Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
About the School
Escoffier School of Culinary Arts offers a business-focused curriculum with programs that may include topics in business and entrepreneurship.
Financial aid is available for students who qualify.
Courses Offered
The following paths are available:
- Culinary Arts
- Plant-Based Culinary Arts
- Baking & Pastry Arts
- Holistic Nutrition & Wellness
- Food Entrepreneurship
- Hospitality & Restaurant Operations Management
Escoffier offers an online Diploma in Culinary Arts and Operations and an Associate of Occupational Studies Degree in Culinary Arts.
The programs provide students with a basic understanding of culinary techniques and practical business skills that can set students apart from their peers.
Students can complete their training in 60 weeks.
The online culinary arts programs are designed to work with students’ schedules.
An online diploma in Professional Pastry Arts and an Associate of Occupational Studies degree in Baking & Pastry are also available.
Diploma courses include:
- Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry
- Menu Design and Management
- Contemporary Pastry Arts
- Foundations of Bread
- Foodservice Management
- And more
Contact Information
- Address: 637 South Broadway, Suite H, Boulder, CO 80305
- Phone: 877-249-0305
- Website: https://www.escoffier.edu
#8Paragon Culinary School
About the School
Paragon Culinary School is an elite culinary academy located in the Ute Pass of Colorado Springs.
The school has an excellent team of chefs from across the globe, with more than 150 years of combined experience.
The team includes World Master Chef, Certified Wine Sommeliers, Pastry Chefs, and more.
Courses Offered
Students have the option of organizing their classes in many different ways.
The original plan is a multi-year time period with a total of 12 classes, three classes per year.
When students take three classes at a time, they can finish in one year.
There are also individual advanced and post-graduate options to add specialty fields.
The full culinary program includes the following nine courses:
- Foundations
- Service and Wine
- World Cuisine
- Baking and Pastry
- Advanced Management/Restaurateur
- Advanced Cookery/ World Cuisine 2
- Advanced Pastry
- Understand the Masters
- Final Touches
Contact Information
- Address: 505 Popes Bluff Trail, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
- Phone: (719) 578-5740 or 5741
- Website: https://www.paragonculinaryschool.org
#9Stir Cooking School
Stir Cooking School offers hands-on experiences for home cooks who want to learn new recipes, ingredients, and techniques.
Courses Offered
The following classes are available at the school:
- Date Night Classes: Modern Steakhouse
- Date Night: Easter Love
- Date Night: For the Love of Spring
- Date Night: Spring of Thailand
- A Night In Barcelona
- Fresh Past Workshop
- Greek Food Favorites
- Vegetarian Kitchen: Flavors of Asia
- High Altitude Baking
- International Baking Workshop
- And more
Contact Information
- Address: 1801 Wynkoop St. Suite 175A, Denver, CO 80202
- Website: https://www.stirtolearn.com
#10FoodLab
About the School
FoodLab offers cooking classes in Boulder and Denver.
Available are classes such as:
- Spring Classes
- Easter Brunch
- New Workshop Series
- Kids Summer Camps
The Knife Skills Workshop series is an adult class in Boulder.
The class includes two classic French dishes and three hours of hands-on techniques designed to build real knife confidence.
The class focuses on developing foundational skills and understanding the why behind how food is prepped and cooked.
Guests practice essential techniques, including slicing, rocking, and cross-chopping, batonnet and julienne, small-to-large dice, bias cuts, rondelles, and chiffonade while preparing vegetables for ratatouille and Nicoise salad.
Contact Information
- Address: 1825 Pearl A, Boulder, CO 80302
- Phone: 303.953.8364
- Website: https://foodlabinc.com
Schools Summary Table
Culinary & Pastry Average Salary in Colorado
Estimated Earnings Range:| Item | Percent |
|---|---|
|
N/A
|
|
|
N/A
|
|
|
N/A
|
Final Thoughts
Now that you have read our selection of the best culinary and baking schools in Colorado, it’s time to continue the research and apply for the program that best fits your learning style and career aspirations.
This is an important step, so take your time and make an informed decision.
