Have you ever wanted to learn how to cook with fresh, local ingredients while spending time on a beautiful New Mexico farm?
This June, The Sprouting Kitchen is excited to once again launch public cooking classes. These open-enrollment experiences are designed for individuals, couples, families, and small groups who want to learn new kitchen skills, connect with local agriculture, and enjoy a memorable meal in a truly unique setting.
It’s More Than a Cooking Class
At The Sprouting Kitchen, we believe food has the power to connect people; to the land, to local farmers, and to one another.
Our public cooking classes take place outdoors on working farms throughout Albuquerque and transform traditional cooking class into an immersive farm-to-table experience. We bring all the equipment needed to create a fully functioning pop-up kitchen right on the farm, allowing participants to cook surrounded by the very fields where many of the ingredients were grown.
Whether you’re looking for a fun date night, a unique outing with friends, or simply a chance to learn something new, our classes offer an unforgettable way to experience New Mexico’s local food system.
A Seasonal Menu Full of Surprises
One of the most exciting aspects of our classes is that no two experiences are exactly the same!
Rather than following a fixed menu, each class is inspired by the season and shaped by the freshest produce available from the farm. Part of the adventure is arriving ready to discover what ingredients are at their peak and what delicious dishes you’ll create together.
Every class includes:
- An entree highlighting seasonal produce
- Dessert featuring local fruits
- Herbal iced beverage
- A full meal — we promise you’ll leave feeling full!
Our recipes can accommodate dietary preferences like vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, as long as you let us know ahead of time.
Hosted at Chispas Farm
Our first public classes will take place at Chispas Farm, a remarkable four-acre farm in Albuquerque’s South Valley on occupied Tiwa land.
Chispas Farm grows over 120 varieties of heirloom vegetables and fruits, have 100 laying hens for eggs, and also keep sheep, goats, ducks, geese, and rabbits. They save a variety of seeds, have perennial pasture for livestock to graze and be happy, their primary method of pest management is adequate crop rotation and planting lots of flowers for beneficial insects, and soil health is their number one priority.
The Spouting Kitchen has partnered with Chispas Farm since the very beginning (2019!) and they have continued to be a wonderful place to hold cooking classes.
Meet Your Instructor: Kennedy Cooper
Leading these classes is Kennedy Cooper, a fourth-generation chef, entrepreneur, and community educator.
Kennedy has deep roots in Southern American, Appalachian, and Jewish American cooking traditions. For over a decade, Kennedy has worked to preserve and share traditional food knowledge from around the world, making culinary techniques accessible to people from all walks of life. Passionate about food justice and community resilience, Kennedy has spent many years supporting food security initiatives and now teaches lifelong kitchen skills to young cooks through Kids Cook! In addition, Kennedy co-runs a local event space Astronomía, which is a mystically themed, alcohol-free venue designed for adults seeking immersive experiences.
Who Should Attend?
Our public classes are designed for anyone who wants a unique and meaningful culinary experience.
Whether you’re:
- A beginner looking to build confidence in the kitchen
- A home cook interested in seasonal recipes
- A local food enthusiast
- A couple looking for a memorable date night
- A family looking for an educational and fun experience
- Someone curious about sustainability and farming
You’ll find something to enjoy!!
Our recipes focus on teaching you how to utilize and cook with seasonal produce, but it doesn’t matter if you are a vegetarian, vegan, or carnivore – we all need to eat more plants!
Children are welcome with a guardian, but must have a ticket purchased for them.
Supporting Local Farms and Food Systems
When you purchase a ticket, you’re supporting much more than a cooking class.
Your registration helps fund:
- Our farm partners for their time, knowledge, and land stewardship.
- The equipment and time associated with setting up a pop-up kitchen on a farm
- The cost of purchasing the freshest, regeneratively grown ingredients from local farmers
- Recipe development to make sure our recipes highlight local ingredients AND taste incredible
These experiences are part of The Sprouting Kitchen’s broader mission to strengthen connections between people, food, farms, and community throughout New Mexico.
Join Us This Summer!
If you’ve been looking for a hands-on experience that combines cooking, community, sustainability, and local agriculture, we’d love to have you join us!
Come spend an evening on the farm, meet new people, learn practical cooking skills, and enjoy a meal made with some of the freshest ingredients New Mexico has to offer.
We can’t wait to cook with you. Learn more here.
