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The 40 Best Food Network Shows Of All Time

Did your favorite make the cut?

By , Charlotte Chilton and
ina garten cooking
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If you've ever tuned into a Chopped marathon or made an Ina Garten recipe, it's safe to say you're a Food Network fan. From Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives to Ace of Cakes, there's no shortage of programs on this channel and a little something for everyone. So as an ode to the network that never fails to make our stomachs grumble, we give you the best Food Network shows of all time—in no particular order.

1

$40 a Day

Chef Rachel Ray On Lincoln Road In Miami Beach
Gustavo Caballero//Getty Images

Rachael Ray taught us all how to dine on a budget with this show that took her on the road looking for the best food deals in the world. It lasted for four seasons, from 2002 to 2005. Her final stop was a trip to New York City.

2

Food Network Star

Suit, White-collar worker, Formal wear, Fashion, Electric blue, Event, Dress, Tuxedo, Style, Brand,
Food Network/YouTube.com

Don't get us wrong: We love Giada and Ina to pieces, but there's something kind of thrilling about watching undiscovered talent turn into Food Network's next big thing. Not everyone makes it to the big time, but the ones who do (cough, Guy, cough) become instant favorites.

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3

I Hart Food

Finger, Lip, Eating, Gesture, Hand, Drinking, Thumb,
Food Network/YouTube.com

Hannah Hart got her start on YouTube with a show all about cooking drunk. She's totally sober on her Food Network show, but we love it all the same. Hart travels the country, learning about cities' iconic foods, then breaks them down in her own kitchen.

4

The Kitchen

Bar stool, Bottle, Stool, Countertop, Kitchen, Cooking, Barware, Shelf, Service, Shelving,
Food Network/YouTube.com

The Kitchen is sort of like the adult version of Saturday morning cartoons. It's on first thing in the morning, and is so predictable week-to-week (Jeff Mauro makes a dad joke! Katie Lee wears a great outfit!) that you can kind of zone out while watching. That said, there are still some pretty legit tips you can steal during the hour-long talk show.

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5

Barefoot Contessa

Today - Season 62
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Ina Garten's show is one of Food Network's most popular ever, despite the fact that you'd be overcome with envy by the end of every episode, thinking: I want to be invited to Garten's dinner parties, eating Garten's complex French foods, giggling through a conversation with Jeffrey.

6

The Pioneer Woman

Room, Cooking, Kitchen, Homemaker, Food, Breakfast, Vegetarian food, Cuisine,
Food Network/YouTube.com

After Paula Deen left the network, Ree Drummond — AKA the Pioneer Woman — led the charge of down-home comfort food. Her recipes are the ultimate guilty pleasures (think: pot pies, casseroles, and chicken-fried steak), and regularly call for multiple sticks of butter, but someone's gotta do it, right?

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7

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Junk food, Eating, Food, Dish, Food craving, Cuisine, Fast food,
Food Network

This show provided answers to "What's your favorite meal you've ever had?!" before it was possible to just DM chefs the question. All the Food Network strongholds appeared on an episode at one point — Guy Fieri, Tyler Florence, Curtis Stone, Giada De Laurentiis. Over the course of six seasons, they ended up creating an unofficial food travel guide.

8

30 Minute Meals

Food, Eating, Dish, Cuisine, Meal, Noodle, Comfort food, Chow mein, Hot dry noodles, Bigoli,
Food Network/IMDB

Before every magazine cover and website slapped this slogan on recipe collections, Rachael Ray made it famous. The chef did nearly everything from prep to plating in real-time, so the dishes seemed legitimately possible to make in half an hour.

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9

Everyday Italian

TODAY
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This was the show that gave everyone hope that they could eat pasta and still look like Giada De Laurentiis. That's because even with all the cheese and carbs Italian food's famous for, De Laurentiis kept her recipes light and refreshing — so you could actually eat them every day.

10

Ace Of Cakes

Ace of Cakes
Tom Williams//Getty Images

Duff Goldman's inside look into his bustling Baltimore, MD, cake shop was one of the first shows of its kind. His creations were kind of mind-blowing, like a sugary replica of Radio City Music Hall and the Hubble Space Telescope, and his motley crew of wannabe rockstars was weirdly endearing.

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11

Sandwich King

Food, Cooking, Dish, Meal, Cuisine, Fast food, Chef, Finger food, Snack, Service,
Food Network/YouTube.com

Jeff Mauro found his niche riffing off the crew of misfit chefs on The Kitchen, but before his talk show days, there was Sandwich King. He made us realize that you can make a case for stuffing anything between two slices of bread, and it would sorta-kinda always work.

12

Guy's Grocery Games

Product, Retail, Supermarket, Grocery store, Vehicle, Building, Convenience store, Customer, Outlet store, Shopping,
Food Network/IMDB

Shopping in the Flavortown Market seems like a dream, honestly: Guy Fieri's there, the store's empty, and you're out in mere minutes. Unlike other shows, the challenges on this one are highly probable, like having a budget or being out of an ingredient. Plus, we have it on the DL that Fieri's a total softie behind the scenes.

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13

Taste

Food, Cooking, Cook, Chef, Meal, Cuisine, Service, Dish, Chief cook, Kitchen,
Food Network/YouTube.com

David Rosengarten, host of Taste, was like the original Alton Brown, in that he took a deep dive into a different food every episode. If you ever wanted a 30-minute look into the perfect BLT or oysters, this was it. At times, Rosengarten's soothing-yet-unauthoritative voice seemed like it belonged to a member of Anchorman's news desk, but as part of the original Food Network line-up, viewers loved him.

14

Too Hot Tamales

Meal, Food, Cooking, Dinner, Brunch, Room, Supper, Lunch, Kitchen, Breakfast,
Food Network/YouTube.com

The two chefs who headlined this show were longtime friends off the set, and it showed: They had more fun than most other stand-and-stir television cooks while making modern Mexican recipes. Until a year ago, they even ran a California restaurant that fans could visit after the show ended.

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15

Iron Chef

Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine & Food Festival Presented By Coca-Cola - Rooftop Iron Chef Showdown: Battle Autumn Bounty hosted by Alton Brown
Theo Wargo//Getty Images

Food Network brought Iron Chef over to America from Japan, and it became an instant hit. The greatness came less from the food and more from the theatrics: awkward English dubbing and random bursts of music were pillars of the show. It lasted for an entire 90 minutes, before people complained of the length and format — and it was never the same after that.

16

Good Eats

2006 South Beach Wine & Food Festival - Grand Tasting
Caroline M. Facella//Getty Images

Alton Brown once shared that his show was meant to be a Julia Child meets Mr. Wizard meets Monty Python mash-up, and once you hear that, you really can't watch the show the same way again. It's so spot-on: Classic recipes served up with a scientific spin and pithy humor. It lasted for more than a dozen years before ending in 2012 — the third-longest running series on Food Network — but Brown recently announced plans to reboot it on the web.

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17

Unwrapped

Library, Building, Liquor store, Alcohol, Retail, Drink, Distilled beverage, Beer,
Food Network/YouTube.com

For people obnoxiously full of questions, this was the one show that could shut you up for 30 minutes. By the end, you'd have the answer to things like, Where do the tiny marshmallows in breakfast cereals come from?, Why does Mr. Potato head exist?, and How do you carve the ultimate ice sculpture?

18

Semi-Homemade Cooking

Product, Room, Kitchen, Pink, Hand, Interior design, Plant, Furniture, Small appliance, Flower,
Food Network/IMDB

The tablescapes — oh, the tablescapes. That's how Sandra Lee referred to her table settings, themed to match the meal she just made. They looked like the result of a long, dark Pinterest binge — but before Pinterest was even a thing. The food was adored by soccer moms with no time, too: All of the recipes always include some pre-made ingredients that you could find at any grocery store.

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19

Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives

Cooking, Food, Cuisine, Dish, Taste,
Food Network/ IMDB

This was Guy Fieri's second show, but first in the hearts of his fans. The catchphrases he spewed— crackalack, funkalicious, righteous — while visiting mom-and-pop restaurants across the country were almost as good as the down-home meals he'd spotlight weekly. Plus, he brought Smashmouth's lead singer (AKA his doppelganger) out of hiding for a cameo. Bless.

20

Cupcake Wars

Television program, Event, Media, Drink, Performance, Interior design,
Food Network/YouTube.com

Any show that can nab a magician — and then a member of the Mean Girls cast — as host is special. The cupcake-making competition is an hour respite from the real world, all sugar, a little spice (the losing bakers' reactions are golden), and everything nice.

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