Cooking Contests are not only a great way to earn some cash. They are also a lot of fun!
If you are handy in the kitchen, this may be a way to turn your talent into cash.
There are a few different types of cooking contests. The most common is the recipe contest, where you invent a new recipe and send it in to the sponsors. If your recipe is chosen, you'll win a prize- usually a gift card or a few hundred dollars. Larger contests lead to a "cook-off," where the inventors of the top recipes travel to a competition where they will cook their dish for judges. Some of these offer prizes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, with the biggest competition, the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off, now topping out with a cool million-dollar prize for the winning recipe.
Smaller contests and cook-offs are often offered locally, through festivals that feature particular agricultural products. A strawberry festival might offer a strawberry cook-off, while a state apple growers association might give prizes for the best apple pie every year at the state fair. These competitions also offer a wide range of rewards, with some giving a token amount of money or a years supply of that particular food and others offering thousands of dollars.
Some larger festivals and cook-offs draw participants from around the world, and competition can be especially fierce. In particular, barbecue and chili cook-offs tend to be big-money contests. Larger cook-offs often cost significant amounts of money to participate and competitors are sponsored by major corporations to help cover the costs.
Smaller festivals may host less-expensive contests more accessible to individuals. But if you make a habit of winning at local festivals, you might be able to get your own sponsors to send you to the big-league competitions.
Cooking contests can be found almost anywhere there is food. Check your local grocery store aisles to see if product-sponsored recipe competitions are currently going on.
For the latest in cooking contests compiled in one place, you can also order our premium Sweetgigs Cooks ezine. Only $9 for a full year subscription, you'll receive an email listing over 25 cooking contests each month along with tips and ideas to help you win. That's over 300 contests you can enter each year!
Order the Sweetgigs Cooks Ezine today!