The cooking class near Antigua Guatemala that publishes its own price and schedule is De La Gente’s pepián class: USD 45 per person for about 3 to 3.5 hours with a local cook in San Miguel Escobar, shuttle from Antigua included, per its page read on 26 September 2026. For USD 80 you can combine it with De La Gente’s coffee tour on the same day.
An earlier version of this page was built on booking-platform listings, with a price, a star rating and a review count, that we could not trace to a saved source; they were removed on 26 September 2026 along with the claims built on them.
For a wider food day in Antigua, pair this with our coffee tours guide, the Antigua activities overview and restaurants. For Guatemalan diaspora visiting from the USA who want to learn the dishes they grew up with, see also Antigua from a diaspora perspective.
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Quick summary
| Class | Price | Length | Pickup | Source (read 26 Sep 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De La Gente pepián class, San Miguel Escobar | USD 45 per person, ages 5+; minimum 2 adults | About 3 to 3.5 hours, pickup to drop-off | 9:45 or 14:45, Ermita de Santa Lucía | dlgcoffee.org pepián cooking class page |
| De La Gente Antigua Day Trip (cooking + coffee tour) | USD 80 per person, ages 5+ | About 7 hours | 9:45 | dlgcoffee.org Antigua Day Trip page |
| ChocoMuseo chocolate workshop, Antigua | $30 adult, $21 child under 12 | 2 hours | Daily 11:00 and 15:00 | ChocoMuseo booking page, read 24 Sep 2026 |
De La Gente’s pepián cooking class
De La Gente is a nonprofit that works with coffee cooperatives around Antigua; its cooking class takes place in the house of a local cook from San Miguel Escobar. Its page describes about 3.5 hours of picking up tips and recipes and then sitting down together to eat what you made.
Included, per De La Gente:
- Round-trip transportation from Antigua to the local cook’s home
- Spanish-English interpretation
- A welcome drink (coffee)
- An appetizer
- The main dish with tortillas (vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diets accommodated)
- Dessert and a natural non-alcoholic drink
Price: USD 45 per person, ages 5 and older. For USD 35 more per person you can add the coffee tour the same day. A minimum of two adults is needed to run a class; a solo traveller can join for an extra USD 25.
Schedule: the shuttle leaves at 9:45 or 14:45 from La Ermita de Santa Lucía, at the corner of Calle del Espíritu Santo and Calzada Santa Lucía on the west side of Antigua, and you are back around 13:30 or 18:30. If your party has not arrived by 9:55 or 14:55, De La Gente treats it as a cancellation.
Booking rules: book at least the day before. Cancelling less than 24 hours ahead is still charged; rescheduling with less than 24 hours’ notice costs 50% of the payment.
Contact: tours@dlgcoffee.org, phone and WhatsApp +502 4179 2970 (office hours 8:00 to 17:00).
What you cook
De La Gente’s page describes the two dishes at the centre of its class:
- Pepián, which it calls Guatemala’s national dish, prepared for holidays, weddings and birthdays: a spiced, nutty sauce of roasted tomatoes, dried chilis, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, garlic and onion, with meat or another protein and vegetables, served over rice.
- Mole, a dessert with the same kind of dried chilis, seeds and roasted tomatoes, but made with fried ripe plantains, chocolate and cinnamon.
Other Guatemalan dishes you will see on class menus in Antigua include jocón (chicken in a green tomatillo and cilantro sauce), chiles rellenos, tamales wrapped in banana leaves and rellenitos (plantains stuffed with sweetened black beans). Menus are set by each school, so check the listing.
The full-day option: cooking plus coffee
De La Gente’s Antigua Day Trip combines the pepián class with its coffee tour in San Miguel Escobar for USD 80 per person. It leaves at 9:45, lasts about 7 hours and returns around 16:00. Its page lists a hands-on class with a local pepián instructor, a pepián lunch, the coffee-field tour with a demonstration of traditional roasting and grinding, a cup of coffee at the producer’s home and a 12-ounce bag of roasted coffee. A solo traveller pays USD 50 extra. Details of the coffee tour are on our Antigua coffee tours page.
Cooking class or chocolate workshop?
| De La Gente pepián class | ChocoMuseo chocolate workshop | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | USD 45 | $30 adult, $21 child under 12 |
| Length | About 3 to 3.5 hours with the shuttle | 2 hours |
| Where | A cook’s home in San Miguel Escobar | Antigua |
| You leave with | A meal, recipes you cooked | Chocolates you made (ready an hour later) |
The chocolate workshop is the shorter option inside Antigua; see our chocolate workshop page for times and what you make.
What to bring
De La Gente’s cooking-class page, read 26 September 2026, has no separate packing list. Its coffee-tour page asks for a rain jacket or poncho in the May to November rainy season.
After the class
- A walk through Parque Central, or a coffee in town
- Restaurants in Antigua for dinner
- A coffee tour on another day, or on the same day with the Antigua Day Trip
- An active day before or after: Pacaya day tours
For tipping norms, see tipping in Guatemala.
Ready to book? Book De La Gente through the contacts above, or compare cooking classes on Viator and GetYourGuide.
Affiliate links — if you book, we earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does an Antigua cooking class cost?
De La Gente’s pepián cooking class with a local cook in San Miguel Escobar, on the outskirts of Antigua, is USD 45 per person (ages 5 and older), per its own page read 26 September 2026. Its Antigua Day Trip, which adds a coffee tour the same day, is USD 80 per person. Other schools and booking-platform listings set their own prices; check each one when you book.
What will I cook?
De La Gente’s class is built around pepián, which its page describes as Guatemala’s national dish, made from roasted tomatoes, dried chilis, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, garlic and onion, and mole, a dessert of fried ripe plantains in a sauce with chocolate and cinnamon. The class includes an appetizer, the main dish with tortillas, dessert and a non-alcoholic drink.
How long does a cooking class take?
De La Gente says the class experience lasts about 3 to 3.5 hours from pickup to drop-off in Antigua, with the class itself described as 3.5 hours of cooking and eating. The Antigua Day Trip (cooking plus coffee tour) lasts about 7 hours.
What time do classes start?
De La Gente’s shuttle leaves at 9:45 or 14:45 from La Ermita de Santa Lucía church on the west side of Antigua, and returns around 13:30 or 18:30. The Antigua Day Trip leaves at 9:45 and returns around 16:00.
Can the class handle vegan, vegetarian or gluten-free diets?
Yes, according to De La Gente, which says its main dish accommodates vegans, vegetarians and people who eat gluten-free. Tell them when you book.
Do I need to speak Spanish?
No. De La Gente’s class includes Spanish-English interpretation.
Can I go on my own?
De La Gente needs a minimum of two adults to run a class. A solo traveller can still book for an extra USD 25 (USD 50 on the Antigua Day Trip), after checking availability at tours@dlgcoffee.org.
