17 Best Baking Shows to Stream Right Now

There is a baking show for every mood: the gentle and reassuring, the chaotic and hilarious, the genuinely nail-biting. Whether you want comfort viewing or high-stakes sugar work, here are 17 of the best baking shows to stream right now, grouped by the kind of night you are having. For the full directory, our shows hub has them all.

The comfort classics

1. The Great British Bake Off. The gold standard. Amateur bakers, a tent in the English countryside, and stakes that never turn cruel. If you watch one baking show, make it this one, and start with our Great British Bake Off fan guide.

2. The Great American Baking Show. The US cousin of Bake Off, using the same warm tent format with American home bakers. See our Great American Baking Show winners for the run.

3. The Great Canadian Baking Show. Canada's faithful take on the format, widely praised for keeping the kindness intact. The champions are listed in our Great Canadian Baking Show winners.

4. The Great Australian Bake Off. The southern-hemisphere version, with the same tent and the same gentle spirit. Meet the bakers in our Great Australian Bake Off winners.

The chaotic and funny

5. Nailed It. Netflix's celebration of baking gone gloriously wrong, in which amateur bakers attempt professional showpieces with hilarious results. Full guide in our Nailed It rundown.

6. Is It Cake? The Netflix hit built on one absurd, addictive question: is that everyday object real, or is it cake? Details in our Is It Cake guide.

7. Zumbo's Just Desserts. Australian pastry chef Adriano Zumbo sets fantastical dessert challenges in a Willy Wonka-style world. See our Zumbo's Just Desserts guide.

The competitive and high-stakes

8. Crime Scene Kitchen. Bakers play detective, reverse-engineering a dessert from the crumbs left behind at a "crime scene." More in our Crime Scene Kitchen guide.

9. Sugar Rush. A race against the clock, with teams of bakers crafting confections for cash prizes as time drains away. Full breakdown in our Sugar Rush guide.

10. Baking Impossible. Netflix pairs bakers with engineers to build edible creations that must actually work, from boats to bridges. See our Baking Impossible guide.

11. Cake Wars and Cupcake Wars. Food Network's fast, competitive decorating showdowns, where teams battle to build the best themed cakes and cupcakes. Covered in our Cake Wars and Cupcake Wars guide.

The seasonal favorites

12. Holiday Baking Championship. Food Network's festive competition, all Yule logs and holiday showstoppers. Browse it at the Holiday Baking Championship hub.

13. Spring Baking Championship. The bright, floral spring counterpart, with pastel bakes and seasonal flavors. Start at the Spring Baking Championship hub.

The family-friendly picks

14. Kids Baking Championship. Young bakers tackle real technical challenges with mentors including Duff Goldman. Visit the Kids Baking Championship hub.

The pros and the savory crossovers

15. MasterChef US. Not strictly a baking show, but its pastry and dessert rounds are some of the tensest cooking on television. Tour it in our MasterChef US fan guide.

16. Bake Squad. Netflix's showpiece-dessert series, hosted by pastry star Christina Tosi, in which elite bakers create over-the-top sweets for real celebrations.

17. Ace of Cakes and Buddy vs. Duff. The sculptural-cake shows that made Duff Goldman a household name, still hugely watchable for the sheer engineering. His whole story is in our Duff Goldman profile.

How to choose tonight

If you want calm, pick a Bake Off. If you want to laugh, pick Nailed It. If you want to gasp, pick Is It Cake or Crime Scene Kitchen. The beauty of the genre is that it scales to your energy. And if any of them push you off the sofa and toward the oven, a decent baking sheet is where most home bakers start. For a small fact that will quietly improve every bake, read convection vs conventional ovens next.