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Chef Chris Baber is passionate about home-cooked, family-style food that you can share with your loved ones.
A popular online figure, he has over 290,000 social media followers, and it is through these platforms that he provides tips and recipes to help the ‘everyday cook’ shine.
He has also appeared on BBC One’s Yes Chef (2016), and worked alongside Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.
He’s on a mission to make cooking more accessible without compromising on flavour, which is why he has collaborated with M&S Food to provide quick and tasty family recipes.
“I’ve always loved food. Growing up in Hexham, Northumberland, I used to cook dinner with my mum and dad every day. I trained with Atul Kochhar at his Michelin-starred restaurant, but my real passion is inspiring others and making home cooking accessible for everyone.”
Some of Chris’ earliest food memories are helping his grandfather to prep ingredients for family meals, and by the age of five he was already helping cook the weekend fry-ups
“It was inspirational to see him getting so much enjoyment out of the process of cooking. I didn’t realise it at the time, but he made me enjoy cooking”.
His rise to public fame started through a modelling career, where he would take some of his own food to the shoots to share. And it was at one of these shoots that another model suggested he share his recipes on social media, and it was an immediate hit.
He spent four years as a resident chef and consultant for M&S, creating weekly family recipes, and was also the face of their ‘Fresh Market Update’ TV adverts, a campaign which reached millions of people across the UK. He has since worked with Aston Martin, become an ambassador for cookware brand HexClad, and appeared at the Good Food Show Summer.
In 2016, Chris appeared on – and won – the BBC One cooking competition Yes Chef, where amateur cooks are partnered with top chefs to produce delicious dishes. He also went on to appear on the likes of Blue Peter and has worked with inspirational celebrities such as British Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley.
While he has experience in fast-paced restaurant kitchens on and off the screen, Chris Baber is more interested in making home cooking more accessible by making it cheaper and easier. He wants to inspire people to build their confidence in the kitchen and improve their cooking skills.
During lockdown, he created the ‘Chris Baber Cooking School’, an online platform which provided free cook-a-long sessions for families and children stuck at home. Once lockdown finished, he created a new series entitled The Baber Flavour Fakeaway. With a guest celebrity – including Joel Dommett, Lisa Snowdon, Vick Hope, and Paddy McGuinness – Chris would provide simple and tasty recipes to share with friends and family.
In 2022, Chris published his first cookbook, Easy: Simple Delicious Home Cooking, which provided over 90 simple but delicious, family-friendly recipes.