8 dishes from The Bear you can actually make at home

If you’ve watched The Bear, you’ll know the food is just as compelling as the drama. From Sydney’s silky French omelette to the restaurant’s iconic Italian beef sandwich, the Emmy-winning series has served up plenty of memorable dishes. With season five arriving today, there’s no better time to recreate some of the show’s most talked-about recipes at home.

Whether you’re looking for comforting pasta, a perfectly cooked risotto or an indulgent chocolate cake, we’ve rounded up some of the standout dishes from The Bear and matched them with our recipes you can make yourself – no professional kitchen (or the pressure of a dinner service) required.

8 dishes from The Bear you can actually make at home

Sydney’s omelette

The scene of Sydney making Sugar an omelette became a breakout moment of season two of The Bear. When the episode aired, you couldn’t scroll social media without a clip of someone crushing crisps into a frying pan full of eggs. But a well made omelette is a timeless classic – and the easiest TV dinner to accompany your season five binge watch.

There’s an art to a classic French omelette, but nothing complicated – and quite addictive to practice until perfect. Top chefs will tell you it’s important for a French omelette to not take on any colour: the finished product remaining pale buttery yellow is a sign of true skill.

Add any of your favourite toppings – cheese, ham, plenty of fresh herbs, griddled asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes… the options are endless (and a handy way to clear out your fridge). We’ve even made a sweet berry omelette in the past. Or, if you can’t resist giving it a go, try Sydney’s signature creation from the show: filled with a scoop of creamy Boursin cheese, a sprinkling of chopped chives and a finishing scattering of sour cream and onion crisps. Fingers crossed if you make an omelette for someone, you get the same response as Sugar gave Sydney: “This is so delicious I want to hug you.”

Check out our omelette recipes for all the inspiration you need.

Italian beef sandwich

At the heart of The Bear is, naturally, the restaurant, which originates as a sandwich shop at the beginning of the show before being transformed into a fine dining destination by Carmy. It was inspired by Mr. Beef, a real Italian restaurant in Chicago.

For our loaded roast beef sandwiches, we’re taking inspiration from a Christmas recipe – originally written to be eaten on Boxing Day, but delicious at any time of year. A beef roasting joint is cooked until tender and thinly sliced and the roasting juices are reduced down to an unctuous gravy. Melting cheese, crispy onions and horseradish to cut through all the richness complete the sandwich.

Family spaghetti

In the show, Mikey’s recipe for family spaghetti uses just four ingredients: garlic, basil, tinned tomatoes and olive oil. Carmy later goes rogue on his brother’s recipe and adds butter and onion – proving that there’s always room for creativity in the kitchen and putting your own stamp on the classics.

A generous bowl of tomato spaghetti is a timeless crowd-pleasing comfort food. In our spicy tomato spaghetti recipe, we’ve added a dried chilli for some heat and oregano for herby depth – but just as Carmy proved, this base recipe is endlessly versatile. You could leave out the chilli, add crispy cubes of chopped pancetta or chorizo, melt in creamy chunks of mozzarella at the end. We just can’t promise that you’ll find stacks of money in your tins of tomatoes…

Marcus’s chocolate cake

True fans of The Bear will have a serious soft spot for Marcus, who takes on the role of pastry chef in the restaurant, even having vigorous chef training in Copenhagen. Luckily, no hours in a restaurant are needed in order to whip up an irresistible chocolate cake so you won’t need to get as obsessive as Marcus does about his cake in episode four of the first season.

Our ultimate chocolate cake recipe is beautifully moist, rich and fudgy. The cake itself is made with melted dark chocolate just like you would with a brownie, for deep chocolate flavour. The secret ingredient is a touch of instant coffee, which also helps amp up the chocolate. The layers are sandwiched and covered with a rich chocolate ganache that is easy to melt together.

For something a touch lighter, try our easy chocolate cake which uses a simple victoria sponge method and is sandwiched with buttercream. It’s all made using cocoa powder so no melting chocolate required, and the sponges can even be made in advance and frozen if you’re getting ahead for a party.

Chicken piccata

In episode five of the first season, Carmy holds a detailed demonstration to the rest of his chef team about the making of this Italian classic. While his method goes to elaborate lengths in order to impress, a piccata actually makes an easy midweek meal that’s quick to whip up. It involves pan frying chicken breasts until golden and then using the juices to make a quick pan sauce, finished with capers and lemon juice. This chicken piccata recipe with garlicky greens and new potatoes is ready in just 20 minutes so you’ll feel like a pro chef in no time.

We’ve also made a cod piccata for a twist on the classic, served with a cheesy leek mash.

Risotto

Who knew a risotto could be the cause of so much drama? Arguments ensue with chef Sydney’s desire to put a risotto on the menu but she has the last laugh when her dish seriously impresses a restaurant critic, earning The Bear a glowing review.

Looking to impress someone yourself? A classic risotto is a handy kitchen skill to master and all that stirring gives you a chance for a meditative kitchen moment that you might need after watching an episode. We’ve got plenty of risotto recipes to try for all seasons and using all flavours. This next-level three cheese risotto is an indulgent place to start and includes all the tips and tricks to make a perfectly silky risotto. You can even get cheffy and finish it with a cheesy parmesan crisp, for extra cheffy wow factor.

Doughnuts

It might be a smidge too hot to get deep-frying this week, but you won’t regret it when you do. A hot, fluffy doughnut, coated in sandy sugar and generously filled with sweet jam – what’s not to like? In The Bear, pastry chef Marcus’s doughnuts form quite a tense moment when he focuses on perfecting these instead of baking cakes, but head chef Carmy can’t help but be won over by the results in the end.

This doughnut recipe was created by Justin Gellatly, renowned pastry chef responsible for bakery Bread Ahead’s famous doughnuts. It makes irresistibly plump and fluffy doughnuts ready to be finished with your filling of choice. Make a rich custard filling or choose your favourite jam, or even Nutella for maximum indulgence.

Chicago pizza

And finally, pizza! We can’t talk about a Chicago-based show or Chicago cuisine without a mention of its world famous deep dish pizza. The cultural significance of Chicago deep dish is reflected in season two of The Bear, when Richie dashes out to buy a pie for some out-of-town restaurant guests who mention wanting to tick it off their bucket list before going home. Luckily, you don’t need to be in the Windy City itself to get a taste.

Try this pizza pie recipe by chef Tom Kerridge, with homemade dough filled with plenty of tomato sauce and melting cheese. This is a veggie version loaded with olives and fresh basil but you can add any fillings you prefer, such as slices of pepperoni if you want a meaty filling.