Shows Like The Great British Baking Show to Watch While You Wait for Season 13

Few things soothe the soul like Netflix's The Great British Baking Show (or Great British Bake Off as its known in its native Great Britain). The baking reality series is a competition show, but it's the most gentle and friendly competition show there is, as the bakers are all pretty amicabl with each other and the judges are great at offering constructive criticism without making people feel bad. After all, they're non-professional bakers making delicious desserts. Why shouldn't it be fun? Season 12 wrapped up on Netflix last fall, and Season 13 is in the oven now.

The series, which debuted in 2010, follows 12 amateur bakers in their quest to be declared Great Britain's top baker. Over the course of 10 weeks, contestants are tested and carefully judged on their skills at making delectable baked goods, including cakes, breads, pastries, and desserts. It's hosted by comedy actors Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas, and judged by Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

While you wait for The Great British Baking Show Season 13, you might be looking for another reality show with good vibes. To help guide your search, we've compiled a list of other wholesome kitchen competition shows, interesting reality competition shows in other crafts like glass-blowing and pottery, shows that will just make you feel good while you watch them.

Watch The Great British Baking Show Now streaming on Netflix

Looking for more recommendations of what to watch next? We have a ton of them! We also have recommendations for the best reality competition shows on Netflix and best reality dating shows to watch right now.

Nadiya Bakes

Former Great British Baking Show darling Nadiya Hussain, the Season 6 winner of The Great British Bake Off (what's known as Collection 3 on Netflix), hosts this cooking show in which she — wait for it — bakes. The series features the same forget-everything-else serenity of GBBO, with instruction on Nadiya's favorite recipes and profiles of some of her favorite bakers in England. There's no competition here; everyone's a winner just for watching. 

Blown Away

One of the awe-inspiring things about The Great British Baking Show is watching amateur bakers create masterpieces out of cakes, pastries, and different kinds of bread. They are dishes you couldn't ever imagine pulling off in your own kitchen, but the contestants make it look easy. If beautiful art is what you are in search of for your next binge, we recommend Netflix's Blown Away. While the glassblowers on this competition show aren't necessarily amateurs, the beautiful works of art they can make with a flame torch and glass -- from drinking glasses to decorative whales and beyond -- will leave you spellbound. We have to advise you don't try making any of the Blown Away creations at home, but you can certainly have fun watching what these artists create. -Megan Vick

The Great Pottery Throw Down

HBO Max's delightful show The Great Pottery Throw Down has a lot more in common with the Netflix and PBS series outside of being another British competition series with "great" in its name. Like The Great British Baking Show, each episode features contestants competing in several rounds, including a technical challenge where judges blindly evaluate and rank how well the potters have executed their task from worst to best. But rather than worry about whether or not their loaf will rise or wondering if their cake will stick to the pan, Pottery Throw Down's skilled potters have to contend with getting the right glossy finish and making sure their creations don't crack while sitting out to dry. If you're looking for another show that doesn't stray too far away from The Great British Baking Show's familiar formula, you should probably give this one a shot. 

Holiday Baking Championship

The Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship is another soothing baking competition series, but with the added benefit of holiday-themed treats! This show really appeals to The Great British Baking Show fans who love the taste of pumpkin spice and are thrilled when stores start selling holiday decorations in October. Each festive episode begins with the "Preliminary Heat" round — which is basically the Signature Challenge — where contestants create eye-popping small treats like cookies or mini pies to determine who will get the advantage in the final round. The "Main Heat" is where bakers really stand out by creating larger-than-life cakes with the added challenge of a last-minute twist — be it creating an additional pastry or working with a new ingredient — to determine who moves on to the next episode. It's a slightly more involved series than The Great British Baking Show's breezy pace but is every bit as satisfying. 

Nailed It!

If you're into the confection competition but also in the mood for something wackier, you should definitely check out Nailed It!. This endlessly entertaining show isn't so much about finding the next great baker as it is centered on testing regular folks to recreate complex baked goods made by experts with extremely amusing — and sometimes horrifying — results. Each episode features a panel that includes host Nicole Byer, French pastry icon Jacques Torres, and a celebrity guest who must grin and bear it as they sample disastrous treats that might not even be edible. With $10,000 up for grabs, the stakes are pretty low, and each episode is a fun-filled affair. 

MasterChef Junior

One of the best parts of The Great British Baking Show is watching the other contestants support and help each other when things go wrong, like when they run out of ingredients or need an extra hand to help hold a towering cake in place. That communal spirit is very much alive in MasterChef Junior, the kid-sized version of Fox's juggernaut reality series from famed chef Gordon Ramsey. Unlike its adult counterpart, which delivers unnerving breakdowns and more screaming matches than a Thanksgiving family dinner discussing politics, it's a more soothing affair where everybody is rooting for each other to succeed. And these kids can cook!

Tidying Up with Marie Kondo

A huge part of The Great British Baking Show's appeal is the calming nature of show: light classical music, serene shots of the British countryside, and soothing talk of cake and biscuits. If it's a wind-down show that you're looking for to fill in the months between The Great British Baking Show seasons, then just hop over to the lifestyle series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, where the show's adorable host feels like Xanax in human form. Kondo never raises her voice or gets dramatic while she's advising clients on how to get their life organized, she's plucky good vibes all the time. And wait until you see her fold clothes. It is one of the most satisfying sights you have ever seen. It's almost as good as hearing a perfectly cooked sponge cake sing when you take it out of the oven. Kondo also has another Netflix show, Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo, that's pretty much the same thing. -Megan Vick