10 Anime Like Delicious in Dungeon

Delicious in Dungeon is one of those shows that sounds like a gimmick and turns out to be a masterclass. The pitch — “D&D party cooks and eats the monsters in the dungeon” — should have lasted three episodes as a joke. Instead it became one of the most grounded, thoughtful fantasy anime of the decade, because it actually takes two things seriously at once: the cooking, and the danger. Every meal is nutritionally and ecologically reasoned out, and every monster is a genuine threat to people’s lives. That balance is the show’s real identity, and it’s surprisingly hard to find elsewhere.

The picks below aren’t all “food anime.” Some are here for the cooking. Some are here for the dungeon-crawling logic. Some are here for the specific feeling of a group of professionals being competent at their jobs in a world that wants to kill them. I’ve noted which is which, because pretending they’re all the same show is how bad recommendation lists happen.

1. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

The fantasy show most Delicious in Dungeon fans graduate to, and for once the hype is accurate. Frieren shares the core sensibility: this is a world that runs on rules, and the characters think carefully about those rules instead of shouting through them. Where Dungeon Meshi reasons about monster ecology, Frieren reasons about magic systems and time. Both shows also share the same quiet confidence — long scenes of characters just talking, planning, eating, and being competent. If you want the cozy-grounded fantasy feeling without the cooking, this is the one.

2. Campfire Cooking in Another World

The literal cooking isekai, and the only show on this list that makes food the entire point. A salaryman with an online-supermarket cheat skill cooks his way through a fantasy world, feeding a legendary wolf and a slime along the way. It’s much fluffier than Delicious in Dungeon — nothing is ever really at stake — but the food animation is dangerously good and the premise is executed with total commitment. Watch it when you want the cooking half of Dungeon Meshi without any of the mortal peril.

3. Ranking of Kings

The pick I’m most confident about and the one that looks least related. Ranking of Kings is a fairy-tale fantasy about a deaf prince trying to become a king despite everyone mocking him — and underneath the storybook art, it’s a show about people being more complicated than their roles. The connection to Dungeon Meshi is the writing philosophy: neither show lets a character stay a cartoon. The hero has real flaws, the villain has real reasons, and the plot turns on choices instead of powers. It’s also the best-animated fantasy show on this list, full stop.

4. Golden Kamuy

Hear me out on this one, because on the surface it’s a historical treasure hunt in early-1900s Hokkaido. But Golden Kamuy is secretly the closest show to Delicious in Dungeon in one specific way: both are obsessed with food as survival knowledge. Ainu cooking gets the same loving, accurate treatment Dungeon Meshi gives monster cuisine — real dishes, real techniques, real cultural weight — and the cast eats constantly while being hunted by the most colorful rogues’ gallery in anime. It’s also very funny and occasionally very violent, sometimes in the same scene. The tonal swings are a feature, exactly like Dungeon Meshi’s.

5. Made in Abyss

The “danger” half of the equation, cranked up until the dial breaks. Made in Abyss is what you get if you take the dungeon-crawling logic of Delicious in Dungeon — the descent, the layers, the ecological rules of each zone — and strip out every safety rail. The art is adorable and the content is harrowing; the gap between the two is the point. Watch it only if you’re comfortable with genuine horror in a children’s-book art style. If you can stomach it, it’s the best “exploring an ecosystem that doesn’t care about you” anime ever made.

6. Restaurant to Another World

The gentlest pick on the list. Every week, a door opens into a restaurant that serves customers from a fantasy world, and each episode is a small story about a stranger and a meal that means something to them. It’s almost entirely about the emotional side of food — memory, comfort, home — with none of Dungeon Meshi’s combat. A palate cleanser between heavier shows, and genuinely lovely. The food scenes will make you cook.

7. Handyman Saitou in Another World

The most underrated isekai comedy of the last five years and a shockingly good match. It’s an anthology about an ordinary handyman — not a hero, just a guy with tools — working with an adventurer party in a dungeon, and it alternates between very funny skits and genuinely sweet character work. The connection to Dungeon Meshi is the party dynamic: competent people, practical problems, respect for how a dungeon actually functions. Saitou disarming a trap while the party bickers feels like it was lifted from the same playbook.

8. One Piece

Yes, again — I keep putting One Piece on these lists because it keeps being correct. The connection here isn’t battles; it’s the cooking. Sanji’s food is treated with the same reverence as Senshi’s, and the series’ running gags about starving crews and banquet scenes give food real narrative weight. The Straw Hats are also the archetypal competent-party-dynamic anime: everyone has a role, everyone does their job, and the ship functions because of it. One Piece is a commitment, but the food-and-crew dynamic you love from Dungeon Meshi lives here too.

9. Dorohedoro

Another odd-but-correct pick. Dorohedoro is grimy urban fantasy about a lizard-headed man hunting the sorcerers who cursed him, and its most famous scene is a gyoza stand. The show’s love of food — gyoza specifically — is legendary among its fans, and it shares Dungeon Meshi’s other great virtue: a world with consistent, weird rules that the characters actually live by. It’s also just a great time, violent and strange and strangely cozy. The anime only covers part of the manga, so expect to continue in print.

10. The Ancient Magus’ Bride

The quiet finale pick. Chise’s story has nothing to do with dungeons, but it’s the best “fantasy world as a functioning ecosystem” anime besides Frieren — magic is treated as nature, with its own creatures, rules, and consequences. The show also does the Dungeon Meshi thing of making you care about monsters: many episodes are about understanding a creature instead of defeating it. Slow, beautiful, and deeply kind. Watch it when you want the wonder without the danger.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What’s the closest anime to Delicious in Dungeon? For the cooking logic, Campfire Cooking. For the grounded fantasy writing, Frieren. For the party dynamic, Handyman Saitou. No single show covers all three — that’s why Dungeon Meshi is special.
• Is there a season 2? A second season was announced after the first cour finished; the manga is complete at 97 chapters, so the story has a proper ending to adapt.
• Which of these are finished? Frieren, Golden Kamuy, Made in Abyss, Restaurant to Another World, Dorohedoro, and Magus’ Bride all have complete or substantially complete anime runs. One Piece is nearing its end.
• Are the recipes in Delicious in Dungeon real? Several are actually cookable — the manga includes grounded instructions, and fan communities have cooked the “dungeon menu” with real ingredients. The show’s food logic is famously researched.

If I had to pick one starting point: Frieren. If you specifically want more food: Campfire Cooking. If you want to be surprised: Ranking of Kings. All three understand the thing that makes Delicious in Dungeon great — a fantasy world worth thinking about.

Want more along these lines? Our funniest slapstick anime roundup and our cozy comedy isekai guide are the natural next stops.