[2][1] After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott on 14 April 2001,[3] the show was launched on 26 January 2002 and was originally broadcast as a BBC production for the Open University under an educational remit.

He was joined by a celebrity chef each week in a pre-recorded format and with a low budget, using archived content from the likes of Keith Floyd and Rick Stein to fill the show.

The format was tweaked, moving away from the educational remit and simple meals to more aspirational food with an increase in chefs, a number of whom had Michelin stars, and celebrity guests.

The BBC archive was retained for the revamped format, with Worrall Thompson and the guest chefs preparing dishes, with the clips used to allow clean-up and "resetting" of the studio kitchen.

During the summer of 2004, the programme temporarily moved to BBC One and aired as Saturday Brunch, live from Worrall Thompson's home.

[12] Among the featured chefs in 2023, were: Paul Ainsworth, Ravinder Bhogal, Niklas Ekstedt, Sabrina Ghayour, Ravneet Gill, and Nathan Outlaw.

[1] In 2023, the Saturday Kitchen team were joined by a variety of celebrity guests, including: Michael Ball, Gary Barlow, James Blunt, Stacey Dooley, Anton Du Beke, Lenny Henry, Beverley Knight, Nish Kumar, Oti Mabuse, and Sue Perkins.

The footage almost always includes Rick Stein and Keith Floyd, but have also featured Nigella Lawson, The Hairy Bikers, and Nigel Slater in the past.

In February 2007, the programme was accused of misleading viewers to phone in to an apparently live segment, which was found to have been pre-recorded a week earlier.

"[15] In January 2017, viewers took to social media to express their displeasure at Michel Roux, Jr's selection as host for an episode of Saturday Kitchen.

An identical format, with a specific focus on foods associated with respective religious festivals, such as: Eid al-Fitr, Passover, and Diwali.

For each show, Kerridge was joined by different chefs, including: Jason Atherton, Michael Caines, Daniel Clifford, Gennaro Contaldo, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Angela Hartnett, Ching-He Huang, Tom Kitchin, Glynn Purnell, Theo Randall, and Bryn Williams.

Kerridge was also joined by a diverse cross-section of celebrity guests, including: Amanda Abbington, Chris Addison, Amanda Byram, Nicki Chapman, Jenny Eclair, Chris Hollins, Alex Jones, Jo Joyner, Nick Knowles, Dominic Littlewood, Craig Revel Horwood, Gaby Roslin, Danny Wallace, and Paul Young.