Singleton High School and Bulahdelah Central School showcased their skills in the Bake or Burn Cooking Competition and proved they know what it takes to make a tasty meal.

Both teams of three had one hour to create two dishes that featured beef as the key ingredient.

Singleton High School created a smoked beef fillet with vegetables and jus, and spiced beef with roast capsicum and semi dried tomato hummus, tabbouleh salad and house made flatbread.

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Bulahdelah Central School made beef nachos with avocado salsa, and a Thai beef salad, which saw them take out the competition.

Slow Food Hunter Valley secretary Helen Hughes, who ran the competition, said both schools had vegetable gardens and the teams had incorporated their own food into the dishes.

"We were really blown away by their level of confidence, their cookery skills were excellent. They were very focused on making sure the dishes they produced were from locally sourced ingredients," she said.

"Both schools used vegetables and herbs from their school gardens and they are all producing food that is chemical free, where possible. They have a closed loop system where all of the scraps that cannot be in the classroom is returned to the soil.

"They've got a very good knowledge of how their food is grown, they know low food miles are important and that the ingredients make the food taste better because they are local, fresh and in season."