Whether you love to cook or hate cooking, chances are, it’s a part of your daily life. If you know someone who wants to eat healthier, learn how to love vegetables, mix a great cocktail or even just somehow survive getting dinner on the table each day, a cookbook might be the perfect gift!
14 Top Cookbooks by Category
There are so many options out there, but we’ve listed our favorites for you. Happy shopping!
Cooking with Slow Cookers and Instant Pots
1. Martha Stewart’s Slow Cooker: 110 Recipes for Flavorful, Foolproof Dishes (Including Desserts!), Plus Test-Kitchen Tips and Strategies
You don’t have to be … well, Martha Stewart … to make amazing meals. Her recipes let you take a hands-off approach to cooking while maximizing flavor. Walk in the door to the aroma of a home-cooked meal without spending hours in the kitchen.
2. Dinner in an Instant: 75 Modern Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, and Instant Pot®.
The instant pot has been touted as a kitchen miracle. This book offers a variety of delicious and easy recipes to make that miracle work for you. When possible, instructions are given for making dishes on both the pressure cooker and slow cooker settings. There are also Paleo, vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Good All-Around Cookbooks
3. The Home Cook: Recipes to Know by Heart
Think of this as the new version of The Joy of Cooking. It contains 300 recipes, including updated classics. Whether you’re making roasted chicken, cocktails or dessert, this book will guide you through.
4. Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street: The New Home Cooking
Christopher Kimball, a television cooking show host, offers over 125 simple, flavorful and healthy recipes. You can make dishes with a variety of textures and flavors without hard-to-find ingredients, specialty cooking gadgets or spending all day in the kitchen.
5. Bobby Flay Fit: 200 Recipes for a Healthy Lifestyle
There’s got to be a way to eat healthy without turning your life upside down, right? Bobby Flay shows you how to make lean proteins, whole grains and fresh produce taste down-right delicious. Smoothies, salads, satisfying dinners and lighter versions of desserts are just the beginning. In addition to a variety of tasty and healthy recipes, you’ll find fitness tips and a glimpse into Bobby Flay’s healthy routines.
6. Tartine All Day: Modern Recipes for the Home Cook
This book is written by a chef/mom who shares your passion for feeding your family healthy foods. But she also understands that food has to taste good for kids to eat it and that parents don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen. She offers 200 wholesome, straightforward recipes.
All Things Veggies
7. Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables
Veggies can be delicious all year long. This book teaches you not only how to prepare vegetables, but also which vegetables to choose during which season. It offers 225 recipes, including sautés, pan roasts, braises and stews. What better way to get yourself excited about veggies?
8. On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen
This book includes 160 recipes for vegetarian cooking. It uses creative cooking methods and ingredient combinations to bring out the textures and flavors of seasonal produce.
9. Love Real Food: More Than 100 Feel-Good Vegetarian Favorites to Delight the Senses and Nourish the Body
You don’t have to be a vegetarian to love these dishes! This book offers over 100 delectable meatless recipes that even a novice can cook. It also includes substitutions to make meals gluten-free, dairy-free and egg-free whenever possible.
Baking
10. Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence
Cookbook connoisseur Claire Saffitz shares sweet recipes in her second dessert cookbook, Dessert Person. This book focuses on baked goods that are simple to make, look oh-so fancy, and taste delicious, making it perfect for a chef at any skill level.
Cocktails
11. Meehan’s Bartender Manual
There’s more to a dinner party than food — and it’s called cocktails! Acclaimed mixologist, Jim Meehan, gives recipes for 100 cocktail classics — including Meehan originals.
Cookbooks with a Twist
12. The Beauty Chef: Delicious Food for Radiant Skin, Gut Health and Wellbeing
An added perk of being healthy is looking healthy. The premise of this book is that nutritious foods that optimize gut health, also contribute to glowing skin. It offers more than 150 delicious recipes that are gluten-free and mostly dairy-free to help you feel and look your best.
13. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner… Life: Recipes and Adventures from My Home Kitchen.
You get recipes and life inspiration with this cookbook/memoir. It’s written by a top chef who took a break from professional cooking to rebuild her life. She offers simple, tasty and satiating recipes mixed in with accounts from her year of transformation.
14. Bread Is Gold
For the chef with a conscience. World-renowned chef Massimo Bottura says, “These dishes could change the way we feed the world because they can be cooked by anyone, anywhere, on any budget. To feed the planet, first you have to fight the waste.” Find 150 recipes that turn everyday ingredients into delicious, economical and easy-to-make dishes.
