There are few things that are more satisfying to give the food lover in your life than a great cookbook.
A great cookbook is the gift that keeps on giving: it supplies incredible recipes, creates wonderful memories and dining experiences and provides a rich wealth of knowledge, ideas, tips and tricks.
Finding the perfect cookbook for the foodies in your family or friend group, however, can be a difficult, frustrating and confusing task.
The first problem is that there are just so many cookbooks out there. Google a certain genre of cookbook and you are sure to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of options on the market. They all look good, but how do you tell which ones actually are?
It can be impossible to discern which one is best just by looking at them. Plus, wading through an endless river of reviews, comparing prices and grinding your teeth trying to decide which book someone will love is no fun.
Here, I do the work for you and give you the best picks for cookbooks from some of the most popular categories. They’re perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, thank-you gifts or for any holiday celebration. Enjoy!
Baking
The Baking Bible
Author: Rose Levy Beranbaum
Published: 2014
Price: $19.99 (Amazon)
One of the most profound and rewarding joys in the world of food is the pleasure and satisfaction one gets from creating and consuming a beautiful, delicious baked good. For those friends and family members who enjoy this pursuit, The Baking Bible is a sensational gift.
Written by Rose Levy Beranbaum, the creator of nine award-winning books on baking, this book paints a delicious and comprehensive portrait of the wonderful world of baking. Beranbaum writes this vast baking anthology with the expertise of a seasoned professional pastry chef yet communicates in a way that is easy and approachable for home bakers.
The recipes in this book are exacting and meticulous, making it a rewarding and highly educational cookbook for all bakers. While some of the recipes are simple and easy, such as Coffee Crumb Cake Muffins and Gingersnap cookies, others are more impressive and challenging, such as Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tarts and White Christmas Peppermint Cake.
The recipes are broken down into four sections: cakes, pies and tarts, cookies and candy, and breads and yeast pastries. Regardless of experience and expertise, The Baking Bible is sure to be a favorite for the baker on your list.
Beverages and Cocktails
The New Cocktail Hour: The Essential Guide to Hand-Crafted Drinks
Authors: André and Tenaya Darlington
Published: 2016
Price: $14.99 (Amazon)
This book is a lock to impress and enthrall all lovers of craft cocktails. With recipes for over 200 hand-crafted cocktails, The New Cocktail Hour will add countless new drinks to anyone’s cocktail repertoire.
From recipes for classic cocktails to seasonal treats to obscure drinks you never knew existed, this book has it all. It even prepares you to create your own unique and delicious beverages.
This is not just a recipe book of cocktails, however. It is a unique and comprehensive guide on how to stock your home bar and how to make your cocktail consumption more diversified, educated and refined.
For example, there are several suggestions and tips for pairing cocktails with food, there is a section with ideas for seasonal cocktails utilizing ingredients from your home garden and there are even a set of pointers on how to host the best cocktail party.
This book also dives deep into the history of many classic spirits and cocktails so that the most avid connoisseurs can gain a greater depth of knowledge about their favorite drinks. The New Cocktail Hour will not only improve cocktail skills at home but will also make readers more confident and adventurous when going out and ordering drinks.
Comfort Food
Jamie’s Comfort Food
Author: Jamie Oliver
Published: 2014
Price: $39.55 (Amazon)
Jamie’s Comfort Food is all about indulgence. From esteemed chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Jamie Oliver, this book contains 100 amazing recipes for comfort food.
It draws inspiration from countries all over the world, as well as classic comfort food favorites, to create a sumptuous list of hearty and satisfying dishes, making this book an invaluable tool to get through the cold and dark winter months.
Swoon over recipes like Super Eggs Benedict, steaming Homemade Ramen, and over-the-top decadent desserts like Devil’s Double Chocolate Malt Cookies and Sticky Toffee Pudding. The whole book is written in a convivial, conversational, and unintimidating tone that truly reflects the warm and welcoming spirt of comfort food.
The recipes come with easy-to-follow instructions and helpful tips and tricks. Given the rich, indulgent and sometimes unhealthy nature of many of these recipes, this book is not necessarily best suited as an everyday, weeknight dinner cooking resource but rather as a go to for holidays, dinner parties and other special occasions.
Grilling
How to Grill Everything
Author: Mark Bittman
Published: 2018
Price: $16.75 (Amazon)
Everyone knows a grill master, a weekend warrior who enjoys nothing more than taming the fire breathing dragon in their backyard and reveling in the simple glory of good shared foods and good shared times.
For that person, Mark Bittman’s grilling encyclopedia, How to Grill Everything, is a home run of a gift. In this book, Bittman supplies an abundance of knowledge, tips, and tricks on grilling mechanics such as gas vs. charcoal, smoking, heat control, cleaning the grill, rotisserie cooking and more.
With its more than 250 recipes, this book will open up your eyes to the many possibilities of grilling. Of course, there are recipes for the usual grill suspects like burgers, steaks, chicken, and ribs but it also includes a wealth of delicious recipes for vegetarian foods like Crispy Grilled Artichokes with Lemon Aioli, Smoked Cheese, Grilled Pizza Bianca, and Jalapeno Poppers with Smoked Gouda.
There is also a section full of recipes for different sauces, dressings and condiments that are delicious on all grilled foods, as well as a chapter on amazing, smoky grilled desserts like Plum Upside Cake and Butter Rum Pineapple Rings.
The simple, down-to-earth style of the writing makes this an inviting book that will have readers coming back again and again.
Holiday Foods Book
Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities
Author: Nigella Lawson
Published: 2008
Price: $62.23 (Amazon)
With the holiday season comes a delicious array of holiday foods. But sometimes the same old holiday staples can get a little stale, and you and your family may find yourself looking for something new and interesting to serve near the holidays.
Enter Nigella Christmas, a terrific holiday cooking guide from Nigella Lawson, a true food authority who is known for her eight best-selling cookbooks and appearances on cooking shows such as Top Chef and The Taste.
Gift this amazing cookbook to the holiday entertainers among your friends and family or keep it for yourself so that you can entertain in delicious style over the holidays.
With creative, exciting recipes like Chestnut Stuffing, and a collection of decadent Christmas desserts such as Christmas Pudding with Eggnog Cream and Christmas Spiced Chocolate Cake, this book will inspire anyone looking to make new traditions.
The book also includes a healthy section of innovative and fun recipes for holiday cocktails like Black Forest and Eggnog Martinis.
Learning to Cook
Ruhlman’s Twenty
Author: Michael Ruhlman
Published: 2011
Price: $39.00 (Amazon)
For anyone interested in learning about the fundamentals of cooking, every Michael Ruhlman book is a true masterclass.
Ruhlman, a professional writer turned cooking aficionado and celebrated food journalist, paints an informative and richly rewarding portrait of the fundamental building blocks of cooking in his James Beard Award winning masterpiece, Ruhlman’s Twenty.
In this book, Ruhlman draws upon his years of experience cooking and learning from some of the greatest chefs in America, such as Thomas Keller and Michael Symon, to curate a list of twenty essential cooking techniques that cooks of all stripes should know and master.
Some of these techniques include how to think out and plan the way you cook, how to use central ingredients like salt, onions, eggs, sugar and water and how to create things like dressings, sauces, soups, doughs and batters. Ruhlman also offers thorough, comprehensive dives into cooking methods like braising, grilling, poaching and frying.
Each technique encompasses one chapter of the book, with every chapter beginning with a couple of pages of intensive, enlightening explanation of the given technique. Then, Ruhlman provides recipes that illustrate how to properly apply that technique to your cooking.
The recipes come with easy-to-follow instructions and bright, attractive photos. In total, the book has 100 delicious recipes that will help you to develop fundamental cooking skills. The beauty of this book, however, is not so much in the recipes themselves but rather in the way that the recipes illustrate pivotal cooking techniques and provide tangible examples of how to become a better cook.
The book has a clear, concise and beautiful design that makes it incredibly easy and enjoyable to read.
Health and Wellness
The How Not to Die Cookbook
Authors: Michael Greger M.D. and Gene Stone
Published: 2017
Price: $16.99 (Amazon)
The How Not to Die Cookbook from Doctor Michael Gregeris as useful as a cookbook as it is a guide to healthy cooking and living.
This cookbook is based upon copious amounts of scientific research from Greger’s original book, How Not to Die, which provides in-depth instructions on the eating and living habits necessary to mitigate the effects of common diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and lung disease.
All the recipes in this book are for delicious, wholesome, plant-based meals that are carefully calibrated to promote good health and wellness.
Recipes such as Sweet Potato Breakfast Burritos, Hoppin’ John Stuffed Collard Greens, and Vegan Soft-Serve Chocolate Ice Cream can help even the most carnivorous of eaters to start eating plant-based foods.
For anyone thinking of converting to or incorporating veganism into their diets, or for anyone who just wants to eat healthier, The How Not to Die Cookbook will be a wonderful resource for how to cook and eat a healthy plant-based diet.
Vegetarian Food
Vegetables Unleashed
Authors: José Andrés and Matt Goulding
Published: 2019
Price: $21.99 (Amazon)
Vegetables Unleashed, by world renowned chef and philanthropist José Andrés, is the perfect gift for cooks looking to expand their repertoire of vegetarian cooking and vegetables in general.
Vegetables Unleashed brings a fresh and exciting perspective on not only how to cook vegetables, but how to make them central stars in your diet. This book is especially well suited for those who grow some of their own produce or are frequent visitors to farmers markets.
The layout of the book is very friendly, as it is conveniently broken down by season, highlighting the best produce that is fresh and available at all times of the year. Within each season, there is a section dedicated to each item of produce, with up to 7 delicious recipes accompanied by gorgeous photographs for each vegetable.
Find delicious, innovative new ways to utilize vegetables with recipes like savory Miso-Roasted Asparagus in the spring section, a thought-provoking Beet “Poke” Bowl in the winter section, addicting Fried Cauliflower with Caper Aioli in the fall and a sumptuous, flaky Roasted Tomato and Sherry Tartlet in the summer.
The incredible recipes are also accompanied by a handful of fascinating stories and essays, including features on particular farms and growing regions in the world, deep dives into techniques such as mastering stock and beautiful tributes to some of Andrés’ most beloved ingredients, such as honey or sofrito. Give this book to the vegetable lover in your life to provide an illuminating, delicious and richly rewarding gift for years to come.
*Note: This book is not 100% vegetarian, as there is meat in some recipes.
Feature image: Micheile; Image 1: Tina Witherspoon; Image 2: Anna Peipina; Image 3: Anna Pelzer