A cookbook can easily change how you see yourself in the kitchen. It’s a book of knowledge that can give you inspiration and confidence in your culinary skills. We’ve rounded up a few cookbooks handpicked by Scouted and Half Full editors that our readers loved so you can stock your kitchen shelves with recipes and ideas that will take you far in your cooking journey. From cooking solo to baking bread, these books will steer you into a successful kitchen endeavor.
An absolute classic, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt takes you through the science of cooking in an easily digestible, memorable way. There are hundreds of easy-to-make recipes in this book that will surely change how you approach the kitchen forever.
Another atlas-like guide through the world of cooking, Samin Nosrat breaks down the essential elements of flavor with some unforgettable recipes—teaching you how to make better decisions in the kitchen. It’s one you’ll find yourself going back to again and again.
One of my favorite cookbooks out there, Cool Beans traces the underrated bean and will change the way you view it. Beans aren’t just a side—they are an entree, and one of the most versatile ingredients in the kitchen. This book even helps you deal with the gas that might come with eating too many beans!
Learn at-home recipes from celebrated chefs like Ina Garten, Samin Nosrat, Hugh Acheson, and more. The 50 recipes are all previously unseen to help keep your home cooking and drinking top tier. All proceeds will go towards the Restaurant Workers' Covid-19 Emergency Relief Fund.
Winner of the 2017 James Beard Award for Best Baking and Dessert Book, this book will help you make divine desserts with ease. Cookies may seem simple, but this recipe book explores the more complicated (and subsequently more delicious) side of cookies, using them as an experimental canvas.
Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but it’s often overlooked when it comes to elevating. It’s not just bacon and eggs, and John Currence is here to convince you. Dishes like Banana-Pecan Coffee Cake, Spicy Boudin and Poached Eggs, and Oyster Pot Pie will keep you wanting more every morning.
Koreatown is one of the most praised Korean cookbooks out there, and it’s easy to see why. It’s filled with over 100 delicious, approachable recipes, that will help you bring delicious, fermented flavors straight to your dining room table.
There’s a bit of a donabe craze going on right now, and this is the cookbook that has helped guide me through it all. Naoko Takei Moore, of Toiro in LA where you can get your own donabe, explains the magic of Japanese clay pot cooking — all of which are surprisingly easy to make, and unsurprisingly full of flavor.
on Amazon: “New York Times bestselling author Pam Anderson updates her classic cookbook--which put "cooking by heart" on the map--to include modern flavors and new techniques that today's home cooks will love, with new and original full-color photographs.”
“Provincetown's best-known and most-admired chef combines delectable recipes and delightful folklore to serve up a classic in seafood cookbooks. Read about the famous (and infamous!) Provincetown fishing fleet, the adventures of the fish and shellfish that roam Cape Cod waters, and the people of Provincetown--like John J. Glaspie, Lord Protector of the Quahaugs.”
A cookbook that is both fun to read and fun to cook from is hard to come by, but Priya Krishna’s Indian-ish accomplishes just that. It’s filled with Indian-American hybrid dishes that will become instant classics in your home: Roti-Pizza, Malaysian Ramen, and plenty more highlight the rich, yet simple to make recipes from this cookbook.
Warm, comforting, and inspiring, Nigella’s At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking offers a collection of recipes that are simple to prepare, giving you an opportunity to enhance your culinary skills and create a variety of delicious dishes―featuring a host of new ingredients to enrich classic flavors and tastes.
“From world-class marathoner and 4-time Olympian Shalane Flanagan and chef Elyse Kopecky comes a whole foods, flavor-forward cookbook—and New York Times bestseller—that proves food can be indulgent and nourishing at the same time. Finally here's a cookbook for runners that shows fat is essential for flavor and performance and that counting calories, obsessing over protein, and restrictive dieting does more harm than good.” If you loved this book, you’ll also enjoy the follow up, Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow.: Quick-Fix Recipes for Hangry Athletes.
“From the Michelin-starred chef and Iron Chef America and Top Chef Masters contestant—a hilarious, self-deprecating, gorgeous new cookbook—the ultimate guide to cooking for one. With four-color illustrations by Julia Rothman throughout.”
“Founded in 1994, Sullivan Street Bakery is renowned for its outstanding bread, which graces the tables of New York’s most celebrated restaurants. The bread at Sullivan Street Bakery, crackling brown on the outside and light and aromatic on the inside, is inspired by the dark, crusty loaves that James Beard Award–winning baker Jim Lahey discovered in Rome.”
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