Great cookbooks have the ability to bring the world into your kitchen while elevating your culinary game. Those two points alone are reason enough to indulge in cookbooks as gifts this holiday season.
As the year ends, cookbooks are dropping left and right, meaning now’s the time to snag some great guides to food. Cookbooks are also a wonderful gift overall, especially if you’re looking to put a smile on the face of the foodie in your life. The ten cookbooks profiled below were all released this year. Each book offers a look into a unique cuisine and experience that’ll add to any home chef’s depth of culinary knowledge.
Let’s dive in!
tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine by Shane M. Chartrand and Jennifer Cockrall-King
Price: $29.95
Shane M. Chartrand (Cree) has traced his central Alberta roots to present-day Canada in this monumental cookbook. tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine is a journey through Indigenous America by a chef who looks at food as medicine for the body and soul. The book offers a glimpse into the oft-ignored foodways of North America’s Indigenous population with ingredients, textures, tastes, and smells that’ll be oddly foreign to most Americans, even though this food is actually very American.
Binging with Babish: 100 Recipes Recreated from Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows by Andrew Rea with foreword by Jon Favreau
Price: $18.00
Andrew Rea has changed the stand-and-stir food game with his hit YouTube channel Binging with Babish. The combination of pop culture food side-by-side with legit recipes and skill has given even the most novice home cooks a chance to indulge in the food they love from film and TV. Rea’s latest cookbook is a fun ride through the food that dominates pop culture while also being thoroughly educational. A must for any culture-loving home cook’s kitchen.
American Sfoglino: A Master Class in Handmade Pasta by Evan Funke and Katie Parla
Price: $24.61
Evan Funke has devoted his life to the fine arts of Italian pasta making. This has led to some of the best Italian restaurants outside of Italy and a masterful cookbook that’ll straight up elevate your pasta game from page one. Even if your giftee is a passive lover of pasta, this book is a must-have, given the depth of the knowledge within its pages.
Mixtape Potluck Cookbook by Questlove and Martha Stewart
Price: $17.99
Questlove’s adoration of food is undeniable. Mixtape Potluck Cookbook is a book that’ll help you plan a perfect dinner party with your crew. The book takes food, music, place-settings, and atmosphere all together — layering on a hip-hop edge and some seriously great recipes. The conceit is dope as well. Big-name celebs have offered a litany of great, easy-to-execute recipes that’ll wow at your next dinner party.
Asma’s Indian Kitchen: Home-Cooked Food Brought to You by Darjeeling Express by Asma Khan
Price: $20.53
Asma Khan’s episode of Chef’s Table was one of the most iconic of the series. Khan’s deft ability to run one of the best Indian restaurants in the U.K. while also being a champion for women’s rights is deeply inspiring. Khan’s cookbook is a journey through her experiences in the kitchen through England and India. It’s her culinary life, writ large on each dish.
Kosher Style: Over 100 Jewish Recipes for the Modern Cook by Amy Rosen
Price: $22.82
Amt Rosen’s latest cookbook is a personal journey through Jewish cuisine that’s amazingly accessible and enticing. The book covers 100 recipes that’ll have you upping your kitchen game while also delivering some of the tastiest food imaginable. Rosen’s ease with her recipes will draw you in while assuring new cooks that they can have fun making delicious meals.
Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin
Price: $24.61
Toni Tipton-Martin’s latest cookbook is a masterclass in African American foodways. The cookbook is equal parts education and delicious food. This is the sort of book that’ll take you deep into American history and the food that was born from the pain and joy that history wrought.
This is an essential cookbook for any kitchen shelf that bridges a hard past with a very delicious present.
Dinner for Everyone: 100 Iconic Dishes Made 3 Ways — Easy, Vegan, or Perfect for Company by Mark Bittman
Price: $21.64
Anthony Bourdain’s old pal Mark Bittman is back with yet another must-have cookbook. This cookbook is the perfect introduction for anyone looking to get into cooking with style and grace. The recipes are amazingly accessible, even for the beginner, and cover pretty much any culinary situation.
This is just a great go-to book to have on hand with truly easy to recreate recipes.
Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook by Tyler Malek and JJ Goode
Price: $16.78
Do you know someone who loves ice cream? This is their book.
The cookbook from the famed Portland ice creamery offers a base recipe for their delicious frosty dessert that then can be juked into any iteration imaginable. This is fun with ice cream. Who could want more?
The World Sauces Cookbook: 60 Regional Recipes and 30 Perfect Pairings by Mark C. Stevens with foreword by Susan Puckett
Price: $12.99
Mark C. Stevens‘ new cookbook is a collection of the world’s greatest sauces in one spot. The book goes further by offering a litany of ways to enjoy each sauce, giving this cookbook a great depth. Moreover, the book is more than just Stevens repeating recipes. It lets people tell their stories through recipes as a collective whole, making this book deeply educational and full of unique recipes from around the world.
Bonus: Uproxx’s Zach Johnston (me!), Vince Mancini, and Steve Bramucci — the three chefs behind the famous UPROXX Cooking Battle series — all have entries in the book!
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