14 Best Cookbooks To Read And Use In 2023

Despite the rise of digital technologies, cookbooks remain popular. Since they can't compete with the internet in terms of volume and variance offered, cookbooks have transformed into much more than the bound collection of recipes they once were. 

Instead, modern cookbooks are packed with information on food, produce, and people. These books often walk the line between a memoir and a practical kitchen tool. The cookbooks of today have found their niche: providing information, inspiration, and goals for people around the world.

A single cookbook can completely alter the public knowledge of a nation's cuisine. This phenomenon was most famously exemplified by Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," which introduced many readers to the country's most famous dishes. While such drastic impacts are less common nowadays, cookbooks still contribute enormously to all our culinary lives. Here are 14 cookbooks we believe will continue to do so throughout 2023 and beyond.

Cookbooks are enormously creative projects. From recipe development to food styling, photography to copywriting, multiple professionals are usually responsible for a cookbook reaching completion. Frankie Gaw, the man behind the popular blog Little Fat Boy, had greater creative control of his debut book, "First Generation," than most. 

Gaw not only developed the recipes, but he also photographed the food himself and wrote the copy. He highlighted this feat to Today: "I wanted to shoot my own photography, and it was both a time and storytelling challenge. I wanted to push myself, so I started experimenting with visuals and things started changing a bit, and taking shape with the writing, too. It needed to be a quick bite of storytelling and I don't consider myself much of a writer, but I wanted to be vulnerable."

Vulnerability defines "First Generation," a cookbook published in October 2022. The book is extremely personal and recounts many of Gaw's experiences growing up. Aside from exquisite storytelling — both written and visual — "First Generation" also provides readers with a wealth of knowledge concerning Asian American food and cooking. Brilliant recipes, like the Honey-Mustard Glazed Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken, offer a delicious entry point into Asian American cuisine.

As a food columnist for The Guardian and a resident of Rome, Rachel Roddy is well-qualified to write about pasta. That being said, Roddy never set out to write a complete anthology of pasta, she explained to Vogue: "It would be frankly insane to try to write a definitive book on pasta. I had the idea, though, of telling 50 stories about pasta through 50 shapes, which gave me a sort of framework for 'An A-Z of Pasta.' I literally started with alfabeto ... and moved cautiously along from there." Alfabeto is a type of small pasta shaped like the letters of the alphabet.

The resulting book "An A-Z of Pasta" was released in the United States on March 28, 2023. The cookbook couldn't have come at a better time. Statista reports that both spaghetti and pasta sauce consumption has been increasing steadily, with a projected 275 million Americans eating pasta during 2023. 

Roddy's book offers information on lesser-known pastas while providing traditional recipes for each shape. This ensures that readers can experiment with new shapes while also squeezing every ounce of deliciousness from this enduring weeknight staple.

Prominent food writer Riaz Phillips released his cookbook "West Winds" in the U.S. in August 2022. Aside from a love of Jamaican food, Phillips was driven to write "West Winds" to ensure Caribbean cuisine was getting the respect it deserved elsewhere in the world. 

The cookbook author highlighted this motivation to National Geographic: "Sometimes I feel Caribbean food is seen as a bit of a gimmick. In discussions on food trends in Europe and U.S., Caribbean food is often omitted; it's only ever really talked about in the summer around Notting Hill Carnival, or sometimes during Black History Month, when in reality it's just as much a part of those conversations as food from anywhere else in the world. Things like nose-to-tail cooking, fermentation and preservation, farm-to-table, raw foods and even veganism are discussed in West Winds, and I laid out the chapters in a way that tries to insert food from Jamaica into those discussions where I think they rightly belong."

Phillips believes that all too often, Jamaican food is perceived through too narrow a lens. He told The Infatuation that a handful of Jamaican dishes such as rice and peas, saltfish, and jerk chicken are the ones most talked about. While a part of the country's cuisine, these recipes are by no means the extent of it. There are many more delicious dishes worth learning about, trying, and cooking. "West Wind" is a fantastic and delicious book to kickstart this education.

Via Carota is a restaurant located in the West Village neighborhood of New York City. It's long been well-known for its unique blend of brilliant Italian cooking, genial atmosphere, and attention to detail. As table wait times have grown with the restaurant's reputation, it seems only natural that owners Jody Williams and Rita Sodi would release a cookbook detailing the restaurant's best-known dishes.

This cookbook was released in October 2022. Since then, it has garnered nearly as much acclaim as the restaurant itself — even though the Italian cookbook market is enormously saturated. This was something Williams was very aware of when starting the project: "In the end, the Via Carota book is about Via Carota, but you're very conscious in the process, that, wow, I'm adding another panzanella recipe to the world and basically, we're all citing and doing the same thing. So, why would you want Via Carota's panzanella over somebody else's?" (per The Wall Street Journal).

The answer to Williams' question is simple. Just as Via Carota is not just any Italian restaurant, the Via Carota cookbook is so much more than your average Italian cookbook. Instead, it is a resource that allows you to recreate some of the restaurant's unique takes on iconic dishes while also providing pointers that can vastly improve everyone's standard of cooking.

"Mezcal" is Ixta Belfrage's first solo cookbook. It was released in the U.S. on September 13, 2022. Many will have already been familiar with Belfrage's name, and for good reason. Not only was she an integral part of chef Yotam Ottolenghi's world-famous Ottolenghi test kitchen. Belfrage also co-authored the celebrated cookbook "Flavour" with Ottolenghi.

This cookbook has established Belfrage in her own right. It's thanks to recipes that successfully blend Italian, Mexican, and Brazilian cuisines. This is no easy task. Fusion cuisine is notoriously difficult to do well. It's considered to be difficult to blend recipes while maintaining integrity and respect for each cuisine.

In her book, Belfrage has created the modern blueprint for respectful fusion cuisine, thanks to her culinary skills and cultural awareness. Belfrage revealed the latter when speaking to Vogue: "When fusion first started in the late 90s, early noughties, people thought it was code for food that was all over the place, without focus, a bit sloppy ... I definitely am of the opinion that the world would be a very boring place if [we] were only allowed to cook from our own cultures. At the same time, there is blatant appropriation when things aren't referenced properly, when you don't cite your inspiration, and when you're just presenting ideas as if it's your own without note." The fact that Belfrage has avoided this pitfall so emphatically makes "Mezcla" a unique triumph.

In 2022, Chef Gregory Gourdet had a great year. Not only did the "Top Chef" finalist open his own restaurant, the critically acclaimed Kann, but also his own bar, Sousòl. Despite these two significant achievements, we think the highlight of Gourdet's year should be his cookbook. "Everyone's Table: Global Recipes for Modern Health" even won a James Beard award in 2022. 

"Everyone's Table" is inclusive in more than name; the book boasts 200 gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free recipes. These recipes also do not contain legumes or grains. This is unsurprising, given Gourdet's passion for health. Importantly, this health-centric approach does not come at the expense of flavor. Instead, Gourdet's book balances nutrition and various cuisines masterfully. This results in recipes that are both delicious and wholesome. As such, "Everyone's Table" stands as an important example of how America can address its health crises through nutritious meals.

As a continent composed of 54 countries, Africa is home to numerous cuisines. But in the U.S., few of these cuisines have received the attention they deserve. Chef Hawa Hassan is on a mission to change that with her incredible cookbook "In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries that Touch the Indian Ocean."

This was a goal Hassan highlighted to Vanity Fair: "I really wanted to have a healthy conversation about my origins, and I wanted to introduce people to the cuisine of the continent of Africa. If I can get to their table, then they'll be interested in the larger picture. For me, the larger picture then became the stories about where I come from — and what better way to do that than through grandmothers and recipes of just one country, but eight countries."

Released in 2020, "In Bibi's Kitchen" then won the International category at the 2022 James Beard Awards. The resurgence in the book's popularity that followed the award is well-deserved. It is time cooks worldwide begin to appreciate African cuisines. The eight highlighted in the pages of "In Bibi's Kitchen" are a fantastic place to start. 

The majority of cookbooks on this list are recent releases. But this doesn't mean that the best cookbooks of 2023 are all new. There are some recent editions of classic cookbooks that remain relevant. "Joy of Cooking" is one such book.

The latest version of this iconic cookbook was released in 2019. It includes 600 new recipes that reflect modern diets and preferences, including a notable increase in the number of vegetarian and vegan recipes. This makes the book especially important for modern America. 

According to a 2022 study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 10% of American citizens meet the daily vegetable intake recommendation of 2 to 3 cups of vegetables. This latest edition of "Joy of Cooking" offers many Americans an accessible way of incorporating more vegetables into their diet. This fact makes this classic cookbook as important in 2023 as ever. 

Thanks to her weekly column in The Guardian, Meera Sodha is one of Britain's best-known recipe developers. Her reputation has grown thanks to both her journalistic work and three cookbooks, the most recent of which is "East." Published in the U.S. during the latter part of 2020, "East" marks Sodha's first major foray outside of Indian cuisine.

That being said, the concept of "East" matches that of her other books, which is to champion fresh food and dispel misconceptions about what Asian food is. She explained this notion to Food52 when her first book came out, way back in 2016: "There's a common misconception about Indian food over here. When you think of curry, you think of meat. I wanted to showcase all of the incredible vegetarian food ... The point is, if you go to India, the food is lighter and fresher. There are 500 million vegetarians there. That's real Indian food." 

Interest in Indian, as well as other Asian cuisines, is booming in America. A recent study showed that four out of the top five most searched cuisines by U.S. citizens are from Asia (via Quality Assurance & Food Safety Magazine). With its many healthy, easy-to-make, plant-based meals drawn from a number of Asian cuisines, "East" is the perfect book for home cooks wishing to cook food from this vast continent.

"What's for Dessert" is the latest book published by chef and food media star Claire Saffitz. Released in November 2022, the book offers simpler recipes than those found in her debut cookbook "Dessert Person." 

This was a conscious decision, as Saffitz explained to Eater: "It was about keeping things more approachable and streamlined. I was also really interested in what people were making from 'Dessert Person' and how they were interpreting the recipes. I realized from watching a wide variety of people make [recipes from my first book] that just simpler overall was really what people wanted. This book doesn't call for a stand mixer at all because some of the feedback that I got from the first book was like, 'Well, I don't have a stand mixer'."

Aside from accessibility, "What's for Dessert" is defined by the quality of its recipes. This should come as no surprise. Saffitz has demonstrated her cooking and recipe creation prowess for years, first as a star at Bon Appétit and then through her own YouTube channel. On top of all that, "What's for Dessert" takes an immensely pleasing approach to food styling and photography. In a pushback against the ultra-clean, understated shots that fill so many cookbooks today, Saffitz pushed for sumptuous colors and over-the-top designs. This feature makes the pictures just as eye-catching as the recipes.

Eric Kim, a food writer for The New York Times, released his debut cookbook "Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home" in March 2022. The book charts the recipes of Kim's life, starting in adolescence with dishes like cheeseburger kimbap and progressing to the likes of salmon glazed with doenjang.

To write the book, Kim spent the best part of a year living at home with his mother Jean. As such, the recipes found within it draw upon her vast knowledge, as well as Kim's own expertise. This coupling is what enabled the book to blend the two cultures so well, as Kim explained to Thrillist: "It's kind of a fun joke — the mom who has been cooking Korean food forever versus the ungrateful, spoiled son who also has a career in food. It ended up being this incredible pairing and just a very clear example of Korean American."

As such an established food writer, it's no surprise that Kim's book reads brilliantly well. The writing is concise and poetic. It also contains nuggets of familial history that give the book a life of its own. Kim's craft allows "Korean American" to be well-suited to those familiar, and unfamiliar, with Korean American food. Passages on pantry staples will open the door to a world of new flavor. Additionally, the intersection of Korean American culture with the American South will undoubtedly reveal surprising flavor combinations.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is one of the most respected food writers around, thanks to his extremely detailed and well-thought-out recipes. The basis of all these recipes is science. Lopez-Alt is not afraid of throwing a piece of established knowledge under the bus if it doesn't stand up under examination. Any equipment, recipe, or technique endorsed by Lopez-Alt can be trusted as being immensely effective.

Released in August 2022, "The Wok" sees Lopez-Alt turn his exacting gaze on this beloved piece of kitchen equipment. His key takeaway? Versatility, as Lopez-Alts explained to The New Yorker: "There's something particular about a wok. It's a pan that was never designed for one single specific use ... It's not going to sear a steak better than a cast-iron pan, it's not going to necessarily braise your short ribs better than a Dutch oven, but it's going to do all these other different things. The variety of uses you can get out of it and the variety of techniques you can use it for outstrips any other pan in my kitchen." 

"The Wok" explores all of these techniques, allowing readers to maximize the potential of this piece of cookware. Home cooks, science buffs, and culinary professionals can all learn something from reading "The Wok." Knowledge, in true Lopez-Alt style, will undoubtedly change how swaths of people cook.

The U.S. is in the midst of a dietary-induced health crisis. The widespread consumption of processed foods — a cornerstone of the average American diet — is a key driver of this ill health. But just as food is a cause of illness in the country, it can also be a solution. International diets that prioritize the consumption of whole foods have been shown to have enormous health benefits. One of these is the Mediterranean diet.

In "Nistisima," Georgina Hayden highlights some of the healthiest meals in this cuisine. The recipes are drawn from fasting periods of the Orthodox Christian calendar when food groups including meat and dairy are not eaten. The resulting recipes are naturally plant-based. Refreshingly, they do not use meat or dairy substitutes as Hayden explained to The Independent: "Instead of trying to replicate cauliflower cheese and make it something it's not, it's about finding new dishes that have been around for centuries that just happen to be plant-based."

These recipes are not only healthy, but they are also delicious. This fact contributed to "Nistisima" being voted "Best New Cookbook" at the Observer Food Monthly Awards. Consequently, "Nistisima" offers Americans an accessible route to experiencing the healthiest and tastiest facets of Mediterranean cuisine. This is a win-win for a pleasure-seeking society that's struggling to stay healthy.

It is an oft-repeated mantra that "food brings people together." Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. Misogyny and abuse have been rife in professional kitchens for years. We've also seen these issues occur in online food culture. Amidst all of this, there are a few cookbooks that truly unite people. "Jerusalem" is one of these books.

Written by chefs Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi, "Jerusalem" offers multiple perspectives on the city's cuisine from both Palestinian and Israeli perspectives. It's not the differences between these two cultures, but the similarities and shared experiences, that offer a means of reconciliation. The prime example used by the authors is hummus, as Ottolenghi explained to Haaretz: "Wherever we go, people ask if we really believe that hummus can solve the Arab-Israeli conflict. My answer is that if there is anything in the world that can solve it, it is hummus."

Its collection of amazing recipes likely helped to earn the book "Cookbook of the Year" at the 2013 IACP Cookbook Awards. However, the true achievement of "Jerusalem" is its ability to remain a pertinent example of how food can bridge socio-political divides, allowing people to celebrate their commonalities instead of focusing on their differences.