Best Cookbooks For Young Adults (2024 Updated)

So I drove up to Waco from the Austin area and saw this wonderful cookbook at the Magnolia store. My husband LOVES pancakes but because of Lyme disease, I developed a bad gluten/grain allergy and I have never made pancakes from scratch during our 15 year marriage.

Now that I am Lyme disease free, I am experimenting with recipes with wheat or grain flours again and decided to surprise my hubby by making the fluffy buttermilk pancakes. These were the best pancakes EVER and my husband ate them saying, “Thank you Joanne Gaines!” Well, the next day, a tornado came very very close to our home near Round Rock, TX.

Instead of sheltering in place with me, my husband went to the refrigerator, pulled out the leftover pancakes , and ate them through the tornado warning at our kitchen island, right in front of the large, tall windows by the kitchen that could’ve shattered in front of him.

He said he was not afraid and that all he wanted to do was to enjoy those delicious buttermilk pancakes for dinner after a hard day at work. By the time I came out of the closet (fuming that he wouldn’t shelter in place with me) he was finishing up those delectable, “tornado” pancakes.

Yeah. Those buttermilk pancakes are the TRUTH! The. TRUTH! All I could do was laugh. Nothing like great to take away anger, judgement——and fear of dying!.

I have never, literally, read a cookbook from front to back, but Magnolia Table Cookbooks warrant doing just that. The recipes are easy to follow and prepare. I hope this cookbook brings our family together more often while making special memories.

Way to go Jo! Amazing Job. I also bought several extra to give away as gifts. When I got married, my Aunt gave me the Joy of Cooking as a wedding gift. She wrote a special note inside and said my Grandmother had given her one when she was married, and wanted to continue this family tradition.

As I am giving the Magnolia Table cookbooks to the special people in my life, I am writing special notes to them also, and beginning a new family tradition.

this book is really beautiful. well written and enjoyable. After purchasing this I sat and read it cover to cover one Sunday and dreamed of making these lovely recipes for my children. we have LOVED everything from this book.

the recipes are easy to follow and are quick to whip up. I’ve served several things out of this book to company all with rave reviews. I couldn’t wait to buy the 2nd book. Reading this made me fall in love with Joanna Gains all over again.

she’s enchanting and so relatable. can’t wait to try the 2nd book out. this book really helped me want to make dinner every night. just the boost in the kitchen I was needing to get me excited about meal time! super easy to follow and didn’t feel like I spent much time in the kitchen preparing the meals.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!.

I LUV this series of cookbooks! The recipes are delicious, and the best part? The ingredients are all things that can be readily found at ANY grocery store!! Every recipe is step by step and with pictures throughout the process, not just the final dish.

Everything I’ve prepared from this cookbook has been a hit with the family!!.

The good: 1. The recipes are exactly what you expect. Doable, delicious, and full of a variety of favors. 2. Great step-by-step pictures. 3. Easy to find ingredients. 4. Easy to follow instructions. 5.

Much like the webpage, humorous and light. The bad. 1. The book itself is of poor quality. The pages are falling away from the binding. I went to WalMart to return my copy, only to find that they are all having the same problem.

2. The book doesn’t lay open flat on the counter, because of the type of binding used. When I open it to a recipe, depending on where in the book it is and where in relation to a weak spot, it may not stay open to that page without being weighted.

Overall, I like the cookbook. If it were just about the recipes, I would give it 5 stars, but I need it to be easily usable and more durable.

I first bought this in 1996 and it’s still my go to cook book. It has everything you can ask for to eat lovely, healthy, tasty, non-expensive meals every day. The pictures are excellent and the instructions very easy to follow.

On top of all that – and there is a huge range of meals to cook – there are sections on everything from boning a chicken to making stocks. It’s not going to give you the kind of thing that a Marcus Wareing book will – but it’s not far off.

I bought this for my daughter who is now old enough to do cook all this stuff herself! I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough!.

Highly recommend cookbook. It is very detailed with instructions and pictures. You can’t help but be a success! However, you will need to have a pre-made conversion chart handy since this is an English cookbook using the metric system.

e. g. 1 Tbsp. or 1 tsp. is equal to 1. 20 USA measurement. I just used ‘heaping” with success since I do not have any English cooking tools. Their terminology is different regarding flours and sugars also.

All is easy enough to view online and print out to keep in the fly of your cookbook. We had fun doing this. The recipes are wonderful and you will not be disappointed. Warning: You will need to watch your waistline!!.

Easy to follow recipes but would have liked a bigger cake section considering how many pages and recipes and also a few more ordinary basic recipes, some are just to fiddly and not what I would call the ordinary persons taste! As others have said it isnt also very heavy and not easy to prop up if you want to refer to it as you cook.

I love all of the Pioneer Woman Cookbooks and this one does not disappoint. Who doesn’t love a quick and easy meal to prepare. Ree makes it easy to prepare great food on limited time. I love the section of Ree’s favorite pantry items, freezer items and her explanation of the different cuts of beef.

And what’s not to love about how detailed each step of a recipe is with beautiful photography? Ree makes looking at a cookbook fun too, incorporating family photos, ranch photos and her beloved pets! And speaking of pets.

the Ode to Charlie at the end just brought tears to my eyes!! We miss you Charlie!!.

You can’t go wrong when you purchase a PW cookbook. I’ve been a fan since her first one came out. And I was thrilled when this cookbook came out. It’s for those of use who have crazy lives only have a short time to answer the question “what’s for dinner?” All of her cookbooks are colorful, beautiful and easy to lose yourself in.

Yes in a cookbook. Only issue is they do not stay open to the page when your using it in the kitchen. Also the table of contents should have the recipe listing in the front. This one and the others list for each section.

So if there was one thing to work on it would be how the book opens and the other would be it’s table of contents page.

It reads like Anthony is right there talking to you! Some recipes contain hard/expensive items like boar meat to bluefish to bottarga, which basically means you either substitute or skip it. Bottom line, a really nice way to remember a food lover and brilliant chef.

And it does contain many hints/tips and how to’s (like your own mayo). Defiantly a good book that contains many recipes to try.

As we know Anthony Bourdain is a wild guy. Lots of great fun in this book, but beware of some really bad language. Don’t give to any person who might be offended by curse words. My friends got a kick out of the book, but they like cursing.

He writes how he speaks and if you’re a fan of his shows you’ll find yourself reading like Bourdain’esque swag. This book is hard cover beautiful gem and I’m so glad it’s in my cooking arsenal. Everything from the perfect scrambled eggs, eggs Benedict, preparing a turkey, he covers it all and with beautiful photos!!!.

If you have seen the T. V show then this is a great cook book to follow, if you have not seen the show then this is a great cook book in it’s own right. Husband loves the recipes so far. The caramel croissant pudding is so good, I cooked it for friends when we went away on holiday, the look on their faces said it all.

I even took a large jar of the steeped Christmas fruits for a quick desert, that went too. Took the book on holiday as we self cater (9 of us) as well as eat out. This book was devoured, so much so that it is now on my friends lists to get to.

Mustard pork chops cooked time and time again, and instead of cocktail sausages I just used good large sausages. Rapid Ragu, I would not bother spending the money on Marsala unless you cook with it all the time, came out too sweet.

Will use port next time and on T. V she used red lentils. Only found one typo error so far, recipe states tablespoon of salt when s/b teaspoon but that is easily picked up in the recipe. Great photo’s of the dishes and don’t we all like to see what it should look like.

Oh and one of my friends was laughing as she was reading this book, she said ” I love the way she describes the food. ooze, dribbling, oh and. if children are eating, wise to omit the chillis-unless they’re being very annoying.

” I love the way she uses tinned pears, and everyday store cupboard ingredient’s, I know she does use some things you are just never going to have such as sour apple liqueur ( you do ?) O. K so there are a few thing I would not cook, just because we don’t like squid, but there is always something you don’t like.

I will finish off with the “high speed hamburgers” these are sooooooooo good ! Don’t buy this book if you are calorie counting, although there are some healthy options, but DO BUY if you want to be a goddess or god in the kitchen.

Nigella Express is perfect if you need to get out food fast. She provides you with all the tips and tricks to make things express. Getting a meal out in 10 minutes or even doing a 3 course meal in 30 minutes is quite possible now.

Perfect if you come back from work and don’t want to fiddle around too much to cook a meal. Even though the title is Nigella Express, I do admit that some meals aren’t really express. Some dishes take an hour or more to cook BUT you only need to actively spend like 10-15 minutes.

For example her Forgotten Pudding, you spend around 10 minutes preparing, put it in the oven, turn off the heat and lleave it overnight – literally ‘forget’ about it, hence the name. What I love the most from Nigella(in general but especially in this book) she’s a homecook, so everything is easy.

No over complicated steps or chef-nly language as other chef tend to use in their books. Nigella keeps it simple and clean and her style of writing makes the book really enjoyable to read even if you’re not planning on making anything at the moment.

Nigella Express has comfort food, soups, mains and lots of desserts, of course. I mostly use the book for desserts because it’s so simple. Instant chocolate mousse for example, no fiddling around with separating eggs and the whisking the whites, letting it set for hours etc.

She gives you the express route it needs maybe 5 minutes to set or you can just enjoy it straight away. The book is split into chapters based on needs, making it easy breezy to find a recipe for your need.

Here are just a few chapters to name: Everyday easy, Workday winners, Get up and go, Against the clock, Quick quick slow, Instant calmer, -On the run.

Nigella is a simplistic cook. She tells of shortcuts you can take and how to use leftovers. Her recipes are inspiring. Even food you have cooked before gets a new twist on it in this book. I like the narrative accompanying each recipe.

It’s not only a Good cookbook but Good story book as well.

Excellent cookbook! The recipes are healthy, easy to follow, and nutrition is included in every recipe. She gives you the information on basic and upper level cooking, ingredients, etc. I love that the Weight Watcher information is provided.

I got this never knowing anything about Gina’s blog skinnytaste. I went to the site and found out how popular her recipes are. I love the fact they are all natural and most of the ingredients sound normal and easy obtainable.

I have seen some in other cookbooks that I need to go look up on a google search. She is a big fan of real garlic. This I know I have a garlic press somewhere around the house and I plan on going to buy some real ingredients.

I am really looking forward to trying the marinara sauce and enchilada sauce. The soups had a lot of choices. And who doesn’t want to try a healthy way to eat shrimp & grits and gumbo. It is a good size for a cookbook not too bulky and not oddly shaped.

I love how it has pictures of almost every recipe. It has a paper cover but the real hard back cover is just as cute as the cover (different pictures). This is really a good cookbook for anyone that likes gluten free ñ all natural ingredients.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

I originally bought this for my mom as a thank you gift. I was flipping through it with her and I found so many recipes I want to make. Don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t a healthy cookbook that lacks flavor.

It is more of a how can you make great food but with less butter and fats. I enjoy the pictures and getting the taste buds going just looking at the food. I can’t wait to make my first meal from this book.

Favorite Quotes: “Mancini, you’re the only person I know who answers a question without giving a lot of answers. ” She shrugged. “It’s a gift. ” I’m not even sure the wildlife outside my lake house would eat the stuff I’ve been baking lately.

you wouldn’t want it even if you were starving. I tried tossing a couple scones that I had made this morning out to the squirrels. I think I might have concussed one of them. What, is there some sort of sophisticated spy network around town that reports through a switchboard? My God, you guys are quick on the gossip.

“I mean, I’m a bit old for the YouTubes, right? I’m almost seventy. ” I leveled her with a disbelievingly look. “Okay, seventy plus twelve,” she sighed. You did something stupid. We don’t give up on people for doing that.

We wouldn’t have anyone left if it was a one-strike system. My Review: This was my third time indulging myself in the clever levity of Nina Bocci and I am enamored with her sharp wit and uniquely quirky and dynamic characters with my pet being the indomitable Mrs.

Mancini, my favorite octogenarian. I want to be Mrs. Mancini when I grow up. The storylines were entertaining yet realistic and relatable, the characters were infuriating at times yet likable and well-meaning, and the writing was crisp, witty, and divinely amusing.

Creating a snarky message delivery system through baked goods and naming the bakery Delicious and Vicious was nothing short of ingenious. I declare myself one of Nina Bocci’s most devoted acolytes.

This cookbook has recipes from Oliver’s Series Quick and Easy. The show moves along quite quickly. The book makes it easier than taking notes. The dishes are easy but not always simple. Oliver uses blends of spices and chutneys to create amazing flavor profiles without relying on a long list of ingredients.

Lots of good ideas.

I work 40+ hours a week and I am in the gym 5 days a week minimum. I don’t like to go out to eat, but cooking on a time crunch is not easy. I like to eat healthy, but it gets crazy when you’re too tired/busy to cook.

I also hate meal prepping because I might decide I didn’t want chicken after all. I pick 4 or 5 recipes, shop accordingly, and assemble all the items I need for whatever recipe I pick out by lunch. Then, it’s normally 20 minutes from when I get home, and I have a LOVELY dinner.

Quick, simple, hearty, tasty. And Jamie breaks it all down, even down to what you should have in your kitchen.

This is not your ordinary cookbook. This is an extraordinary cookbook! Not just because it’s based off of the television series and movie, Downtown Abbey. But, because it also educates the reader in the history, origin, etiquette, and traditions of food in European culture.

The recipes are mouth watering, well written, and explained so that you know how to make them. The pages are laid out with vibrant full color photos which makes it more of a reality than just a reading experience.

You feel an understanding, and you feel as if you are in the dining room or the servants kitchen eating at Downtown Abbey. You become part of English history as you read, and make the recipes from this captivating cookbook.

Much to enjoy!.

I was hoping to find some insight to the Edwardian Time Period with recipes and information and this book doesn’t disappoint. It has it all; pictures, inside quotes from Downton Abbey, as well as some recipes of food I can remember seeing on the show.

I will be trying some of these out.

Our close friend loves Downton Abbey. She was so excited when she received this Cookbook for Christmas. Book is so nicely done with beautiful pictures. A must have for Downton Abbey lovers.

Excellent book.Easy to follow. Have tried some recipes and have all turned out really well. Would highly recommend this book. My husband loves it to.

I have just received my cookbook. I love the series on the weekend. The recipes look easy to follow and the dish displays the highest quality of food. I cant miss and the book is MINE! I am looking forward to using the book.

I bought this book as a way to get into cooking at home as I wanted to learn how to cook meals at home. I chose the book because it said it had lots of fairly easy to make recipients for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert (also I watch a lot of Gordon Ramsay and love all his TV shows).

And let me tell you, I was not disappointed. It is an amazing book, all the recipes (at least the ones I’ve cooked) are amazing, simple to make, and really tasty! I recommend this book to anyone wanting to cook delicious meals in the home which aren’t difficult at all to make.

This is a GREAT cook book. Slight twists on classics. Lots of kid-friendly (at least for my toddler – she’s not too picky), lots of easy weeknight recipes, and “new” recipes (at least for us). Mostly well balanced meals – every recipe we have tried, everyone enjoyed.

I love this cookbook! I remember first looking through the book and being excited by the recipes, which is rare I have found after buying a few cookbooks since then. The recipes are so unique, but not weird.

There are definitely complex ones (ie a lot of ingredients) but also some simple ones. I’ve learned how to make a Dutch Baby and now make it every weekend! I also learned how to make Chia Pudding and eat that quite often now with my smoothies.

My favourite is the Pumpkin and Cauliflower Gratin, which I’ve made a couple of times and it’s SO good! The pictures are also beautiful. I’m making the Apple and Brie Soup next and can’t wait to try it.

I honestly don’t think there’s a recipe I don’t want to try!.

Thank you so much for sending such a wonderful package. Loved your wrapping and your beautiful note. Kudos to you. I hope you make your goal. Its a wonderful thing your doing. In which Im keeping your note and elephants in the book.

As I will always remember you and the book great book. Best of luck to your future love Trisha Yearwood. will be adding to my signed cookbooks collection.

Great cookbook, interesting and full of recipes we love – most easy for me to make! Sweet,sweet family pictures – especially the large one of Trisha kissing Garth! She has a fun show on Food Network – especially sweet when Garth pops in! Love this couple! Thanks Wal Mart for offering it on your site!.

I am enjoying mine so much that I got back on Zulily and order 1 for my married grand daughter. I know she will enjoy hers.

I have been eyeing this book for over a year and finally purchased it. My only complaint is that I wish I had bought it sooner!! I cook at home every single day, so I know my way around the kitchen and what tastes good with what.

Some recipe books let me down because they aren’t spiced enough, the recipes are ones I’ve seen before, or it just doesn’t turn out the way I would have imagined. With Thug Kitchen it’s the complete opposite! The flavours are delicious, the meals are inspiring and the recipes are all new! It’s well-written, informative, has tons of great tips that even I didn’t know of, and everything that I’ve made tastes great! Highly recommended whether you are a novice kitchen dabbler or a fully fledged cook.

You won’t be dissappointed!.

I have a number of whole foods, vegan or vegetarian cookbooks, but this one is my favorite. If you can observe the cussing as humorous and not be “Oh my goodness” shocked, the information is really, really well done.

Basic information about what certain foods are and how to prepare them in delicious ways without crazy gadgets or bizarre ingredients is helpful for whole foods beginners or accomplished cooks. How to properly and easily cook grains that you might not be familiar with is a big plus in this edition.

Simple information like “the why” you should rinse quinoa before cooking was very welcome to me. I really love this book and at 64 years old, I have to admit that I get a chuckle when a friend sees the title and raises an eyebrow.

:D.

Ok lets face it if you want a good veg cookbook this works. At first seeing the F word in a cookbook was a funny gimmick. But it gets old realty fast and it seemed like the author was just trying to force the F bomb into every page and it comes off real mechanical.

The recipes are good and this is coming from a meat eater. Maybe the author should stick with cooking and leave the F word out of the mix for F*ck sakes.

My hubby and I are among the growing number of people who are eating a more vegetable centered diet. He got into some major health issues 2 years ago which necessitated a major change in our diet. We lost weight, gained our health and found that meat was really not the big “need” we had thought it was as well as all the meat by products that go into the Standard American diet which are also big players in poor health for some folks.

But, how to make beautiful, tasty food and how to make substitutes for meat was a challenge that was almost overwhelming at first. A friend gave us this book and WOW! We were on the journey in big way that met all our needs! The pictures help to see the food look so appetizing and to hear the authors own story is encouraging to us to try her recipes and the courage to make changes to those older recipes that no longer are available to us.

A great book that we are now gifting to others.

I’ve used Oh, She Glows recipes for several years. This collection is a wonderful addition to any food prep arena. Easy to follow directions. Photos are enticing and the tips are usable. Recipes for every season, and ingredients, no matter what diet plan is your preference.

I bought this cookbook because I’ve enjoyed several of her recipes on her blog & Instagram feed. Whilst the book is nicely laid out & most recipes have pictures – which I do enjoy – the recipes are very basic for an adventurous & accomplished cook.

The entire front section is targeted at the novice & I don’t count smoothies & teas as ‘recipes’. The recipes themselves are pretty much just meh. I’ve opened it about 10 times trying to find inspiration.

close it & go back to my bible Vegan Eats by Smith & Daughters. Do yourself a favour & buy Vegan Eats instead if you love the fun & challenge of good vegan cooking.

This is the BEST cookbook out there. During the COVID19 Quarantie, my sisters and I have a “cook off”, comparing the dinners that we cooked from the book every night. It’s been fun. Recipes are easy.

Most ingredients your probably have in your pantry. I gave the book as a gift to someone moving to Europe. She is so excited, as she is familiar with Ina Garten’s recipes.

I have all 12 of Ina Gartens cookbooks and every recipe is superb. She is a perfectionist.

Mostly every recipe you need to know is in here. It’s basically a cooking bible. Great to use as a reference tool and you can find the video series on YouTube! The book itself is in good used condition.

Took about a week to get to Ohio.

Written for Americans by Julia and her co-author. It is easy to follow directions. I made French Onion Soup. It was fantastic! I recommend you purchase both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. You won’t be sorry.

Great book to have in your kitchen. It is written by the master chef Julia Child but very basic and easy to understand. It covers almost every type of food and presents easy to follow directions with colorful photos.

I had previously gotten rid of all my physical cookbooks because I usually just cook recipes I find online, but this one has proved to be a worthy exception. I love that I can literally pick it up and find something to cook in it using ingredients I already have on hand.

And unlike most cookbooks that limit the number of ingredients, these recipes actually taste delicious due to counting condiments as a single ingredient. A lot of the recipes rely on the use of ingredients found at international grocery stores, so if you don’t normally keep things like Hoisin sauce, garam masala, sesame oil, rice vinegar, or pomegranate molasses in your pantry, you might feel frustrated at having to purchase these ingredients.

However I do use these kinds of ingredients regularly and so far have already had all of the condiments and spices on hand for the recipes I wanted to cook. Lastly, my biggest concern when ordering the cookbook was that I wouldn’t find enough recipes in it I could eat since I am vegetarian, but I was pleasantly surprised by the number of recipes that are already vegetarian or vegan or could easily be adapted to be so.

And not just side dishes, but main dishes as well. The whole cookbook is very heavy on fresh vegetables, which I love, even in the dishes which do contain meat. But if you were to omit from the cookbook all of the recipes with me, you would still have a wonderful cookbook.

I am very happy with my purchase and intend to buy this cookbook as a Christmas present for several family members.

I love cookbooks. I buy them, I read them, I rarely make any of the recipes in them. These books are different. I’m a terrible baker because I have trouble following instructions precisely. These recipes are simple – easy to follow and simple enough to let me improvise a bit.

I can embrace the power of “and” – this or that? Why not both? Or I can change a spice. Or sometimes I just follow pretty much to the letter. They are fun and not intimidating and they are DELICIOUS! These are the cookbooks that are front and center in my kitchen.

Whether you’re looking for recipes that give you a great starting point or recipes you can follow exactly without a lot of stress, these are the books for you. Truly the best cookbooks ever.

I love the limited ingredients – perfect for mid-week cooking! Sometimes I am a little bit lost as to specific instructions but overall I have had success. My husband wants to cook one night a week, and the instructions may assume more knowledge on his part than he actually has.

(Thus the 4 star review. ) Some recipes are not huge on flavors (6 ingredient limit probably), but some have combined things (fish sauce, peanut butter and lemon zest and juice? Ba-da-bing!!!!!) that I would not have thought of.

I’d appreciate an estimate of calorie counts. And even though I am a grown up and can do the math, I’d appreciate 2 servings/4 servings instruction listing for the ingredients.

I am a huge fan of Christopher Kimball and the whole Milk Street gang. I am a long time subscriber and have a shelf of Milk Street books. Love them all. However, this one knocked it out of the park. I found myself taking note after note on so many of the recipes, just trying to figure out what I wanted to cook this week, next week, and over the month.

I am working my way through them with delight. Fantastic job! There is so much here for everyone!.

I had rotator cuff surgery in January and figured I’d be eating tuna sandwiches, omelets and take out until I could help in the kitchen. Wrong! My loving husband decided to try cooking! I got him this book for his birthday, and he has been making up a list.

(I also got him a new 12″ skillet with cover, so he is rarin’ to go!) I am looking forward to this new adventure – thank you Milk Streeters. he loves your recipes and looks forward to the magazine, online, television & radio, too! His new book has a bunch of sticky markers, so it’s going to be fun!.

Loved this book immediately upon opening it. Great photos made me want to try every recipe. Instructions were clear and easy to follow. I love Chris Kimball’s approach to cooking. So much flavor! I love exploring international cuisine, and Chris brings it home with ease.

He broadens the horizons of home cooking.

The book we ordered is in very good condition. It is exactly what we wanted and are enjoying reading it. The book is written in such a way that it is easy to understand and the recipes are easy to follow.

If we follow it, our health should improve!.

The Daniel Plan Cook book is an excellent purchase. I am using this as a companion to the book. The cook book has a wonderful layout with easy to follow recipes. The foods are everyday items. Which also makes this a great buy! I will enjoy the variety provided in the cook book and I am looking forward to a lifestyle change.

I recommend the Daniel Plan Cook book, you will not be disappointed.

I was pleasantly surprised how enticing the recipes are in this cookbook. I love the color photos and layout of the book – great presentation. The recipes are down to earth and healthy at the same time.

I would definitely recommend the book to someone who likes to cook and wants to eat healthy!.