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The 16 Best Cookbooks For Beginner Home Cooks

Learn a new skill with these easy-to-follow guides to cooking.

By
beginner cookbooks
Alyssa Gray

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The kitchen can be an intimidating space if you've never spent much time in it. You finally get up the courage to try a dish (or you just get hungry), and then you crack open a cookbook and it expects you to know how to temper or julienne—or even to know what those terms mean! We hear your pain, novice chefs, so we rounded up 16 of our favorite cookbooks that focus the basics, so that you can feel comfortable and confident while cooking.

We know you'll eventually ace that whole cooking thing. Want to stock up on more cookbooks once you feel a bit more comfortable? Try our favorite cookbooks of the year, the best cookbooks for kids, and the best cookbooks by black authors.

1

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Samin Nostrat's best-selling book is not so much about following recipes line for line—it's more about figuring out how to become an instinctual cook. Nostrat explains the four elements of good cooking and how to trust your gut as you find your way around the kitchen.

2

30-Minute Cookbook For Beginners

30-Minute Cookbook For Beginners
Now 30% Off
Credit: Rockridge Press

Once you master some simple 30-minute meals, you can tackle larger, more ambitious ones. Baby steps, people.

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3

Joy of Cooking

Joy of Cooking
Now 47% Off
Credit: Scribner Book Company

The first edition of Joy of Cooking was published in 1931, and while the recipes may look a little different (there are now 4,000+ of them), the plainspoken, easy-to-follow directions haven't changed one bit.

4

The Homemade Vegan Pantry

The Homemade Vegan Pantry
Now 42% Off
Credit: Ten Speed Press

If you're serious about going vegan, or if you just want to start eating more plant-based meals, this cookbook gives you creative meal ideas beyond just meat and dairy substitutions. 

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5

Good And Cheap

Good And Cheap
Now 43% Off
Credit: Workman Publishing

Leanne Brown wrote this book specifically for people on SNAP/food stamp benefits, with $4 a day to spend on food. No matter what your budget is, Brown teaches you how to make dishes like barley risotto with peas and white bean ragù or vegetable jambalaya without breaking the bank.

6

Sweet Potato Soul

Sweet Potato Soul

NYC-based vegan personal chef, cooking instructor, and blogger Jenné Claiborne explains the surprisingly beginner-friendly ways that she turned her favorite soul food recipes vegan.

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7

The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook

The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook
Now 67% Off
Credit: America's Test Kitchen

Bring the lush and vibrant flavors of Italy, Greece, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon to your kitchen with this cookbook. It teaches you the basics of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid and how to add heart-healthy recipes into your diet.

8

How To Cook Everything

How To Cook Everything
Now 54% Off
Credit: Bookshop.org

The title says it all, folks. This classic cookbook is beloved for its minimalist style. The recipes are simple and focus on nailing the basics (like how to grill vegetables or roast seafood) so that as you get more comfortable, you can make the recipes all your own.

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9

One Pot

One Pot
Credit: Martha Stewart Living Magazine

There's a lot you can do in one pot: stew, steam, sauté, simmer, braise, roast. This book teaches you how to make more than 100 recipes, all of which go only require the one dish.

10

The Taste of Country Cooking

The Taste of Country Cooking
Credit: Knopf Publishing Group

For those who need a story in their cookbooks, you'll enjoy this walk back in time, hearing about Edna Lewis's life growing up in a small Virginia Piedmont farming community over 50 years ago.

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11

Delish Insanely Easy Chicken Dinners

Delish Insanely Easy Chicken Dinners
Credit: Delish

We may be biased, but this is one of our favorites on the list. In this cookbook, our editors take the easiest and most convenient dinner meal (chicken), and show you so many creative ways to cook, fry, broil, and most importantly eat it.

12

Beginner's Baking Bible

Beginner's Baking Bible
Now 39% Off
Credit: Rockridge Press

Baking and cooking are two different arts, as you'll learn from this cookbook. This book teaches you basic baking techniques (like melting chocolate and cutting butter into flour) then hits you with more than 100 recipes where you can try said techniques.

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13

Plenty

Plenty
Now 78% Off
Credit: Chronicle Books

With the right herbs and spices, veggies can go from a nutritious necessity to a delicacy in their own right. That's Yotam Ottolenghi's approach, which is all about freshness and seasonality.

14

Cook Like a Pro

Cook Like a Pro
Credit: William Morrow & Company

If you've ever watched the Barefoot Contessa, you've seen Ina Garten's warm and welcoming approach to cooking, That's what you can expect from this tome of recipes, too.

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15

Twelve Recipes

Twelve Recipes
Credit: William Morrow & Company

Cal Peternell began working on this beautifully illustrated cookbook when his oldest son left for college. Whether you're going off to college or living on your own for the first time, this book is all about determining independence through cooking.

16

Dessert Person

Dessert Person

If you want to get into baking, you have to get Claire Saffitz's wonderful book. It's organized to start you off with the simplest and easiest recipes, while giving plenty of recipes to challenge you once you become a pro. Plus, there is so much more than dessert in here—because, as Claire argues, being a dessert person isn't always about being sweet.

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