14 Essential Cookbooks Everyone Should Own

Hey, guys, welcome back to my blog and welcome back to another article that is 14 Essential Cookbooks Everyone Should Own. today's article is a fun one and it's actually about my cookbook collection in my kitchen.

In fact, I had a bookcase installed on the end of my island specifically for organizing all of my cookbooks and I often talk a lot about cookbooks on my blog as I'm cooking and planning meals and referencing them and so one of my friends request is to know what isn't my must-have cookbooks and so I've gone through my whole collection and I've chosen 10 Essential Cookbooks Everyone Should Own today that I think anyone would benefit from having in their collection any of the cookbooks.

So let's get started so I'm gonna take you back to 2001 and that was when I started my cookbook collection and this is a reproduction of Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book by Betty Crocker and my grandma gave this to me when I turned 18.

and in fact, it still has my maiden name written on the front of it so this was definitely the cookbook that started off my collection once I moved out on my own throughout college and the early married life I was obsessed with collecting cookbooks I was obsessed with cooking food out of cookbooks and so I love that I get to share that here on my blog with you guys but it's something that I've enjoyed doing in my own life for a really long time okay.

I thought it would be really fun to share my favorite cookbooks with you so I use these cookbooks every week they're kind of are essential coke books. I think all these books have a really nice variety and these are just the cookbooks that we use time and time again over the last few years.

14 Best Cookbooks Everyone Needs for Home Cooks in Their Kitchen

Table Of Contents

1. Rachael Ray 50

2. Skinnytaste Fast and Slow

3. The Pioneer Woman Cooks

4. Cook Once, Eat All Week

5. Simply Keto

6. Bowls

7. The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

8. Cook's Illustrated Revolutionary Recipes

9. Cook's Country

10. Milk Street: Tuesday Nights

11. Dinner for Everyone

12. Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables

13. Easy Soups from Scratch with Quick Breads to Match

14. Bread Baking for Beginners

1. Rachael Ray 50

Rachael Ray 50: Memories and Meals from a Sweet and Savory Life: A Cookbook by Rachael Ray

I'm recommending right now is Rachel ray50 and this is one that was recently published and it acts actually includes recipes as well as essays and recipes in her handwriting and to me, it's more like a scrapbook of her time as a cook in the public eye I actually started watching Rachel ray when food network premiered the 30-minute meal show that's when I was in college.

and I've talked before about how I loved watching food network while I was in college and back then it was like the dog food network it was like Giada and Aina and iron chef and Rachel ray.

and now I feel like all the food network is just guy Fieri in his like 18 different grocery shows but anyway I've been a fan of Rachel ray for the longest time and so I actually wanted to share also that I have the very first issue of every day with Rachel ray it's one of my prized possessions uh not really but this issue is from November December 2005. so at this point, it's almost 15 years old maybe I'll do like a throwback and cook some recipes out of this.

but I have been a Rachel fan for a long time and so I've cooked many of her recipes and most of them have turned out really well so I would recommend this cookbook especially if you are a Rachel ray fan it has great pictures it has a lot of her classic recipes in it and it is a big thick cookbook and I think that if you are a fan of hers you'll enjoy it okay.

2. Skinnytaste Fast and Slow

Skinnytaste Fast and Slow: Knockout Quick-Fix and Slow Cooker Recipes: A Cookbook by Gina Homolka

next up is the skinny taste fast and slow cookbook and I actually have three or four of gina's cookbooks of the skinny taste cookbook she also has a fantastic blog so if you haven't checked her out make sure that you check out her blog she does a lot of lightened up recipes she also includes the points for weight watchers.

if you're interested in that kind of thing but this is my favorite cookbook of hers I think it is the most comprehensive and I also like that it has both quick fix and slow cooker recipes one of her recipes that is my favorite is her slow cooker lasagna soup.

but I have cooked many recipes out of this cookbook and none of them you can really tell are healthier versions and so if this is something that sounds like it would interest you and if you like cooking crock-pot meals I would definitely recommend this cookbook okay.

3. The Pioneer Woman Cooks

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier by Ree Drummond

next up is pioneer woman's cookbook and she's another one that I started following before she was on the food network and before she had any cookbooks and before she had a cooking show I actually followed her blog from way back in the day but I love her cookbooks if you guys have ever tried her recipes you know that a lot of them are filled proof.

but the reason I really like her cookbooks is that she has step-by-step instructions of all the recipes and she has lots of pictures so for someone that might be a more newbie cook or someone who needs a little bit more help following directions I think these are really convenient even for someone like me who I would say is a pretty experienced home cook I love using these cookbooks because I can quickly find when I'm in the middle of cooking a recipe where I'm at in that particular recipe she has a lot of.

I guess you would say varied recipes she includes a lot of different cuisines a lot of different meals as far as like breakfast lunch and dinner and like I said all of her recipes are fabulous so this one is pioneer woman cooks the new frontier which I believe is the newest one but like I said I have several of hers and I love all of them okay.

4. Cook Once, Eat All Week

Cook Once, Eat All Week: 26 Weeks of Gluten-Free, Affordable Meal Prep to Preserve Your Time & Sanity by Cassy Joy Garcia

next up is my favorite meal prep cookbook of all time and this is cook once eat all week by cassie joy Garcia.

basically, the concept of this cookbook is that you are meal prepping but you're using three core ingredients so essentially you have a protein and a couple of vegetables and those are kind of like the building blocks for your three meal prep recipes for that week and the reason why this is great is that not only does it save on food waste but it's also a budget-friendly way to meal prep you also can use as the same core ingredients but then cook different meals so you're not eating the same thing for every meal in a week.

which is something that I really like the other great thing about this book is that she has tons of customization options in here so all of the recipes are inherently gluten-free but she also has options for like paleo low carb and I believe dairy free if you are interested in that there's a lot of great pictures in it like I said everything I've tried has been fabulous.

so I would definitely recommend this cookbook especially if you're looking for a meal prep cookbook I think that it's great otherwise you can also just cook the recipes straight out of here even if you're not interested in meal prepping okay.

5. Simply Keto

Simply Keto: A Practical Approach to Health & Weight Loss, with 100+ Easy Low-Carb Recipes by Suzanne Ryan

next up is actually a keto cookbook and I'm not on a keto diet currently I have been intermittently in the past however I do think this is a great cookbook if you are doing keto or even if you're not doing keto a lot of the recipes in here are great I have several keto cookbooks and so I feel like I can be a good judge of which one is my favorite since I've tried out several of them.

I think the recipes here are super approachable like there's not a lot of weird ingredients every recipe has a picture that's another thing that I really like to see in cookbooks is that there are lots of pictures.

and there's just a lot of variety which I think is great and I've tried probably I don't know five to ten recipes out of this and they have all been fabulous the cookbook is called simply keto by Suzanne Ryan I believe she also has a youtube channel last I checked she doesn't post on it much but if you're looking for a low carb or keto cookbook I would definitely recommend this one okay.

6. Bowls

Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities by America's Test Kitchen

so you guys know I'm always talking about America's test kitchen and their cookbooks on my channel and I've recommended many of them but this one has to be one of my favorites and I've made several different videos featuring recipes out of this is the America's test kitchen bowls cookbook vibrant recipes with endless possibilities.

so the reason why I like this cookbook is that there's just a lot of innovative ideas in here I think especially when I'm doing meal prep whether it's for lunch or dinner sometimes I just have trouble coming up with innovative ideas you know.

I feel like sometimes we eat the same things every week and so there's just a ton of different cuisine options in here there are hot meals cold meals salads grain bowls vegan recipes soups main dishes so definitely a lot of variety in this cookbook and the great thing about America's test kitchen is that you know that all of their recipes have been extensively tested to make sure that they turn out properly.

and there's also a lot of great pictures in the cookbook and then at the end, there are also tons of recipes for like quick pickles there's a whole section of dressings and sauces so I have been super happy with this cookbook I've had it for a while now and would definitely recommend it okay.

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