Of the hundreds of cookbooks published in a given year, which one is worth buying? After all, so many of us turn first to Google or Instagram when struck with the impulse to make dinner. And yet, the printed, hardcover cookbook retains its appeal: The photography, the beautifully formatted recipes and the author’s voice all contribute to inspiration that becomes motivation.
We faced the long list of cookbooks published in 2025 and selected nine titles that piqued our interest and represented a diversity of cuisines.
Then, we cooked. (And shook — one book is cocktail recipes.)
Each staffer tested up to five recipes from their assigned book and took copious notes on clarity of instructions, accuracy of measures and cook times, difficulty and whether the dish was worth the effort. And, finally, each reviewer levied a judgment: Is this cookbook recommended?
Just in time for gift-giving season, here are the results, alphabetically by title:
‘By Heart’
By Hailee Catalano, $35, DK
I was skeptical when I picked up this book. There are a small number of recipe writers and food bloggers whose recipes I cook regularly, and Hailee Catalano wasn’t one of them.
She is now though.
The Elmhurst native and Culinary Institute of America-trained chef rose to prominence in recent years with her social media cooking videos.
The book, Catalano’s debut, is a celebration of Midwestern and Italian-American classics — with a little twist. Her blueberry pretzel galette with a cream cheese whipped cream is an ode to the classic strawberry Jell-O salad. The updated and home-friendly take on Italian beef swaps the typical top round roast for melt-in-your-mouth beef shank.
I tested several recipes from the book, including a menu for a “stick-to-your-ribs” meat and potatoes dinner. The recipes — Onion Poppy Seed Dinner Rolls, Anchovy-basted Rib Eye, Dilly Creamed Spinach, Chicken Fat Mashed Potatoes and a Blueberry Pretzel Galette — were excessive and over the top, I thought. But I went in anyway.
For the dinner rolls, I kneaded onions that had been sweated in butter into the yeasted dough and scattered more on top, where they browned as the rolls baked. The rib-eye got a fairly standard reverse-sear treatment but with four roughly chopped anchovies melted into the basting butter, to glorious effect.
But the chicken fat mashed potatoes might have been the dish that sold me. First, you cook chicken skin with a bit of water. Then, the rendered fat goes into the potatoes — briefly dried in the oven before being mashed — and the chicken skin, now golden brown and crispy, is crumbled over top like croutons.
Or maybe it was the blueberry galette. A cup of mini pretzels are blitzed then added to flour for the crust dough. Crushed pretzels also went into the frangipane filling, plus a sprinkle on top, all of which added a salty, malty dimension to an incredibly delicious dessert.
Recommended. Ambitious cooks who want to experiment with new techniques and flavor combinations will get spectacular results with Catalano as their guide in the kitchen. – Ellery Jones
‘Cook Once, Eat Twice’
By Nadiya Hussain, $30, Sourcebooks
The latest from “The Great British Bake Off” 2015 winner, Nadiya Hussain, focuses on leftovers: cooking enough food to save some for later, using ingredients you already have and incorporating finished dishes into others. Hussain claims the book will “simplify your week and make life more convenient.” But it doesn’t live up to the promise, due largely to unnecessarily aggressive seasoning and sloppy editing.
Some of the recipes in the book seem destined to be kitchen staples. I know I’ll make the Corn Chowder again — but I’ll also back off on the massive amount of black pepper, which overwhelmed the dish and nearly emptied my pepper shaker. Every recipe I tested called for a heavy hand with stuff from the spice cabinet. (Even the Sherbet Lemon Loaf cake uses three different extracts, not sparingly.)
Some of the cooking times were under by a lot. The Brown Rice and Peas, which sounds like a simple side dish but holds its own as a meal, still was crunchy. The Cottage Pie, a classic combo of buttery mashed potatoes atop a flavorful ground-beef filling, hadn’t finished thawing after reheating from frozen as directed. And my pastry still was raw after baking the Corn Chowder Individual Pies.
Honestly, the pastry never stood a chance. The recipe calls for two boxes of frozen puff pastry, 17.3 ounces each — which in the American size amounts to 53% more than what’s listed in the UK edition of the recipe. I should have used only one box. Other editing flaws were more innocuous, such as absurdly precise conversions from metric to U.S. customary units. Meanwhile, the Butternut Squash Tart recipe doesn’t say when to add the marquee vegetable.
Not recommended. I wanted to like this cookbook, and I’m confident I’ll find ways to make the recipes work. But I shouldn’t have to, especially when the author promises simplicity. – Justin Myers
‘Fat + Flour’
By Nicole Rucker, $35, Knopf
Nicole Rucker knows how to create flavors that sing. Her bakery, also named Fat + Flour, has multiple locations in Los Angeles, and she has been nominated for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker by the James Beard Awards twice. But great taste was not enough to save this cookbook.
My first impressions were not promising: I found the photography to be flat and unhelpful. Cross sections of finished desserts — which is what you want to see when making loaves, cakes and pies — are tiny compared to the desserts’ larger, primary images, many of which are top-down photos. Hard to explain, but trust me, not helpful.
Even so, I was excited to make some of the recipes, especially the Lemon, Browned Butter, and Rosemary Bars.
Little did I know that chaos was awaiting. The first step says to brown a stick of butter for the shortbread crust and let cool completely. After this step, however, the butter is never mentioned again. So I tossed it into the dry ingredients, and the dough became a wet paste. Not sure what went wrong there, but something did. When I read the recipe again, I also realized that there was no lemon juice — in a recipe for lemon bars.
(After hearing complaints, Rucker offered a corrected recipe, oddly, as a PDF.)
I also found the bake times to be wildly inconsistent. Two banana breads, the Classic 1980s Mom Banana Bread and the Spicy Streusel-Covered Banana Bread, were respectively baked by me and a friend who is a semi-professional baker. Both needed about 100 minutes in the oven to fully bake, twice the recommended time. And the East Coast Crunch cookies were extremely overbaked, crunchy to the point of hard; I shaved six minutes off the bake time, and the second batch turned out great.
But credit where credit is due: The Chocolate Chess Pie will make my regular rotation of bakes. It is delectably rich with a smooth, butter-filled chocolate filling and a cookie crust, made even more decadent with homemade whipped cream.
Not recommended. The flavors were consistently on point in all of the desserts I made. But Rucker’s instructions were often frustrating and, worse, just plain wrong. – Sofie Hernandez-Simeonidis
‘Sally’s Baking 101’
By Sally McKenney, $32.99, Clarkson Potter
Since she put her first recipe online in 2011 under the clever moniker “Sally’s Baking Addiction,” Sally McKenney has been a go-to confection whisperer for desperate bakers trying to whip up a no-fail cake.
Three years in development, her latest cookbook finally arrived this year. And while cakes make up the biggest section, her book runs through cookies, bars, pies, brunch casseroles and even breads, from pizza dough to enriched brioche-style rolls.
Mostly, McKenney follows a pattern: Take a classic — say, a cheesecake bar — and add one ingredient or flavor that gives the dessert some flair, such as Key lime. Other examples include Maple Brown Sugar Cookies, Strawberry Lemon Drops and Chewy Tahini Granola Bars.
The 100 or so recipes run the gamut from easy to harder. But the book jacket promises that they are all “foolproof” and tested ad nauseum in Sally’s home kitchen with eager children waiting to sample the goods.
So, to test her claim, we deployed my 14-year-old son, who made those Key Lime Cheesecake Bars and her Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. He was mostly successful, tripped up only once by an under-explained detail. After leaving my kitchen covered in flour and butter smears, he whipped up two delights that everyone in my house devoured. A cookbook that guides a child to an edible, let alone delicious, final product earns a seal of approval from this harried mom.
Recommended: Great for anyone who wants to learn the basics across a range of desserts and baked savories but craves twists on the classics. – Cassie Walker Burke
‘Salt Sugar MSG’
By Calvin Eng with Phoebe Melnick, $37.99, Clarkson Potter
Fried rice loaded with chunks of crispy bacon and topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and Kewpie mayo. Crispy pork schnitzel with a “Chinese” ranch dressing brightened up with cilantro and garlic chives. These may not sound like Cantonese dishes but they are “a true mishmash of identities — kind of like me,” chef Calvin Eng writes in his new book “Salt Sugar MSG.”
Many popular dishes from his Brooklyn restaurant (Bonnie’s, named after his mother) are featured in the book, including fuyu cacio e pepe mein, a funky spin on cacio e pepe made with fermented bean curd; hup to ha, shrimp with candied walnuts; and dace dip, a sour cream base combined with a Chinese tinned fish product that tastes like super-umami-charged sardines thanks to fermented black beans.
There’s a motto at his restaurant Bonnie’s: “Bangers only.” And all of the dishes I tested lived up to that high bar.
The recipes ranged from quick and easy to more intensive. The tinned dace dip was just mixing up a bunch of ingredients, no cooking. The Roast Duck (Without a Duck) required a bit more skill, such as spatchcocking a whole chicken, and more time marinating.
One thing that makes Eng’s book stand out are the tips he sprinkles throughout like a pinch of perfectly deployed MSG. For the pork schnitzel, he suggests freezing leftovers (if there are any) and reheating for 10 minutes at 400 F. The result was schnitzel as crisp as it was when it first emerged from the frying pan. For the Perfect Pot of Steamed Rice Without a Rice Cooker, the rice was just as you’d get with your favorite Chinese takeout. But the innovation was toasting the layer stuck to the bottom of the pot to make what is essentially rice chips.
I have a bad habit of buying cookbooks just to adorn my bookshelf, never to be opened again. “Salt Sugar MSG” is not going to be one of those.
Recommended: “Salt Sugar MSG” showcases the chef’s approach that marries his Cantonese upbringing with nostalgic flavors of Americana to create craveable dishes. – Dorothy Hernandez
‘Something from Nothing’
By Alison Roman, $37.99, Clarkson Potter
My boyfriend broke their thumb in a biking accident. The next day, I was assigned to review “Something from Nothing,” the latest cookbook from Alison Roman, the internet’s go-to chef for uncomplicated but pat-on-your-back-good dishes.
Suddenly, I had to cook and clean for two. Somewhere in the middle of Roman’s Chicken Pot Pie, I nearly cracked. The dish is a classic and perhaps the most complicated in the 108-recipe spanning book. I didn’t read through the recipe before starting, and I made a giant mess. But, we needed to eat — so I threw the haphazard looking puff pastry-wrapped skillet into the oven and sulked.
Out came something impressive, picture-worthy. It brought down the house.
To understand Roman’s new cookbook it’s important to note that the celebrity chef who rose to prominence for popularizing a viral shallot pasta and turmeric stew out of her cramped Brooklyn apartment, has since married, given birth, moved upstate and opened a grocery store. She writes that this book, her fourth, feels the most “adult.”
The recipes here build on her hyper-efficient ethos: cutting down on steps and waste, and making enough for leftovers that will taste just as good tomorrow.
I ended up slightly oversalting the golden-hued Mushroom Soup with Orzo, but that didn’t keep me from scarfing down an entire bowl. Her Dilly Bean Stew with Cabbage and Frizzled Onions took on an eerie lavender tint because I used purple, not green, cabbage. I didn’t mind. Roman’s Saucy Roasted Eggplant Pasta? I’ve made it three times so far, and I don’t plan to stop. A standout that needs mentioning: A Very Good Tomato Sauce, an elemental recipe that figures into other dishes, convinced us God is real, and he has a plan.
My only regret after spending four hours making the Spicy Braised Short Ribs was that I did not double the recipe. The one dish that failed to wow me was Roman’s chili, which took an hour longer to finish than I expected. Still, it tasted better the next day and won me over just the same.
Recommended. Roman delivers on the promise of her book’s title, that it’s possible to eat richly with what’s on hand. – Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco
‘Three Cheers’
By Kaitlyn Stewart, $22, Ten Speed Press
Vancouverite and professional bartender Kaitlyn Stewart has hit on a hip way to organize a book of cocktail recipes that feels actually useful. “Three Cheers,” as its title implies, gives you three takes on a drink: the classic, a fun riff on the original and, smartly, a “zero-proof” cousin. (Stewart is also the creator behind Like-a-ble Cocktails, an Instagram account where she demonstrates how to make every drink under the sun, one post at a time.)
The slim volume — complete with photographs of every cocktail, each presented in correct glassware — is a tour of drinking’s greatest hits. Starting with “A,” you’ll learn, for example, that the recipe for Air Mail, a rum-based drink flavored with honey and fizzed with Champagne, first appeared as a printed recipe in 1941. The Pen Pal riff swaps in blanco tequila and Aperol for the rum, and the boozeless version, Return to Sender, employs spirit-free rum and sparkling wine. From Daiquiri to Grasshopper to Margarita to Ramos Gin Fizz to Zombie, every recipe is a three-fer.
I tested the zero-proof version of an El Diablo, a tequila cocktail flavored with black currant liqueur; Stewart’s Devil in a Blueb-Dress achieves the drink’s purple tinge and beguiling sweetness using blueberry jam and packs the medicinal punch of alcohol with ginger beer. The non-alcoholic Paloma, a drink called Pigeon Toed, uses honey syrup, lime juice, a wedge of grapefruit and fresh ginger to deliver a sophisticated stand-in for Mexico’s iconic tequila refresher. Both were delicious, and I’d serve either at my next dinner party.
Recommended: This attractive, well designed book is a complete guide to creating cocktails at home. The endeavor is labor intensive, but Stewart’s concoctions will impress your guests. – Jennifer Tanaka
‘Umma’
By Sarah Ahn and Nam Soon Ahn, $35, America’s Test Kitchen
I felt a familiar connection to this cookbook because I grew up in a Korean household where my busy mother made informal yet comforting dishes. So I appreciate that in “Umma,” the recipes are very precise, guiding newcomers into the cuisine but also elevating staples for the well-versed.
Author Sarah Ahn is the founder of “Ahnest Kitchen,” a social media account where she shares stories about Korean cuisine, culture and her family. “Umma: A Korean Mom’s Kitchen Wisdom,” co-authored with her mother, Nam Soon Ahn, is something of a synthesis: The cookbook is a near-comprehensive guide to Korean home cooking, complete with photos of recommended pantry products and explanations of Asian produce, made personal through stories.
The Spicy Braised Tofu is one of the recipes you might skip over for something flashier. It looks so simple — fry up some tofu with some sauce! But the sauce, which incorporates a variety of peppers and plum extract, is the real star in this dish. Steamed Eggs, another typical Korean side dish (or, banchan), gets special treatment with the addition of imitation crab and gochujang flakes. And Kimchi Pancakes, which I usually buy, were not nearly as labor intensive as I thought they would be. The time-saving secret of this recipe? Store-bought Korean “frying mix,” which is just seasoned flour leavened with baking soda.
But here is where I admit that I am a lazy home cook who does not like a lot of steps and does not want to wash a bunch of dishes. Some of the more involved recipes were not for me. The Braised Beef Ribs (Galbi Jjim) calls for Asian pear juice made from scratch and a multi-step process involving a pressure cooker. I didn’t think the final dish was worth the trouble.
On the other hand, I was fully onboard to tackle Milk Cream Doughnuts. This dessert looks like an elegant whoopie pie: Risen and deep-fried yeast doughnuts are stuffed with stiff whipped cream, garnished with thinly sliced strawberries and showered with powdered sugar. We’re in a new era of Korean desserts, and this showstopper was worth its weight in effort and wait time.
Recommended. Time-strapped home cooks and aspiring chefs alike will find lots to love in this edifying, comprehensive exploration of Korean cooking. – Susie An
‘The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook’
By Meredith Hayden, $35, Ten Speed Press
Instagram introduced me to Meredith Hayden three years ago. Her videos — a yearslong series of posts all titled “Day in my life as a private chef in the Hamptons” — were fun and offered entertaining voyeurism.
But I had never made any of her recipes. (My fiance and I have been burned several times cooking dishes by food influencers — we have trust issues.)
So I was surprised when her viral Green Garlic and Ginger Chicken Soup satisfied the craving I had for a cozy winter soup without squash. The soup’s bright green puree looks gross — this is why it went viral — but the finished soup is perfect if you love spinach, parsley and jalapeno.
I made the Ultimate Italian sandwich, a reimagined Italian sub with prosciutto and mortadella, and the Lobster Capellini for my parents. They agreed: I should quit my job and move back to Los Angeles to work as their personal chef. It’s worth noting that my dad isn’t a fan of Italian food, especially pasta, and he asked for seconds of the capellini dish.
The Harissa Pitas with Feta and Cucumber did not meet my idea of the “convenience of ground beef taco night” because the recipe is actually three in one: the harissa-seasoned meat, a feta dressing and a minty chopped cucumber salad. The resulting hand-held meal was delicious but took two hours to make. Hayden’s Tomatoes and Corn, a summery side dish dressed up with chile-infused olive oil and basil, won me compliments at a recent potluck with discerning friends.
Hayden, who now lives in the Hamptons and has lately shifted to lifestyle content, promotes a relaxed approach to cooking. I love that she encourages you to take ownership of her recipes, adding more or less of an ingredient to taste. I added half a preserved lemon and a splash of lime juice to her Parsley Tarragon Salsa Verde. That, and the Ultimate Italian, turned my skeptical fiance into a Hayden convert.
Recommended: Even if you’re on a budget or cook for someone with dietary restrictions, Hayden’s approachable and delicious recipes can be tweaked to your tastes. – Subrina Hudson