The 12 Best Cookbooks Of 2022

Say it’s a weeknight and you find yourself low on groceries and inspiration. Haven’t we all been there? Well, now you don’t have to go it alone now that Ali Slagle’s much-anticipated cookbook, I Dream of Dinner (so you don’t have to) is here to save the evening from another night of take out.

No exaggeration, Slagle’s recipes are all home runs. They’re endlessly flexible and often require ingredients you already have on hand. Word to the wise, her recipes for fish & chips tacos and farro carbonara are well worth keeping in your back pocket.

If there was one thing we were glad to see in cookbooks this year, it was how personal they became. Ruby Tandoh’s Cook As You Are is our new gold standard for approachable, relatable cookbooks, and not only because the recipes are categorized under sections like “Feed Me Now,” “For the Love of It,” and “Normal perfect moments.”

With her relaxed, inclusive recipes like harissa butter gnocchi and fries with chaat masala, Tandoh’s cookbook is a powerful meditation on how we can all show up in the kitchen just as we are.

The Woks of Life cookbook is more than just a collection of classic Chinese recipes; it’s the poignant, charming story of the family behind the popular Woks of Life blog. Packed with tips and tricks on achieving restaurant-quality dishes (like velvety meat dishes, mapo tofu, and spicy chili wontons), the Leung family’s long-awaited cookbook will make you feel like you’ve been personally invited to their kitchen table.

Fun fact: As the country’s first Puerto Rican food columnist, Illyanna Maisonet got her fortuitous start reviewing restaurants on Yelp. That same tenacity and grit is alive and well in her new cookbook, Diasporican, a powerful and personal archive of Puerto Rico’s culinary history mixed with her own west coast upbringing.

With recipes passed down by her mother and grandmother (like pernil and arroz con gandules), Maisonet deftly captures the indelible influence of Puerto Rico’s foodways on the world at large all to way to our own kitchens. Enjoy this book with a glass of Maisonet’s coquito (especially spiked with Puerto Rico’s own Ron Del Barrilito for the full experience).

This cookbook captures chef Mason Hereford’s take on Southern cuisine, which he’s mastered at his New Orleans restaurant Turkey and the Wolf. Thankfully, the Turkey and The Wolf cookbook contains many of the dishes you’d find served there; think potato chip-loaded fried bologna sandwiches, deviled-egg tostadas with salsa macha, and his mom’s burnt tomato casserole. Guy Fieri is a fan and so are we.

We know it might shock you, but some of us here at Delish don’t have a big sweet tooth. But we still love to bake! So what’s a baker to do? Well, thankfully Erin Jeanne Mcdowell (baking consultant-at-large for Food52) has written the end-all-be-all cookbook on all things savory baking.

With her signature reassuring style, McDowell will take you through her easy bakes, like chili crunch gougères, cacio e pepe focaccia, and pizza babka(!). And don’t worry, there are even a few “sweet tooth breaks” in Savory Baking for all you “regular” folks out there.

A new Ottolenghi cookbook is on our perennial “instant buy” list. And for good reason! This new release from the acclaimed chef’s test kitchen (which is also helmed by co-author Noor Murad) highlights the power of one of our favorite kitchen workhorses: sauces and condiments.

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things truly lives up to its title, too. Each recipe is a signature Ottolenghi creation; vegetable-forward, fun, and full of texture and color, but all with that added special something. Case in point: this Double-Lemon Chicken With Cheat’s Preserved Lemon. With tons of flavorful inspiration on how to slash, drizzle, and pickle, this cookbook is a perfect gift for the home chef looking to make dinnertime extra good.

While baking can’t fully replace therapy, it certainly doesn’t hurt when we’re sorting through big feelings. And Becca Rea-Tucker’s new baking book does exactly that. Categorized by seemingly every emotion ever, Baking By Feel will help you sort through your feels.

Feeling awkward? Try her kitchen sink cookies (since they’re made of everything but still come out great). A bit insulted? A triple chocolate cake will surely help take the edge off. Feeling super silly? Rea-Tucker’s orange Creamsicle cake is sure to keep you feeling giddy. Merging self-care with a satisfied sweet-tooth, what could be better?

If the kitchen is your playground, it’s definitely time to let Ixta Belfrage’s Mezcla: Recipes to Excite join you in the fun. Mezcla, which means “mix” or “fusion” in Spanish, couldn’t be a more perfect title of this cookbook, as its recipes are inspired by Belfrage’s childhood travels to Italy, Mexico, and Brazil.

An Ottolenghi protégé herself, Belfrage’s bold and adventurous cookbook is not only accessible and quick (her porcini ragù is a staple on weeknights), but will also inspire you to mix things up in the kitchen as well.

Take everything you thought you knew about cookbooks, and kindly set them aside, because Ghetto Gastro Presents Black Power Kitchen is about to change everything.

Much like a perfectly built recipe, the Bronx-based collective Ghetto Gastro has layered equal amounts of Black culinary history, vibrant photography, and joy in each page. Black Power Kitchen is a delicious portal into the Bronx, where love and activism intersect in every recipe, from roasted breadfruit gnocchi to watermelon granita.

The idea of home is dynamic to acclaimed Ukrainian chef and food writer Olia Hercules. Drawing from her experiences of life in Ukraine, Cyprus, and England, Hercules’ newest cookbook, Home Food, is her most personal yet. We spent the year reading it as if it were a page-turning novel. And when those very human, heartwarming stories are followed by a recipe for peanut dulce de leche cake? We’re all in.

Rick Martinez’s debut cookbook will satisfy your culinary wanderlust. Taking you through 32 Mexican states (and 20,000 miles!), Mi Cocina captures all the rich diversity of the cuisine of Mexico, from staples like homemade tortillas de maíz to uniquely Oaxacan dishes like albóndigas en chipotle. And while these recipes have tons of flavorful complexity, they couldn’t be easier to make at home, we promise.