The 15 Best Cookbooks for Gifting Newlyweds
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Gift your favorite just-marrieds the most useful wedding present of all time.
Food & Wine / David Hattan
The easiest wedding gift may come straight off the registry, but one of the best gifts for newlyweds is contained between two covers. A cookbook is a thoughtful, personal way to congratulate a new couple on their marriage or engagement — and unlike gadgets or decor — is something that will surely be used and loved for years to come. It's a culinary building block.
The type of cookbook you choose is, of course, dependent on the happy couple, but there are a few categories that are always a sure bet. Farm-to-table cookbooks that focus on seasonal recipes are ideal for the locavores in your life. Cookbooks that do a deep dive into a specific cuisine, like pasta, are a fun way for couples to embark on an adventure long after the honeymoon suitcases have been unpacked. Chef-approved cookbooks focus on building confidence and skills in the kitchen; a great combination that a new couple can grow into.
Before you add one of these 15 perfect-for-newlywed cookbooks to your online shopping cart, consider the couple you’re buying for. While physical cookbooks look nice in a kitchen, an ebook may be preferable for folks with smaller kitchens. And of course, including a quality cooking tool or pretty kitchen linens is a way to add care and thoughtfulness to your gift. Consider your invitation to their very first dinner party secured.
The Everlasting Meal Cookbook
This thoughtfully written, beautifully illustrated cookbook from food writer and recipe developer Tamar Adler was published in March of 2023, but it’s already earned a top spot in the “Essential Cookbooks” canon. A cook who thinks seriously about reducing food waste and economizing cooking tasks, Adler has organized this cookbook according to ingredients, rather than recipe type.
Couples will enjoy learning ways to use every last crumb and squeeze of their household’s meals and leftovers — The Everlasting Meal Cookbook is a rare book that inspires both creativity and confidence.
Price at time of publish: $27
Full title: The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A to Z
Author: Tamar Adler
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 560
The Nimble Cook: New Strategies for Great Meals that Make the Most of Your Ingredients
Another ingredients-first cookbook, this beauty from culinary instructor Ronna Welsh takes a refreshing approach to stocking your kitchen. You won’t find your grocery cart weighed down with specialty ingredients; instead, Welsh encourages readers to think with the seasons and cook intuitively. This is a gently written, descriptive, and truly lovely option for the CSA and farmers’ market crowd.
Price at time of publish: $20
Full title: The Nimble Cook: New Strategies for Great Meals that Make the Most of Your Ingredients
Author: Ronna Welsh
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 400
The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress
Restaurant cook-turned-magazine food editor-turned-social media sensation Andy Baraghani’s book became an instant New York Times Bestseller, and just one glance through its gorgeous pages makes clear why. Andy’s uncompromising commitment to quality ingredients treated well and presented beautifully will be catnip for the couple that loves to entertain or try new recipes for a romantic at-home date night.
Consider giving this one with a jar of fancy tahini or a gift certificate to a specialty spice shop; Baraghani’s favorite ingredients will quickly become theirs, too.
Price at time of publish: $20
Full title: The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress
Author: Andy Baraghani
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 336
Home Is Where the Eggs Are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love
Sweet-as-pie blogger Molly Yeh has a knack for creating cozy on a plate. Her recipes are regularly whimsical, often inspired by her Jewish and Chinese heritage, and always doable for the “real” home cook. Her latest cookbook embraces food that’s meant to be shared and is blissfully low-maintenance. Among the recipes are homemade soups, comforting casseroles, and as is the Yeh way, a delightful amount of colorful sprinkles.
Price at time of publish: $22
Full title: Home Is Where the Eggs Are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love
Author: Molly Yeh
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 368
Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach and Recipes to Repeat: A Cookbook
Molly Baz has been a beloved YouTube and Instagram cook since her days as a food editor at Bon Appétit, and her NYT best-selling cookbook proves she knows more than great entertainment. Her deep knowledge of cooking techniques is baked into the recipes, so cooks are slyly taught the how and why of what they’re making. Add in her clever, just-shy-of-sassy voice, and this cookbook becomes a must-have for every person who finds joy in eating.
Price at time of publish: $26
Full title: Cook this Book: Techniques that Teach and Recipes to Repeat
Author: Molly Baz
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 304
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
When this now-iconic cookbook was published in 2017, it changed the landscape of what it means to be a successful cookbook. Not only did it launch recipe developer Samin Nosrat into a stratospheric level of fame (including a Netflix series with the same name as the cookbook), it inspired a whole generation of teaching cookbooks — that is, books that are written to pass along skills and techniques, not just recipes. Nosrat takes a global approach to each of the four titular elements, imbuing the book with flavors and foods from far and near.
Price at time of publish: $27
Full title: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
Author: Samin Nosrat
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 480
Martha Stewart's Newlywed Kitchen: Recipes for Weeknight Dinners and Easy, Casual Gatherings
Although Martha Stewart may be known as the queen of upscale entertaining, her specifically-for-newlyweds cookbook is anything but fussy. The ingredient lists are approachable and the recipes are concise and clear, making this a good choice for beginning cooks or those just gaining confidence in the kitchen. Although Martha’s been doing her thing for decades, Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen was published just a handful of years ago, giving it a contemporary, fresh feel.
Price at time of publish: $37
Full title: Martha Stewart’s Newlywed Kitchen: Recipes for Weeknight Dinners and Easy, Casual Gatherings
Author: Martha Stewart
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 304
Cookies: The New Classics
Cooking dinner is about more than proteins, veggies, and starches, and it’s more fun when you save room for dessert. This lighthearted, no-fuss cookbook from recipe developer Jesse Szewczyk is unfettered, sugar-sprinkled joy. It’s packed with very-approachable recipes — many don’t even require an electric mixer — that will satisfy any new couple’s desire for something sweet, as well as expand their palate (the Fudgy Smoked Paprika cookies are a sleeper hit).
Price at time of publish: $19
Full title: Cookies: The New Classics
Author: Jesse Szewczyk
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 256
Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes
There’s no better time to skip the restaurant and explore home-cooked meals than as a newlywed couple. Alison Roman’s subversively-chic first cookbook is the guide to making even everyday meals feel a little special. It’s full of “keeper” recipes and professional secrets and is beloved even among other cookbook authors. (Samin Nosrat called it a “treasure map.”) Bundle this book with Roman’s second book, Nothing Fancy, and her newly-published dessert title, Sweet Enough, and you’ve nailed it.
Price at time of publish: $17
Full title: Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes
Author: Alison Roman
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 303
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
Alice Waters, the chef of Berkeley, California’s Chez Panisse, has been a leader in the slow food movement since the early 1970s. Her time as a cook and educator has refined her ethos that food should be simple, approachable, and cooked in season. Decades of experience and wisdom have been distilled into this beautiful hardcover cookbook — it’s one to explore now and keep as a reference title; to return to for years to come.
Price at time of publish: $18
Full title: The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
Author: Alice Waters
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 405
Joy of Cooking
In the rare case that your newlyweds haven’t heard of this quintessential cookbook, the 1,000+ page count will set the tone: This is an encyclopedia of basic recipes to memorize, play with, customize, and riff off. It’s beloved, time-tested, and simply one of the best reference cookbooks any cook can have in their kitchen.
Gifting note: Food52 also sells a leatherbound collectible version, if aesthetics are of import to the happy couple.
Price at time of publish: $26
Full title: The Joy of Cooking
Author: Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 1,152
Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
While we can’t all be Ina and Jeffrey, this cookbook from the Barefoot Contessa provides enough inspiration and couple goals for any just-marrieds. As you’d expect from the prolific cookbook author, this book is full of comforting, just-fancy-enough recipes made for enjoying on the patio with a glass of iced tea. Knowing each page was Jeffrey-approved adds a tender note to this heart-forward cookbook.
Price at time of publish: $18
Full title: Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook
Author: Ina Garten
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 256
Everyday Instant Pot: Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Dessert
If the newlywed couple doesn’t already own a multicooker, they’re likely to receive one for their wedding. While savvy cooks can modify traditional recipes for a smart cooker, this book was written specifically for the Instant Pot brand. The tight-and-tidy collection of recipes is presented in a building block style, so cooks grow in skills and confidence as they go. While it’s geared toward Instant Pot newbies, it’s such a good reference book that it is also a good fit for devoted appliance fans.
Price at time of publish: $12
Full title: Everyday Instant Pot: Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert
Author: Alexis Mersel with Williams Sonoma
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 144
Half Baked Harvest Every Day: Recipes for Balanced, Flexible, Feel-Good Meals: A Cookbook
Chances are, at least one of the newlyweds already follows cookbook author Tieghan Gerard (@halfbakedharvest) on Instagram. Gerard’s show-stopping photos (she does all her food photography) will inspire even the most mundane weeknight meals. Gerard’s food is never restrictive, always easy, and downright fun for couples learning to cook together.
Price at time of publish: $18
Full title: Half Baked Harvest Everyday: Recipes for Balanced, Flexible, Feel-Good Meals
Author: Tieghan Gerard
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 288
Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence
Learn-to-cook cookbooks often leave out the sweets, which is a shame: Baking is as worthy a pursuit as sautéing and roasting (and often yields more crave-able results). Bon Appétit alum and YouTube host Claire Saffitz takes a refreshing approach to the art and science of baking, with clear reasons behind the processes and steps. Plus, with recipes like the Babkallah (exactly what you think it is), she knows what makes a good dessert. Giftwrap this cookbook, and your newlywed friends will soon, too.
Price at time of publish: $21
Full title: Dessert Person: Recipes and Guidance for Baking with Confidence
Author: Claire Saffitz
Ebook Available: Yes
Pages: 368
Our Expertise
Rochelle Bilow is a food writer and editor with over a decade of professional experience. Previously a senior associate editor and social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines, Rochelle is also a novelist, a culinary school graduate, and a former professional baker and line cook. In researching this article, she used her experience as a former food magazine editor and took into account newly published cookbooks as well as tried-and-true classics from cooks and culinary instructors of all stripes.
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