The Best Cookbooks of 2024 (So Far)

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One of the compelling (if elusive) qualities of cookbooks is that they don’t all have the same intention. Aside, of course, from providing clear recipes you can make at home. Otherwise, the genre is wide-open, and every cookbook lover is drawn to different approaches.

Cookbooks are often travelogues—true cultural deep dives full of reportage. Some have the intimacy of the finest family memoirs. And then there is the food. Some recipes are presented with minimal fuss or explanation—not out of laziness but because the author trusts that the reader knows their way around a kitchen—while others, in the tradition of Cook’s Illustrated, are thorough and detailed, aimed at the kind of cook who likes to be led step-by-step through a dish (not to mention the science and experimentation behind it). Some books are illustrated, giving them an even more personal touch; others sparkle with bold photography. The medium is a rich playground for art directors who bring their creative talents to the fore.

So far, there’s a bumper crop of new titles in 2024, from Le Sud, a sumptuous foray into the cuisine of southern France, to Islas, Von Diaz’s wondrous exploration of food cultures from various islands, from Puerto Rico to Guam. Grand masters such as Joan Nathan and José Andrés have inviting new offerings, and there is endless fun to be had in new titles by Jess Damuck and Dan Pashman. In these books, and others, you’ll learn a good deal more about the world at large and come away with recipes that are as nourishing as they are delicious.

Watch this space for updates—we’ll be updating our list as the year continues.

Koreaworld: A Cookbook

In their follow-up to 2016’s stellar Koreatown, Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard cover the revolution of Korean cuisine in America. Accompanied by Alex Lau’s vivid photography, the recipes come from chefs and home cooks across the country. Koreaworld is a dizzying visual treat sure to make your mouth water. Yes, the Kim Jong Grillin’ Pickled Mango and Kimchi Hot Dog are incredible, and yes, the Oi Muchim sweet-and-sour pickled cucumbers (with 7-Up!) are addictive. But beyond a slew of intriguing dishes, it’s the stories that give this volume its emotional lift and depth.

Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking―125 Recipes from the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Ocean Islands

Can a cookbook open your mind and spirit to cultures you may not have authentically appreciated, yet still make you want to try every recipe it offers? Von Diaz’s latest achieves just that, as she writes about not just one but several island cuisines and cultures, including those of Puerto Rico, Madagascar, Guam, and Vanuatu. Islas is a mash-up of cultures both distinct and connected, and this book, thoughtfully written with approachable, clear-to-follow recipes, is a delight and wonder. Seriously, I’ve stoped earmarking pages. I’ve never been inclined to Julie & Julia a book until now. I just want to make everything. Irresistible.

Pizza Night: Deliciously Doable Recipes for Pizza and Salad

For close to two decades, Alexandra Stafford has been a fixture in the food blogosphere, offering us beautifully photographed, approachable recipes that are a cut above. Devoted to making pizza at home, Stafford’s second cookbook continues to showcase her knack for presenting us with unpretentious food that’s surprising, comforting, and fun. The recipes are carefully considered, nothing fussy. Just a trove of invention and enjoyment for anyone with a hankering for pizza.

Le Sud: Recipes from Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur

If you can’t be in the South of France—specifically Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur—this book is the next best thing. Illustrated with sensual photographs of the good, simple life, it may just make your heart break with envy. But then you start cooking Rebekah Peppler’s food and you feel as if you can capture the region’s essence at home. Her celery-and-fennel salad has already become a staple in my home, and my copy of this lovely book has more than a dozen Post-it notes marking the recipes I look forward to making during the rest of the year and beyond.

Health Nut: A Feel-Good Cookbook

Who says health food can’t taste good? “I am not a nutritionist,” writes Jess Damuck. “I am not a wellness influencer. I am just a classically trained chef who has a nostalgia for the sticky shelved health food stores that are becoming increasingly hard to find.” She’s also a hell of a writer, smart, engaging, with a winning sense of humor. This is a health-conscious cookbook made for people who love to cook. From the asparagus, pea, and crispy leek frittata to the planet-bliss mesclun salad with fried tofu croutons, these dishes aren’t the least bit intimidating. Damuck is ridiculously good company, and this hospitable book makes eating healthy something to aspire to.

Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon

From the master chef and social activist José Andrés comes a book devoted to his longtime Washington, D.C., restaurant Zaytinya, steeped in the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. From the lemony greens salad to the shawarma spice roast chicken to Turkish coffee chocolate cake, these lush recipes can be made effectively at home. Looking for a Mother’s Day gift? This should top your list. And beyond the holiday, it has a rightful place on any self-respecting home cook’s shelf.

Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People

In the 1970s and 1980s, Marcella Hazan was to Italian cookbooks what Julia Child was to French cuisine: the reigning goddess of delight. Also discipline. There is no doubt that Marcella, rigorous and unyielding in her spartan approach, would recoil at Dan Pashman’s modern mash-up of Italian cuisine. But everyone has their lane, and Pashman, inventor of new, fantastic shapes of pasta, earns his place as a remix artist. He’s no hack but rather a cook with an expansive, liberal sense of what can be done in the kitchen. This book surprises and delivers, time and again. It’s ideal for family cooking (pasta pizza, anyone?) or for anyone with a pulse, a sense of creativity, and an appetite.

My Life in Recipes: Food, Family, and Memories

From the OG of Jewish-cookbook authors comes this gorgeous remembrance from Joan Nathan, replete with delicious recipes, stories, and evocation of a life in the kitchen. In 1986, Nathan interviewed M.F.K. Fisher, regarded as the greatest of all food writers, for The Washington Post. An excerpt of the original article, along with Nathan’s memories of her time with Fisher, gives us this: “If you have a glass of water and a crust of bread with somebody and you really share it,” Fisher said, “it is much more than just bread and water. I really believe that.” Dayenu. Food, family, belonging, and love suffuse this wonderful volume.

The Food of Southern Thailand

The Food of Southern Thailand is where cultural reportage, evocative photography, precise recipe making, and overall design combine into something memorable. Austin Bush’s deep dive into the people and culture of southern Thailand would be attractive enough as a piece of writing. Add a thorough introduction to its cuisine and this elegant, hefty book is an impressive accomplishment—a must for anyone interested in Thai cooking.

The Farm Table

Don’t blame us for being leery of another farm-to-table book; the term, regrettably, has become a cliché. However, the notion behind it remains a true and essential approach to cooking. In this handsomely designed book, Julius Roberts does not disappoint. Organized by seasons—again, perhaps a rote concept but one that still makes too much sense to resist—The Farm Table gives us luscious and inspiring variations of home cooking: Puy lentils with spinach and pancetta, a ratatouille galette with anchovy and ricotta, and rhubarb-and-custard tartlets that are to die for. Loveliness, from soup to nuts.

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