The Greatest Hits: Our Top Vegan Cookbook Picks
There are so many creative ways to cook vegan, and sometimes, all you need is a good cookbook to boost your skills to the next level. Vegan favorites include everything from meatless burgers, soups, and pasta to salads, flatbreads, and decadent desserts. Depending on your interests, the following vegan cookbooks will show you how to explore compassionate eating so that you can confidently create whatever your stomach desires.
The cookbooks on this list are some of our very favorites. We believe that they’ve stood the test of time and will be useful to you for years to come:
BOSH!: Simple Recipes. Amazing Food. All Plants.
We’ve been singing the praises of BOSH! for a while now, and with good reason. The vegan recipe video site has millions of viewers, and now the authors can brag that it is being touted as the fastest-selling cookbook of 2018 (including non-vegan cookbooks!) Featuring recipes for breakfasts, party appetizers, dinners, desserts, and cocktails, you’ll want to grab your copy before it sells out.
Afro-Vegan: Farm-Fresh African, Caribbean, and Southern Flavors Remixed
Bryant Terry
Featuring more than 100 inspired, animal-friendly recipes, celebrity chef Bryant Terry’s book will take you on a delectable journey with selections like Cocoa Spice Cake With Crystallized Ginger, and Coconut-Chocolate Ganache (yes, please). Also, check out his book Vegan Soul Kitchen.
American Vegan Kitchen
Tamasin Noyes
This classic vegan cookbook includes jaw-dropping recipes like Around-the-Clock Coffee Cake, Beer-Battered Onion Rings, Darngood Donut Bites, Cajun Pot Pie, Fork-and-Knife Reubens, Spicy Balsamic Maple Wingz, and many more. Yum.
Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans
Natalie Slater
We adore how chef Natalie Slater gets creative with mix-and-match recipes, like the Grilled Mac ‘n’ Cheez Sandwich, Taco Lasagna, Chick-O Cheesecake, and Shepherd’s Pie Pizza.
Betty Goes Vegan: 500 Classic Recipes for the Modern Family
Dan and Annie Shannon
Re-imagine classic dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. This Betty Crocker–inspired book includes recipes for omelets, stews, casseroles, brownies, and more.
But I Could Never Go Vegan!
Kristy Turner
Be tempted by Tempeh Bacon Mac ‘n’ Cheese with Pecan Parmesan, Tofu Chèvre, Citrus-Herb Roasted Beets with Macadamia Ricotta, and Mushroom Cheddar Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. This book has you covered with recipes for every meal of the day, plus vegan condiments, desserts, and more.
Chloe’s Kitchen
Chloe Coscarelli
One of our favorite vegan chefs, Coscarelli has been busy revolutionizing vegan eating for some time now through her multiple cookbooks. You’ll know that this one is a classic as soon as you start browsing through the healthful recipes that touch on Chinese, Indian, Italian, and Mexican cuisines, plus so much more.
The Compassionate Cook Cookbook
Ingrid Newkirk
Written by the president of PETA, this definitive guide to low-fat, cholesterol-free, and animal-friendly eating will help you look—and feel—great.
Crossroads
Tal Ronnen
Ronnen is all about reinventing vegan eating. At his Los Angeles restaurant, Crossroads, he and his executive chef, J. Scot Jones, turn seasonal vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains into sophisticated Mediterranean fare. Think warm bowls of tomato-sauced pappardelle, plates of spicy carrot salad, and crunchy flatbreads piled high with roasted vegetables. In Crossroads, Ronnen teaches readers how to make his recipes and proves that the flavors we crave are easily replicated in plant-based dishes.
The Engine 2 Cookbook
Rip and Jane Esselstyn
Bring the plant-based Engine 2 program into your kitchen with this companion to the original program. It all started when some Texas firefighters decided to eat vegan, and from there, it became a full-blown phenomenon. This book includes 130 recipes to help readers lose pounds, lower their cholesterol, and improve their overall health.
Forks Over Knives – The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year
Del Sroufe
The documentary Forks Over Knives changed many peoples’ minds about eating vegan, and this cookbook will do the same.
The Friendly Vegan Cookbook
Michelle Cehn and Toni Okamoto
This cookbook is a meal-planning selection that’s full of simple, scrumptious plant-based recipes. This $5 guide will show you how to go to the grocery store with $25 in your pocket and get ingredients to create 21 meals. That’s only $1.20 per meal!
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples
Miyoko Schinner
When you’re in the mood for vegan meats and cheeses, make them yourself. Miyoko shows readers how DIY staples—from “fish” sauce and shaved “Parmesan” to freshly made tofu—help you save money and reduce waste.
Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week
Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Owner of popular vegan restaurant Modern Love, Moskowitz knocked it out of the park when she released this absolutely must-have vegan cookbook. With recipes like Sweet Potato Red Curry with Rice and Purple Kale, Bistro Beet Burgers, and Summer Seitan Sauté with Cilantro and Lime, you can understand why it became a classic. Also, check out The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook: Entertaining for Absolutely Every Occasion and Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook.
Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking
Dana Shultz
Shultz began her Minimalist Baker blog in 2012 to share her passion for simple cooking and quickly gained a devoted worldwide following. You could buy this book for the food photography alone and be happy, but luckily, it also has 101 vibrant and simple plant-based recipes that are mostly gluten-free.
Oh She Glows Every Day: Quick and Simply Satisfying Plant-Based Recipes
Angela Liddon
This collection of quick and easy plant-based recipes is a follow-up to The Oh She Glows Cookbook, which was a New York Times bestseller.
PETA’s Vegan College Cookbook
PETA, With Marta Holmberg and Starza Kolman
Originally released in 2009, this famous college cookbook was re-released with 40 new recipes, like the Walking Taco and the Chocolate Chip Hug in a Mug. It’s written in a clever, upbeat style, and all the faves are still included, like the Butt Ugly Sticky Buns, Frozen Frat Balls, Pancake in a Mug, and many more. And the best part is that the most complicated kitchenware you’ll ever need is a microwave!
Raw Food Art: Four Seasons of Plant-Powered Goodness
Aleksandra Winters
Inspired by her Polish heritage, her travels around the world, and her love for art, Winters takes you back to the basics of cooking in Raw Food Art. This brilliantly bold and colorful cookbook combines stunningly vibrant photography, natural and homegrown ingredients, and an eclectic approach to wellness that will replenish your mind, soul, and body. It’s your must-have guide to a raw plant-based lifestyle.
Skinny Bitch Bakery
Kim Barnouin
Bring out your inner baker with Skinny Bitch Bakery—it includes 80 fully tested recipes accompanied by full-color photographs. Barnouin’s fun, no-nonsense voice and vast expertise sparkle on every page.
Veganize It!
Robin Robertson
This is the ultimate DIY pantry book: It includes recipes for vegan staples, plus ideas for using them as building blocks in both new and classic recipes. Sample bánh mì, “sausage” biscuits, Meaty-Cheesy Pizza, milkshakes, jambalaya—even jerky and lemon meringue pie. With more than 150 recipes and 50 color photos, this will become an indispensable cookbook for vegans—and everyone else who enjoys animal-free food.
Vegan Richa’s Everyday Kitchen: Epic Anytime Recipes With a World of Flavor
Richa Hingle
We’re huge fans of the Vegan Richa cooking blog, so this cookbook was great news to us. Serious “wow factor” recipes include One-Pot Peanut Butter Noodles, Green Curry Fried Rice, Crispy Kung Pao Cauliflower, Chickpea Jackfruit Burgers, and so many more.
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