Hungry? NPR is here to serve you just a few of our favorite cookbooks from 2025, recommended by our staffers and food writer T. Susan Chang. Recipes here hail from all over the world: St. Lucia, Italy, Pakistan, the American South. Whether you're craving something sweet, savory, spicy — or all of the above in one flavorful meal — we've got you covered.
Still hungry? Head over to Books We Love to browse hundreds of cookbooks hand-picked by NPR over the past 13 years.
By Heart: Recipes to Hold Near and Dear, by Hailee Catalano
I have never eaten as many delicious things in such a short period as my first weeks with By Heart. Hailee Catalano takes us inside her family's Sunday gravies, days at culinary school (where she met her partner), restaurant kitchens — and the tastes, flavors and inspiration she found along the way. It's a cookbook that reads as personally as a diary. The dishes inside are thoroughly comforting, while also driven by seasonal ingredients and a small amount of chef-y ambition. She spans every corner of the menu, so let Catalano do the planning, head to your local farmers market, and invite some friends over for a dinner party! — Lucas Chen, development writer
Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round, by Paul Hollywood
Looking decidedly less gimlet-eyed than he does on Bake Off, Paul Hollywood affably dangles a cherry over an artful drip cake on the cover of his latest. If that intimidates you, never fear. There are many accessible ways into this book, like the delectable Zucchini and Lime Cake, which is oven-ready in about 15 minutes – coincidentally, exactly how long it takes to devour it. There's easy White Chocolate Cranberry and Nut Cookies and a ridiculously buttery Garlic and Onion Focaccia, babkas and custard tarts and meat pies and crumbles. Why wait for the holidays to celebrate when each of these is a party unto itself? — T. Susan Chang, food writer
Dinner: 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes for the Most Important Meal of the Day, by Meera Sodha
With its understated title and plain cover adorned by eight hand-drawn forks, Dinner might escape your notice as you browse the sumptuary delights of the cookbook section. This would be a pity, as Meera Sodha (veteran food columnist for The Guardian) has once again assembled a winning coterie of meatless mains: Indian-inflected crowd-pleasers like Asparagus and Cashew Thoran and Mango and Paneer Curry, but also striking innovations like Oyster Mushroom Larb and the oddly addictive, corn kernel-topped Golden Mile Pizza. Global in scope and thrifty with time, Dinner will have you dog-earing favorites nightly — and then turning the page to try another. — T. Susan Chang, food writer
Kwéyòl / Creole: Recipes, Stories, and Tings from a St. Lucian Chef's Journey, by Nina Compton with Osayi Endolyn
Caribbean cuisine often gets short shrift in the cookbook world, as if there is some unbridgeable gap filled with ackee, saltfish and pigeon peas. If you try one island cookbook, let it be this one from St. Lucian chef Nina Compton of New Orleans restaurant fame. Easily sourced offerings include tender Beef Empanadas with umami-packed salsa verde, or classic shrimp and grits. It's worth finding guava paste just for the sticky, rosemary-flecked glazed ribs, and the Mango Crème Brûlée will make you swoon when Ataúlfos come into season. If you ever get a goat leg, I'll be right over for Compton's world-famous curry. — T. Susan Chang, food writer
Milk Street Backroads Italy: Finding Italy's Forgotten Recipes, by Christopher Kimball and J.M. Hirsch
With one or two titles a year arriving from the Milk Street media empire, you could be forgiven for losing track of what's cooking. Don't sleep on Backroads Italy, though. The most region-specific of the lot, it benefits from the attentions of award-winning food and travel writer J.M. Hirsch. Standards like Meatball Cacciatore and Chicken Saltimbocca come alive with detailed, foolproof instructions. Gnocchi with Saffron, Shrimp and Mussels shines whether you make your own gnocchi or punt. Above all, be sure to try the "erbazzone," or Savory Greens Tart with Pancetta and Parmesan, which had me raving deliriously for weeks. — T. Susan Chang, food writer
Pakistan: Recipes and Stories from Home Kitchens, Restaurants, and Roadside Stands, by Maryam Jillani
If you think of Pakistani food, what comes to mind might be hearty curries or kebabs. But Maryam Jillani is here to tell you, persuasively, that there is so much more. Jillani crisscrosses the country where she was born and raised and shares her understanding of its diverse people and distinctive gastronomy: With influences such as India, Iran, Afghanistan and China, Pakistan is a culinary mosaic. Recipes here include familiar dishes like dal, plus surprises such as Bhapu: Fish Soup with Tamarind and Fresh Herbs and mamtu, steamed dumplings from Hunza. I'm loving the chapli kebabs (that's ground beef with seasonings including pomegranate seeds) and Bhindi Masala: Okra with Tomatoes and Onions. I'm not quite ready for the Paya: Slow-Cooked Goat Trotters – but it's a joy reading about each dish. — Hannah Bloch, senior editor, International Desk
Persiana Easy, by Sabrina Ghayour
The Persiana books by U.K. food writer Sabrina Ghayour, despite their name, extend far beyond the Mesopotamian cradle of civilization without ever abandoning it entirely. Spicy Sausage Tacos feature an un-Mexican jolt of mint in the salsa. Salt and pepper shrimp receive a dusting of — surprise! — za'atar. The sauce for a peanutty, coconutty, pan-fried pork loin features — what? — harissa! These are boisterous flavors married with a confident hand, unafraid to scorch zucchini for bulgur salad or smash roast new potatoes and dredge them in chaat. Also, the book is lusciously photographed — but feasting your eyes is just the start. — T. Susan Chang, food writer
Recipes from the American South, by Michael W. Twitty
This ambitious, expansive cookbook is a foundational survey of Southern food for the 21st century — and a must-have for anyone serious in the kitchen. Culinary historian Michael W. Twitty roams from the Chesapeake Bay to the Ozarks, from the Southern plains to Texas Hill Country, and from the Deep East southward toward the Gulf of Mexico. Through more than 250 deeply researched and lovingly rendered recipes, Twitty reminds us of how the South and its food — from beloved local staples like Gullah-Geechee benne seed wafers to a Sephardic pink rice recipe from the Jewish communities of Montgomery and Atlanta — have been shaped by legions of peoples over hundreds of years: Indigenous, African, European, Caribbean, Latin and Asian. — Anastasia Tsioulcas, correspondent, Culture Desk
Salsa Daddy: A Cookbook: Dip Your Way Into Mexican Cooking, by Rick Martínez
For a long time, I had a pretty limited idea of what salsa was: usually a green or red sauce that comes in a jar, purchased at the grocery store. But Salsa Daddy by James Beard Award-winning author Rick Martínez explodes that idea. His book includes recipes for Chocolate Picante, a dessert salsa made with chocolate and chile de árbol, and La Pepita Roja, a Mayan-inspired salsa made with pumpkin seeds. Salsas are foundational to Mexican cooking, and Salsa Daddy demonstrates how vast the world of salsa really is. Along the way, he offers suggestions for foods to pair each salsa with. Although the cookbook mostly consists of salsa recipes, Martínez includes a few recipes for other classic Mexican dishes as well. — Milton Guevara, producer, Morning Edition and Up First
Umma: A Korean Mom's Kitchen Wisdom and 100 Family Recipes, by Sarah Ahn and Nam Soon Ahn
"Oh. My. God." I said, while biting into the accurately titled Fried Pork Rib with Cumin Seasoning Salt. Potato starch had fused into a crisp, chewy, sesame-flecked carapace around tender, garlicky rib meat. It was the kind of dish you convert to Catholicism for just so you can go to confession afterward. Less sinful but equally good were the mostly Korean riffs on chicken: Honey-Garlic Drumsticks, Soy Sauce-Braised Wings. If you're concerned about the state of your soul (and your lipid panel), there are also hordes of vinegary pickles and banchan. Personal, specific and highly flavorful, Umma is an unusual, refreshing addition to America's Test Kitchen's roster of competent how-to books. — T. Susan Chang, food writer
This is just a fraction of the 380+ titles we included in Books We Love this year. Click here to check out this year's titles, or browse nearly 4,000 books from the last 13 years.
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