11 Favorite Vegetarian Cookbooks

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I have the best job in the world—this food blogging gig—but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I love the creative aspects that I get to share with you all every week and the more analytical, technical stuff that goes on behind the scenes. However! Juggling taxes on top of the usual grocery shopping, recipe testing and kitchen cleaning, photo editing, writing, bookkeeping, web design, contract negotiations and meetings… has been a bit much this week. Wine me, please.

I thought I’d share a collection of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks since I’m often asked for cookbook recommendations. These are the cookbooks that keep me inspired; the books I reach for again and again. About half are strictly vegetarian, several are vegan and a few feature some meaty recipes in between their (mostly) meatless pages. Basically, these are the cookbooks that this vegetarian finds most helpful. What are yours?!

You’ll find brief notes on why I like each book below, as well as links to purchase them on Amazon. (Head’s up, those links are affiliate links, so thank you for funding my future cookbook purchases!) I’ll probably have to add more as time goes by, since a few of my favorite bloggers (Erin, Jeanine, Laura) are coming out with new cookbooks that I can’t wait to see.

Also: I made a cookbook!

1) The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

by America’s Test Kitchen

Exactly what it sounds like. You can probably find any meatless recipe that comes to mind in this book. This book is brand new, but it has already become my most referenced cookbook. The resident geniuses at ATK test each recipe every which way so you’re pretty much guaranteed a solid outcome.

2) The Vegetarian Flavor Bible

by Karen Page

This is not a cookbook. It’s a thesaurus of flavors that play nicely with one another. Any time I’m wondering what to make with, say, mango or eggplant, I flip open this book. Skimming through the list of complementary flavors always gets my wheels turning!

3) The Fresh & Green Table

by Susie Middleton

Classic, comforting, hearty, vegetable-driven recipes. The author is a stellar recipe writer and all of the recipes I’ve tried have turned out beautifully. A few of the recipes contain meat as an accent, but the vast majority are vegetarian.

4) Super Natural Every Day

by Heidi Swanson

This is a beautiful collection of everyday, whole-foods focused vegetarian recipes from Heidi Swanson. Bet you can tell they were made in San Francisco!

5) The Oh She Glows Cookbook

by Angela Liddon

This best-selling vegan cookbook from Angela of Oh She Glows offers over 100 delicious and approachable recipes from breakfast through dessert. I honestly don’t miss the cheese in this cookbook!

6) The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

by Deb Perelman

You probably know Deb. She’s been sharing recipes and making us giggle since 2006. This is her first cookbook (she’s working on her second now) and it’s full of creative recipes that I want to eat! It’s not a vegetarian cookbook, but her vegetarian mains section is just as long as the meaty counterpart.

7) Cafe Flora Cookbook

by Catherine Geier and Carol Brown

Cafe Flora is an inspiring vegetarian restaurant in Seattle and this is their cookbook. It’s overflowing with brilliant recipes. I only wish they offered more photos of them!

8) Brassicas

by Laura B. Russell

This is a fun cookbook offering 80 recipes featuring brassicas, which is the fancy name for kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and their cousins. I’m so glad those mega-healthy, mega-tasty vegetables have been getting the attention they deserve lately. Vegetables are the focus in this book, although a few of the recipes call for meat as an accent.

9) Whole-Grain Mornings

by Megan Gordon

In this book, Megan of A Sweet Spoonful offers about 80 seasonal grain breakfast recipes for all four seasons. All of the recipes feature whole grains, which means they’ll keep you fueled for hours. (A few of the recipes include bacon, but they’re almost all vegetarian.)

10) Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook

by Thug Kitchen

Warning: do not buy this book if you’re offending by profanity. This is a no-nonsense, no-excuses vegan cookbook full of simple recipes that I really want to eat. It’s been topping the best seller charts, too, which must mean that plant-based recipes are hitting the mainstream. Right?

11) Isa Does It

by Isa Chandra

Isa is famous for her vegan cookbooks. Her latest offers tons of inspiring recipes and vibrant photographs to go along with them. This book makes cashew-based pasta sauces look sooo good.

More resources you might appreciate: You can shop my essential kitchen equipment here and check out my guide to the fruit and vegetable tools you actually need here. Don’t forget to follow us on Pinterest for a steady stream of recipe inspiration!

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