11 Cookbooks We Can’t Wait to Break Out This Fall

Your options for cookbooks this fall are many and varied—and perhaps the most exciting thing about them is that most stray from what we think of as traditional cookbooks. They’re filled with delicious recipes and inspiring food photography, yes, but they’re also filled with personal essays, interviews, community collaborations, and a sense of deep gratitude for everything that feeds us.

No Meat Required: The Cultural History and Culinary Future of Plant-Based Eating by Alicia Kennedy (August 15; Beacon Press)

Though not a traditional cookbook in any sense of the word, everyone who loves to cook is excited about No Meat Required, food writer Alicia Kennedy’s contribution to the conversation about plant-based eating. In her signature evocative and thoughtful prose, Kennedy asks the reader to join her in questioning meat’s role in our culture: “This is a book about claiming biodiversity and rebuilding the food system in a way that supports culture, tradition, and gastronomy. This is a book about what it means to remove meat from the center of our plates: If we do that, what do we find?”

Company: The Radically Casual Art of Cooking for Others by Amy Thielen (August 29; W.W. Norton & Company)

Though the concept of feeding a group of six, 12, or perhaps even 20 can spark anxiety in the heart of even the most confident home cook, Amy Thielen (James Beard Award winner and veteran party thrower) and her new book will empower you to do just that—casually! Organized by the type of gathering (“Saturday Night,” “Holiday,” “Perennial Parties,” and “Casual Walkabouts”), along with how many people you might have at each, this book contains 20 full menus with a total of 125 recipes. Thielen’s humor and candor, along with the reminiscent-of-a-family-album photography, make the book approachable and fun.

The World Central Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope by José Andrés and World Central Kitchen (September 12; Clarkson Potter)

World Central Kitchen, founded by Chef José Andrés, is a nonprofit that that provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. Its first cookbook is structured around the organization’s core values, with chapter titles such as “Urgency,” “Empathy,” “Resilience,” and “Joy.” Filled with recipes, stories, and photographs from communities all around the world, the collection both inspires and educates. Of particular note is the step-by-step section guiding the home cook on the “art and science” to scaling a recipe—it’s practical and thorough, and makes the idea of feeding everyone feel doable.

Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking by Emiko Davies (September 12; Smith Street Books)

Gohan is Australian-Japanese food writer, photographer, and cookbook author Emiko Davies’s sixth book, but her first about Japanese cuisine. Gohan—meaning “rice” as well as “family meal”—focuses on the simple nature of Japanese home cooking, taking the reader back to Davies’s childhood and highlighting family favorites and comfort meals. “Cold Somen Noodles with Cucumber and Ginger,” hand-rolled sushi, “Grilled Mochi and Cheese,” and a collection of vegetable dishes are just some of the mouth-watering options in this ode to everyday Japanese cooking.

For the Culture: Phenomenal Black Women & Femmes in Food by Klancy Miller (September 19; Harvest)

This gorgeous collection is a love letter to, and in celebration of, Black women and femmes in food and wine. The spirit of the cookbook is collective, and that community celebration is woven into every page. “In many ways, making this book has been one big group project,” writes Klancy Miller, chef, writer, and founder of For the Culture magazine, in her introduction. Featuring 66 interviews, 47 recipes from interviewees, and five essays honoring culinary matriarchs through the decades, For the Culture is one of the rare books to exclusively highlight Black women and femmes in food, wine, and hospitality.

Ăn Chưa?: Simple Vietnamese Recipes That Taste Like Home by Julie Mai Trần (October 3; Page Street Publishing)

Julie Mai Trần titled her first cookbook Ăn Chưa? because the phrase—a common greeting meaning “Did you eat yet?” in Vietnamese—is what her parents always ask her when she arrives home, making her feel loved. Trần is a first-generation Vietnamese Chinese American and the creator of Share My Roots, a food blog where she shares Vietnamese recipes and family stories. Those familiar with her work will be excited to finally hold her recipes in their hands, and those who haven’t yet delved into her blog will delight in Trần’s straightforward instructions and sincere stories.

My Everyday Lagos: Nigerian Cooking at Home and in the Diaspora by Yewande Komolafe (October 24; Ten Speed Press)

Writer, recipe developer, and food stylist Yewande Komolafe (well-known for her New York Times feature “10 Essential Nigerian Recipes”) offers a guide to understanding and cooking Nigerian food with this heartfelt collection. Filled with bright photographs, a Yorùbá glossary, clear instructions, comprehensive guides, and deep meditations, My Everyday Lagos includes 75 recipes that cover a full week of Lagos’s culinary life. Komolafe writes in the introduction: “I offer my exploration of Nigerian cuisine in these pages so that you may experience how we eat, why we eat what we eat, and what our food contributes to humanity’s palate.”

The Korean Cookbook by Junghyun (JP) Park and Jungyoon Choi (October 25; Phaidon)

This stunning and comprehensive collection contains 350 authentic Korean recipes written by two-Michelin-starred chef Junghyun (JP) Park and globally renowned expert on Korean food Jungyoon Choi. The co-authors introduce readers to the delicious and joyful world of Korean cuisine known as hansik through three main sections: “Fermentation,” “Bap (cooked rice),” and “Banchan (dishes to accompany rice)”; there is also a section on “Husik” (literally “after-meal,” or dessert). A highlight of the book is the section on master artisans, featuring recipes and stories from “the current masters of each important category of food that makes up the Korean table.”

Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook by Sohla El-Waylly (October 31; Knopf)

For those familiar with Sohla El-Waylly—chef, writer, video host and producer, and community advocate—this book is exactly what you’d expect it to be: clear, funny, smart, and necessary. There are more than 200 recipes, with equal focus on savory and sweet dishes, but even more exciting is the depth of technical knowledge packed into its pages. Each chapter is set up like a culinary lesson, ensuring you don’t just memorize the recipes but rather learn the tools that will allow you to create great food in your kitchen for the rest of your life.

Made Here by Send Chinatown Love (November 3; Send Chinatown Love)

Made Here is created by Send Chinatown Love, a volunteer group originally formed in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on New York City’s Asian-owned businesses. A community endeavor, the book features recipes, photos, and in-depth stories from more than 40 restaurants and 18+ cuisines from 24 neighborhoods. As practical as it is sentimental, the collection includes a “Where to Buy Your Ingredients” section that lists more than 30 small businesses in NYC that stock “otherwise hard-to-find ingredients,” and a note that these kinds of small businesses are all over the country and deserve our support.

Snacking Bakes: Simple Recipes for Cookies, Bars, Brownies, Cakes, and More by Yossy Arefi (November 7; Clarkson Potter)

If you’re just looking for desserts, this book is the one for you. Yossy Arefi, food photographer, food stylist, and baker, is back with her third book dedicated to the sweet life. Following her first, Sweeter off the Vine, focused on fruit desserts, and her second, Snacking Cakes, all about—you guessed it!—cakes, Arefi now guides us through 60 “accessible, anytime recipes” for cookies, bars, brownies, and (more!) cakes, almost all of which only require one hour, one bowl, and the easiest-to-find ingredients.