When so much of modern living forces us to peer down at a screen, there’s a lot to be said for a cookbook. It won’t blast you with blue light or exacerbate your tech neck; it won’t inundate you with notifications or unskippable ads. If you let it, it will feed you and whomever you choose, and the best ones do so with vibrant photography, clear instructions and an extra serving of whimsy.
We want to help you find those best ones, so members of our Food and Cooking staff read and cooked from dozens of cookbooks published this year. Below are 16 titles that deserve to be toted home from your favorite bookstore — gifts, if you’re feeling generous — to be earmarked, sauce-splattered and used again and again.
‘AfriCali: Recipes From My Jikoni’
Kiano Moju’s debut cookbook, “AfriCali” (Simon Element), beams with the generosity of someone who loves cooking for others and the confidence of a multicultural cook who knows how to make just a few ingredients taste phenomenal. That same confidence makes her a comforting guide through the well-spiced, lusciously sauced recipes, which celebrate a Californian approach to modern African cooking. With each recipe, I learned something new or saw something familiar in a different light. Have you ever braised short ribs with berbere, the Ethiopian spice blend? Or infused ghee, the clarified butter, with green cardamom pods and dried oregano? It’ll change your life. ERIC KIM
‘Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store’
Paola Velez, a pastry chef and Milk Bar veteran, has put together a vibrant and straight-up fun cookbook featuring desserts influenced by the Afro-Caribbean cuisines of her Bronx childhood. “Bodega Bakes” (Union Square & Co.) is packed with clever mash-ups like plantain sticky buns, sorrel snickerdoodles, guava lemon bars and coquito cheesecake, a big hit in an office of cooking editors. With its eye-popping colors and design, Ms. Velez’s book might look like yet another pretty edition bound for the coffee table. But her recipes are clear and concise, and they work, making it a great find for bakers of any level. MARGAUX LASKEY
‘Breaking Bao: 88 Bakes and Snacks From Asia and Beyond’
Clarice Lam’s “Breaking Bao” (Chronicle Books) is the rare cookbook that stops you in your tracks. Visually arresting, thoughtfully researched, and both whimsical and grounded in serious baking expertise — Ms. Lam has passed through the kitchens of Thomas Keller and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and operated her own bakery — this cookbook shows off her many talents. She celebrates Asian ingredients (and her heritage) by exploring their potential in unexpected, fanciful recipes (mostly desserts) written with sparkling clarity. ALEXA WEIBEL
‘Chinese Enough: Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries and More’
The perfect gift for the cook looking for weeknight dinner inspiration, Kristina Cho’s second cookbook, “Chinese Enough” (Artisan), is filled with quick, flavorful Chinese American recipes. Here, Ms. Cho drew from family favorites and dishes from her childhood in Cleveland. The result is packed with smart techniques, like using miso paste in pork meatballs for moisture and savoriness, as well as recipe pairings that help a reader pull together easy meals. SARA BONISTEEL
‘Crumbs: Cookies and Sweets From Around the World’
For anyone enamored with the possibilities of flour, sugar and fat, “Crumbs” (Phaidon), by Ben Mims would make a sweet gift. In his third book, Mr. Mims, a self-described “biggest, and proudest, cookie nerd in history” who’s professionally pursued sweets in the test kitchens of Saveur, the Food Network and the Los Angeles Times, unearths and explores cookie recipes and origins from more than 100 countries, organized by region. But “Crumbs” is not simply an encyclopedic guide to cookies — it’s a celebration of making sweet treats for others. ALEXA WEIBEL
‘Đi Ăn: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae’
Unlike roughly 170 million Americans, I am not on TikTok, so I was admittedly unfamiliar with the Los Angeles chef Tuệ Nguyễn, a.k.a. TwayDaBae, a star on the platform. I do, however, have eyeballs and taste buds, so I was charmed by her playfully designed debut, “Đi Ăn” (Simon Element), and dazzled by its recipes. I’ve never been more popular than the night I brought her chả giò to a friend’s, having easily assembled them at home to fry fresh. The book devotes sections to Vietnamese classics, her “internet famous” recipes and dishes from her pop-ups. At a time when viral fame seems at once ubiquitous and fleeting, it isn’t easy to find a book that appeals to both superfans and TikTok skeptics. “Đi Ăn” does. TANYA SICHYNSKY
‘Flavorama: A Guide to Unlocking the Art and Science of Flavor’
If you want to figure out how to make the ginger in your dish hotter or make brown butter more delicious, “Flavorama” (Harvest) is your book. Arielle Johnson, a food chemist who found her way into the Noma kitchen in Copenhagen and eventually built the restaurant’s fermentation lab, takes a brainy dive into manipulating molecules to create deliciousness, but the book is written in such an engaging, useful way that you’re not sad about the science. Get pleasantly lost in her treatise on smell receptors, or just experiment with smell by making a mug of citrus peel dashi. KIM SEVERSON
‘Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking’
If you, like me, have wanted to learn more about the world of Korean naturally fermented soybean pastes, Mingoo Kang’s “Jang” (Artisan) feels like an outstretched hand, inviting you to dive into the history and production of gochujang, doenjang and ganjang, and then use them to add complexity to anything you cook. Mr. Kang’s play on cacio e pepe, made with mild, earthy ssamjang, highlights the paste while honoring the flavors of the Italian dish, creating a satisfying, comforting pasta with depth. KORSHA WILSON
‘Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen: A Cookbook’
The chef Nok Suntaranon’s “Kalaya’s Southern Thai Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter), written with Natalie Jesionka, looks like a modern cookbook, replete with bright photos and tidy recipes, but it’s more a manual for life. Ms. Suntaranon imparts all she learned from her mother, for whom she named her cookbook and her beloved restaurant in Philadelphia, with open admiration (and without the self-conscious gloss of social media). In the process, she shows us how to make the spicy, tangy, coconut-forward dishes of Southern Thailand with unapologetic mounds of fiery chiles. Despite the recipes’ heat, this book is a balm. GENEVIEVE KO
‘Koreaworld: A Cookbook’
From the team that created the smash hit “Koreatown” comes “Koreaworld” (Clarkson Potter). Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard expanded their research from America’s Koreatowns to Korea itself, and then back to home kitchens in the United States, where they capture modern Korean cooking among the diaspora. Along the way, they gathered recipes like cabbage-persimmon kimchi from a Buddhist monastery and tteokgalbi, a thick, savory-sweet Korean hamburger from the streets of Seoul. Alex Lau’s documentary-style photography sets a new standard for cookbooks, and the gochugaru caramel corn will change you. KIM SEVERSON
‘Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips and Techniques’
Whether a flaky galette or a definitive cashew queso as gooey as any chip-dipper could want, you’ll find everything you need to know about plant-based cooking in Joe Yonan’s “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press). Mr. Yonan’s more than 300 thorough recipes help readers create a vegan pantry (simple spreadable butter, fluffy pumpkinseed ricotta, basic melty cheese) that can be used throughout the book in place of their expensive store-bought counterparts. With its exuberant mix of weekend project cooking (Brazilian feijoada) and easy weeknight meals (quinoa with corn, eggplant and pistachios), this is a foundational book to use on repeat. MELISSA CLARK
‘Second Generation: Hungarian and Jewish Classics Reimagined for the Modern Table’
Most restaurant cookbooks focus on the restaurant, but “Second Generation” (Harvest) from Jeremy Salamon is a story of grandmothers: Agi, who was born in Budapest, but lived out her days in Boca Raton, Fla.; and Arlene, who grew up in the Bronx. Both fed his heart, his belly and his curiosity. What makes the food at Agi’s Counter, his beloved all-day destination in Brooklyn — its singular flavor language — is the same thing that makes this cookbook irresistible. Mr. Salamon unspools the story of each recipe and how it was shaped by his Hungarian, Jewish and Southern upbringing. Central European food is hardly anyone’s idea of trendy cuisine, but this is something better: timeless. JULIA MOSKIN
‘Sift: The Elements of Great Baking’
Whether you’re a novice baker or a budding expert, you’ll find value in “Sift” (Clarkson Potter), from the pastry chef and writer Nicola Lamb. She dedicates one-third of her breezy tome to the science of baking, the necessary equipment and the essential role of its most common ingredients for those who love the details. But if you’d rather skip right to procrastibaking, Ms. Lamb offers a range of choices, from bakes that take an afternoon to those that will fold-and-turn over a weekend. But the best part of “Sift” is its thoughtfulness: When my grocery delivery service forgot the dried coconut for a tart, I was relieved to find a note pointing me to an alternative tart shell in another section. Afternoon saved. NIKITA RICHARDSON
‘The Chinese Way: Classic Techniques, Fresh Flavor’
Steam, fry, boil, braise, sauce, infuse, pickle, wrap: Those techniques anchor classic and modern Chinese cooking, and they’re the basis for the chapters in Betty Liu’s second cookbook, “The Chinese Way” (Voracious). The book is full of useful graphics (approximate steaming times for some common vegetables!), helpful shopping and substitution notes and precious illustrations (how to fold bao!) “My serving sizes are simply a guide,” Ms. Liu writes, which she attributes to family-style eating — the Chinese way. I found that to be especially true when I gobbled up one of her recipes on my own in a single sitting. TANYA SICHYNSKY
‘Wafu Cooking: Everyday Recipes With Japanese Style’
The world of Sonoko Sakai’s kitchen is as relaxed as the steady prose in “Wafu Cooking” (Knopf), a weeknight cooking Bible. This aligns with the book’s warm invitation to cook everything — pasta, roast chicken, apple pie — in the Japanese style: to “wafu” your cooking. Fans of Japanese flavors will find unbridled permission to approach cooking as cultural exchange. See what a little miso does to your Bolognese, or how dashi, soy sauce and sake can bolster your braised white beans. Pay attention to Ms. Sakai’s history lessons (to understand the world better) as well as her many cooking secrets (to live a more delicious life). ERIC KIM
‘What Goes With What: 100 Recipes, 20 Charts, Endless Possibilities’
Julia Turshen and I have never met, but in her newest cookbook, her voice shines through like a long-trusted friend, her advice falling on you stunningly and effortlessly. In between sections dedicated to straightforward salads, shockingly easy baked goods and comforting mains, she shares stories of queerness through cooking, conversations with her mother about our bodies and experiences from her brief stint as a farmer. While “What Goes With What” (Flatiron Books) could easily be mistaken for a beginner’s cookbook, Ms. Turshen reminds us that basic doesn’t equate to boring, and that there’s a joyful complexity that can be derived from simplicity. ELEANORE PARK
Books From New York Times Staff and Contributors
“Priya’s Kitchen Adventures: A Cookbook for Kids” (Harvest) by Priya Krishna
“Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian American Diaspora” (W.W. Norton) by Khushbu Shah
“Cooking in Real Life: Delicious & Doable Recipes for Every Day” (Simon Element) by Lidey Heuck
“Cook Simply, Live Fully: Flexible, Flavorful Recipes for Any Mood” (Harper) by Yasmin Fahr
“Islas: A Celebration of Tropical Cooking” (Chronicle Books) by Von Diaz
“Italian Snacking: Sweet and Savory Recipes for Every Hour of the Day” (Union Square & Co.) by Anna Francese Gass
“Le Sud: Recipes From Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur” (Chronicle Books) by Rebekah Peppler
“My Life in Recipes: Food, Family and Memories” (Knopf) by Joan Nathan
“Ottolenghi Comfort: A Cookbook” (Ten Speed Press) by Yotam Ottolenghi with Helen Goh
“Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes” (Clarkson Potter) by Carolina Gelen
How We Evaluated These Books
New York Times Food and Cooking staff members reviewed all the books we considered this year. Each book was read cover-to-cover, then staffers cooked at least two recipes at home. They were asked to assess how easy it was to find ingredients and to cook the recipes exactly as written, determining not only whether the recipes worked but also whether they lived up to expectation.
Each tester was asked to consider the following: Are the recipes — and the book itself — formatted in a way that makes cooking easy and intuitive? Does this book add to the conversation around a particular technique or cuisine? Is the prose enjoyable? Did you learn something? And most important, did the recipes work and were they delicious? The answers informed which books landed on this list.
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