The 15 Best New Cookbooks Of 2026 (So Far)

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What makes a great cookbook? The answer will vary from person to person. For some, a cookbook is a compendium of great recipes, which tells you what to make, how to make it, and how long it will take. For others, cookbooks are a glimpse into a cook's world and personal history, where the food is almost secondary to the person making it.

Truly great cookbooks, though, balance the two effortlessly, while also hitting the reader with knockout pictures of gorgeous food designed to get their tastebuds warmed up. That's precisely what so many of the best books that came out (or are coming out) in 2026 do. Like some of 2025's best-selling cookbooks, the texts that stood out to us most this year have taught readers how to think of food in different ways while also shining a light on the individual behind the recipes in front of them. They've also highlighted cuisines that, up until this point, may not have been given the spotlight enough in the food world — and have tried to change that. Sit back, and check out your next cookbook purchases. Prices may vary.

"Soomaliya" is a book not just about Somali recipes, but also about the history of Somali cuisine. Written by Ifrah F. Ahmed, a writer and chef born in Somalia and now based in Brooklyn, the book explores how Somali recipes have been shaped over time and by the influences of both migration and the country's role in the spice trade. "Soomaliya" aims to capture Ahmed's philosophy that food acts as a live chronicle of stories and cultural memory, and honors the Somali community she grew up in in Seattle.

All this is delivered not just through stories in the book, but in the recipes themselves. In "Soomaliya," readers find instructions for dishes like malawax, or cardamom crepe, and suqaar digaag, a chicken and vegetable dish infused with the flavors of Xawaash, a fragrant spice mix composed of black pepper, cumin, coriander, cardamom, cloves, and turmeric. Not only does it feel like a unique and vital entry into the cookbook canon, but it also arrived at a fraught time for the Somali American community in the United States – and as such, serves as a celebration of its culture and food.

Purchase "Soomaliyah" on Amazon for $27.95.

The sophomore book from "Top Chef" alum Sheldon Simeon, "Ohana Style" celebrates the chef's Hawaiian heritage and the food so central to his culture. The name of the book captures the vibe of what you can expect inside: "ohana" translates to "family," and Simeon's cookbook is full of recipes designed to be shared by everyone sitting around a table, jostling elbows and passing plates. Most of all, it's meant to capture a sense of joy and ease. "With this book, I wanted to create something fun and approachable," Simeon said in an interview with Hawai'i Magazine. "These are everyday recipes, things anyone can cook without feeling intimidated."

That doesn't mean it's simplistic, though. The recipes in "Ohana Style" look at vintage Hawai'ian dishes from a different angle, giving readers a sense of how far the cuisine can stretch, while remaining easy. From stir-fried olives with ginger to lemon-caper mahi to lox and schmear onigiri, it's a book that revels in the unexpected. With a recommendation from Forbes in tow, it's definitely one for your Christmas list.

Purchase "Ohana Style" on Amazon for $21.60.

Moroccan food can sometimes feel intimidating to those new to it, and that's often down to the equipment needed. If you don't have a tagine or a tanjrah, for example, it can be difficult to feel as though you're capturing the true essence and flavor of so many of its dishes. That's where "Madaq" comes in. Written by chef and food writer Nargisse Benkabbou, it's a book that features both classic Moroccan dishes and modern takes on them, adapted for an audience that may be unfamiliar with how diverse its cuisine can be.

As such, next to tagines, you'll find traybakes; next to a classic caesar salad with a harissa twist, you'll find orange blossom lemon bars. There's a playfulness to Benkabbou's approach, but above all, readers appreciate the sheer breadth of good recipes inside. "I LOVE Madaq! I did a cookbook club with this book. It was hit after hit after hit," said one person on Reddit, and since its release it's picked up plenty of fans, boasting shoutouts from fellow cooks Nigella Lawson and Sami Tamini.

Purchase "Madaq" on Amazon for $31.30.

It may feel very confident to proclaim an unreleased book one of the best of the year — but you'll get what we mean when you read "Hand Taste" this October. Chef Esther Choi's cookbook explores her personal relationship with Korean food, built growing up cooking with her grandmother. The scene, and the intention behind the book, is set before you even open it: "hand taste," or "son-mat," refers to the ineffable flavor that cooks infuse into their food when it's made with care and love. It feels like Choi hopes that, by reading this book and cooking these recipes, you'll get a sense of that flavor, too.

"Hand Taste" works with the fundamentals of Korean cuisine, and it breaks down the principles and key dishes in Korean food beautifully. Taking readers through kimchi preparation (plus its different types and ways to use kimchi), mandu, and the various recipes you can shape around a bowl of rice, it's a must-have for anyone both new to Korean food and those who want to be reminded of its glory. With 100 recipes, you really won't get bored. Oh, and there's a cocktail section in it, too.

Pre-order "Hand Taste" on Amazon for $37.50.

It's hard to find dessert recipe books that genuinely do something new. "More Than Sweet" manages it. Coming from Copenhagen-based pastry chef Marie Frank, this book looks at what sits around sweetness, taking away its primacy and twisting desserts into something unique by adding unexpected flavors. Across 75 recipes, Frank teaches her readers how to season, stretch, and diversify their desserts, without making things too complicated or chef-y.

What's more, "More Than Sweet" lays the foundations for you to think for yourself. Inside, readers will find a flavor chart, which gives them the information needed to take base recipes and experiment with new flavors. If you want to stick to the printed recipes, though, you can take your pick from olive oil panna cotta with braised cherries, basil and chocolate tart with raspberries, and bergamot cheesecake, among others. More than anything, the book cuts through the rigid nature that so many people view dessert recipes with, encouraging everyone to be a little more playful. We could all use some of that.

Purchase "More Than Sweet" on Amazon for $31.15.

Everyone has a different opinion on what makes good barbecue, and the amount of information you have to wade through before you can even fire up the grill can sometimes feel like too much. Thank goodness for "Fanning The Flames," then. Melissa Cookston's cookbook will be a vital read for BBQ newbies in years to come, thanks to its systematic approach to every aspect of the cuisine. In the book, Cookston goes back to basics, taking readers through the fundamentals of grills, wood types, tools, smoke, and even how you know whether a pig is reared properly for good pork. It's a one-stop shop for people who are looking to learn more about vital grilling rules — and BBQ veterans will likely appreciate it, too.

That's before you get to all the classic grill recipes you need to make your cookout a success, like brisket and baby back ribs, and globally inspired dishes like Peruvian-style chicken with aji verde sauce or Cretan goat and tomato stew. The foreword from fellow chef Michael Symon also speaks to how highly he regards Cookston: One customer, in a 5-star review on Amazon, said that it "almost made me cry it was so effusive and tender."

Purchase "Fanning The Flames" on Amazon for $25.79.

Come on. There are enough cookbooks that put meat dishes at their center. We need more vegetable-forward options out there — and thankfully, "Aloha Veggies" delivers. Alana Kysar's second cookbook, "Aloha Veggies," follows 2019's "Aloha Kitchen," and its recipes are inspired by the farmers' markets and community crop shares dotted across Maui. Kysar captures the sense of the fresh, vibrant produce available at these outlets, and packages it into more than 100 recipes, many of which offer spins on classic Hawaiian meals like loco moco, poke, and adobo.

A particularly nice touch in "Aloha Veggies" is its alternative offers. Kysar builds in four variations for each of the main dishes she profiles, giving the reader flexibility around what they prepare. It's a unique proposition that readers love, and the book has emerged as a 2026 favorite for some budding cooks. It's a well-researched, well-considered cookbook that will likely appeal to vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Purchase "Aloha Veggies" on Amazon for $24.49.

Although 2026's cookbook landscape is dominated by texts that put personal story and cultural investigation first, in "Everyday Eats," Alex Snodgrass leads with a different approach. The founder of the brand The Defined Dish and author of three best-selling cookbooks, Snodgrass has one eye on how to make homemade food as accessible and easy as possible. The result is her newest book, which is billed very straightforwardly as a cookbook that provides 100 simple and healthy ideas for meals that are compatible with your busy working schedule; foods to feed your family, without stressing yourself out.

Honestly? It's a hit. With her focus on one-pot and sheet-pan meals and an understanding that not everyone has a million ingredients in their kitchen, Snodgrass guides you through making classy-feeling meals that don't compromise on flavor. One-pot chicken marsala orzo? Check. Chicken shawarma salad? You got it. No-bake crunchy peanut butter bites? Your kids will love 'em. Reasonably priced and packed with tips, it may well become a regular feature in your kitchen.

Purchase "Everyday Eats" on Amazon for $25.20.

Anyone who's been to Istanbul will be able to tell you, at great length, that the food is a highlight. Tucked away on every street are restaurants serving some of the best dishes you'll ever heat, with şiş kebab stacked high on open coals and piles of fluffy pide zooming towards every table. How do you capture that bustling atmosphere, with all its heady aromas, if you can't book a flight to Turkiye? You buy "Istanbul," Özlem Warren's new cookbook.

"Istanbul" is part recipe book, part guide to the city from which it gets its name: Warren organizes it around different iconic Istanbul sights and locations, slotting in her dishes to fit the theme of each chapter. Widely praised by food professionals and customers alike, it also goes beyond what you might expect of Turkish cuisine. Pastries, buns, cookies, fish dishes, köfte, and Turkish breakfasts are all lovingly presented here. Warren also offers plenty of substitutions when you can't find the required ingredient, making the recipes both accessible and cost-effective.

Purchase "Istanbul" on Amazon for $32.11.

"H Mart The Cookbook" could easily be a corporate exercise. It feels like way more than that. Written by H Mart president Stacey Kwon, daughter of founder Il Yeon Kwon, it's an elegantly produced book that both tells the story of the Korean supermarket and shows you how to use some of the ingredients you'd find there. Its 75 Korean recipes incorporate brands run the gamut from traditional to modern, with options like cheese buldak kimchi bokkeumbap sitting next to oi muchim, or spicy cucumber salad. The recipes are organized by their primary ingredient or component, so you can flip straight to a section to use up whatever you have in your fridge, and find a couple of surprises along the way.

Released in October, "H Mart The Cookbook" is, naturally, an excellent Christmas gift for regulars to the supermarket, especially those who want to know more about the store's history. That said, it's also just a great compendium of Korean recipes and cooking techniques. It even has a guide to the more unique drinks and desserts you might find in H Mart's aisles, if you just wanna pick up something easy and sweet. It's an excellent addition to the cookbook world.

Pre-order "H Mart: The Cookbook" on Amazon for $40.

Georgina Hayden knows a thing or two about Mediterranean cuisine. Having grown up living above her grandparents' Greek Cypriot taverna, the cook and food writer subsequently wrote several cookbooks both exploring Mediterranean dishes and examining how they could be reshaped for a modern world. "MEDesque" continues this mission. In the book, Hayden leads with the feel of Mediterranean food, as opposed to strict instructions on how to produce it authentically. She understands that the dishes found on the sea's glittering coastline are known not just for their flavor, but for their vibe — and she aims to create that here.

As a result, "MEDesque" features recipes that capture a Mediterranean sensibility while also playing with it. Moussaka is recreated in a single pan; puttanesca sauce is paired with gnocchi. Customers love that each dish feels like an event in and of itself — and perhaps the biggest endorsement from readers is that the book makes them happy, which is what all great cookbooks should do. Want a Mediterranean summer feel in your fall kitchen? This is the one for you.

Purchase "MEDesque" on Amazon for $27.27.

Lucas Sin will be known to many people for his work with Bon Appétit and his chronicling of street food culture in Asia. In "Cha Chaan Teng," he combines this extensive experience with personal history to tell the story and chronicle the recipes of Hong Kong's traditional café scene and comfort foods. Cha chaan tengs are unique to Hong Kong, and in each eatery, customers find a hybrid of Western-style dishes with Chinese and East Asian influences. In his book, Sin brings the feel of cha chaan tengs and the food they serve to your kitchen.

The detail Sin goes into in "Cha Chaan Teng" is highly impressive. The book is a hugely detailed picture of the evolution of these diners, as well as how they function: He even shows how cha chaan teng kitchens are set up, complete with diagrams, to illustrate how they prepare their food so quickly. The recipes, meanwhile, are evocative, distinctive, and easy to recreate at home, thanks to Sin's guidance on all the ingredients you'd need and their particular quirks. 

Pre-order "Cha Chaan Teng" on Amazon for $35.

Writer, cook, and content creator Zena Kamgaing has spent years showing her social media followers how to create delicious, comforting, speedy recipes. In "Dinner Time," she takes all of this expertise and packages it in a way that feels totally one-of-a-kind. There's no shortage of cookbooks out there that promise speedy recipes, but Kamgaing's book is incredibly specific in its offer. "Dinner Time" leads with the premise of you selecting how long you have to cook: 15, 30, 45, or 60 minutes. The 85 recipes are shaped around the time you have, and no matter what that is, they'll be satisfying and tasty.

Readers love the approach — and they also love the recipes. Kamgaing's jollof rice is a particular highlight, and the curry butter prawns (which take just 15 minutes) provide a serious amount of bang for their buck. Kamgaing could play it safe with her flavors here, but instead she goes big, packing plenty of diversity into the book. It's a move that pays off.

Purchase "Dinner Time" on Amazon for $35.

Cookbooks often strive to offer something new, but few of them this year feel as innovative as "The Butter Book." Anna Stockwell's second book, this tome exists to praise the ingredient that makes so many of our dishes way better, and to teach readers how to use it to its full potential. "The Butter Book" really takes things back to basics. After detailing the history of the fat, it proceeds to teach us how to make our own, before moving into clarified, whipped, and compound butter guides, and finishing up with a host of recipes that wield it to its full potential. Along the way, you'll learn how to select, store, and serve it. Butter boards, anyone?

Centering a book around butter might sound like it would limit it, but customers love both its novelty and its practicality. The included recipes are a particularly nice touch, with readers noting how solid they are. Oh, and "The Butter Book" is coffee-table ready, too: It's shaped to resemble a stick of butter.

Purchase "The Butter Book" on Amazon for $18.59.

Coming from four-time James Beard nominee Natasha Pickowicz, "Everyone Hot Pot" is a book that arrives when hot pot dishes have arguably never been so popular — and it captures the joy of the cooking and dining style. In her cookbook, Pickowicz disassembles hot pots and their essential components, providing over 50 recipes for each element. Broths, sauces, sides, dumplings, and drinks are all covered, as are the raw ingredients that are dunked into the bubbling pot and cooked for the masses to enjoy.

Pickowicz also breaks down the equipment you need to make a hot pot evening a success, ensuring no stone is left unturned. This detail is valued by people who have cooked from "Everyone Hot Pot," who also point out the high success rate of Pickowicz's recipes. With four distinct sections, each one covering a different hot pot style, and with beautifully rendered prose throughout, it's a gateway into an eating style you may not have thought you could recreate at home.

Purchase "Everyone Hot Pot" on Amazon for $14.77.