5 Best Vegetarian Cookbooks (Reviews Updated 2022)

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Going the vegetarian way is synonymous with going the animal-product-free way. Health practitioners recommend a plant-based diet for its immense health benefits. Being a vegetarian doesn’t mean consuming a lot of broccoli and plates of pasta or lentil loaf only all week long. There are a lot of wonders you can do with vegetables and fruits. To make it more exciting, you can get yourself a nice vegetarian cookbook.

Vegetarian cookbooks contain a lot of inspiring recipes that are majorly plant-based. Getting the ingredients and following the guidelines and techniques will offer you great health-boosting meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

If you are ready to turn a new leaf and need some of the most detailed cookbooks to start with, we have your back. We have done some research and compiled some of the best ones. Below are our five (5) best vegetarian cookbook reviews.

Best Vegetarian Cookbooks

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Here are our Best Vegetarian Cookbooks reviews.

1. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

How To Cook Everything Vegetarian

The How to Cook Everything Vegetarian gives you full access to healthy, ethical, and sustainable recipes. A total revision and review of relevant cooking methods have been made in this tenth-anniversary edition. Also, some vegan options have been added for strict vegans. Interestingly, a new chapter that covers so much on smoothies and teas has been included. Mark Bittman has authored several books and has been a food columnist for more than 30 years. You will find the layout and presentation of each recipe to be easy to understand.

This 832-pages cookbook is sure to keep you occupied with interesting recipes and methods all year round. Recipes in this book do not use ingredients to act as meat substitutes. They are purely plant-based, delicious, and new. We are impressed with the full-color photographs of each recipe. Everything you would need to make each recipe successfully is practically explained in this cookbook.

Many sections in this exceptional cookbook describe the vegetables that shouldn’t be eaten raw. Some also describe which fruits should be cooked, which ones are for eating, and which ones can be cooked and eaten raw.

Why do we like it?

  • Great for a novice cook
  • Feasible recipes
  • Perfect for all seasons
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2. Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor

Love Real Food

Kathryne Taylor’s Love Real Food, with more than 100 wonderful recipes, is a great vegetarian cookbook. With a wonderful layout, it is easy to find that perfect breakfast recipe. It is a fact that there are many types of eaters. A section that shares how to make each recipe in a gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, and dairy-free manner is included.

Remarkably, ingredients used in each recipe can be easily gotten in supermarkets close to you. Fantastic recipes like the Arugula and wild rice salad and butternut squash chipotle chili can be delicious when you follow the guidelines. Also, the heirloom tomato pesto pizza and the banana pecan shakes are certain to get you to try more.

Kathryne Taylor added straightforward instructions and some extra advanced steps. Follow each of them, and you’ll make the recipe the right way. Beautiful pictures of each recipe show you how they are supposed to look like at the end of making it. Eating real and nutritious food is achievable with the 272-pages Love Real Food cookbook.

Be it for your immediate family or a gathering of friends, the recipes in this cookbook would get you a lot of thanks. Going meatless is never going to be hard.

Why do we like it?

  • Has an introduction on how to use the cookbook
  • Has substitutes for ingredients that are scarce
  • Nice gift for vegetarian friends
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3. The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright

The First Mess Cookbook

If you need a vegetarian cookbook for all seasons, the First Mess Cookbook is the right one for you. 125 exceptional recipes offer you something delicious for summer, autumn, or winter. Clever tricks and brilliant ideas on incorporating plant-based ingredients into your daily life are included in this cookbook.

Health boosting recipes like the Butternut and Pesto Cream Lasagna and Romanesco Confetti Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing will keep you far from the hospital. Laura Wright’s recipe development skills play a good role in creating plant-based recipes that will make you ditch meat for good. If you are a fan of desserts, there’s an elaborate section inside this 296 pages cookbook for you.

One of the things we find interesting is the fact that seasonal vegetables were made to shine. Spices used in each recipe were specifically used to enhance the meal, not to compensate for the lack of a particular ingredient. Remarkably, it is possible to make most of the recipes in this cookbook without adjusting the quantity of ingredients used.

Recipes are organized according to breakfast, lunch, mains, desserts, and snacks. If you are already used to eating healthy diets, you will find the recipes here delicious.

Why do we like it?

  • A majority of the ingredients are easy to find
  • Clear photographs of each recipe
  • Recipes are quick and easy to prepare
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4. Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook by Sanaa Abourezk

Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook

Fall in love all over again with Mediterranean cuisine. The Vegetarian Mediterranean Cookbook by Sanaa Abourezk is one of the few that showcases the simplicity of vegetarian cooking. The well-balanced recipes in this cookbook will guide you towards a plant-based diet that offers a high level of nourishment.

Perhaps you live in a small town and find the main ingredients hard to buy; Sanaa Abourezk has a solution. She has included ideas of possible substitutes for such scarce ingredients. We would like you to note that this cookbook doesn’t contain a lot of pictures. Visual cooks might not find it interesting. However, when you take your time to follow the guidelines for each recipe, you’ll be happy with the result.

With wonderful recipes like the Lentil Lasagna, Tomato and Basil Bruschetta, and the Eggplant Moussaka, staying away from meat won’t be difficult. An excellent combination of Mediterranean flavors and vegetarian freshness is what you get from this 202 pages cookbook.

Since Sanaa Abourezk is a food and nutritionist expert, each of the over 125 recipes would take you an inch closer to living a healthy lifestyle. You don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen. Tips, tricks, and shortcuts are included to make your cooking easier.

Why do we like it?

  • Information on the backgrounds of Mediterranean food
  • Authentically Mediterranean
  • Recipes are straight to the point
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5. The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook

You need a large number of recipes to choose from daily? The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen is our recommended cookbook for you. With more than 700 plant-based recipes, you will be on your way to leading a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. This cookbook simplifies and makes vegetarian dishes appealing.

One thing is certain; you can’t go wrong with it. This cookbook includes 500 photographs that will take you through step-by-step essential prep methods and tricky techniques. Cabbage Mushroom Potstickers, Black Bean Burgers, and Indian-style Saag Paneerare some of the exciting recipes embedded within. Perhaps you intend to make your meal gluten-free or strictly vegan. America’s Test Kitchen has included relevant substitutions for some ingredients.

America’s Test Kitchen is known for its television shows with more than 4 million weekly viewers. A huge number of dedicated chefs come together to test ingredients and recipes to sort out the best. The best ones are then compiled into cookbooks like this.

Nevertheless, some of the recipes might look ambitious. Be assured that this 472 pages vegetarian cookbook will make sure you don’t get bored cooking healthy meals for your family and friends.

Why do we like it?

  • Includes a lot of hints to give you the desired outcome
  • Has 200 pictures
  • Easy to follow instructions
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Vegetarian Cookbooks Buyer’s Guide

Using a vegetarian cookbook to incorporate more plant-based foods into your diet isn’t very hard. Nonetheless, there are some important things to consider when purchasing a cookbook. Read them in our buyer’s guide below.

Ingredients

Before paying for that vegetarian cookbook, take a few minutes to look at the recipes and the ingredients used. It is essential to go for a cookbook with ingredients you can easily get at your local grocery store. Also, if you have a gluten allergy or allergies to some specific grains, going through the recipe list will let you know which cookbooks to steer clear from.

Kitchen equipment

Many cookbooks contain recipes that require certain kitchen equipment to prepare them conveniently. Make sure you have most of the equipment needed to easily prepare the recipes in the cookbook you intend to purchase. If you do not have most of them, get that equipment first. If you can’t get the equipment, go for another cookbook with recipes that can be made with the equipment you currently have.

Skill

Cookbooks are written to cater to different skill levels necessary to reproduce the recipes in them effectively. If you are a novice to vegetarian dishes, we recommend that you go for introductory and detailed cookbooks. Novices might not be able to understand gourmet cookbooks that are specifically written for experts.