Best cookbooks for beginners

Best cookbooks for beginners at a glance

• Best photographic recipe book: Leiths How to Cook, £40
• Best for simple shoppers: 7 Ways by Jamie Oliver, £12
• Best for speedy meals: Speedy MOB by Ben Lebus, £16.99
• Best for one tin cooking: The Roasting Tin Around the World by Rukmini Iyer, £10
• Best for accessible but impressive dishes: Quick and Delicious by Gordon Ramsay, £11.10
• Best cookbook for a budget: Eat Well for Less Every Day by Jo Scarratt-Jones, £9.14
• Best for flavoursome meals: Chetna's 30 Minute Indian by Chetna Makan, £10.49
• Best one pan cookbook: Just One Pan by Jane Lovett, £14.95
• Best for unusual flavour combinations: Nadiya's Fast Flavours, £22

Best cookbooks for beginners 2023

Leiths How to Cook

• Available from Amazon (£30.45), Waterstones (£40), WHSmith (£36.80)

Best photographic recipe book

This cook school classic has been given a makeover. Now, along with all the trustworthy techniques, you also get stunning photographs and new recipes, making this a must-have manual for every aspiring cook. From butchery to beurre noisette, you can’t do better than to follow these clear instructions and step-by-step photographs.

Must try recipe: Lemon tart

Available from:
Amazon (£30.45)
Waterstones (£40)
WHSmith (£36.80)

7 Ways by Jamie Oliver

• Available from Waterstones (£26), WHSmith (£12), Amazon (£12)

Best for simple shoppers

For his latest cookbook, Jamie Oliver found out what ingredients we put in our shopping baskets most regularly. Armed with 18 of the most popular everyday ingredients, including broccoli, peppers, chicken breasts, salmon fillets and eggs, Jamie shares new and exciting ways to prepare them. The focus is ‘maximum flavour, minimum effort’, so every recipe is simple to make, and uses no more than eight ingredients that aren’t difficult to find. Expect new twists on classic favourites, such as filo chicken kiev, broccoli & cheese pierogi, potato lasagne and spiced cauliflower rice pie.

Must-try recipe: Moreish aubergine salad

Available from:
Waterstones (£26)
WHSmith (£12)
Amazon (£12)

Speedy MOB by Ben Lebus

Best for speedy meals

The latest book from Ben Lebus and the MOB Kitchen team is all about creating flavour-packed dishes in just 12 minutes (we’ve time-tested a fair few of them!). Split into chapters, including brunch, salads, pasta and gnocchi, rice and noodles, ‘flashy’ (for when you want to impress) and ‘sweet stuff ’, it features creative dishes like chorizo cauliflower fried rice, and lots of clever time-saving hacks.

Must try recipe: Cheat’s dan dan noodles

The Roasting Tin Around the World by Rukmini Iyer

Best for one tin cooking

Rukmini Iyer’s cookbooks all have a common theme: they’re made in just one roasting tin. Her latest book features 75 one-tin recipes inspired by her global travels. Examples of Rukmini’s hassle-free, flavour-packed dishes include pork pibil with pink pickled onions (inspired by her time in Central America) and a mash-up of s’mores and rocky road with peanuts, marshmallows and chocolate.

Must-try recipe Korean-style aubergines

Quick and Delicious by Gordon Ramsay

Best for accessible but impressive dishes

Superstar chef Gordon is back, and he’s using his years of busy restaurant service to help home cooks save time. Packed with 100 speedy recipes, this book takes weekday meals up a notch and makes hosting parties easier. Ingredients are accessible and dishes impressive, including roast hake with saffron mayonnaise and lamb with cannellini beans.

Must-try recipe Cauliflower soup with brown butter & cheesy toasts

Chetna's 30 Minute Indian by Chetna Makan

Best for flavoursome meals

We love Indian food but making a curry can sometimes be a lengthy affair with grinding spices, prepping ingredients and marinating, so we were very happy to see this new book from former The Great British Bake Off contestant Chetna Makan. All the recipes are ready in 30 minutes or less and really pack in the flavour – from a speedy salmon curry to a creamy and delicately spiced butter chicken, everyone will think you’ve been in the kitchen for hours! Make a midweek curry or choose a few recipes for the weekend and make a feast.

Must-try recipe: Coconut paneer tikka

Just One Pan by Jane Lovett

Best one pan cookbook

No one actually likes washing up (or they certainly don’t in my house) so recipes which cut down on clean-up are a big plus, add in the time-saving benefits of cooking in one pan and I’m sold! Food writer Jane provides more than 100 genius one-pan recipes in this diverse collection, with everything from traybakes, curries and stews to pastas and tarts.

Must-try recipe: Creamy leek, potato & parmesan chicken thigh tray bake

Fast Flavours by Nadiya Hussain

• Available from Amazon (£8), Waterstones (£22)

Best for unusual flavour combinations

In Fast Flavours, you’ll find all the recipes from Nadiya’s programme on BBC Two. Packed with speedy makes and clever shortcuts, it’ll help you get dinner in the table in no time. Chapters are divided into things you might fancy as you’re on your way home from work – herby, spicy, cheesy, fruity, sweet etc, taking the hassle out of deciding what to cook. There are fabulous bakes (Nadiya was the 2015 Bake Off queen, after all) and brilliant midweek meals, from tarragon chicken to Bombay veggie burgers.

Available from:
Amazon (£8), Waterstones (£22)

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This review was last updated in March 2023. If you have any questions, suggestions for future reviews or spot anything that has changed in price or availability please get in touch at goodfoodwebsite@immediate.co.uk.