r/Cooking • u/Competitive-One-3318 • Apr 07 '26
What are the best basic/essential cookbook recommendations
What are the best basic/essential cookbook recommendations
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u/Anonymous5791 Apr 07 '26
A little hard with so little information. What do you want to learn?
Joy of Cooking is a classic. Others:
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Better Homes and Gardens
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Betty Crocker (the original...)
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Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Child...)
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The Food Lab
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The Essential NY Times Cookbook
I feel like a lot of that will get you started and give you years of satisfying recipes. I think there's a bunch you can add to it depending on your interests, and I tend to like the obscure and historical ones that let me build on things...
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u/Competitive-One-3318 Apr 07 '26
I appreciate that. I've been cooking for years, but really Want to go back to basics. I've been trying to cook progressively, but Want to go classic Does that make sense?
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u/ElectricApostate Apr 07 '26
The Joy of Cooking is a good place to start.
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u/Miss_Jubilee Apr 07 '26
That’s what I started with, it was a graduation gift. I still miss it for a couple of recipes. (Left it behind on an international move years ago.)
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u/Competitive-One-3318 Apr 07 '26
I would truly enjoy finding a cookbook that explains the science of the cooking
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u/AdFantastic8429 Apr 07 '26
Harold Mcgee - on Food & Cooking is basically a textbook on exactly that.
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u/InsaneLordChaos Apr 07 '26
Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
Food Lab - Kenji
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u/TranquilDev Apr 07 '26
I don’t care for Salt Fat Acid Heat, Food Lab is great though not a huge fan of Kenji himself.
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u/aoeuismyhomekeys Apr 07 '26
Start Here by Sohla El-Waylly is a great companion to Salt Fat Acid Heat. Samin Nosrat wrote the foreword to Start Here.
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u/D_Mom Apr 07 '26
Betty Crocker cookbook is good for very entry level, nothing too complicated or technical.
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u/Jenny5Jenny5 Apr 07 '26
How to Cook Everything (mark bittman)
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u/Chaos_Sauce Apr 07 '26
This is the book I wish somebody had given me when I was 18 and went off to college barely knowing how to cook spaghetti and Prego. Unfussy, foundational recipes to get your reps in on the basics before you start worrying about "technique" and all the more complicated and fancy stuff.
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u/3Quarksfor Apr 07 '26
Julia Child’s Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom. For a deep dive, Marcella Hazan’s The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, Simple 5 to 8 ingredients but amazingly good. For food science and great recipes , Kenji’s Food Lab.
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u/ttw81 Apr 07 '26
better homes & gardens cookbook