So you’re ready to go vegan – great!
But you’re getting ready to plan your meals, and you need a place to start.
What will you make?
Cookbooks are a great way to learn vegan cooking and baking – tried and true recipes take the guesswork out of replacing the animal-based ingredients you may have been cooking with for years.
Whether you’ve been cooking for decades or are just starting to get your hands dirty in the kitchen, cookbooks can provide instruction and inspiration to cooks of all levels and experiences.
With veganism becoming more and more mainstream, there are countless vegan cookbooks covering everything from family-friendly casseroles to artisan vegan cheeses.
Whether you’re looking for Thai recipes or kid-friendly meals, we’ve compiled a huge list of highly rated vegan cookbooks to stock your shelves and provide inspiration for your next meal.
Best Selling Vegan Cookbooks
If you’re looking for a single vegan cookbook to get you started, try choosing from this list of tried-and-true bestsellers.
With recipes and ideas for every meal from appetizers and soups to snacks and desserts, each of these books will provide you with a solid foundation for vegan cooking, whether you are a beginner in the kitchen or are looking for more complex, elaborate recipes to add to your vegan arsenal.
In addition to highly rated recipes, each of these books is complete with stunning photographs that are almost as good to look through as they are to make.
With recipes from well-known vegan chefs and personalities like Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Angela Liddon, you can feel confident that any of the recipes you choose to make will be delicious and nutritious.
Cookbooks for Beginners
Every vegan needs to start somewhere, and a cookbook aimed at beginners can be an easy, low-stress way to navigate a vegan kitchen and learn the tools of the trade.
Each of the cookbooks below serves as a perfect guide to new cooks and new vegans, going through the basics and relying on simple, comforting dishes that don’t require a lot of effort or expertise to execute.
Any of these cookbooks would be a perfect purchase if you want to learn more about vegan cooking, or for a loved one who is thinking about making the switch to a plant-based lifestyle.
Related Article: 8 Easy to Follow Vegan Cookbooks for Beginners
Italian Cookbooks
With a few simple swaps, Italian dishes like cheesy pizza and creamy risotto can still have a place in a vegan diet!
The cookbooks below will help satisfy your cravings for comforting Italian favorites, like lasagna and tiramisu, in addition to introducing you to new recipes you may not have tried, like Tuscan Tofu Scramble and Penne Puttanesca.
Try the recipes from these books the next time you have omnivores over for dinner and need a familiar, crowd-pleasing dish with a healthy vegan twist.
Related Article: 5 Delicious Vegan Italian Cookbooks You’ll Love
Raw Vegan Cookbooks
Raw veganism is a lifestyle that avoids all animal products, as well as foods cooked over 118 degrees Fahrenheit, and may be motivated for reasons of health, animal rights, spirituality, and/or finances.
Raw veganism is becoming more mainstream, and people are looking for “unrecipes” that go beyond simple fruit plates and big salads.
The cookbooks below can help you create beautiful, familiar meals for yourself and your family with a raw vegan slant, so you know that everything you’re serving is healthy in every sense of the word. These cookbooks provide everything from snacks and desserts to completely raw entrees.
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Related Article: 6 Raw Vegan Cookbooks with Surprisingly Tasty Recipes
Mexican Cookbooks
While people usually think of greasy tacos and gigantic burritos when they think of Mexican food, in reality, the cuisine is based around fresh, whole foods that lend itself perfectly to a vegan lifestyle.
The cookbooks below combine the fresh flavors of Mexico into familiar recipes like tacos and nachos, as well as more unexpected and traditional recipes.
Pick up one of the cookbooks below, invite friends over for a Mexican-themed dinner party, and introduce them to vegan cooking through flavorful and fresh favorites!
Related Article: Top 4 Vegan Mexican Cookbooks
Slow Cooker Cookbooks
The slow cooker is the perfect appliance to add to your kitchen – simply place the ingredients inside, flip it on, and return hours later to a perfectly cooked, simple meal.
What isn’t so easy, though, is finding slow cooker recipes conducive to a vegan lifestyle – so much of the slow cooking world is about slow-cooked meats and cheese-filled casseroles.
The cookbooks in this list allow you to harness the ease and efficiency of your slow cooker while staying true to a cruelty-free diet. With the help of these books, you can bring your Crock Pot back out of storage and enjoy convenient, simple vegan meals again.
Related Article: Vegan Slow Cooker & Crock Pot Recipe Cookbooks
Baking & Dessert Cookbooks
They say life is too short to go without dessert, and this is true for vegan diets, too! Because baking ultimately comes down to science, having cookbooks on hand can be supremely helpful as you learn how to use alternatives for animal-based ingredients like butter, milk, and eggs.
With the knowledge and expertise of these favorite vegan chefs, you can achieve creamy “cheesecakes”, fluffy cakes, and dense, creamy non-dairy ice creams, all without the use of animal products.
If you’ve shelved your love of baking because you’ve transitioned to a vegan lifestyle, or you’re thinking of going vegan but worried about the absence of baked goods in your diet, any of the cookbooks below will be a good choice to get you back to baking, the plant-based way.
Related Article: 10 Best Vegan Baking & Dessert Cookbooks
Indian Cookbooks
When it comes to vegan-friendly world cuisines, Indian cooking is at the top. Many traditional Indian recipes are already based in foods like legumes and leafy greens, so they don’t require much tweaking from the original.
Where these cookbooks shine is introducing vegan chefs to the amazing world of Indian spice blends.
By keeping a few Indian cookbooks on hand, you can create restaurant-quality dishes in the comfort of your own home. Pick up a few – or all! – of the vegan Indian cookbooks below and start serving up flavorful, colorful, and healthy Indian dishes at home.
Related Article: 4 Vegan Indian Cookbooks That Will Tingle Your Taste Buds
Kids’ Cookbooks
One of the most challenging aspects of going vegan can be transition children to a plant-based diet. While adults might be willing to be more adventurous about vegan food, sometimes kids need more familiar, comforting foods to help them make the change.
Luckily, there is a huge selection of kid-tested, family-friendly recipes available to vegans cooking for younger children and teens.
Any of the books below will help you transition children to veganism with yummy plant-based recipes, and for an even better experience, get them in the kitchen cooking with you.
These cookbooks not only have great kid-friendly recipes in them but can also be ingredients for a perfect afternoon of family bonding.
Related Article: Best Vegan Cookbooks for Kids & Picky Eaters
Gluten Free Cookbooks
Any dietary restriction can be daunting to cook for on its own, but when you have to combine two separate dietary needs, it can be difficult to figure out where to start and what to eat.
Finding dishes for a vegan and gluten-free lifestyle sounds overwhelming, but luckily there are plenty of cookbooks available that offer a multitude of recipe options for people who are avoiding both animal products and gluten.
From raw dishes to comfort food, any of the following cookbooks are perfect for those who are leading a vegan and gluten free lifestyle, or for those looking for a dinner party and gathering dishes where people with multiple allergies or dietary needs will be present.
Additionally, they will provide inspiration for people who are simply looking for new, healthy additions to their recipe repertoire.
Related Article: 6 Amazing Gluten-Free Vegan Cookbooks You’ll Love
Vegan Cheese Cookbooks
Vegan cheese sounds a little like an oxymoron.
However, it’s come such a long way – from the days of waxy, unmeltable cheese shreds to the present day, when we can not only purchase dairy-free cheese that parallels the stuff made from cows’ milk, but we can also create beautiful artisanal cheeses in the comfort of our homes.
Using ingredients like nuts and nutritional yeast, the cookbooks below provide countless recipes for vegan cheeses that are guaranteed to impress, from melty vegan mozzarella to hard vegan cheeses perfect for cheese plates and wine tastings.
If you’ve ever uttered the words “I would love to go vegan, but I couldn’t give up cheese”, these should be the first cookbooks you purchase for your new plant-based lifestyle.
Related Article: Top 3 Vegan Cheese Cookbooks for Cheese Lovers
Asian Cookbooks
Like Indian cooking, Asian recipes tend to be vegan-friendly or easy to adapt to a plant-based lifestyle. But after awhile, simple stir-fries can get boring, and you can only swap chicken and beef out for tofu so many times.
The Asian cookbooks in this list will provide new and exciting Asian recipes for you to try, from Chinese to Thai dishes. Choose one specific to one kind of cuisine, or opt for a “taste of the East”, with recipes from all over Asia.
Related Article: Top 6 Vegan Thai & Chinese Cookbooks
Cookbooks for Weight Loss
While vegans tend to be overall healthier than their omnivorous counterparts, going vegan is still not a guarantee for weight loss.
Because weight simply comes down to calories consumed versus calories expended, having a variety of lower-calorie recipes can be the key to maintaining a healthy weight on a vegan diet.
The cookbooks here are comprised of lower-calorie, healthy vegan recipes that are still packed with flavor. Pick up a few of these books and enjoy tasty vegan snacks, entrees, and desserts that will allow you to maintain a healthy weight.
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Related Article: Get Healthy with These 4 Vegan Weight Loss Cookbooks
Get Cookin’ Good Lookin’
It can be a lot of fun to simply let your inspiration and creativity guide you in the kitchen.
However, if you’re just beginning to learn the ropes of vegan cooking, or you’re looking for a tried-and-true, foolproof recipe to make, having vegan cookbooks on hand can be the perfect solution.
Whether you’re looking for simple, recommended, all-purpose cookbooks, or guides to a specific style of cuisine, there is no shortage of resources available.
While the list above is certainly not an exhaustive list of every cookbook available for plant-based living, they are highly rated and a good place to start in what can be an overwhelming amount of options.
No matter your level of expertise or how many years you’ve been vegan, cracking open a cookbook can be a fun way to bond with family or to try new recipes and change things up. Happy cooking!