Selecting my favorite vegan cookbooks of 2022 was more challenging than ever because there were so many exciting titles to choose from this year. Why are there so many vegan cookbooks? Because readers keep buying more.
According to market research firm The NPD Group, which tracks book sales, vegan cookbook sales rose 9 percent last year compared to 2020 and were up a whopping 250 percent from 2015. All this year, cooks continued to snap up even more vegan cookbooks with year-to-date sales up 38 percent (as of October) compared to last year’s record sales.
Whittling down this bounty to a manageable list of the year’s best vegan cookbooks involved time and agonizing decisions. Yet the result means whether you are purchasing for yourself or selecting a gift for a loved one, one of these seven titles is sure to satisfy your craving for plant-based delights all through 2023.
FOR ALL-VEG COOKS
“Cooking from the Spirit: Easy, Delicious, and Joyful Plant-based Inspirations,” by Tabitha Brown. William Morrow. $30.
This hardcover is destined to become a classic since actress Brown is the first chef to host a vegan cooking show on the Food Network, “It’s CompliPlated.” In this cookbook, Brown shares the signature fare millions know her for on social media. One of the book’s most notable features is its lack of measurements. Aside from two pancake recipes, a meatloaf sauce recipe and a peach cobbler recipe, all the other recipes list ingredients but not precise quantities. As Brown says, “I want you to trust yourself” to make vegan versions of cheese grits with sausage, chili dogs, roast beef cheddar sandwiches, spicy tuna rolls, BBQ meatballs, fried fish with tartar sauce, broccoli cheddar soup, strawberry cheesecake cups and smoothie bowls without measurements. Brown will be there with heart-warming stories and an inspirational Tabism with each recipe. One example: “You already have what you need inside.”
“The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Roasts: Feast-Worthy Recipes Everyone Will Love,” by Romy London. Page Street Publishing Co. $21.99.
A celebration of oven-baked vegan meals, this book is a must-have for all plant-based cooks. Food photographer and blogger London (aka Romina Callwitz) grew up on the border between Germany and The Netherlands and now lives in England, where her embrace of that country’s ancient tradition of roast dinners and its modern vegan culture resulted in this comprehensive reference book with sections for veggie roasts, tofu roasts and seitan roasts. Additional chapters cover side dishes, gravies and sauces. All the classics are here, including a lentil Wellington, a mushroom pie, a cranberry-stuffed turkey roast, a seitan schnitzel, an orange-glazed ham, a teriyaki steak, a jackfruit pot roast and four nut roasts.
FOR GLOBAL COOKS
“Vegan Africa: Plant-Based Recipes from Ethiopia to Senegal,” by Marie Kacouchia. The Experiment. $24.95.
In this beautiful book, Paris resident Kacouchia shares recipes from her childhood growing up on the Ivory Coast along with dishes from 14 other African nations to create a feast of warming dishes made from fresh ingredients simply prepared. The book calls on the rich, plant-based food traditions of the continent to serve up peanut hummus, plantain beignets, cassava tabbouleh with radishes and herbs, Angolan peanut soup, cauliflower yassa with olives, Nigerian pistachio stew, Ghanian red stew and jollof rice. Bread recipes include chapati, sweet bread, injera, coco bread and savory Mauritian crêpes, while desserts (coconut-lemongrass muffins; peanut-date cookies) and drinks (date-infused cashew milk; kinkeliba-mint iced tea) conclude the book.
“Plant-Based India: Nourishing Recipes Rooted in Tradition,” by Dr. Sheil Shukla. The Experiment. $30.
Using a mix of Gujarati and English words to name the dishes, this gorgeous, hardcover book serves more than 100 recipes filled with warming spices and fresh vegetables. Raised in an Indian home in the American Midwest, Shukla came to appreciate his family’s vegetarian food traditions when he left home for college. Now a vegan and an internal medicine doctor, Shukla offers culinary medicine in the form of plant-rich recipes including tofu tikka, butternut squash chana nu shak, rasavala baby potatoes with greens, chana masala, Gujarati dal, mint pea rice, vegetable khichadi, rotli (aka roti, chapati or phulka), paratha and nan (a rarity in a vegan version). The book closes with chapters on desserts, drinks and chutneys and finishes with a primer on creating classic Indian spice blends.
“Plant-Based Hìmalaya: Vegan recipes from Nepal,” by Babita Shrestha. Red Lightning Books. $30.
With 38 recipes spread over 350 full-color pages filled with enticing images, this hardbound book from chef and photographer Shrestha serves a visual feast of both Nepali dishes and the country’s culture and geography. Each recipe name is written in Nepali Devanagari script, phonetically in the Latin alphabet and in English. The book introduces readers to the Nepali Set, the country’s traditional meal made of dal, rice, greens, curry, pickles, raw vegetables and snacks. Organized around these categories, with the addition of tea and dessert, the book’s recipes range from flatbread and cauliflower curry to dumplings and vegetable fritters. During winter, the ayurvedic tea, which Shestha describes as a cold preventative and remedy, is a must-have recipe.
“Vegan at Home: Recipes for a modern plant-based lifestyle,” by Solla Eiríksdóttir. Phaidon. $39.95.
Award-winning Icelandic chef Eiríksdóttir, who went vegan in 1980 and founded the chain of Glo restaurants in Reykjavík, brings readers into the Nordic vegan cuisine she has created for more than 40 years in this information-packed cookbook. The hardcover book, with a minimalist visual aesthetic reflecting the Icelandic landscape, starts with 70 staple recipes for every vegan basic (including 10 plant milks, seven cheeses, six yogurts, five mayos, three tofus and one tempeh). This is followed by 75 recipes for dishes that use these staples, such as beet toast, black currant bowls, beet waffles, fermented carrot chickpea wraps, quinoa with cauliflower bowls, carrot fries with cilantro mayo, vegan scallops, vegetable tagine, baked eggplant and root vegetable curry. Treats including hazelnut mousse and spicy strawberry pavlovas close the book.
FOR THE VEG CURIOUS
The Vegan Kit, by Veganuary Limited, illustrated by Cachettejack. Laurence King Publishing. $16.99.
Know someone keen to try Veganuary next month (as more than 600,000 people did last year)? Then this deck of inspirational cards makes the perfect gift. Each of the 40 colorfully illustrated cards provides practical tips (where to dine, ideas for lunch), motivation (list of documentaries to watch) and inspiration to stick with animal-free food in a non-vegan world.
Avery Yale Kamila is a food writer who lives in Portland. She can be reached at
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