Meals are essential to one’s day, but they often get overlooked and rushed when our daily lives get busy. I’ve crafted together a list of 10 cookbooks that focus on clean, simple, healthy, and easy meals! Cheers to intentional living!
1. Half Baked Harvest
This cookbook simply AMAZES me. The author Tieghan Gerard thrives on farm-to-table delicacies that promise to AMAZE! Another plus with this cookbook is that each recipe is accompanied by a stunning image of the meal. I don’t know about you but I like to see what I’ll be making with my eyes first!!
The 125 recipes are healthy, fresh, and elegant.
2. PlantYou
I’ve been following author Carleigh Bodrug for a while now on Instagram, and I must say, she has grown to be a fav! There are over 140 diverse recipes in this cookbook that are ALL plant-based and oil-free! These recipes are healthy, easy, and vegan. From Cauliflower Wings to Banana Bread Cookies, take my word (because I’ve made her recipes myself), that you will be amazed how tasty a plant-based diet can be!
Also, every recipe is attached with an infographic showing an image of each ingredient. Such a good idea right?!
3. Magnolia Table
By this time, I’m sure you know who Joanna Gaines is, but I couldn’t resist adding her to the list. This cookbook features 125 recipes, and as one Amazon reviewer points out, the recipes are, “delicious, easy, and sophisticated family recipes.”
You really can’t go wrong with this book as Joanna thrives off of incorporating seasonal produce into memorable eats!
4. An Unapologetic Cookbook
The thing I love about Joshua Weissman is that he doesn’t trick you with false advertisements. His honesty is a refreshing relief that delivers delicious meals! Now, I will say, this cookbook isn’t filled with the fastest meals, but there are some great staples within its pages!
Another reason I placed this cookbook on the list is that I wanted to point out that healthy living doesn’t have to mean solely eating raw vegetables. (In fact, that’s NOT TRUE AT ALL!) When you make meals at home, you can alter the recipes to your own dietary requirements and requests! That means you CAN have decadent burgers- it’s all about moderation!
5. Love and Lemons Every Day
With more than 100 vegetarian recipes, Jeanine Donofrio transforms produce into the quirkiest yet yummiest recipes you’ve seen! Like ya’ll, she turned butternut squash into creamy queso!! This book also highlighlishts the keys to healthier eating.
I love meat as my main entre, but YOU GUYS, cookbooks like this make me question that!
6. Once Upon a Chef
Jennifer Segal authors this fabulous cookbook that focuses on 100 healthy, hearty, and quick-fix favorites. She is known for taking classic dishes and adding memorable spins you’ll be sure to never forget.
As Jennifer says, “I have thoroughly tested every recipe in my home kitchen and they are fool-proof and family approved!” (Quote pulled from Amazon).
This is definitely a book that I will be trying out!
7. The 5-Ingrediant College Cookbook
Okay, I’ll be honest, I haven’t tried this specific cookbook, BUT, from first glance, I thought it was GENIOUS! Pamela Ellgen pieced together 100 recipes that don’t take but 15-30 minutes and usually only consist of around 5 INGREDIENTS! As a college student myself, this is great for time crunches, tight budgets, yet the desire to get creative with meals.
This would also make a GREAT grad gift for those college kids in your life. 🙂
8. 5-Ingrediant Cooking for Two
The thing I love about this cookbook is its simplicity. Each recipe is marked by being either: 30 minutes or less, feeling fancy, freezer-friendly, or one pan- one pot. Plus, by designing recipes meant for a small crowd, you reduce waste! This cookbook is written by Robin Donovan and features 100+ recipes.
Now, my negatives with this one are that there aren’t many pictures that accompany the recipes. So, if you’re a visual chef (like I am), this cookbook may be hard to enjoy. It’s also been said that the pages aren’t the highest quality (meaning they’re thin), but again, it just depends if you’re wanting this to sit on your coffee table or to actually cook with it.
9. The Modern Proper: Simple Dinners for Every Day
Authors Holly and Natalie offer 100 delicious yet practical recipes for busy lives. These two friends started such a beautiful blog that ended up landing them writing opportunities such as this cookbook, and can I just say, I am SO impressed by these two!
The recipes on their blog but also in this cookbook are game-changers for weeknight meals. Plus, the book has beautiful imagery that promises to inspire!
10. The Elements of Pizza
Pizza is my favorite food ever, and although I’m a sucker for childhood frozen pizzas, having fresh, homemade pizza will always be top tier. And this cookbook… walks you through how to do JUST THAT. This book may not hold the “quickest” recipes nor will it have a variety of food types (the title is accurate for pizza!), but, I can promise this book to be a game-changer for family pizza night.
Plus, there are even gluten-free doughs featured!!
So there you go- 10 cookbooks to inspire your time in the kitchen! Living intentionally toward a healthier, cleaner, and simpler diet doesn’t mean that you’re restricted to the produce section. The ability to fuel our bodies is a beautiful thing, but because diet culture is so negatory, it can easily overwhelm or lead to dark places. So, please understand that the recipes above (even though some aren’t by definition “healthy“), are perfectly acceptable! By getting in the kitchen and making homemade meals you are already living a cleaner and more intentional life- don’t let anyone tell you differently!
In love,
Halie Kay
