13 Best Cookbooks to Gift This Mother’s Day

Food Network star, bakery owner and bestselling author Molly Yeh’s latest tome is a love letter to all things sugar. It’s fitting, given that she and her husband, Nick, live and work on a sugar beet farm and that many of her formative memories are of making sweets with her family. Many of the recipes draw inspiration from Yeh’s Asian and Jewish heritage, such as Red Bean Newtons and Toasted Sesame Cake, as well as her takes on nostalgic sweets, like her mom-inspired Cinnamon Sugar Chocolate Rugelach or Yellow Cake Cookie Bars. We can’t wait to whip up One-Bowl Any-Butter Cookie Bars when spur-of-the-moment cravings strike or Black Sesame Babka, one of Yeh’s favorite recipes in the book. Not sure where to start? The dedicated Dessert for Breakfast chapter includes inspiring bakes like Marzipan Poppy Seed Babka Muffins and weekend-worthy Chocolate Swirly Buns.

With its clever recipes, fun illustrations (by Danny Miller) and a heavy dose of whimsy, The Fishwife Cookbook packs a one-two punch of flavor and charm. Together with recipe developer Vilda Gonzalez, Becca Millstein, co-founder and CEO of Fishwife, showcases her signature high-quality, sustainably sourced tinned fish in 80 easy recipes organized by meal and mood. From Just a Quickie, start with Radish, Butter, and Anchovy Toast; upgrade your tuna sandwich with A Meal for One’s Trout Salad Sandwich; or crack open a tin of Smoked Salmon with Fly By Jing Chili Crisp and make a cozy bowl of Dan Dan Noodles, aptly filed under In Front of the Fireplace. We especially love the book’s Deep Dives, which offer how-tos such as assembling a five-minute snack plate, packing a perfect picnic or pairing tinned fish with potato chips. Score bonus points with mom by gifting the happiness-inducing The Fishwife Cookbook Gift Box, which comes with two tins of fish, tinned fish tongs and cute stickers and sticky notes, perfect for bookmarking her favorite recipes.

With her latest cookbook, Allyson Reedy celebrates 50 of the most viral and visually stunning recipes, plus photos from food bloggers and recipe creators. The book is chock-full of kitchen hacks that’ll help build your own Instagram-worthy recipe repertoire, including Michelle Tiang’s Ice Cube Tray Sushi, Snejana Andreeva’s Lasagna Soup or Jess Pryles’ Rice Paper Dumplings. This book has tons of foodie content creator inspo, whether it’s recreating Reedy’s own Millennial Pink Smoothie Bowl for breakfast or her Creamy Lemonade for a refreshing summer sipper, discovering the gustatory genius of Darryl Harmon’s Donut Grilled Cheese with Tomato Soup or celebrating social media’s influence on home cooking with a round of Dahianna’s Birria Tacos. Bonus points if you put together Deb Perelman’s Bagel and Cream Cheese Board for a festive Mother’s Day brunch. Just remember, the phone eats first, so be sure to use #thephoneeatsfirstcookbook when you post your Instagram- and TikTok-worthy dishes.

If Mom is looking for kitchen inspiration, turn to Meredith Hayden, a private chef, recipe developer and creator of the website Wishbone Kitchen. Her book’s 100 recipes prove that elegant and unfussy can go hand in hand and that home cooks can celebrate all seasons of life without tons of pressure. Ease in with dips like Hot Crab Dip and Really Good Guac, then move on to inspired back-pocket weeknight dinners including shareable sandwiches like the Ultimate Italian and big salads like the summer-ready Blueberry BBQ Grilled Chicken Salad. Hayden spent summers on Nantucket so she devotes plenty of recipe real estate to seafood, including how to break down a lobster destined for Wok Lobster or Lobster Avocado Salad and how to host a Nantucket Clam Bake, the ultimate al fresco entertaining hack. And don’t miss Not My Mom’s Roast Chicken, an homage to her mom and the recipe that started it all (her mom always saved the wishbone to snap after dinner), paired with a punchy parsley tarragon salsa verde.

Given his background as an acclaimed fashion designer, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Peter Som would create an equally elegant and intentional cookbook. But there are delightful surprises at virtually every turn, from the addition of unexpected yet genius ingredients to the beautiful storytelling sprinkled throughout. Som dedicated this book to his mom and grandma, who instilled in Som a love of food and whose cooking inspired Som’s approach in the kitchen. Family Style includes heirloom-worthy recipes like Chinese Steamed Egg, which Som augments with a garnish of bacon, sourdough and Parmigiano-Reggiano and Poached Chicken with Two Dips, including an Herby Ginger Sauce and Spicy Soy Sauce (to which he adds chili crisp). We’ll also take a page out of Som’s effortless entertaining handbook by making party favorites like Baked Camembert with Chili Crisp and Honey and Sole Meunière with Fish Sauce and Lime, both nods to his mom’s love of French cuisine, and wedges of Chocolate Hoisin Cake with Fluffy Frosting.

As a first-generation American with East African and South Asian roots, author Zaynab Issa has a wealth of culinary cultures to draw from. In Third Culture Cooking — a term for the blend of cultures of one’s parents’ homeland and the place one calls home — she celebrates her multi-cultural heritage as well as her U.S. suburban upbringing. With her old-school meets new-school framework, access to a global pantry and a heaping helping of creative flair, Zaynab has dreamt up 100 recipes jam-packed with bold flavors that are in their own category of American classics. To wit, the book shares space for the likes of her grandmother’s baklava, her sister-in-law’s biryani and the Cinnabon-inspired Mall Cinnamon Rolls of Zaynab’s youth. On the savory side, we can’t wait to make Udon Carbonara, Tandoori Tacos and Calabrian Chili Chicken with Caper Raita, while on the sweet side we’ve bookmarked the irresistible-sounding Banana Cake with Tahini Fudge and Almond Mocha Blondies.

What we love about this book and its particular giftability for moms is that every recipe in Snacking Dinners is designed to feed one. Author Georgia Freedman wants people to make an interesting, flavorful dinner for themselves, not just when cooking for other people. While the snacking dinners can be satisfying on their own, Freedman also offers suggestions for bulking up the plate. In five minutes, you can have a plate of Cold Tofu with Scallions, Tomato and Chile Crisp (made heartier with rice or alongside pan-fried freezer dumplings or a “splurgy snack” of Caviar Sandwich. If you’ve got more time to spare, Okonomiyaki Tater Tots read like the comfort food-mash-up we didn’t know we were missing. That said, recipes can easily be doubled for an inspired date night, like Shrimp Cocktail with Citrus-Gochujang Seafood Sauce, or tripled or quadrupled to break out of a dinnertime rut or to curate a party menu, like the game-night ready spread with Sweet-Spicy-Numbing Queso, Mix & Match Potato Bites and Roti Pizza.

Alex Guarnaschelli wears many hats, including Iron Chef, Food Network star, restaurant owner and cookbook author. But to Ava Clark, she’s Mom. The two of them forged a strong bond around food early on, from making classic French omelets together in the kitchen to supping on cheesy gnocchi at Guarnaschelli’s NYC restaurant, Butter. With their debut co-authored cookbook, the mother-daughter duo cooked their way through 75 family favorite recipes, all united by their pursuit of bold flavor and supreme deliciousness. For our own Mother’s Day brunch spread, we’re bookmarking the luscious The Special Café Quiche, which Guarnaschelli’s mom says takes her back to her years in Paris, paired with Simple Greens with Mom’s Dressing. The book is also peppered with tips and culinary know-how that will pay dividends in your cooking for years to come. You’ll learn how to make the fluffiest frittatas, how to mix and season meatballs so they always stay juicy and discover their surprising secret to the most garlicky garlic bread.

For the mom who loves to cook and try new recipes but is short on time comes this beautiful new tome from bestselling author and Food Network star Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman. Each of the book’s 112 recipes promises to be fuss-free yet full of flavor, and they’re organized around fun categories like Winner Winner Chicken Dinners, Pizza Party, Expecting Company and Pasta for President! We’re willing to bet that some of these clever dishes will become new family favorites in your house, too, especially the likes of Steak Frites Salad and Sticky BBQ-Glazed Pork Tenderloin. And why didn’t we think of Pimento Cheese Grits before? As a bonus, there’s a whole chapter dedicated to easy-to-make Flavorful Fridge Grabs — think Refrigerator Pickles, Five-Minute Salsa and Garlic Confit — that are like little flavor bomb gifts to give your cooking added oomph throughout the week.

Perhaps no one is more harried and hungry than moms, so this cookbook from Food Network’s Aarti Sequeria offers the ultimate remedy for depletion. As a mother, she understands innately the demands of feeding family and how that often comes at the expense of mothers sating their own hungers. Her book offers 50 heartfelt devotions and inspirational quotes paired with recipes from Sequeria’s own kitchen, offering home cooks the opportunity to reconnect to the joy of cooking amidst the dinnertime rush. Our favorite section just might be When You Need Sustenance, with a line-up of dishes that mingle Sequeria’s signature Indian soul food with global influences. Think Dal Makhani (Creamy North Indian Lentils), Sweet Potato Poutine with Red Eye Gravy, Jackfruit Kofta Curry and rich and soothing Laksa: Singaporean Coconut Noodle Soup. And for those days “when you need a helper,” there’s the alluring-sounding Drinking Chocolate with Chili, Smoke and Clouds.

When your name has the word ‘yum’ in it, you know you’re destined for culinary magic. And for her first cookbook, food blogger and social media favorite Yumna Jawad, aka The Feel Good Foodie, delivers a spell-binding collection of easy, healthful and flavorful Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. The recipes reflect her early culinary influences growing up in Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone and Michigan by calling for simple, fresh ingredients and striking a chord between tradition and innovation. Mom can step up her summer grilling game with Harissa-Grilled Shrimp Skewers paired with Tomato Rice Pilaf or spruce up her roast chicken recipe with Seven Spice Roast Chicken & Pomegranate Potatoes. There’s loads of plant-based inspo, too, including White Zucchini Pizza with Garlicky Labneh, Tahini-Glazed Cauliflower and perfectly Crispy Falafel. We won’t blame Mom if she makes a batch of Three-Ingredient Mango Sorbet to stash in the freezer just for her.

If you and your mom’s most memorable moments can be traced to the kitchen, this cookbook is the ultimate Mother’s Day gift. Mother-daughter-duo Roya Shariat and Gita Sadeh pored over dishes, committed measurements to paper and obsessively tested recipes to produce a deeply personal collection of recipes that honor their Iranian-American roots. If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at making tahdig, an essential Iranian rice dish with a signature crispy crust, head to the Rice & Pilafs chapter. It opens with a detailed primer and includes four different styles to try, with rice, potato, tortilla and spaghetti varieties. Since entertaining is a big part of Iranian culture, we recommend throwing a dinner party, laying the table with the stunning Morning Herb and Cheese Platter (Noon Paneer Sabzi), followed by an easy yet show-stopping main, Saffron Salmon with Ranch Dressing, paved with cherry tomatoes, flanked by Herbed Rice Pilaf (Sabzi Polo). Carrot juice and ice cream floats make for an unexpected, fun dessert option, but the no-bake, gluten-free Soft Almond Flour Cookies are a total crowd-pleaser.

Celebrated author Ali Rosen’s latest cookbook will suspend your disbelief that it’s possible to make a meal in 15 minutes, from start to finish. For her flavorful yet quick dishes, Rosen capitalizes on what she dubs “powerhouse ingredients,” the type of global pantry items that are easier than ever to source, including harissa, chili crisp, soy sauce and tamarind paste. And modern-day preservation techniques mean that ingredients like frozen broccoli, canned beans and tinned fish (hello, Spicy Tuna Rice Bowls) make top-notch meal anchors. Rosen is also a mom of three kids, who love joining her in the kitchen to make dishes such as Hummus Quesadilla with Spinach and Artichoke and Ground Beef with Kimchi Tacos (Rosen says that if you put anything in a taco or quesadilla, kids will naturally trust it). To sate her own cravings, Rosen turns to Soy Sauce Butter Noodles for comfort, and when she’s tired but wants something that feels fancy, she opts for Seared Tuna with Endive and Orange, which we think would make for an impressive but low-lift Mother’s Day dinner (hint, hint).