Vegan cooking has come a long way from bland substitutes and these seven cookbooks are the proof. From the blogger whose recipes converted a generation of skeptics to a genre pioneer's fast weeknight cooking, this is plant-based food so good you forget it is vegan. They cover everything from crave-able comfort food to vibrant global flavors, all without a scrap of animal product. Whether you are fully vegan, dairy-free, or just plant-curious, this shelf makes the switch delicious.
We describe and compare these books, we never reprint their recipes. Find your voice and start cooking.
Quick picks:
- Best overall: Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon. View on Amazon
- Best for flavor: Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen by Richa Hingle. View on Amazon
- Best for weeknights: Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. View on Amazon
Crowd-pleasing vegan
Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon
Angela Liddon is a blogger with an enormous Pinterest following. The vegan cookbook that converted skeptics, plant-based recipes so good you forget they're vegan.
Best for: Crowd-pleasing vegan.
→ View on AmazonIsa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a prolific vegan cookbook author. Fast, flavorful weeknight vegan cooking from a genre pioneer, reliable and unpretentious.
Best for: Weeknight vegan.
→ View on AmazonLove Real Food by Kathryne Taylor
Kathryne Taylor is a blogger with a large Pinterest following. Wholesome, vegetarian, genuinely crave-able food from a beloved online source, approachable and bright.
Best for: Wholesome vegetarian.
→ View on AmazonGlobal and reference
Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen by Richa Hingle
Richa Hingle is a hugely popular blogger with a big Pinterest following. A definitive vegan take on Indian cooking, richly flavored, well tested and a go-to for plant-based cooks.
Best for: Vegan Indian.
→ View on AmazonEast by Meera Sodha
Meera Sodha is a food writer known for vibrant plant cooking. Vegan and vegetarian recipes across Asia, bright, bold and endlessly useful for meat-free variety.
Best for: Vegan Asian cooking.
→ View on AmazonVegetable Kingdom by Bryant Terry
Bryant Terry is a chef and author rooted in Afro-diasporic cooking. Vibrant, plant-based cooking with real cultural depth, as nourishing to read as to cook from.
Best for: Plant-based with soul.
→ View on AmazonThe Complete Plant-Based Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen is the rigorously tested test-kitchen team. Hundreds of foolproof plant-based recipes with the tested-until-perfect reliability the brand is known for.
Best for: Tested plant-based.
→ View on AmazonHow we chose these
We looked past the marketing to the people behind the books: working chefs, award winners, food scientists, culture-bearers and the recipe developers whose food people actually cook again and again. Where an author is a food writer or blogger rather than a trained chef, that is a feature, not a knock: many of the most reliable, most-loved cookbooks come from obsessive home cooks. We describe and compare these books; we never republish their recipes.
