5 Books on Food and Cooking You Should Read in 2025

I admit it – I love to read. And I’m a total nerd at heart. I’ll find any excuse to sit and read, even if it’s just for a few moments. If you’re looking for some suggestions of books to read this year that will inspire your inner chef and rekindle your love for cooking, check these out:

#5: The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, by Alice B. Toklas

Part memoir, part cookbook, The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook has served as inspiration for generations of foodies, chefs, counter-culture activists, and ex-pats for decades.

It is a sharply written, deliciously rich read, memorializing meals and recipes shared by Earnest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso – and of course Gertrude Stein, who was Alice’s lifelong partner.

Also, did I mention – there’s a recipe in here for… uh… “special” brownies?

#4: A Year in Provence, by Peter Mayle

While not a book about food specifically, it would be pretty hard to write a book about a year in Provence without food being a prominent feature of the book.

Hilarious, touching and warm-hearted, Peter Mayle perfectly captures the essence of living the good life in southern France.

#3: The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, by Michael Ruhlman

A reporter by trade, Michael Ruhlman takes his readers on a journey deep inside the nation’s most well respected – and secretive – culinary school for an inside peek at what it’s really like to learn to cook.

Reminiscent of the ‘gonzo journalism’ movement, Ruhlman himself was so captivated by the experience that being a chef essentially became his adopted career. Witty, and with a true journalist’s attention to detail, The Making of a Chef equally captivates anyone who takes the time to read it.

#2: Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)

Irreverent and funny as hell, Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential also contains some great tips for home cooks wanting to bring their culinary game to the next level. In fact, there’s a whole chapter called “How to Cook Like the Pros” in which Bourdain dispenses practical advice and divulges pro-chef secrets.

Be warned: this book isn’t for the faint of heart – there’s more than enough colorful language, blood, guts, drugs, and graphic, raunchy sex to shock even the most hardened and carnal readers.

But boy, is it fun.

#1: The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution, by David Kamp

If you read ONE book this year on food and cooking, this should be it.

In this fascinating, descriptive historical narrative, David Kamp masterfully traces every detail of exactly how Americans went from the 1950s-Everything-In-A-Can era to an increasingly food-obsessed society. Wickedly funny and outrageously entertaining, Kamp pulls no punches in pulling back the curtain and showing his reader how food and cooking ended up on the mainstage of American culture.

This book has the potential to not only change the way you cook, but how you think about the recipes you read, and where they actually come from.

There are, of course, a lot of other books that have inspired me over the years… these are just some of the ones I’ve enjoyed recently. What books on food and cooking have been an inspiration to you? Let us know in the comment section below!