Jewish cookbooks overflow my kitchen shelves. Whether I am looking for a holiday treat or an everyday meal, I can always find something inspiring. Traditional, modern, or seemingly unrelated, my favorite Jewish cookbooks offer a huge variety of recipe options.
My Jewish cookbooks help me plan, prepare, and enjoy. Like everyone, I have my go-to books, where I find my favorite recipes, or I simply like the author’s style.
Recently, I was discussing Jewish cookbooks with a few friends, and it turns out, we all have different preferences. There are some universal favorites like anything from Susie Fishbein or Joan Nathan. In the end, our list has a dozen books, all liked by friends who also cook.
Below, find the best of the best. They make great holiday gifts for Hanukkah, weddings, or birthdays for the right person. Regardless of what you want to cook, at least one of these books will be right for you.
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Recommended Jewish cookbooks
This list is a compilation of the favorite Jewish cookbooks among my friends. See if we included your favorite.
Kosher by Design: Picture Perfect Food for the Holidays & Every Day
by Susie Fishbien
At our house, this is the winner. It's our favorite cookbook, by our favorite author. In fact, Susie Fishbein has an entire series of Kosher by Design books, and each is as wonderful as the one before it.
Her focus is elegant kosher cuisine, yet she makes it easy for anyone to prepare. Plus, she offers tips on choosing wine, holiday menus, and even table decorations.
Peas, Love and Carrots
By Danielle Renov
This is one of the two clear winners among my friends. It features over 254 recipes inspired by the author's Sephardic and Ashkenazi roots and created in her kitchen in Israel.
Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook
By Joan Nathan
Fun and unique, Joan Nathan's recipes are more than just the classic Jewish meals your grandma makes. She shares Jewish cooking that's been influenced by cultures around the world, and how holidays have created and shaped them.
Breaking Breads: A New World of Israeli Baking
By Uri Scheft
One of our favorite bakers, Uri Scheft combines classic pastries with some fun modern twists. From simple challah to Nutella babkas, his recipes are always a hit at my house.
RISING: The Book of Challah
By Rochie Pinson
From the story of challah to creating your own, this book takes you through Rochie's experience and insights into the art of baking challah. She offers 38 different recipes, so you will never be bored.
Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors From My Israeli Kitchen
By Adeena Sussman
It's not just the recipes that make this book special. Adeena Sussman's stories about her adopted Israeli culture transported me to a beautiful world. I found her fun and fresh.
The Essential Jewish Baking Cookbook: 50 Traditional Recipes for Every Occasion
By Beth A Lee
Filled with 50 classic recipes, there are sure to be a few that will remind you of your own grandma, I know there are several for me. From babka to challah, there is something to bake for every holiday or just for dinner.
Second Helpings, Please!: The Iconic Jewish Cookbook
Edited by Norene Gilletz
You're not going to go wrong with this one. Created by the Mount Sinai Chapter of B'nai Brith Women as a catch-all cook book, it has a fantastic variety of tasty meals that are both simple and traditional.
The New Kosher Cookbook Trilogy
By Rabbi Norman Segal
These recipes may be kosher, but they're enjoyable for everyone. Rabbi Normal Segal has collected 200 recipes from across the globe to tickle your tastebuds.
Bais Yaakov Cookbook
By Bais Yaakov
Another Kosher cookbook? Not quite. I love the recipes, but what makes this even better is its range of advice and guides. From a color guide for fruits and vegetables, to how to shop for meat, wine, cookware, and more, this book has been a fantastic guide in the kitchen.
The World of Jewish Cooking
By Rabbi Gil Marks
I like Rabbi Gil Marks' recipes so much that I had to include him twice. This book has a massive selection of over 500 traditional Jewish recipes from around the world. From Moroccan "pigeon" pie to Georgian cheese bread, you can travel the world while standing in your kitchen.
King Solomon's Table
By Joan Nathan
Yum, yum, yum. Joan Nathan's cookbook took me on a delicious trip through time. Traditional Jewish recipes from across the ages are enhanced with fun historical facts about our 3000-year-old culinary tradition.
The Spice and Spirit Kosher Passover Cookbook
By the Lubavich Woman's Organization
I'm not going to lie, a year is a long time to remember everything for a holiday. I find this to be a helpful guide as well as a cookbook, dishing out both recipes and important traditions for the Passover holiday.
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Which of these Jewish cookbooks tops your wish list?
Prefer online recipes? Then check out our Jewish recipes. Here are a few of our favorites to get you started.
Giselle
Definitely would love to try out some of these cookbooks! Looks delicious!
Erin
What a great list of cookbooks! I love discovering new cookbooks. These look to be some that I will have to find!
Michelle Frank | Flipped-Out Food
I have a passion for cookbooks, and especially those that tell a story. This is a fantastic selection—I have not yet explored Jewish cuisine to any extent, so this list opens up a whole new world for me!
Archana
Wow what a beautiful collection! I wish I can cook from them all! When I visited Israel I did wish I could visit some bookstores but it was not to be. Will check them up. Thanks
Maricruz Avalos Flores
Thank you for your recommendations. Here in Rome Jewish cooking is very appreciated and one of my favorite too. The Jewish neighborhood have the best trattorie and bakeries.
Rachel N Loza
Honestly? I’d LOVE to try some of these! I am obsessed with Falafel!
Biana
Thank you for sharing your favorite cookbooks, always nice to get cookbook recommendations.
Ildiko
I have a few Jewish cookbooks which I love, but were not on your list. One on your list that sally jumped out at me was Baking Breads. I so loved all the bakeries in Israel and would love to learn how to make many of those desserts, authentically, like rugelach, babka, challah, za’atar pitas San such. All so yummy!
Denise
Such a great list I had to pin it!
Lydia C. Lee
The falafel look fantastic!
Kuntala Bhattacharya
I have never tried authentic Jewish food , the cookbooks must be a definite help for me to try. I love the vegan part mostly.
Sabine
Great compilation of jewish cookbooks. It will be a nice opportunity to learn Jewish cooking more in dept. And what I like is that they are all so diverse.
Jojo Hua
Wow, the falafel looks so delicious! I want one. And I feel like I need to experiment more in the kitchen now with Jewish food too.
Gervin Khan
I would love to have a copy of these books so that I can learn some of Jewish recipe to prepare for my family. Thank you for sharing this with us. Keep safe.
Krysten Quiles
Oooh yum, I may want to look into a few of those, thanks!
Sondra Barker
This is great information. Will have to share this with my friends and family. Thanks for sharing.
Megan Lawrence
I have to admit, I don’t know much about Jewish food, but I’m certainly willing to try! The Hanukkah Latkes look yum – I thought I’d give these a go first.
Jessica
I’ve unfortunatley only had traditional Jewish food once. I have very fond memories that meal however and this post has inspired me to purchase a Jewish cookbook, so I can prepare a Jewish meal myself. Thank you!
Gourmet Vegetarians
What a great compilation of Jewish cookbooks! Would love to spend some more time learning about Jewish cuisine as I haven’t cooked much of it before. Also those falafel look so good!
Davindra
So many delicious recipes in those books. I may need another bookshelf soon.