26 Best Vegetarian Diet Cookbooks of All Time (2016) - Book Reviews

My mother's physician recently put her on a high vegetable diet. She finds eating nine servings of salad every day very boring and depressing. She asked me: "What are some of the better vegetarian cookbooks out there? Is there one in particular that's considered the best?"

And I made this list of the best vegetarian cookbooks. I also bought the top 10 cookbooks as a gift for my mother's 49th birthday.

All the selected vegetarian cookbooks are James Beard Award winning tomes. The chosen books on the list are best-sellers and have high ratings on Amazon.com. The cookbooks have recipes that work the first time and every time; it is as simple as that. It will keep you cooking for a lifetime--and guarantees impeccable results. These are the recipes that shall induce you to returns to it repeatedly because they are approachable, good for the body, and just plain delicious.

This is the complete directory of most popular vegetarian cookbook ever. The list reviews the beauty of uncomplicated food prepared well and reflects a realistic yet gourmet approach to a healthy and natural foods lifestyle. 

Imagine yourself making nutritionally packed meals part of your daily repertoire, and creating a welcoming table filled with nourishing food for friends and family. You deserve the good things in life. You decide! And let's get to work. :-)


26) Download the, The Art of Low-Calorie Cooking by Sally Schneider

Winner 1991 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Health and Diet

A cookbook of visually appealing, low calorie recipes. The book is more about cooking creatively than it is about dieting, more about pleasure than denial. It includes 125 recipes from smoked salmon tartare, cassoulet, radicchio, orange and grilled onion salad, espresso creme brulee and prune and Armagnac ice cream. Calorie fat and sodium counts are included with each recipe. Whenever possible, variations on a recipe are given as well, to broaden the possibilities of the recipes and the range of the book. This book is also a good source of ideas for entertaining and special occasions as well as for daily meals.


25) Chez Eddy Living Heart Cookbook by Antonio M. Gotto, Jr, MD

Winner 1992 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthier Living

The recipes will result to "heart-healthy" food that is neither boring nor bland. The cuisine is a mixture of Southwestern, new American, and classical, and the recipes are for sophisticated, upscale restaurant food: Crab Pancakes with Jicama-Ginger Salsa, Venison with Red Wine and Fig Sauce. Some require a fair amount of advance preparation, but they are written for the home cook; in addition to nutrition information, presentation suggestions are included for each delightful recipe. 


24) Quick Vegetarian Pleasures: More than 175 Fast, Delicious, and Healthy Meatless Recipes by Jeanne Lemlin

Winner 1993 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Fruits, Vegetables & Grains

In a crowded field of vegetarian cookbooks, Jeanne Lemlin's "Quick Vegetarian Pleasures" stands out for its straightforward good food. More than 175 quick, wholesome, nutritious, and delicious recipes to be enjoyed by vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. Even the most ardent meat eater should take a look at the various delectable recipes. It is full of innovative recipes that not only taste great but also are often easy to prepare.


23) Faye Levy’s International Vegetable Cookbook: Over 300 Sensational Recipes from Argentina to Zaire and Artichokes to Zucchini by Faye Levy

Winner 1994 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Fruits, Vegetables & Grains

In this recipe book, Faye Levy goes global with low-fat preparations for fennel, okra, parsnips, beans and other garden-variety regulars. The definitive volume on vegetable cooking by the award-winning author features hundreds of wholesome internationally flavored recipes.

Levy is operating with a full plate, with 25 themed chapters taking on separate vegetables, and the balance discussing background, menus, techniques and resources. Each chapter opens with a brief introduction and advice on selecting, preparing and storing the vegetable in question, as well as information about what constitutes a serving size and what vitamins will come our way from that serving. Do not overlook the spinach recipes, which include flans, a French nutmeg-infused dish, and a classic Greek spinach salad; the mushroom chapter ranges from Mexico to Thailand to Italy, and beyond.


World Health Organization (WHO) recommend to eat your daily servings of fruits and veggies. Everyone should learn... How to Enjoy the Recommended Daily Serving of Fruits and Vegetable


22) Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day by The Moosewood Collective

Winner 1995 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

This cookbook contains dishes full of exciting flavors, sure to please every kind of taste, from savory soups to substantial main-dish salads, from hearty stews to palate-teasing “small dishes.” Sauces, salsas and dressings, and a compilation of almost-instant desserts turn the simplest meal into an occasion.

The recipes concentrates on simple, healthful, easily prepared foods, most dishes can be readied in 30 minutes or more, and organically grown ingredients are urged. Flavor is emphatically present, and so is an international bent. An Asian frittata, for instance, incorporates vegetables and adds a sauce including soy, rice wine, sesame oil and other Eastern staples, while baked peaches with Marsala is a dessert with an Italian tint. The majority of the recipes will please non-purists, as well as the hard-core. An especially strong Stew chapter offers entries with African, Caribbean, Hungarian, Greek, East Indian, Spanish, Italian and South American origins; Chapters on pastas, salads and grains are similarly broad. Each recipe features menu suggestions and information on nutritional components.


21) High-Flavor, Low-Fat Vegetarian Cooking by Steven Raichlen

Winner 1996 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

This vegetarian cookbook is an extremely diverse collection of recipes of savory meals, featuring ingredients from a variety of popular ethnic cuisines. It is an international in inspiration, ranging from Korean Radish Salad to New Wave Kugel to Vegetable Burgers. Some combinations are brand new and very tasty such as an appetizer/entree of Tofu, Prune, and Pineapple Kebabs with Apricot Glaze. It also contains a complete nutritional analysis of each recipe. It offers an exciting introduction to the world's healthiest foods.


20) 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles

Winner 1997 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

Have you been searching on the internet for a collection of yummy vegetarian recipes? What about easy-to-prepare vegetarian recipes, or those that are healthful? Then this book for you—no other vegetarian cookbook comes even close.

Carol Gelles offers hundreds of appetizers, entrees, soups, salads, and more, proving that vegetarian cuisine is anything but boring. The flavor combinations are limitless, drawing on the ingredients and spices from every international cuisine. Profound discussions of vegetables, grains, beans, and soy foods are interspersed throughout the recipes, making the book easy enough for beginners to follow. Also, every recipe is coded as lacto-vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian, or totally vegan.


19)  Click here, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. This one is the new and improved edition, The New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone 2014.

Winner 1998 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

This cookbook offers recipes that will please even nonvegetarians. It is the most comprehensive vegetarian cookbook ever published.  The 1,400 recipes, which range from appetizers to desserts, are colorful and imaginative as well as familiar and comforting.  

Deborah Madison introduces readers to innovative main course salads; warm and cold soups; vegetable braises and cobblers; golden-crusted gratins; Italian favorites like pasta, polenta, pizza, and risotto; savory tarts and galettes; grilled sandwiches and quesadillas; and creative dishes using grains and heirloom beans.


18) Vegetables, Revised: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking, with More than 300 Recipes by James Peterson

Winner 1999 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetables and Vegetarian

Here is another very useful cookbook. It is packed with information, divided into two basic sections: "The Vegetables," a complete guide to buying, storing, and preparing, often with a basic recipe or two, and "The Dishes," where most of the recipes appear, grouped by "style" or cooking technique. Woven in with the fundamentals is a collection of some 300 recipes that highlight the versatility of vegetables in both familiar and unexpectedly exciting ways.

In the hard print or kindle version, you will find recipes of dozens of refreshing salads; plenty of soups and rich, flavorful stews; crowd-pleasing casseroles and pastas; soul-comforting gratins and risottos; and perfect, handcrafted gnocchi. James Peterson focuses primarily on the more readily available vegetables rather than the exotic (although he does include truffles and seaweed), and the recipes range from sophisticated party dishes to good old comfort food, with inspirations from Mediterranean, Asian, classic French, and other famous cuisines. 


17) Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World by Madhur Jaffrey and Ellen Brown

Winner 2000 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: International

Madhur Jaffrey's recipes are always delicious, and her culinary explorations and insights make for delightful reading. This cookbook is clearly a labor of love; Madhur's masterwork is breathtaking in scope, with a dazzling array of recipes from all over the world. 

More than 650 recipes exemplify Madhur's unsurpassed ability to create simple, flavorful home cooking that is well within the reach of every cook. Extensive sections on Beans, Vegetables, Grains, and Dairy explore the numerous ways these staples are enjoyed worldwide. Each section opens with a detailed introduction; Madhur describes methods for preparation and vegetable storage tips, as well as different cooking techniques and their cultural origins. Throughout she balances appealing, uncomplicated dishes such as sumptuous omelets and rich polentas with less familiar ingredients such as green mangoes, pigeon peas, and spelt. She incorporates new combinations and interesting flavors into everyday cooking. 


16) The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley and Melissa Clark

Winner 2001 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, by Peter Berley with Melissa Clark, follows the fundamental vegetarian principles, but Berley readily concedes that not every person's constitution is equipped to follow this diet resolutely. Peter's mission is to show how the simple act of cooking food can enliven your senses and nourish your life––from going to the farmers market and outfitting your kitchen with the simplest, most useful tools to learning techniques and sharing meals with friends and family. He takes you through the seasons, with more than 200 sumptuous recipes that feature each ingredient at its peak.

In the book, you will discover recipes that include meat substitutes such as tempeh and seitan, but he dresses them carefully to ensure a full complement of flavor components. His special Seitan Bourguignonne contains virtually identical ingredients to its classic provincial French model but without beef and bacon. Similarly, except for the substitution of seitan for lamb, Peter's shepherd's pie could pass for a well-seasoned version of the genuine dish. He has broad knowledge of macrobiotic cookery that is shown in his love of Japanese ingredients such as burdock root. Thus, he generates new audiences for ancient Eastern vegetables. Polenta, a North Italian staple of boiled cornmeal, gets a healthy twist by substituting millet for the customary cornmeal and mellowing out with pureed sweet potato. As a brunch presentation, Spinach-Mushroom Quiche's crust gains texture from oats and sesame seeds. 


15) A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider

Winner 2002 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

Despite continued emphasis on low-fat cooking as an antidote to a wide range of contemporary nutrition-related illnesses, no one has addressed comprehensively the issue of creating fine food with an eye to reducing high fat levels found in most cookbooks. Sally Schneider has set herself to altering the course of everyday cooking in "A New Way to Cook". Recognizing the importance of texture and full flavors and the insipidness of manufactured and highly processed food substitutes, she has set out to reproduce classic, time-tested recipes with less fat than their originals. 

More than 600 lavishly illustrated recipes result in marvelous, vividly flavored foods. You will find quintessential American favorites that taste every bit as good as the traditional "full-tilt" versions: macaroni and cheese, rosemary buttermilk biscuits, chocolate malted pudding. You will find Italian polentas, risottos, focaccias, and pastas, all reinvented without the loss of a single drop of deliciousness. Asian flavors shine through in cold sesame noodles; mussels with lemongrass, ginger, and chiles; and curry-crusted shrimp. Even French food is no longer on the forbidden list, with country-style pâtés and cassoulet.


14) Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon

Winner 2003 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian/Healthy Focus

Jam-packed with more than 1,000 recipes that are seductive, sexy, and utterly delicious, from "Welcoming Hors d'Oeuvres" to "Just Desserts." Crescent Dragonwagon is indeed a truly passionate vegetarian, and adjectives like sensual and voluptuous appear in many of her recipe notes. 

All the recipes draw from a variety of well-known cuisines. In addition to the recipes, Crescent includes hundreds of boxes and sidebars on ingredients and myriad other subjects; the vegetable chapter, for example, features an A-Z guide to her favorites. There is also a chapter called "Quick Fix," with recipes and suggestions for no-fuss meals. Many of the other recipes also offer suggestions for easy variations. 

Whether you are a committed vegetarian, a dedicated vegan, or a food-loving omnivore in search of something new and wonderful, this is not just vegetarian cooking--but good home cooking, period--at its most creative, inspiring, and exuberant.


13) Taste Pure and Simple: Irresistible Recipes for Good Food and Good Health by Michel Nischan with Mary Goodbody

Winner 2004 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus & Vegetarian

As seen on Oprah TV show! Acclaimed chef Michel Nischan knows that eating well is all about balance, and his stunning cookbook proves that robust meals can be both healthy and tasty. 

Avoiding the high-fat dairy products prevalent in so many amateur cookbooks and food blogs on the Web, he uses vegetable juices and olive oil to achieve the same luscious flavors. Who knew that sweet potatoes make a rich sauce? Or that creamy white bean dip spread on crusty bread could make you forget about butter?

This volume is beautifully photographed and elegantly designed, and Michel's narrative is difficult to resist, especially as he caramelizes, roasts and glazes his way to low-fat nirvana. This classic culinary redemption narrative is sure to find its way into a home kitchen.


12) Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World by Gil Marks

Winner 2005 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetarian

Olive Trees and Honey is a magnificent treasury shedding light on the truly international palette of Jewish vegetarian cooking, an illuminating portrait of its journey across continents and centuries, this book is a celebration of this enduring global mosaic.

Perfect for the vegetarian kitchen or as a complement to meat-based menus, the exquisite dishes in these pages will enrich any diet and bring warmth to any table. With 300 recipes for soups, salads, grains, pastas, legumes, vegetable stews, egg dishes, savory pastries, and more.


11) The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook: Eating Well for Better Health by Maureen Callahan, R.D. & Cheryl Forberg, R. D.

Winner 2005 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Focus on Health

Who hasn’t promised to eat healthier? But who wants to give up great taste? Now you can have both. Introducing the cookbook that will change your mind about healthy meals, from the esteemed Mayo Clinic, the foremost authority on healthy cooking in America. Dedicated to the art of eating well, this all-new volume offers 150 inspired recipes for delicious dishes with appetizing photography and detailed nutritional analysis. Also includes Mayo Clinic’s New Philosophy of Cooking and Healthy Weight Pyramid. Destined to be a daily staple for health-conscious cooks around the world. 


10) Download at, Spices of Life: Simple and Delicious Recipes for Great Health by Nina Simonds

Winner 2006 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

For many home chefs, reading through most cookbooks is a bit like perusing some high-end fashion magazine: an exercise in aspiration—you will never get around to making that filet de boeuf Richelieu, but it is nice to imagine a world in which you would. Then there are cookbooks like this one, full of straightforward but practical recipes, and infused with loads of health information. 

In this groundbreaking cookbook, Nina Simonds offers us more than 175 easy and delicious recipes, along with practical tips for a sensible lifestyle, that demonstrate that health-giving foods not only provide pleasure but also can make a huge difference in our lives.

Nina emphasis on the tonic properties of a wide variety of foods, herbs, and spices is exceptional. This book also brings us up to date on the latest scientific research. In every recipe–gathered from cultures around the world in which good eating is a way of life–She gives us dishes that are both irresistible and have a positive effect on one’s well-being. This book is uniquely useful, and the recipes are. 


9) Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Loma Sass

Winner 2007 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

Thanks to the low-carbohydrate movement and the updated United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid, we all know we should be eating more whole grains. But what exactly are whole grains? And how can we make them not only what we should eat, but what we really want to eat? In Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way, bestselling cookbook author Lorna Sass demystifies whole grains with a thorough grain-by-grain primer followed by more than 150 irresistible recipes.

In this extensive guide to the wide range of fantastic whole grains available–many of which are gluten-free. It covers no fewer than 20 kinds of grains and just as many types of wheat before launching into recipes for soups and salads, main courses, side dishes, breakfast foods and desserts. The dishes are surprisingly tempting and varied, and the entries are more sophisticated than one might expect in a whole grain book. 


Do you know? How to Keep Cooked Broccoli Bright Green


8) The EatingWell® Diet: Introducing the University-Tested VTrim Weight-Loss Program (EatingWell) by Jean Harvey-Berino with Joyce Hendley and the Editors of EatingWell (The Countryman Press)

Winner 2008 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

"Almost everyone knows the truth: to lose the weight, we need to eat less and move more," says weight-management pioneer Jean Harvey-Berino. "This book is about the missing link: how to do it." A science-based diet plan that brings together cutting-edge, university-tested weight-loss strategies with delicious, quick and easy recipes and a source of self-help tools.

Funded by the National Institute of Health, the groundbreaking VTrim behavioral weight-management program is at the heart of "The EatingWell(R) Diet". A clinical research proves right: participants in behaviorally based VTrim™ Weight Management Program lost an average of 21 pounds in 6 months—more than double that of an online commercial weight-loss program. 


7) The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger (The Taunton Press, Inc.)

Winner 2009 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

Do you think that healthy food could not possibly taste good? Does the idea of "eating healthy" conjure up images of roughage and steamed vegetables? "The Food You Crave" is all you will need to change the way you eat and change the way you feel.

Ellie Krieger, celebrity chef at Food Network and a registered dietitian, does not believe healthy eating means deprivation. She wants food that is pleasurable and rewarding, and she chooses ingredients according to her "Usually-Sometimes-Never" philosophy (note, she says, that "there is no Never" here). This book contains 200 recipes that cover every meal of the day and every craving you might have. Her recipes are stylish but mostly uncomplicated. Nutrition analysis is given for all the recipes, and there are useful tips and boxes throughout that will keep you eating smart and eating well.


6) Love Soup: 160 All-New Vegetarian Recipes from the Author of The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas (W.W. Norton & Company)

Winner 2010 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

With its title and a kitschy illustrated bright cover with hand-drawn lettering, along with all vegetarian recipes, it is hard not to think the blandly healthy vibe of the 1970s, but Anna Thomas presents 160 new and enticing recipes that may just charm even a die-hard meat eater. The recipes are well organized for a home-cooks need makes it easy to plan a full meal.

Love Soup also provides recipes for breads, hummus, pesto, salads, and homey desserts―and simple menus that put soup at the heart of the meal. Soups are organized by season and range from hearty selections like rustic leek and potato soup, and minestrone for a crowd, to lighter summer options including tomato and fennel soup with blood orange and sweet corn. 


5) The Simple Art of EatingWell Cookbook: 400 Easy Recipes, Tips and Techniques for Delicious, Healthy Meals by Jessie Price & the EatingWell Test Kitchen (The Countryman Press)

Winner 2011 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Healthy Focus

With chefs from around the globe, Price has created exquisite recipes (appetizers, soups, breads, pasta, vegetarian, meats, desserts, etc.) focused on key parameters: preparation time (most under 45 minutes); nutritional value (provided in daily values and calorie counts); reliability (thanks to systematic photo instructions); and international flavor (American, Mexican, Italian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Asian).  Here is the quick list to what is inside:

- 400 recipes, from soups and salads to main dishes and desserts
- Quick-cooking guides for seasonal fruits and vegetables
- Kitchen essentials: the best tools and gadgets for your healthy kitchen
- Pantry list: what to stock for a healthy pantry
- 200 full-color photos throughout
- Step-by-step cooking technique and tricks with photos


4) Super Natural Every Day: Well-Loved Recipes from my Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swanson

Winner 2012 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Focus on Health

This stylish cookbook is stunningly illustrated with over 100 photos. Super Natural Every Day reveals the beauty of uncomplicated food prepared well and reflects a realistic yet gourmet approach to a healthy and sophisticated natural foods lifestyle.

In Super Natural Every Day, Heidi Swanson helps us make nutritionally packed meals part of our daily repertoire by sharing a sumptuous collection of nearly 100 of her go-to recipes. These are the dishes that you can cook over and over again because they are easy, healthful for the body, and very delicious. 


3) Roots: The Definitive Compendium with More Than 225 Recipes by Diane Morgan

Winners 2013 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian

From the best-selling author of more than 10 cookbooks comes this comprehensive guide and collection of 225 recipes (salads, soups, side dishes, main courses, drinks, and desserts) using root vegetables  —that bring out the earthy goodness of each and every one of these intriguing healthful vegetables. It will make dedicated home cooks achieve a new level of taste and sophistication in their everyday cooking.

Diane Morgan demonstrates that looks are not everything, especially when it comes to root vegetables. Discover the fascinating history and lore of 29 major roots, their nutritional content, how to buy and store them, and much more, from the familiar (beets, carrots, potatoes) to the unfamiliar (jicama, salsify, malanga) to the practically unheard of (cassava, galangal, crosnes). Her dedication frees the way for a deeper appreciation of some of the most underappreciated ingredients we know today. Thankfully, many of the starring vegetables can be easily found at the farmers' market, local grocery store, or ethnic markets.


2) Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, with over 300 Deliciously Simple Recipes by Deborah Madison

Winner 2014 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian

Deborah Madison has taken vegetables to a chic new level. For those of us who love vegetables, Deborah gives not only practical tips for buying them, but also a bounty of diverse recipes. You will want to know what she knows—about botany, gardening, family pairings, and companion flavors on the plate. 

With more than 300 classic and exquisitely simple recipes, Deborah brings this wealth of information together in dishes that highlight a world of complementary flavors. Deborah shows the shared characteristics of vegetables within the same family that can be used interchangeably in cooking. It presents an entirely new way of looking at vegetables. 

This is a monumental cookbook from a gifted writer and one of the best cooks of our time. Beautifully photographed by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirscheimer of Canal House, can instantly help readers deepen their vegetable knowledge.


1) At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen: Celebrating the Art of Eating Well by Amy Chaplin

Winner 2015 James Beard Foundation Book Awards: Vegetable Focused and Vegetarian

At Home in The Whole Food Kitchen features some of the finest plant-based recipes available today, and presents a wealth of information on food, health and ingredients. If you are an omnivore or meat-lover, you will delight in this book for its playful use of produce and expertise in balancing food groups. If you are a vegetarian, this book will become your best friend. You can cook nearly every recipe in this book and feed your body well in the truest sense. 

In this book, Amy Chaplin has concocted refined vegetable and grain dishes that invite readers to explore new preparations. Part I lays the foundation for stocking the pantry. This is not just a list of food and equipment; it is real effective information—how and why to use ingredients—and an arsenal of simple recipes for daily nourishment. 

Part II is a collection of recipes celebrating vegetarian cuisine in its brightest, whole, sophisticated form. Amy presents mostly vegan and gluten-free recipes that will have cooks busily straining nut milks, soaking grains, fermenting bread doughs, shaving vegetables, and thickening puddings with agar-agar (a type of edible seaweed). 



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