Gift guide · 10 books

Gifts for vegan cooks

Big, handsome cookbooks and a few staples of the vegan kitchen shelf.

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1. 01

   Cookbook

   Big Vegan Flavor (opens Bookshop.org)

   Techniques and Recipes to Make Every Meal Delicious

   Nisha Vora · 2021

   Nisha Vora arranges around what makes food taste good, with fat, acid, umami and texture each getting a chapter's worth of technique before the recipes. Suits a cook who already follows a recipe and wants to start improvising.

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2. 02

   Cookbook

   Vegetable Kingdom (opens Bookshop.org)

   The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes

   Bryant Terry · 2020

   Bryant Terry, a chef and food-justice writer, builds vegan dishes around vegetables with Southern and African diaspora flavors, spice blends and pickles.

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3. 03

   Cookbook

   The Korean Vegan Cookbook (opens Bookshop.org)

   Reflections and Recipes from Omma's Kitchen

   Joanne Lee Molinaro · 2022

   Joanne Lee Molinaro tells the story of her Korean-American family alongside recipes for Korean dishes made without animal products. Half memoir, half cookbook.

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4. 04

   Cookbook

   Vegan Chinese Kitchen (opens Bookshop.org)

   Recipes and Modern Stories from a Thousand-Year-Old Tradition

   Hannah Che · 2022

   Hannah Che builds Chinese dishes on the country's thousand-year tradition of Buddhist vegetarian cooking, with tofu, mushrooms and wheat gluten as staples.

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5. 05

   Cookbook

   Vegan JapanEasy (opens Bookshop.org)

   Classic and Modern Vegan Japanese Recipes to Cook at Home

   Tim Anderson · 2020

   Tim Anderson, a British chef known for Japanese cooking, adapts more than 80 Japanese dishes to be vegan.

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6. 06

   Cookbook

   Vegan 100 (opens Bookshop.org)

   Over 100 Incredible Recipes from Avant Garde Vegan

   Gaz Oakley · 2017

   Gaz Oakley, a British chef and YouTuber, offers over 100 generous plant-based dishes, from hearty mains to showpiece bakes.

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7. 07

   Cookbook

   The Homemade Vegan Pantry (opens Bookshop.org)

   The Art of Making Your Own Staples

   Miyoko Schinner · 2015

   Schinner shows how to make pantry staples at home, for cooks who like to work from scratch.

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8. 08

   Reference

   The Book of Tofu (opens Bookshop.org)

   William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi · 1975

   William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi traced tofu's history and taught home cooks how to make it, then gave recipes. First published in 1975 and still the standard English-language reference.

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9. 09

   Baking

   Flour Water Salt Yeast (opens Bookshop.org)

   The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza

   Ken Forkish · 2012

   Ken Forkish builds his breads and pizzas from the four ingredients in the title, with timing and hydration spelled out for home bakers.

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10. 10

    Cookbook

    Sweet Potato Soul (opens Bookshop.org)

    100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Your Soul

    Jenne Claiborne · 2018

    Jenne Claiborne reworks Southern comfort cooking with smoke, sugar and spice, without meat or dairy.

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Chosen by the Vegan Brief desk. No publisher pays for a place on this list. Updated September 2026.