The year’s best cookbooks to buy for Christmas
If there’s ever a time to invest in a new cookbook or two, it’s in the run-up to Christmas. This year has seen a vast array of publications from both new and familiar names, cooking up every possible cuisine in every conceivable way. So to help you choose, we have asked our very own food editor to pick out the best cookbooks of 2025. Give them as gifts this Christmas or add them to your own collection for fresh ideas for the festive season and the start of the new year.
May we suggest: Christmas Recipes: Everything You Need
The best cookbooks of 2025
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Rick Stein has written a reliable classic to inspire and guide all your entertaining around the Christmas period. A veteran chef, he knows about planning more than anyone, and through his Australian wife, gives a nod to Antipodean dishes that offer an alternative to traditional fare.
As a mother of two young children and a hostess, Skye McAlpine realises that Christmas is also all about the decoration and traditions. Along with her trademark simple, seasonal recipes for the entire period for feasting, how to use leftovers and smaller festive kitchen suppers, there are creative and inspiring ideas for making magic around the home.
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The latest cookbook by Amber Guinness is another thoughtful, well researched and intelligently written exploration of Tuscany, the part of Italy where she grew up. It’s full of delicious and doable recipes, beautifully presented and photographed to give an insightful knowledge of Tuscan food.
Samin’s first book after Salt ,Fat, Acid, Heat, this modern and colourfully presented book has all the trademarks of her gentle and inspiring tutelage. Here we’re getting to put the lessons into practice and she gives us the recipes she cooks for herself and her loved ones. Full of genuine passion as well as being the ultimate cooking toolbox, it is a celebration of technique with guaranteed flavour, giving cooks the confidence to adapt and tailor recipes.
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Stylish, casual and delicious recipes from The New York Times bestselling author that rely on a well stocked store cupboard. This is a book for the busy cook: Alison’s spin on simple sounding recipes like baked chickpeas with harissa and fennel, give dazzle to dishes even when you’re pressed for time.
Andrew and Cherie are the perfect team to present the rural romanticism of Irish life. Andrew’s photographs capture the beauty while Cherie’s recipes celebrate the abundance and bounty of Irish produce from the rivers, fields, hedgerows and sea. Recipes like shin of beef in Guinness with nettle and herb dumplings allow time-honoured preparations to be given a contemporary interpretation.
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Some people like to read their recipe books as much as they like to cook from them. The odyssey that Anna Ansari takes us on through the old trading routes of Asia is as much of a historical and culinary documentation as it is opportunity to make these delicious recipes for Georgian cornbread and dill-infused noodles at home.
Flicking through Yasmin Khan’s new book, I had to remind myself it was all vegetarian. Indeed meat seems superfluous when you’re presented with Khan’s recipes that celebrate the best of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and South Asian flavours. Full of easy to make recipes that offer a feast for all the senses.
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