What are the Best Cookbooks from Black Chefs Right Now?

Looking for ideas, inspiration and techniques from some of the best chefs and home cooks in the world? Lots of them are black, and we’re shining a light on some of their best work. Our correspondent Julie Chang Murphy has curated a list of 10 of the best cookbooks to guide your kitchen journey with fantastic recipes whose authors are exceptional professional black chefs and home cooks.

food is powerful way to generate empathy and understanding

It has been said that food – the act of preparing a dish and sharing a meal- is a universal language that unites us all. And many of us have been fortunate enough to experience that sense of wonder and connection when sampling a new dish from another culture whether at a local restaurant, or in our travels around the world (pre COVID-19, that is).

However, the fact remains that the power players in the food media industry – the chefs, bloggers, cookbook authors, cooking show hosts, food photographers, food stylists, and book publishers – are overwhelmingly white. And it has been that way for quite a long time.

Think best-selling household names like Julia Child, Betty Crocker, Anthony Bourdain, Martha Stewart, Jamie Oliver, Rachel Ray, Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson.

And yet there are so many talented professional chefs and home cooks who are black. This is not about a lack of available talent. It’s about the desire to be truly inclusive.

What better way to break down barriers between people than sharing food? And sharing recipes? And food memories?

reading cookbooks – and actively using them – is one way to remove barriers 

Cookbooks are particularly intimate in many ways. They can be a form of personal memoir in which the authors imbue a straightforward recipe with narratives and photos of their families and recount anecdotes from their communities.

But if most of those voices are white, then it’s no wonder we are left hungry for more.

In light of our current political and social awakening, lead by the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement, we are all taking a closer look at decolonizing our bookshelves. It’s worth doing in the kitchen, too.

Start here with this list of 10 essential cookbooks that showcase the talents of Black professional chefs and home cooks. We promise you’ll come away with a new and improved cooking repertoire and satiated tummies as well.

We have linked our selections to Black-owned book stores where available. And also to IndieBound and Bookshop, to make it really easy for you to support independent book stores if decide to add one or more of these to your collection.

What are the Best Cookbooks from Professional Black Chefs and Home Cooks Right Now?

1. The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis

Before hipsters and wellness gurus “invented” the seasonal eating movement, there was Edna Lewis’ groundbreaking cookbook, published in 1972. In this commemorative edition, Lewis “celebrates the uniquely American country cooking she grew up with some fifty years ago in a small Virginia Piedmont farming community that had been settled by freed slaves.”

The recipes are divided by the four seasons: field greens and salads in the spring, spicy baked tomatoes in the summer, baked country ham in the fall, and hearty stews in the winter. The reader will also take away Lewis’ “love of nature, the pleasure of living with the seasons, the sense of community, the satisfactory feeling that hard work was always rewarded with her mother’s good food.”

2. Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking by Toni Tipton-Martin

Part historical narrative and part cookbook, culinary journalist and community activist Toni Tipton-Martin introduces readers to the contributions of “pioneering figures, from enslaved chefs to middle- and upper-class writers and entrepreneurs” to what is now considered American cuisine.

There are more than 100 recipes from classics like Sweet Potato Biscuits and Seafood Gumbo to lesser-known dishes like Spoon Bread and Braised Celery.

3. Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style, Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland by Tanya Holland and Jan Newberry

More than a restaurant, Brown Sugar Kitchen serves up soul-food and community in a post-industrial neighborhood in West Oakland. This cookbook stars 86 recipes in a rich visual storytelling format of Holland’s favorites from her restaurant.

Think Macaroni & Cheese, Roasted Green Beans with Sesame Seed Dressing, Summer Squash Succotash and a show stopping Caramel Layer Cake with Brown Butter–Caramel Frosting.

4. Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration by Carla Hall and Genevieve Ko

One of our favorite TV chef personalities from The Chew and Top Chef, Carla Hall blends the modern and traditional in this cookbook based on her Nashville roots. It “traces soul food’s history from Africa and the Caribbean to the American South” and specifically emphasizes soul food as a plant-based cuisine.

There’s Black-Eyed Pea Salad with Hot Sauce Vinaigrette and Tomato Pie with Garlic Bread Crust, but also stick-to-your-ribs recipes like Ghanaian Peanut Beef Stew with Onions and Celery and Caribbean Smothered Chicken with Coconut, Lime, and Chiles.

5. The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem by Marcus Samuelsson

We’ve had many delightful and mouthwatering brunches and dinners at James Beard Award-winning chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster in Harlem. The multicultural recipes reflect the neighborhood’s history as a magnet for “African Americans, Spanish, African, and Caribbean immigrants, and a mecca for artists.”

With lyrical essays and stunning photos, home cooks can recreate Samuelsson’s interpretation of Southern black and cross-cultural food like Brown Butter Biscuits, Ethiopian Spice-Crusted Lamb and Chinese Steamed Bass and Fiery Noodles.

6. Cooking Solo: The Fun of Cooking for Yourself by Klancy Miller 

Cooking for one does not have to be a sad affair of leftovers. Writer and pastry chef, Klancy Miller, is especially successful at reframing it as a form of self-care and indulgence.

In her cookbook, there are over 100 delicious and sophisticated recipes: Tahitian Noodle Sandwich, Smoked Duck Breast Salad, Spicy Pork Burger with Coconut, and Mackerel with Lemon and Capers.

7. The Africa Cookbook: Tastes of a Continent by Jessica B. Harris 

In this authoritative but user-friendly volume, Jessica B. Harris, considered one of the preeminent scholars of the food of the African Diaspora, assembles “a collection of recipes that reflects the modern innovations and rich heritage of kitchens across Africa.”

You’ll find savory stews of the western savannah to the curries and chutneys of the Swahili peppered with photographs, history and anecdotes.

8. Sweet Potato Soul: 100 Easy Vegan Recipes for the Southern Flavors of Smoke, Sugar, Spice, and Soul by Jenne Claiborne

Can vegan soul food still be flavorful and satisfying? The answer is a definitive yes according to NYC based food blogger, Jenne Claiborne who “spent years tweaking and experimenting to infuse plant-based, life-giving, glow-worthy foods with the flavor and depth that feeds the soul.”

Her creative recipes show that traditional soul food ingredients like dandelion, mustard, turnip greens, okra, and black eyed peas are nutrition superstars. Think Coconut Collard Salad, Fried Cauliflower Chicken and Peach Date BBQ Jackfruit Sliders. They will change your idea of what soul food can be.

9. Between Harlem and Heaven: Afro-Asian-American Cooking for Big Nights, Weeknights, and Every Day By Alexander Smalls, JJ Johnson, Veronica Chambers

In over 100 recipes, restauranteur Alexander Smalls and chef JJ Johnson explore the melding of Asian, African, and American flavors. Their research is a result of a “collective three decades of traveling the African diaspora” and “meeting and eating with chefs of color.”

It’s a fascinating glimpse of a cuisine that made its way into Harlem’s cultural renaissance. In addition to recipes for Grilled Watermelon Salad with Lime Mango Dressing and Cornbread Croutons and Feijoada with Black Beans and Spicy Lamb Sausage, home chefs also take away flavorful easy sides, sauces, and marinades to incorporate into your everyday cooking life.

10. Black Girl Baking: Wholesome Recipes Inspired by a Soulful Upbringing by Jerrelle Guy 

Jerrelle Guy is a dazzling multi-hyphenate: founder of the popular food blog Chocolate for Basil/food scholar/award-winning food photographer. Her cookbook “leads you on a sensual baking journey using the five senses, retelling and reinventing food memories.”

And the wholesome part refers to her commitment to using ingredients like whole flours, less refined sugar and vegan alternatives. We’re not sure what to attempt first- the Oatmeal Cheddar Cheese Moonpies, Honey Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Banana S’mores Pizza or Orange Peel Pound Cake!

What are the best cookbooks from black authors right now?

There are so many ways to elevate Black voices and experiences. We think these 10 outstanding Black authored cookbooks will work their way into your heart, home and taste buds!

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Crediting her training as a cultural anthropologist at Wellesley College, Julie has immersed herself in various industries in the last 15 years including fashion design, event planning, and fitness. Julie lives in New York where she loves trying every ramen and dumpling restaurant with her husband and three children. She finds joy in bold prints, biographies of fierce women, kickboxing. And spending way too long finding the perfect polish color to express her mood.

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