The Best Cookbooks to Give Mom

If your mom is health-conscious, consider gifting her Gwyneth Paltrow's latest cookbook It's All Easy ($20, originally $35). The mother of two has wowed us once again with some of her faster recipes (gluten and cheese included) like carbonara.

In the same year she gave birth her her first child, baby Luna, Chrissy Teigen wrote her first cookbook, Cravings ($15, originally $30). This cookbook is for the mom who loves to cuss and can get down with boldly flavored comfort foods like brick chicken, lemony arugula cacio e pepe, mac and cheese, and chicken pot pie stew.

It doesn't get more real and relatable than with Ree Drummond. If your mom is responsible for feeding a big family, she may want to turn to The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime ($18, originally $30). It's chock-full of recipes like beef stroganoff, Mexican tortilla casserole, and freezer-ready meatballs.

Those key words will make any mom's eyes sparkle: "Feel Good." If your mom is a health nut looking for new ways to eat well, then Giada De Laurentiis's Feel Good Foods ($17, originally $33) is the cookbook to gift her. Being a working mom with a tight schedule, Giada knows how to make delicious and fresh food happen fast, with recipes like chia pudding cups and baked kale and sweet potato chips.

Kelsey Nixon's Kitchen Confidence ($16, originally $20) is full of no-fail recipes for the mom who may need to develop a little more confidence in the kitchen. The lemon-scented chicken thighs, the Asian chicken noodle soup, and the yellow birthday cake with salted buttercream are just a few winners to start with.

Moms who love a good story as much as a good recipe will appreciate A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table ($13, originally $16) by Molly Wizenberg. She's better known as the author of the food blog Orangette and is the mom to an adorable toddler. The book (written before the birth of her daughter) chronicles her relationship with food and her parents. You can't help but get swept up in her nostalgic spirit for her mother's pound cake or her father's mayonnaise-y potato salad.

Moms who are budget queens will be instant fans of Melissa d'Arabian's Ten Dollar Dinners: 140 Recipes and Tips to Elevate Simple, Fresh Meals Any Night of the Week ($18, originally $25). A mom of four herself, Melissa knows how to feed a large group with small dollar bills. There's no skimping on the flavor here, with recipes like shrimp scampi linguine and sirloin steak with shallot butter.

Sometimes moms don't want to follow recipes and prefer learning new techniques. If that's the case, your mom will love Alice Waters's In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart ($20, originally $30). The revolutionary Californian chef and mother has her closest culinary friends (and even her daughter) contribute their tips, like how to perfectly roast a chicken, or my favorite, pounding a sauce using a mortar and pestle.

Smitten Kitchen blogger and mother Deb Perelman wanted to write an approachable, easy-to-understand cookbook full of interesting, seemingly advanced recipes, thus The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook ($21, originally $35) was born. Even if your mom considers herself a beginner cook, Deb's cookbook is the one to reach for, with recipes like gooey cinnamon squares and artichoke-heart-stuffed shells in lemon ricotta béchamel.

Exotic doesn't have to mean involved. The adventurous mom who likes ethnic foods will want Padma Lakshmi's Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet: A World of Recipes For Every Day ($27, originally $35). Padma's a busy TV host and mom, so she's designed recipes along the lines of tangy jicama salad, South Indian spinach and lentil soup, and barbecue Korean short ribs to offer abundant ethnic flavors without complicated instructions or ingredients.

Part of the fun of visiting Mom is indulging in rich comfort food, so why not present her with Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes With More Than 300 Recipes ($19, originally $30)? She will have the recipes to all sorts of special-occasion indulgences. Think praline french toast casserole and Texas sheet cake with chocolate fudge frosting.

Aran Goyoaga, author of the famous gluten-free food blog Cannelle et Vanille, is a mother of two, and her first print publication, Small Plates and Sweet Treats: My Family's Journey to Gluten-Free Cooking ($22, originally $30), will charm any mother who longs for European fare. Aran developed enchanting recipes like baked eggs with olive-oil-poached tomatoes, coppa, and brie, and nectarine, yogurt, and poppy seed cake with her gluten-free family in mind, but they are just so darn good-looking, anyone (including your mom!) will treasure her book.

Should "sugar" be your mother's middle name? If she loves baking and all things sweet, then don't think twice about giving her How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking ($16, originally $22) by Nigella Lawson. The book covers it all — pies, cookies, and cakes — and mama Nigella even has a section for kid-friendly fare like buttermilk birthday cake, peanut butter and jam jewels, and "dream bars."