20 Ways to Become a Better Cook

Phaidon consistently publishes some of the most beautiful cookbooks, and What to Bake & How to Bake It ($35) by Jane Hornby is no exception. Thankfully, its beauty isn't skin- (or rather, cover-) deep; each recipe includes helpful step-by-step photos as well as a huge, glossy finished image. (Unlike many cookbooks that might not even include a photo for each recipe, there are 10 on average per dish.) It's almost like having the author in the kitchen with you, cooking side by side.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Malted milk chocolate birthday cake
• Fudgy cheesecake brownies
• Lemon-glazed ginger cake
• Maple-pecan cinnamon rolls
• Red velvet whoopie pies
• Nutella yule log
• Salted caramel shortbread bites

Love the spices and flavors of Indian cuisine, but find cooking it at home to be more than a little intimidating? Aarti Paarti: An American Kitchen With an Indian Soul ($28) by Aarti Sequeira is for you. Sequeira's warm and friendly voice — the spice primer is called "turma-what?" for example — makes already exciting Indian-American recipes (think masala kale chips) even more appealing.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Pout-plumping wings (pomegranate-sriracha chicken wings)
• Massaged kale salad with mango and pepitas
• Mujadara (Lebanese lentils, rice, and caramelized onions)
• High-five stuffed sweet potatoes (baked sweet potato with tahini, chickpeas, pine nuts, and pomegranate seeds)
• Chai-brined pork chops with spiked 'n spiced apple chutney
• Miso mango black cod
• Rose petal strawberry shortcakes

Homemade Decadence: Irresistibly Sweet, Salty, Gooey, Sticky, Fluffy, Creamy, Crunchy Treats ($30) by Joy Wilson reads exactly like her charming blog Joy the Baker. (Which is, of course, a big compliment.) Recipes range from homey cinnamon pull-apart bread to sophisticated lavender earl grey ice cream, and the hilarious headnotes will further convince you that you want to make pretty much everything within its pages. If you love brunch and baking, get a copy, stat.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Sour cream coffee cake with brown-butter glaze
• Breakfast cobbler with oatmeal-drop biscuits
• French onion quiche
• Buttered popcorn crispy treats
• Peanut butter banana cream pudding pie
• Mango rosewater cheesecake
• Mint chocolate chip cake

What's Ina Garten's secret to throwing an elegant, seemingly effortless party? As it turns out, a lot of smart planning; in her latest cookbook, Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook ($35), she shares her many strategies for prepping and cooking everything from salads to desserts (even a Thanksgiving turkey!) ahead of time, so that you too can entertain like a pro. Alongside recipes, expect menus, tips (so you can transform recipes already in your repertoire into make-ahead dishes), and plenty of pictures of her home and garden to ooh and ahh over.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Mini prosciutto, spinach, and leek frittatas
• Spanish tapas peppers
• Wild mushroom and farro soup
• Garlic and herb roasted shrimp
• Make-ahead goat cheese mashed potatoes
• Asparagus and prosciutto bundles
• Lemon-ginger molasses cake

No matter how accomplished a cook you are, getting a delicious meal on the table without dirtying a mountain of dishes can be a challenge, to say the least. Enter, One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals from Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More ($26) by the editors of Martha Stewart Living, a brilliant collection of low-effort, high-reward dinner recipes. Organized by vessel — cast-iron skillets, dutch ovens, slow cookers, and half-sheet pans all get fair play — this is one that's bound to be in constant rotation in your kitchen.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Beet hash with eggs
• Braised chicken with potatoes and lemon
• Skillet macaroni and cheese with bacon and gouda
• Salmon with cabbage and crispy kale
• Three-cheese skillet lasagna
• Kale and white bean soup
• Pot roast with shiitake mushrooms and ginger

Dorie Greenspan's Baking Chez Moi ($40) is the book for you if you're looking to bake the way an effortlessly cool French woman does. That's because Greenspan — a legendary cookbook author and part-time Parisian — sourced many of these homey dessert recipes from her French friends and neighbors. Simple cakes, tarts, cookies, and confections rule here, rather than, as Greenspan puts it, "fussy, time-consuming desserts most of us associate with French pastry," though a few more-involved favorites are included as well.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Plain and simple almond cake
• Smoothest, silkiest, creamiest, tartest lime tart
• Nutella buttons
• Lavender galettes (crisp lavender and orange cookies)
• Apple speculoos crumble
• Tea and honey pot de crème
• Chocolate-covered toffee break-ups

The Kitchn Cookbook: Recipes, Kitchens & Tips to Inspire Your Cooking ($33) by Sara Kate Gillingham and Faith Durand reads as a natural extension of the website off which it's based (The Kitchn), in bound and printed form. As in, expect plenty of inspirational apartment tours (a boon for those looking to renovate, make the most of a rental space, or just snoop a bit), cooking and organizational tips, and even a brilliant day-by-day cleaning schedule to keep yours in check without stressing out.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Sweet potato and caramelized onion hash with baked eggs
• Sticky lemon rolls with lemon cream cheese glaze
• Sriracha-honey popcorn clusters
• Slow-cooker lemon garlic chicken
• Foolproof salmon baked with olive oil and herbs
• Wheat berry salad with blood oranges, feta, and red onion vinaigrette
• No-bake banana and peanut butter caramel icebox cake

Sean Brock's Heritage ($40) is a strong contender for most beautiful cookbook of the bunch, both in terms of visuals and prose. Brock's earnest enthusiasm for regional Southern fare — Lowcountry eats in particular — is contagious; this is the sort of book you'll want to read cover to cover, not just for the recipes, but also for the background on everything from heritage breeds of livestock to the origins of Hoppin' John. Do know that this is a restaurant cookbook, so many recipes are complex, multicomponent affairs, but don't let that put you off. In many cases the headnotes provide suggestions for simplifying and others still are simpler homey dishes.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Lemony mustard greens with benne
• Cracklin' cornbread
• Farroto with acorn squash and red russian kale
• Chicken simply roasted in a skillet
• Slow-cooked rib eye with potato confit and green garlic-parsley butter
• Southern screwdriver (jalapeño, basil, orange, and vodka cocktail)
• Antebellum benne-blackberry tart

From the yellow-polka-dotted text block (google "text block bookbinding" if you don't know what we're talking about) to the dreamy photography (star food photographer Matt Armendariz kills it, like always), Huckleberry: Stories, Secrets, and Recipes From Our Kitchen ($35) by Zoe Nathan, is a winner. Some recipes require relatively advanced pastry skills (the fresh blueberry brioche and cinnamon raisin bagels, for example) but most are simple enough that a newbie baker could successfully pull it off, making for a nice mix.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Banana chocolate silver dollar pancakes
• Smashed avocado toast with hard-boiled eggs and anchovy dressing
• Barley porridge with spring onions, kale, and sausage
• Maple bacon biscuits
• Grapefruit galette
• Cornbread pudding
• Blueberry cornmeal cake

As the authors — Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway — of Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck ($25) put it, "it's easier to sauté kale with some garlic than it is to eat pizza bites without burning the f*ck out of your tongue," so what are you waiting for? Armed with this ridiculously profanity-laden cookbook, you'll not only learn how to cook kale, but also how to make "plant nachos" (aka salad), stock your pantry on a budget, and make delicious vegan meals like roasted beer and lime cauliflower tacos, all while cracking up over the commentary.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Spiced chickpea wraps with tahini dressing
• Grilled eggplant with soba noodles
• Pumpkin chili
• Wedding soup with white bean balls and kale
• Baked spicy plantain chips
• Silky roasted bell pepper pasta with zucchini and basil ribbons
• Roasted beer and lime cauliflower tacos with cilantro coleslaw

Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food: The Ultimate Weekend Cookbook ($35) by Jamie Oliver, is pure dude food (not that we're complaining). Expect plenty of hearty dinners and desserts, ranging from nostalgic (at least for Oliver) British fare — think fish and chips, shepherd's pie, and chicken tikka masala — to comforting dishes from around the globe. One aspect we could probably do without: the calorie counts on each page. Frankly, sometimes we'd rather not know exactly what's going on with that brownie or stew calorically, but maybe that's just us.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Japanese katsu curry
• Gnocchi with butternut squash sauce
• Bloody mary beef stew
• Crispy duck lasagne
• Next-level steak and onion sandwich
• Bonkers bread and butter (panettone bread pudding)
• Peanut butter and jelly brownies

We've eagerly awaited all of the cookbooks on this list, but perhaps none more so than Yotam Ottloenghi's latest, Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking From London's Ottolenghi ($35). Thankfully, it lives up to our high expectations; each recipe and accompanying photo is more tempting than the last. Essentially a continuation of Plenty, Plenty More is packed with exotic ingredients you'll want to seek out at ethnic markets and will inspire you to double-down on vegetable-centric cooking.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Caramelized fig, orange, and feta salad
• Peas with sorrel and mustard
• Tagliatelle with walnuts and lemon
• Hot and sour mushroom soup
• Corn on the cob with miso mayonnaise
• Root mash with wine-braised shallots
• Apricot, walnut, and lavender cake

Whether you're a baker of breads, cookies, cakes, or pies, The Baking Bible ($40) by Rose Levy Beranbaum should be on your shelf. Like Beranbaum's previous single-subject "bibles," it's just the thing to turn to when you want not only a detailed, foolproof recipe, but also an explanation for why it works. Plus, we just can't get over how dreamy the cover image of kouign amann looks. (Seriously, those flaky layers!)

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Coffee crumb cake muffins
• Kouign amann
• Apricot-cream cheese babka
• 100-percent whole-wheat walnut loaf
• Red, white, and blue Fourth of July cheesecake
• Lemon and cranberry tart
• Frozen lime meringue pie

While many cookbooks focus on fast and easy recipes, The Make-Ahead Cook ($27) by the editors at America's Test Kitchen takes a different approach to weeknight cookery: smart strategies for planning ahead. Whether you're a slow-cooker devotee, a casserole lover, or prefer to do a bit of prep the morning or night before, this book has plenty of solutions. Of particular note is its chapter dubbed one grocery bag, three dinners. This genius section groups trios of dinner recipes together that are all based off of a 12-ingredient-or-less grocery list, taking the guesswork out of meal planning.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Quinoa patties with spinach and sundried tomatoes
• Overnight kale salad with roasted sweet potatoes and pomegranate vinaigrette
• Spicy beef taco bake
• Stuffed shells with amatriciana sauce
• White bean casserole with spinach and feta
• Gemelli with caramelized onions, kale, and mushrooms
• Slow-cooker Italian Sunday gravy

If you haven't visited Brooklyn's utterly charming Ovenly bakery, thumbing through the pages of (and cooking from) Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes From New York's Most Creative Bakery ($30) by Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga is a close second best. Many aspects are winning, but what we appreciate most (aside from the tempting recipes) are the detailed photo tutorials for intimidating baking techniques like frosting a cake or making scones and the choose-your-own-adventure-style "base" recipes that allow for experimentation.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Bloody Mary scones
• Banana nutella coffee cake
• Muffin bread pudding with cream cheese icing
• Savory rosemary popcorn
• Blue cheese apple pie with toasted walnuts
• Cinnamon and ancho chile brownies
• Eggnog sandwich cookies

This may sound a bit cliché, but it's true: you don't have to be a vegan, or even a vegetarian, to appreciate Vegan Holiday Cooking From Candle Cafe: Celebratory Menus and Recipes From New York's Premier Plant-Based Restaurants ($23) by Joy Pierson, Angel Ramos, and Jorge Pineda; we're certainly not. Sure, a good portion of the recipes use divisive vegan substitutes like soy milk, tempeh, or egg replacer, but if those ingredients aren't your thing, there are plenty more that don't. Alongside chapters for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve are sections for Lunar New Year, the Super Bowl, and Valentine's Day. And many of the recipes are appropriate year-round.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Benito's passion (tequila, passion fruit, and citrus cocktail)
• Christmas pomegranate punch
• Soba noodle and seaweed salad with wasabi-tahini dressing
• Lemongrass-infused celeriac soup with matzo balls
• Crispy black bean tacos
• Wild rice, cornbread, cranberry, and apple stuffing
• Broccoli rabe with shallots and hazelnuts

Let's call Dominique Ansel: The Secret Recipes ($35) by Dominique Ansel what it is: a lovely, inspirational coffee-table cookbook. (There's nothing wrong with that.) Sure, there are some beginner- and intermediate-level recipes, but many are so intense and time-consuming that they're best made by a team of bakers. Hats off to you, if you attempt the epic Cronut recipe at home!

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Meringue-topped hot chocolate
• Cannelé de Bordeaux
• Chocolate pecan cookies
• Mini madeleines
• Marshmallow chicks
• Apple tarte tatin
• Pink Champagne macarons

Flip through David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl's gorgeous Green Kitchen Travels: Healthy Vegetarian Food Inspired by Our Adventures ($35) and you're bound to be filled with wanderlust. It reads almost as a travel diary, as its pages are filled with recipes, photos, and anecdotes from the couples' travels. You don't need to be vegan or gluten-free to enjoy this book, but if you are, this one's a must as many recipes cater to those diets (all of the recipes are vegetarian).

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Mexican breakfast salad
• Pumpkin and almond waffles
• Sri Lankan passion fruit and avocado drink
• Halloumi veggie burgers
• Brussels sprout, beluga lentil, and cranberry holiday salad
• Chermoula baked cauliflower
• Horchata paletas

The dishes in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast: A Better Way to Cook Great Food ($35) come together speedily thanks to a clever tweak to traditional recipe writing. Rather than including the required prep in the ingredients list, Bittman formats the recipes to have you prep as you go, so that not a moment is wasted. Small but important details like suggested sides for each main dish, tips for speeding things up (if you're truly short on time), and ways to add extra flavor if you have a few extra minutes, make this a must-read for pretty much any cook.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Warm pickled cauliflower salad with roasted red peppers
• Sriracha shrimp salad roll
• Couscous gratin with leeks and gruyère
• Glazed brussels sprouts with Vietnamese flavors
• Lentil and mushroom stew
• Tapenade-crusted chicken with eggplant
• Spice-rubbed pork with pineapple salsa

Printed in a large format that plays up its extraordinarily beautiful photos, The New Classics ($50) by Donna Hay is one of those rare cookbooks that both excels as a coffee table book and as an actual instructional manual. Recipes range from basics with a twist (think soufflé omelets and bacon-wrapped meatloaf) to more exotic fare like sesame-crusted salmon with pickled daikon or pumpkin and tofu laksa, making for a good mix. Because it's an Australian cookbook, an inexpensive kitchen scale for metric measurements is a must, and you may have to google a few ingredients here and there — garfish, brown onions, and beef scotch fillet come to mind — but it's otherwise very user friendly. Really, we can't recommend this book enough.

Recipes we can't wait to try:

• Pumpkin, chorizo, and kale frittata
• Caramelized onion hummus
• Char-grilled sirloin steak with pink peppercorn and whisky sauce
• Harissa chicken with olives
• Lemongrass fish skewers with chilli dressing
• Classic pavlova with passionfruit and strawberries
• Caramel crunch brownies