Credit: Food & Wine
If this season was any indication, 2026 will be a year of very delicious home cooking. Over the last few months, a team of Food & Wine editors cooked recipes from the most highly anticipated cookbooks released this winter. They spanned from deep dives into global cuisines to celebrations of stress-free entertaining.
Our nine favorites are ones that we’d recommend anyone adds to their collection, each with their own unique culinary perspective, witty writing, stunning photography, and recipes that you can hardly wait to make.
Related: 9 Weeknight Recipes from Our Favorite Cookbooks of Winter 2026
01 of 09
Credit: Courtesy of Abrams
Colu Henry’s new cookbook, Better at Home, is a celebration of effortless elegance. With gorgeous, approachable recipes that balance simplicity and sophistication, Henry shows how to make everyday meals feel special. Each dish, like the Coconut and Ginger Braised Short Ribs or the Potato and Leek Soup with Cheese Toasts, could exist at a restaurant, but Henry makes the restaurant your home table. — Breana Killeen, Associate Editorial Director, Food
02 of 09
Credit: Copyright © 2026 by Mia Castro. Reprinted by permission of Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. New York, NY. All rights reserved
With simple foundational recipes that deliver sabor y sazón (flavor and seasoning) — think sofrito and adobo — Mia Castro shows how easy it is to create vibrant Puerto Rican dishes you’ll be proud to serve. The headnotes share charming anecdotes about the familial or cultural importance of each recipe, like the tender and deeply savory Pollochón, a lechón-flavored roast chicken. — Ann Taylor Pittmann, Senior Food Editor
03 of 09
Credit: Excerpted from The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook: Seasonal Home Cooking from South Asia’s Best Spice Farms by Sana Javeri Kadri and Asha Loupy. Photography © 2026 by Melati Citrawireja. Reproduced by permission of Harvest, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
$35 at barnesandnoble.com
In a book full of lush travel and food photography, Sana Javeri Kadri, CEO and founder of the retail spice company, and recipe writer Asha Loupy share the stories of the farmers who grow their spices across South Asia. Each highly regional recipe, like Coconut Turmeric Fish Curry and Daikon and Orange Salad with Sesame-Cumin Dressing, clearly identifies the farmer or cook who inspired it and explains the spices that are integral to the recipe and/or the family traditions around it. — ATP
04 of 09
Credit: Courtesy of Abrams
$40 at Amazon
$40 at Walmart
While chef Ron Hsu is known for the haute cuisine tasting menu at his Atlanta restaurant, Lazy Betty, his debut cookbook is more about the recipes he makes at home — one-pan Lemongrass Chicken and Rice Casserole, the Gulf shrimp with soft scrambled eggs his daughter loves, and the penne pasta with pulled pork and Broccolini he served for staff meals at Le Bernardin. Each recipe pays homage to the South, blending the riches of international and Southern foodways generously and deliciously. — Karen Shimizu, Executive Editor
05 of 09
Credit: Excerpted from Everyone Hot Pot by Natasha Pickowicz (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2026. Photographs by Alex Lau and illustrations by Li Huai.
Looking for a fun way to entertain? Gather your friends for a hot pot night — it’s easier than you might think. In her second cookbook, Chef Natasha Pickowicz’s recipes include drinks, salads, snacky bites like Not Just Scallion Pancakes, and desserts to round out a hot pot feast, as well as foundational broths and sauces at the heart of this kind of meal. Plenty of make-ahead tips, suggested menus, an equipment guide, shopping advice, and a run-of-show timeline will help you plan your party. — ATP
06 of 09
Credit: My Jamaican Table by Andre Fowles (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2026. Photographs by Michael Condran
$35 at Amazon
$35 at Walmart
Written by Kingston-born Chef Andre Fowles, this cookbook transports readers to the sun-soaked island of Jamaica through stunning location photography, an exploration of its core ingredients, and simple yet memorable recipes. This is a go-to resource for Jamaican staples but it also includes Fowles’ favorite dishes, reimagined, like Jerk Smashburgers with Bacon Jam and Ital Curry Vegetable Stew. — Amelia Schwartz, Editor
07 of 09
Credit: Courtesy of William Morrow Cookbooks, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
It’s not often that you can guarantee that your recipe is going to be the best it could possibly be. But with food writer Ella Quittner’s debut cookbook, you can be pretty darn sure. In Obsessed With the Best, Quittner not only explores what is “the best” version of a dish, but also what exactly defines “the best” — the cultural influences that inform our opinions on the most delicious scrambled eggs or roast chicken. After head-to-head recipe trials, Quittner shares the ultimate versions of classic items like whipped cream and chocolate chip cookies, plus variations on those recipes, like Buttermilk Chocolate Whipped Cream with Chocolate Ganache or the simplified, square-ified Gooey Malted Cookie Dough Chocolate Chunk Bars. — AS
08 of 09
Credit: Courtesy of Simon Element/Simon & Schuster, LLC
$35 at barnesandnoble.com
Jerelle Guy’s second cookbook is a reclamation of the joy of weeknight cooking. The “Fancy” in the title isn’t about expensive ingredients or complicated techniques. “It’s the art of seeing the abundance in the everyday,” Guy explains, “making the mundane more magical.” The recipes are simple but big-flavored. Think a four-ingredient Sun-Dried Tomato Soup that comes together in a blender or double-crusted, jalapeño popper breadsticks. — KS
09 of 09
Credit: From Will This Make You Happy: Stories & Recipes from a Year of Baking by Tanya Bush, © 2026. Published by Chronicle Books. Photograph © Tanya Bush
$29 at Amazon
Will This Make You Happy is equal parts pastry cookbook and memoir, documenting how Tanya Bush, pastry chef of Little Egg in Brooklyn, New York, and co-editor of Cake Zine, found joy through a year of baking. Sectioned by seasons, readers are able to bake along with Bush as she recalls the highs and lows of learning new techniques and discovers her culinary voice. The recipes, like Bush’s storytelling, are cheerful and unpretentious, like Blueberry Jam Corn Muffins and Spicy Olive Oil Molasses Ginger Cookies. — AS
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Dining and Cooking