6 TikTok Cookbooks Worth Buying: Curated, Tested, & Reviewed

Spend half a second on social media, and you’ll bump into social media creators whose TikTok cookbooks are closely tied to viral recipes or internet-famous food moments. Are they worth adding to my curated new and vintage cookbook collection? From the classic to the bizarre, food creators flourish on video- and image-heavy social websites.

I’m breaking down some of the most popular TikTok cookbooks with short summaries to give you a better idea of the usefulness of the book as a whole. I’m not wasting time including those often irrelevant sections, such as where they source ingredients and the index, line by boring line.

Viral Recipes and Internet-Famous Creators

More than 70% of Gen Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, chose social media as their go-to source for food discovery, according to a 2025 survey of 1000 Gen Z adults. About 44% of these young adults trusted viral content creators over celebrity chefs (39%) and cooking channels (34%), while 45% turned to family and friends, according to the same survey, and watched nearly four hours of food-focused social content.

That leaves a whole 32% seeking out a traditional cookbook. When you’re a creator-turned-cookbook-author, that may skew a little different. Off-the-roof sales appear to naturally follow every social media creator’s cookbook launch. But with so many titles by viral creators flooding the shelves, it’s hard to know just what deserves a spot on your shelf (and mine).

What do I know? With more than 1000 titles in my curated cookbook collection, books in my collection have to be cookable, well-organized, and fun. Substance, not fluff. Let’s take a look at the TikTok cookbooks with the biggest buzz (one each from the following selected viral cookbook authors). We’ll judge several factors, including the cookbook’s cookability, pantry accessibility, photo-to-recipe ratio, and target audience.

Nick DiGiovanni

“My No. 1 by far, is YouTube. And YouTube, a few weeks ago, became the biggest media company in the world. Then we became the largest food and cooking platform on YouTube. That’s not to say that we have the biggest food and cooking platform on the planet, but I do feel like we’re in a really exciting place at a really exciting time.”

Kayla Cobb, Why Nick DiGiovanni Sees Becoming YouTube’s Biggest Culinary Creator as a ‘Responsibility,’ Not a ‘Trophy’: TheWrap, April 9, 2026, Accessed August 4, 2026. 

Nick DiGiovanni Creator Profile

• Top Social Media Accounts: TikTok and YouTube
• Initial Platform: TikTok 2019
• Cookbook Titles: “Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook” (2025)
• Niche: Anyone can cook
• Vibe: Celebrity Chef with heart

“My philosophy with food is that you must elevate every single ingredient — for instance, the B.L.T. in my new cookbook, which stresses a focus on each individual ingredient before bringing the sandwich together. And it all starts with better salt.”

Kevin Ponce, Meet Nick DiGiovanni: The Chef And TikTok Star Who Believes ‘Anyone Can Cook’: VMAN, June 7, 2023, Accessed August 4, 2026.

“Still in college, DiGiovanni auditioned for MasterChef and nabbed a spot on the Fox cooking competition show — competing in the middle of his senior year. It was his first time dipping his toes into the glitzy entertainment industry, brushing shoulders with iconic chef Gordon Ramsey, who judged the competition. He placed third.

But when DiGiovanni returned home, right at the precipice of the COVID-19 pandemic, it got pretty lonely. “You had a little taste of fame, and everyone’s climbing out of the woodwork to reach out to you,” he says. “It’s almost like your birthday times 10, you know? And then it gets really quiet.”

Luke Chinman, Nick DiGiovanni Has Broken Records for His YouTube Content. He Reveals How His Viral Fame Came with a Big Cost (Exclusive): People, April 8, 2026, Accessed August 4, 2026.

Then DiGiovanni discovered TikTok and shared his skill with a different kind of audience. Over time, he favored YouTube, preferring the ability to publish short or long videos.

“What I love about YouTube is that it’s really given me that kind of full creative freedom to make any video as long as I want it to be,” DiGiovanni told Forbes in a 2024 interview.

DiGiovanni is not only the youngest finalist on MasterChef and a Time100 Creator for 2025, but he’s also a Guinness World Records Holder. He held the following food-related records, though he has not maintained the title for all of them, according to Guinness World Records:

• The largest iced latte: 276 gallons by Nick DiGiovanni and Dunkin’ on March 20, 2024.
• The most subscribers for a food/cooking channel on YouTube: 35,700,000 by Nick DiGiovanni on March 30, 2026.
• The fastest time to fillet a 10 lb fish: 1 min 0.29 sec, by Nick DiGiovanni, on October 7, 2022.
• The largest chicken nugget: 46 lb 3.34 oz, by Nick DiGiovanni and Lynn Davis, on May 25, 2022.
• The largest doughnut cake: weighs 225 lb 15 oz, by Nick DiGiovanni and Lynn Davis, on April 3, 2023.
• The largest sushi roll: 7′ 1″, by Nick DiGiovanni and Lynn Davis, on October 7, 2022.
• The largest beef Wellington: 56.79 lb., by Nick DiGiovanni and Gordon Ramsay, on 11 May 2023.
• The largest cake pop: 97 lb 8.52 oz., by Nick DiGiovanni and Lynn Davis, on November 23, 2021.
• The largest chocolate bar by area: 4,481 square feet, by Nick DiGiovanni and Blue Stripes Cacao, on December 2, 2024.
• The most fast food restaurants visited in 24 hours: 69, in New York City, by Nick DiGiovanni and Lynn Davis, on August 10, 2022.

“Knife Drop”

Created the first-ever undergraduate food degree at Harvard. Wrote my college thesis advised by Michael Pollan one of hte world’s most influential food writers. I’ve soaked up techniques from several generations of my multiethnic family. Even learned from Gordon Ramsay himself. And I still wake up hungry, each and every day, to learn more.

“Knife Drop” is a result of all these years of learning and experimentation. It’s a compilation of everything I’ve learned, infused with 100 recipes containing practical tips and tricks.

Nick DiGiovanni, “Knife Drop” (2023), INtroduction: Page 10.

Each recipe has a brief overview where DiGiovanni still manages to teach you something in a short paragraph. Case in point: He provides the recipe for Fall-Apart Chicken Confit, shares that duck is his favorite version, but that it’s not only too expensive, but that chicken is better suited for the task due to its higher fat content.

The “Cookability” Level: Beginners and intermediate cooks. Every recipe includes the yield, prep time, and cook time at the top right. Nick provides QR codes for techniques at the front of the book for essential skills, including how to hold a chef’s knife, how to fold a burrito, and how to make pasta dough. QR codes also appear throughout the book, such as with the recipe for Smash Burgers. The page includes a QR code for Smash Burger Technique.

Pantry Accessibility: This is not a budget cookbook. Salt, butter, brown sugar — recipes for at-home versions compose the beginning chapter. Recipes include a variety of ingredients, from eggplant to artichokes, dates to calamari, ricotta to burrata. Fresh ingredients are the norm in “Knife Drop.” His list of must-have ingredients isn’t large, but it’s general. Read the recipes to see what you’ll need before you begin.

Tool Requirement: DiGiovanni includes a page of must-have equipment. Most are basic, such as an 8″ chef’s knife or a wood cutting board, while others are a bit more specialized, such as a knife sharpener or nesting glass mixing bowls. He recommends a food processor, high-speed blender, and a hand mixer or stand mixer, so read through recipes beforehand to make sure you have what it requires.

Cookbook Usability: From Fancy Ramen to French + Italian Lasagna, DiGiovanni offers a unique mix of recipes that often look difficult but are deceptively simple. DiGiovanni focuses on the foundation, so when he includes a recipe for a BLT or a Tuna Melt, pay attention.

Image to Recipe Ratio: Excellent. Simple, sharp close-up images with what seems to be every recipe.

“Knife Drop” Chapters include:

• Kitchen Basics: Quick Pickling and Aged Vanilla Extract
• Fundamentals: Pasta Dough and Roasted and Toasted Pesto
• Snacks + Dips: Viral Pasta Chips and Pine Nut Hummus
• Breakfast: Orange Chocolate Pancakes and Everything Bagels
• Soups: “While it has a time and a place, soup lacks texture and excitement”
• Sandwiches: Smash Burger and Fried Chicken Sandwich
• Chicken: Dino Nuggets
• Meat: Garlic Butter Steak Tips and Cast Iron Ribeye
• Seafood: Browned Butter Lobster Roll
• Pasta: Sungold Spaghetti and Spicy Mezcal Rigatoni
• Carbs: Grilled Pizza “Al Forno” and Brazilian Cheese Balls
• Salads + Veggies: Green Goddess Cucumbers and Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
• Sweets + Treats: Devil’s Food Cupcakes and No-Churn Nutella Ice Cream
• Recipes From My Friends: Crispy Magic Frosting from Joanne Chang and Soft Pretzels by Robert Irvine

Who is Nick DiGiovanni’s cookbook for?

• People who prefer technique over strict rules
• People who aren’t totally novice cooks, but lack good basic recipes
• People who aren’t picky eaters and enjoy a wide variety of foods

B. Dylan Hollis

This book is my love letter to the experience of baking yesteryear. It is a collection of the most peculiar recipes that shone their way through the pages of hundreds of old, well-worn cookbooks. They embody my own philosophy of what makes life worth living; the wild, the wacky, and the wonderful. Every recipe herein will contain one, if not all three, of those descriptors.

The bakes in this book are not the foremost in perfect, gourmet cooking. Rather, they are the ancestors of humble classics, the ingenious personal curios of home bakers, and the collections of unconventional family recipes from the average kitchens of those rosy days of old.

B. Dylan Hollis, Baking Yesterday (2023): Introduction, Page 11.

B. Dylan Hollis Creator Profile

• Top Social Media Accounts: Instagram and TikTok
• Initial Platform: TikTok 2020
• Cookbook Titles: “Baking Yesteryear” (2023) and “Baking Across America” (2025)
• Niche: Recipes pulled from vintage cookbooks
• Vibe: Over-the-Top, Energetic personality

Early on, he found a 1915 “Five Roses Cook Book” recipe for “Pork Cake,” a 6-pound fruitcake behemoth based on rendered pork belly, and thought it so delightfully crazy that he had to share it with the world.

His trademark frenetic comic style was present right out of the gate, as he listed ingredients and basic instructions with hilarious commentary. “350 for two-and-a-half hours,” he deadpans, “I suppose any less and it might gain consciousness.”

Heather Martin, RD; B. Dylan Hollis’ new cookbook ‘Baking Yesteryear’ celebrates the wild and wacky world of vintage recipes; Today Show, Published July 25, 2023, Accessed July 16, 2026.

I bonded with a friend’s teen daughter over B. Dylan Hollis’ early TikTok baking videos. He’d bake up something vintage and dramatically dish on the process and flavors, and we’d laugh (or cringe) our way through it. Hollis began TikTok in April 2020, baking his way through the dullness that was quarantine, but he didn’t have to wait long for his first viral video recipe: Pork Cake from the 1915 “Five Roses Cookbook: Bread, Pastry, Etc.“

With his baking-related video updates and well-written cookbooks behind him, B. Dylan Hollis easily snagged a spot on the 2026 Time100 Creators List. Where does B. Dylan Hollis find his recipes? He finds his cookbooks at estate sales, thrift stores, antique shops, and via fan mail.

The beauty of Hollis’ work is instilling a new fascination with and, perhaps, interest in vintage cookbooks. If you read and use old cookbooks as I do, then you’ll recognize many of the recipe titles found in this book. Cream Spice Cake, Election Cake, and Hermits are a few of the 1900s recipes.

His vintage recipe for Haystacks, what we unthinkingly called “Chinese Haystacks” or “Chocolate Crunchies” back in the early 1990s, is the same as the one my mother made every Christmas, as I do now. They aren’t pretty, but they are so good. Chow Mein noodles are the base ingredient, as you can see in my DIY blank recipe book image above.

My family’s version of Haystacks slightly differs from Hollis. We use a touch of vanilla extract and omit the peanuts. I also add a pinch of salt, though I am considering adding a tiny dusting of flaky sea salt on top this year for Christmas. With only four ingredients, making these no-bake treats is fast. Haystacks are the perfect salty-sweet crunchy snack. Hollis agreed, calling them an “ingenious invention.”

“Baking Yesteryear”

But with an old recipe, with an old cookbook, not only can you pick it up and feel something directly from 1930, but you can then recreate that recipe, bake it, and then taste it just the same as it was 100 years ago.

And that’s a very powerful thing to me, and it’s really exciting to be able to do that because it’s a direct sort of path to history. It’s a doorway that you open up.

B.Dylan Hollis for Mark Brodie, B. Dylan Hollis blew up on TikTok by baking and tasting wacky recipes from America’s past, KJZZ Phoenix, Published June 23, 2025, Updated December 29, 2025, Accessed July 16, 2026.

The “Cookability” Level: Beginner. Energetic and witty, Hollis makes baking seem easy and fun, inspiring confidence in rookie bakers. His descriptions prove enticing.

Pantry Accessibility: New baker or not, the ingredients required for the majority of “Baking Yesteryear” recipes are likely already in your pantry: All-purpose flour and cake flour, the gamut of sugars, butter, eggs, and the rest of the basics. Surf the ingredients list for unexpected items, such as dried fruits, Jell-O, or sour cream.

Tool Requirements: These vintage recipes don’t require much in the way of special equipment. Parchment paper, thermometer, cookie scoop … this book uses the most bare-bones baking essentials. It’s entry-level baking at its most comforting. Check the required pan size at the top of the page before you begin.

Cookbook Usability: The type of dessert, such as bar, quick bread, or pie, sits under each recipe name, along with the pan size (9″ pie or 8″ x 8″ pan). Recipe steps are numbered, and clear “prep” and “cook” times are listed for each recipe, letting you know what you’re in for, commitment-wise. For a cookbook on the tall side, the font is on the small side.

Photo to Recipe Ratio: Wonderful. The majority of recipes include an image of Hollis with the finished item.

“Baking Yesteryear” chapters include:

• Introduction
• 1900s: Hermits
• 1910s: Pork Cake and Chocolate Potato Cake
• 1920s: Anadama Bread
• Dates: Date Bars
• 1930s: Mock Apple Pie, Peanut Butter Bread, and Potato Donuts
• 1940s: Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake
• 1950s: Tomato Soup Cake
• No-Bake: Penguin Icebox Cake
• 1960s: Ambrosia
• 1970s: Potato Chip Cookies
• 1980s: Monster Cookies
• Worst of the Worst: SpaghettiOs Jell-O Ring (Just wow)
• Conclusion

Quick Correction: Hollis is incorrect about the history of chocolate brownies, wrongly attributing them to Fannie Farmer, when we know Bertha Palmer and Chef Joseph Seyl of Chicago’s Palmer House created the brownie. Still, each recipe includes plenty of backstory.

Hollis isn’t a one-and-done book writer. “Baking Across America: A Vintage Recipes Road Trip” follows the same format as his first book, but this time the recipes are sorted into chapters by regions, rather than decades.

Who are B. Dylan Hollis’ cookbooks for:

• Bakers who don’t have their family’s recipes
• New bakers looking for uncomplicated, simple recipes
• People who grew up in the 1980s to the 1990s

Joanne Lee Molinaro

What I’ve learned by collecting and sharing these recipes is that what really matters isn’t whether the food tastes exactly the way your grandmother made it but how it makes you feel. For me, the recipes in this book remind me of the garden in the backyard of our Skokie house, the deep wrinkles in my grandmother’s hands. They remind me of my mother’s perseverance, my father’s laughter. They remind me of home.

Joanne Lee Molinaro, “The Korean Vegan,” (2021), Page 21.

Joanne Lee Molinaro Creator Profile

• Top Social Media Accounts: Instagram and TikTok
• Initial Platform: Blogging 2016, TikTok 2020
• Cookbook Titles: “The Korean Vegan” (2021) and “The Korean Vegan: Homemade” (2025)
• Niche: Vegan Korean cooking
• Vibe: Quiet, thoughtful personality

Cookbook author Joanne Lee Molinaro shared stories about her life as the Chicago-born daughter of Korean immigrants. Although this trial attorney began her blog in 2016, a TikTok post about Korean Braised Potatoes in the summer of 2020 went viral, leading Munno to a narrative-based video format. She documents her Korean vegan recipes while sharing personal, intimate family stories. Munno left her lawyer days behind, sharing a depth of story you don’t expect to find on social media, let alone TikTok.

“Molinaro really did plan to be a practicing lawyer her whole life. The University of Illinois graduate went to law school at the University of Chicago and landed her first job as a barred attorney at Foley & Lardner. The social media thing wasn’t even a side hustle at the beginning, rather just a way to document her journey into veganism. The turning point, she says, is when she began telling stories about herself instead of simply making cooking procedurals.”

 Jennifer Tanaka, Once a humble cooking content creator, the Korean Vegan has so much more to say, Chicago Sun Times, October 31, 2025, Accessed July 26, 2026.

Joanne Lee Molinaro started the Korean Vegan as a blog in 2016 after switching to a plant-based diet. She’s very open about her initial motivation for this conversion: Her boyfriend wanted to go vegan. “I decided, you know what, I really like this guy, and I think we have potential, but I can already sense that if I don’t become vegan with him, it’s going to hurt our relationship. Let’s just try it out,” as told to the Los Angeles Times.

That boyfriend became Molinaro’s husband, who provides much of the original background music to her social media videos (Anthony Molinaro was a professional pianist, but now helps with Molinaro’s Korean Vegan brand). Molinaro’s roles have changed, too, from an attorney to award-winning cookbook author (and NYT best-selling author) and the owner of her vegan skincare brand, Korean Vegan Beauty.

“My mother was a refugee in South Korea. My father, he had some family in South Korea, but his mother and his father both lived in North Korea when he was born. They moved into South Korea during the war or shortly after the conclusion of World War II and eventually found their way to Chicago, Illinois, where I was born. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. I went to college, University of Illinois Urbana, went to law school at the University of Chicago, had a great career in law from 2004 till 2021 when I withdrew from partnership at my law firm to pursue “The Korean Vegan” full-time,” shared TubeFilter in 2024.

It’s Molinaro’s combination of story and cooking that draws people in, vegan or not. Her parents were born in what is now North Korea. They faced the worst conditions, including near-starvation, numerous times.

When Molinaro’s mother was a year old, her grandparents made the decision to drown her, rather than watch her swollen face and hear her endless crying as she starved to death. They kept watching for a moment when no one was looking, Molinaro wrote in her first cookbook (page 277), but two American G.I. s happened along, trying to communicate. When that failed, they simply put a Hershey’s candy bar in the baby’s hands and saved her life.

The stories aren’t all dark; there is lightness and joy in there, too. The James Beard Media Award winner (2022) knows how to draw in an audience. She has a gift for balancing heavier times with laughter.

“The Korean Vegan” Cookbook

You don’t need to be vegan to enjoy “The Korean Vegan” cookbooks. “The first book was more traditional Korean cuisine — things that any Korean American or Korean person would think, ‘Oh, yeah, this belongs in a book about Korean food.’ In the second book, you’re going to see much more of the Korean twists — Koreanized versions of American foods, Italian foods, Mexican food, which is more in line with the way I usually eat,” Molinaro shared with Forks Over Knives in 2024.

The “Cookability” Level: Beginner+. Molinaro offers difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Practice Makes Perfect) and Allergen labels, such as GF: naturally gluten-free, GFO: gluten-free option, or NF: nut-free. Find these classifications within the sidebar of every recipe, instantly removing the guesswork on the cooking skill each recipe requires and the potential allergens.

Pantry Accessibility: If Korean cooking is new to you, then your pantry requirements may be extensive. Fermented soybean paste; gochujang, or chili sauce; jjajang, or fried sauce; sesame oil; dashima, or kelp, make frequent appearances. I’d recommend reading the Korean Vegan Pantry chapter for how to stock your pantry and fridge to make her recipes. In lieu of substitutions, Molinaro sometimes suggested you tackle a different recipe. I suggest picking up the newest edition of “The Food Substitutions Bible” (2022) instead. It’s brilliant.

Tool Requirements: Methods may contain unfamiliar equipment, but Molinaro shares easy substitutes, such as replacing a rectangular 5 1/2″ x 7″ Japanese tamagoyaki pan with a small skillet. Look for her “Notes” section at the end of relevant recipes. Basic tools, including a sieve or cheesecloth, an assortment of pots and pans, and an electric mixer, will prove helpful.

Cookbook Usability: Beautiful images accompany most recipes. Molinaro provides concise instructions. But if you can’t find ingredients, you won’t necessarily find ingredient swaps. Use your best judgment (or snag The Food Substitutions Bible” (2022) I mentioned above to help you out).

Recipe to Photo Ratio: Excellent. Gorgeous moody images of the finished dish.

“The Korean Vegan” Chapters include:

• The Basics: Omma’s Korean BBQ Sauce and “Fishy” Sauce
• BBang (Breads): Including Milk Bread
• Banchan (Side Dishes): Including Gamja Jorim (Korean Braised Potatoes)
• Kimchi and Salads: Including Chong Gak Kimchi (Ponytail Kimchi)
• Soups and Stews: Including Tteok-Mandu Guk (Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings)
• Noodles and Pastas: Including Japchae (Korean Glass Noodles) and Jjajangmyun (Black Soybean Noodles) you’ve seen in the movie “Parasite”
• Bar and Street Foods: Omma’s Egg Rolls and Korean-Style Suppli (Rice Balls)
• Main Dishes: Including Bulgogi (Grilled Steak) and Kkanpoong Tofu (Spicy Crunchy Garlic Tofu)
• Sweets: Including Chocolate Chip Paht Cookies (Chocolate Chip Sweet Red Bean Cookies) and Chocolate Covered Shortbread Sticks (for Pocky stick fans)

Who are the Korean Vegan cookbooks for?

• Vegans, vegetarians, and those with food allergies in need of new recipes
• People who love to read cookbooks
• People searching for unique cultural cuisine cookbooks

Nadia Caterina Munno

I wanted to bring my beautiful culture into the homes of others, and what better way to do it than by becoming an emissary of Italy and its simple, great food? It is faster to make a homemade sauce with fresh ingredients than to order takeout and food delivery.

In fact, all you really need for a great meal are three pillars: Love of self, love of others, and love of food. This can be accomplished by anyone. Yes — anyone.

Nadia Caterina Munno, “My Story: Where It All Started, “The Pasta Queen,” Page xiii

Nadia Caterina Munno Creator Profile

• Top Social Handles: Instagram, TikTok
• Initial Platform: TikTok 2020
• Cookbook Titles: “The Pasta Queen: A Just Gorgeous Cookbook” (2022) and “The Pasta Queen: The Art of Italian Cooking” (2024)
• Niche: Southern Italian cooking
• Vibe: Dramatic, engaging personality

Nadia Caterina Munno (August 27, 1986) was born in Rome, Italy, and moved to the U.S. in 2015. “The Pasta Queen” began when Munno watched a disgusting iteration of lasagna from a TikToker in 2020. That social media platform, and the memory of that American cheese-topped lasagna, lit up Munno, motivating her to share her own simple pasta recipes.

Her first viral recipe, Minty Mistress, a four-cheese macaroni and cheese (provolone, fontina, Gruyere, and Pecorino), with a hint of mint and plenty of cream, went live August 25, 2021.

“Gravy is what you serve a roast with, so it’s sauce,” she explained. “Or in Italian, we’d say sugo or salsa.”

Rob LeDonne, Viral ‘Pasta Queen’ Nadia Caterina Munno reveals the cardinal sins of Italian American cooking — and her favorite NYC spots, New York Post, November 14, 2024, Acessed July 22, 2026.

Munno may be wrong about the whole gravy versus sauce debate (for pockets of Italian-Americans in Chicago, like my grandma was, it was always gravy to her, and to me by extension), but that’s no surprise. Munno is Italian Italian, born and raised in Rome.

Her recipes follow the traditional Italian way, though Munno typically uses dried pasta in her books (but includes recipes in her first book for fresh versions, if you so desire).

The Pasta Queen has an Amazon Prime TV Show, “Pasta, Drama, and All Things Italiana.” Munno’s second book, “The Art of Italian Cooking,” serves as the official companion cookbook to her Amazon Prime TV cooking series.

I cooked her Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, and it’s now on our regular dinner rotation. I may add a little fresh spinach and wilt it just to add a little something-something. But it is perfection as it is.

The Pasta Queen “Just Gorgeous” Recipes

. . . Quality dry pasta has no additives. Since it’s dry, there is only water and wheat. There is also something special about the flavor of heavy durum wheat used with dry pasta; when cooking it, it comes out to be perfectly al dente. I must say, making fresh pasta is extremely therapeutic, but it is not my go-to. I am a mom and life gets busy. 

Gabriela Proietti, Nadia Caterina Munno, AKA “The Pasta Queen,” On What She’s Got Cooking, Italy Magazine, September 16, 2022, Accessed July 24, 2026.

My favorite feature, on page 238, is a handy guide to help you figure out what to cook based on what you have. Categorized by cookable topics, such as “Quick Recipes (Under 15 Minutes)” and “Spicy” or “Meaty,” if you’re short on time and completely decisioned out, this helpful resource will be your guide with the recipe and page number for an Italian dinner without the debate.

The “Cookability” Level: Beginner+, mostly clear directions with times to help remove the guesswork; refer to the glossary in the front of the book to decipher terms such as “season with salt and a scrunch of pepper” or “Serve … dusted with Pecorino Romano,” which, although fun, could confuse new cooks unfamiliar with Munno’s style.

Pantry Accessibility: Recipes range from super simple, requiring little more than a box of pasta, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and something common, such as garlic, a grated Italian cheese, or lemon, to the more intense, requiring octopus or langoustines. Stock capers, cans of high-quality tuna, Kalamata olives, various cooking wines, extra-virgin olive oil, and all manner of canned tomatoes to start. Your kitchen stock list can be as simple or advanced as you want to make it.

Tool Requirements: Minimal, depending. Food processor, blender, or immersion blender necessary for smooth sauces; a food mill to remove tomato skins; with other requirements for making fresh pasta (long rolling pin + board or pasta machine or pasta attachment for your electric mixer, with specific items such as a potato ricer or a chitarra for certain pasta shapes)

Cookbook Usability: Cookbook readers will enjoy the stories above each recipe and scattered within the book, while cooks of all kinds who crave pasta will find plenty to cook and stretch themselves. From basic to advanced, these recipes could fit many types of pasta-loving cooks.

Recipe to Photo Ratio: Many images, but not necessarily of the dish: chopped vegetables, Munno posing in various locations with or without food.

• Chapter 1: Pasta Basics: Sfoglia all’Uovo, Ravioli, and Tortellini
• Chapter 2: Where It All Began: The Classics: Including Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe, Spaghetti all’Amatriciana (Pasta all’Amatriciana), and Spaghetti alla Carbonara
• Chapter Three: Be My Guest: Recipes to Impress: Including Spaghetti al Limone (you know it as Lemon Temptress aka Pasta al Limone)
• Chapter Four: Family First: Quick and Easy Everyday Recipes: Including Pesto alla Genovese, Pasta Caprese, and Fettuccine Alfredo (made the Italian way, without a protein)
• Chapter Five: Falling in Love with America: Including The Assassin’s Spaghetti
• Chapter 6: The Pasta Renaissance: Creative Dishes: Recipes created by Munno, including Minty Mistress

Who are “The Pasta Queen” cookbooks for?

• People looking for authentic Italian recipes from a former Rome resident
• People who love pretty photography and theatrical cooking
• People who are new to cooking and want many simple pasta recipes, with a few stretch recipes

Danni Rose

The sides of a good southern meal are like a good grandmama: they’re the glue that holds everything together.”

Danni Rose, Danni’s Juke Joint (2023): Sides, Page 141.

Danni Rose Creator Profile

• Top Social Media Accounts: Instagram and Facebook
• Initial Platform: Myspace, then Facebook
• Cookbook Titles: “Danni’s Juke Joint Comfort Food” (2023)
• Niche: Southern comfort food with a mix of homemade and convenience recipes
• Vibe: Down-to-earth, fun personality

Unlike many other viral creators, Danni Rose didn’t have a lot of money to play around with. She made her first YouTube video on June 29, 2017, and financed her food videos with food stamps. As a single mother, Rose kept investing in herself, continually working on building her audience and her reach. With money so tight and nothing happening with her content, Rose almost gave up.

​I ​wanted ​people ​to ​have, ​like, ​restaurant-quality ​food ​at ​home, ​but ​also ​on ​a budget ​because ​I’m ​a ​single ​mom​, and ​I ​didn’t ​have ​a ​lot ​of ​money ​when ​I ​started ​doing ​these ​things; I ​was ​actually ​making ​food ​videos ​with ​food ​stamps. ​

And ​​that’s ​a ​part ​of ​my ​journey ​that ​people ​don’t ​know. ​And ​it’s ​been ​a ​struggle ​for ​many ​years. When ​I ​got ​on ​YouTube, ​I ​was ​not ​making ​money ​initially, ​but ​then ​I ​started ​going ​viral ​on ​Facebook. ​And ​so ​I ​remember ​​I ​was ​about ​to ​give ​up ​making ​food ​content ​one day because ​it just ​didn’t ​make ​any ​sense. ​

But ​I ​stayed ​in​, and ​I ​went ​viral. ​And ​I ​just ​kept ​going ​viral. ​I ​mean, ​I ​was ​going ​viral ​back ​to ​back ​to ​back. ​I ​couldn’t ​count ​the ​times. ​And ​that’s ​when ​I ​transitioned ​to ​YouTube with the help of ​my girlfriend, Necca. ​I ​owe ​her ​to ​this ​day ​for ​being ​a ​blessing ​in ​my ​life. ​

And ​YouTube ​is ​kind ​of ​what ​got ​me ​recognized ​with ​Food Network ​and ​everybody ​else. ​And ​I ​put ​my ​own ​money ​into ​production. ​I ​filmed ​myself ​for ​many, ​many ​years. ​I ​paid ​for ​my ​own ​production. ​People ​think ​that ​I ​partner ​with ​production ​companies. ​No, ​that’s ​out ​of ​my ​pocket. ​​I ​just ​invested ​in ​my ​brand.

Liren Baker, Deliciously Entertaining with Danni Rose, Kitchen Confidante, April 18, 2024, Accessed July 24, 2026.

It paid off. Rose finally received recognition for her years of hard work. In 2024, Danni Rose became the host of the very first Pinterest streaming TV show with Tastemade, “Deliciously Entertaining.”

“Inspired by Pinterest trends, each episode will invite food and design lovers over to cook, create and gather. From bubbly brunches and backyard BBQs to game nights and dinner parties, host Danni Rose and her guests will turn to Pinterest to plan menus, create homemade decor, and bring each gathering to life,” shared the Pinterest press release.

Danni Rose used Haywood’s Place, her father’s Birmingham, Alabama, juke joint, or a hidden hole-in-the-wall, as the inspiration behind her social media content and 2023 debut cookbook. It was where Black people could hang out during Jim Crow days, or when Black people weren’t allowed in white businesses. Before 5 PM, however, Haywood’s Place was a candy store.

Secret and social, juke joints provided the necessary safe place to unwind, dance, eat, socialize, and “drank,” as Rose termed it. You had to know someone to get you in.

 “I always compare it to a jumping Cheers-style bar,” Rose says, with the caveat that since juke joints are not necessarily listed on Google Maps, you have to know someone who has been who will share the address or let you go with them.

“It’s one of those places where you have to know where it is in order to get in and when you walk in the door someone says ‘Hey, how you doin?’ welcoming you,” she explains. 

 Korsha Wilson, Danni Rose’s Debut Cookbook Is a Celebration of Blackness, Juke Joints, and Southern Cooking, Food & Wine, February 2, 2024, Accessed July 24, 2026.

When Haywood’s Place was short on cooks (which typically meant her mother), Rose had to pitch in; she was the only kid in the after-5-PM adults-only crowd, as she worked in the restaurant or fried chicken in the kitchen. Of course, that experience helped shape her.

Rose turned to Facebook, then YouTube, and Instagram to highlight her way of making Southern comfort food, sharing recipes based on what she loves to eat. Rose moved to Los Angeles, where she serves as one of three judges on The Food Network’s “The Big Bake.”

Danni’s Juke Joint Comfort Food: Modern-Day Recipes, Ole Skool Flavas

One reason this recipe here is so sopped up is it’s layered with a rich egg custard and lots and lots of cheese. It’s the cheese that has the fava, hunny! And it doesn’t matter what cheese you use. Grate up what’s in the fridge and mix ’em together for a pasta party! Cheddar, sharp cheddar, Gruyère, Swiss, Parmesan . . . they all like to play together!

Danni Rose, Danni’s Juke Joint Comfort Food (2023), Page 142.

As a long-time content creator, Rose shared plenty of recipes through the years. This cookbook is a tribute to juke joints and time with friends and family, however that looks to you. I tested her peanut butter cookies, and they disappeared fast (though I didn’t use the 1/4 scoop size, but opted for my smaller Tablespoon+ scoop).

The “Cookability” Level: Beginner. Rose uses casual, imprecise terms, such as “handfuls,” but then includes the rough measurements. She provides helpful, page-long tips scattered throughout for deeper dives, such as how you know when something is done or advice on pickling or making pancakes.

Pantry Accessibility: Typical seasonings, typical convenience foods, such as canned soups and pancake mix, and common freezer items; alcoholic beverages will require an assortment of liquors. This cookbook doesn’t require specialized ingredients.

Tool Requirements: Minimal, basic supplies, such as a wire rack and a baking dish (a thermometer or deep-fat fryer would be helpful); a heavy cast iron skillet is handy, though any large skillet will do. Rose’s tool requirements are generally considered kitchen essentials.

Cookbook Usability: Images with most recipes, helpful advice throughout, 222 pages (including the index and back pages), and a large, legible font for her above the recipe summaries. From deep-fried everything to simple side dishes, this is an accessible cookbook.

• Chapter 1: Red Cup Cocktails AKA Dranks “n” Drinks: including Bama Bushwhacker and Hennessy Peach Wine Cooler Slushies (to bring out your 1980s momness)
• Chapter 2: There’s Breakfast, and Then There’s Brunch: Her father’s fried cheese grits
• Chapter 3: Somethin’ to Snack On: Cajun Deviled Eggs
• Chapter 4: The Main Thang: Southern Fried Fish with Homemade Fish Fry and Juke Joint Tartar Sauce and Chicken Butta Chicken
• Chapter 5: These Side Dishes Ain’t Just Some Side Chick: including her viral mac ‘n’ cheese recipe (Ole Skool Mac ‘n’ Cheese) and Pot Liquor Greens
• Chapter 6: Just a Li’l Somethin’ Sweet: Brownie Swirl Pound Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and Church Lady Candied Apples
• Chapter 7: Sopped-Up Staples, Full of Flava: Juke Joint Ranch Seasoning Blend and House Seasoning Blend

Who is “Danni’s Juke Joint” cookbook for?

• People who don’t have recipes for the fried foods and Southern foods of their family
• People interested in cooking “bar food” recipes at home
• People looking for big flavor in simple recipes and don’t want to devote a lot of time to it

Joshua Weissman

Soon, he’d transformed his channel into shows as polished as any on cable, attracting millions of views, and fans, along the way. He’s funny but educational, delivering instructional advice in what sounds like 2x speed narration, seasoning his serious tone with goofiness, a “whisky whisk” here and a “stirry stir” there.

Alex Beggs, Joshua Weissman Is Building a Food Empire, DoorDash Blog, January 25, 2024, Accessed July 27, 2026.

Joshua Weissman Creator Profile

• Top Social Media Accounts: YouTube and TikTok
• Initial Platform: YouTube 2015
• Cookbook Titles: “The Slim Palate Paleo Cookbook” (2014), “An Unapologetic Cookbook” (2021), “Texture Over Taste” (2023)
• Niche: Scratch-made cooking and popular dishes with a homemade twist; “But Better” series
• Vibe: Authoritative, exciting

What Joshua Weissman (January 9, 1996) lacks in formal culinary training, he made up for in passion and real-world experience as the lead cook at Austin’s Uchiko (a sushi bar) for a few years, before focusing solely on content creation.

“My entire family is full of passionate and skilled cooks/bakers,” explained Weissman. “My mom got me started on cooking when I was about three years old, and it really took hold of me when I was five. From then on, I was very focused on getting very good at it,” Weissman told Forbes.

Weissman’s first cookbook, a Paleo-focused title, hit the shelves when he was 17. He’d already been in the kitchen for years at that point, so he started honing his chosen trade in professional kitchens. But Weissman had bigger goals than working in a kitchen his whole life. He turned to YouTube, learning to film and edit recipe videos.

“An Unapologetic Cookbook” (2021)

From there, you can use your staples to build out the full recipes in the book or make up your own recipes. For example, maybe you make the burger buns, but you choose to use them for your own beautiful grilled fish sandwich with your choice of pickles and flavored mayo. There are unlimited combinations and possibilities here, people.

The satisfying result is that you become a completely self-sustained cook with dozens of ingredients that can coincide with each other to make something greater than the sum of its parts.

Joshua Weissman, An Unapologetic Cookbook: Food Has To Be Built, Page 13.

Fans of Joshua Weissman will enjoy the same style of recipes that made him famous online, offline, and in book form. Known for an engaging yet calm approach in his YouTube videos, his first cookbook, published as part of his brand, “An Unapologetic Cookbook,” mimics Weissman’s voice in design and format.

This is a handsome cookbook, with heavy black typeface on a simple white background. It’s clean and minimalist. Images lure in new cooks with ease, punctuating each recipe with full-color flavor. It’s a cookbook that’s easy to love and hard to put down.

The “Cookability” Level: Those with some cooking experience. From the very basics, such as a soft-boiled egg, to Restaurant-Style Duck Breasts and Maine-Style Lobster Rolls, most of the recipes look far more difficult than they are. The goal is to scratch-make various items, or foundations, and use them for the recipes. Weissman breaks it down into easy-to-digest bits. Look for the “Cook Time” above each recipe to better gauge the commitment level, but this isn’t a cookbook for a super beginner.

Pantry Accessibility: This cookbook is your building block, as Weissman says, and you’ll figure it out as you go. Since there is no one specific cuisine or type of food, recipes may require anything from pantry staples, such as whole wheat flour or honey, to ricotta, Thai basil leaves, and lemongrass.

Tool Requirements: Basic tools — unless you plan to bake bread. If you’re making Weissman’s sourdough, he recommends two 10″ bannetons or two 9″ batard bannetons or a 12″ wicker basket banneton (or just a large bowl and a big linen towel dusted in rice flour). Okay, you may need canning jars for pickling, a sieve and a deep cast-iron skillet or heavy-bottomed pot (I’d argue those are essential tools, too).

Cookbook Usability: Beginners looking for simple instructions for all manner of foods and more experienced cooks lacking certain recipes or searching for an upgrade could all benefit from this book. Since this is not a book specific to one cuisine, but a book that wants to teach you how to make everything from scratch with foundational recipes, such as: Beer-Battered Fish, Carbonara, Cubanos, Shoyu Ramen … I could go on. Good stuff, made simple.

Photo to Recipe Ratio: Excellent. Fantastic images appear with every recipe in the book.

“An Unapologetic Cookbook” chapters include:

• A Little Cooking Foundation
  • Staples from Scratch: Nut Butters, Pickled and Lacto-Fermented Vegetables, and Pho Broth
  • Breads and Starches from Scratch: Sourdough Starter, Burger and Sandwich Buns, and Dinner Rolls
• Foundations Applied
  • Breakfast: Austin Breakfast Tacos
  • Appetizers … or Snacks: Pretzel Sticks and Whipped Ricotta Garlic Dip
  • Fish: Fried Fish Tacos and Grilled Branzino
  • Meat: Chicken Katsu
  • Pastas and Sandwiches: Pesto Gnocchi, Steak Sandwiches, and Grilled Cheese
  • Vegetables and Salads: Charred Kale and Cobb Salad
  • Soup: French Onion Soup and Egg Drop Soup
  • Dessert: Tiramisu and Banana Hot Fudge Sundae

Who is the “An Unapologetic Cookbook” for?

• People wanting to learn the basics of from-scratch cooking
• People looking for recipes for basic items, but elevated
• People in search of a good project cookbook, since many items build on scratch-made foundational recipes

TikTok Glossary

If you’re gifting a TikTok Influencer’s cookbook, you might see the following unfamiliar terms:

• Cap or No Cap: A cap isn’t just something you wear on your head; on TikTok, it’s a lie, so “no cap” means someone is telling the truth.
• Chat: It’s a stand-in for “hey, guys,” and a similar informal intro when you want everyone’s attention.
• Cooked: It not only describes what you do in the kitchen; cooked is slang for being exhausted, wiped out, inebriated, or in trouble.
• Delulu: Delusional.
• Fridgescaping: Like landscaping, but for the inside of your refrigerator. Fairy lights, greenery, it’s like a party in your fridge.
• Let Them Cook: Whether it’s someone doing something amazing or you just want to see where it goes, it’s taking a step back to see what happens next.
• Lore: Your backstory or the backstory on anything.
• Mid: Mediocre and used as a way to describe something that’s just poor taste overall.
• Millennial Coded: Or, simply “coded,” it’s being the absolute stereotype of a Millennial, such as air fryers, avocado toast, and skinny jeans.
• OPP List: Opponents’ list of sworn enemies; your nemesis.
• Slop: Not just a Gordon Ramsey term to describe awful food, but a label for bad AI-generated images, video, and the like.
• Swalty: A combination of sweet and salty, as seen in popcorn cookies and miso caramel.
• Swicy: A combination of sweet and spicy, as seen in Mike’s Hot Honey.