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American food wouldn’t be what it is today without the work of Black chefs. So much so, in fact, that the National Museum of African American History and Culture in D.C. put together a James Beard Foundation Book Award-nominated cookbook, Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook, that features more than 100 dishes inspired by foods from African American culture, and also shines a spotlight on the role African Americans played in creating and shaping American cuisine. Enslaved African Americans were the cooks who shaped the Southern cuisine we know today, and they also introduced and cultivated ingredients used in their homelands to the U.S. that are ubiquitous now.
For centuries, African American cuisine has continued to evolve — and thankfully, there are Black chefs around the country who have compiled their recipes into best-selling, award-winning cookbooks that are packed with mouthwatering recipes you’ll want to try ASAP.
From desserts and vegan-friendly dishes to unique takes on soul food and flawless fusions of African, Asian, Caribbean, and Southern cuisines, ahead are 18 of the best cookbooks written by Black chefs that should absolutely be added to your collection.
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‘The Way Home’ by Kardea Brown
Image Credit: Amistad. You may know her as the star of Food Network’s Delicious Miss Brown, but soon you’ll also know her for the recipes in her cookbook The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family. These recipes are a celebration of Brown’s Gullah/Geechee heritage, with Lowcountry Southern cuisine that’s fresh, seasonal, and totally delicious.
The Way Home: A Celebration of Sea Islands Food and Family by Kardea Brown$15.74
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‘Black Rican Vegan’ by Lyana Blount
Image Credit: Page Street Publishing. Based on the recipes served at her NYC pop-up Black Rican Vegan, chef Lyana Blount’s cookbook stars 60 dishes that put a vegan spin on the flavorful, comforting dishes she grew up eating at home and in the city. From Chicharron sin Carne to Bronx Fried Oyster Mushrooms, this cookbook definitely disproves the theory that vegan food is boring.
Black Rican Vegan: Fire Plant-Based Recipes from a Bronx Kitchen$15.69
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‘My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef’ by Kwame Onwuachi
Image Credit: Knopf. The New York Times named his restaurant Tatiana the best in New York City in 2023, and the San Francisco Chronicle called him “the most important chef in America,” so if you consider yourself a cookbook connoisseur, you need to add Kwame Onwuachi’s My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef to your shelf. Focusing on dishes from the African diaspora, this cookbook is filled with more than 125 recipes informed by Onwuachi’s personal history and his travels around the globe.
My America: Recipes from a Young Black Chef$18.09
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‘Bountiful Cooking’ by Agatha Achindu
Image Credit: Hachette. Who said healthy food can’t taste good? Certainly not us and certainly not Agatha Achindu, author of the new Bountiful Cooking cookbook. Bountiful Cooking celebrates matrilineal culinary philosophies with 100 recipes that are filled with delicious, and life-giving nutrients.
‘Bountiful Cooking’$20.30
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‘The Taste of Country Cooking’ by Edna Lewis
Image Credit: Knopf. The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis is a staple for anyone wanting to dive into Southern cooking. In addition to the seasonal recipes, Lewis includes the ways her family prepared and enjoyed food so you can turn your cooking into an immersive experience.
‘The Taste of Country Cooking’$15.50
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‘Son of a Southern Chef’ by Lazarus Lynch
Image Credit: Avery. Written by two-time Chopped winner and host of Snapchat’s first-ever cooking show, Son of a Southern Chef is chock-full of more than 100 of Lazarus Lynch’s unique take on classic soul food recipes, like Brown Butter Candy Yam Mash with Goat Cheese Brülée and Shrimp and Crazy Creamy Cheddar Grits.
‘Son of a Southern Chef’ by Lazarus Lynch$17.23 $26.00 34% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do’ by Ayesha Curry
Image Credit: Voracious. Cooking for a family? Ayesha Curry’s The Full Plate is filled with mouth-watering recipes everyone will enjoy. Curry’s cookbook has 100 recipes that are flexible, flavorful, and can be made in under 60 minutes.
The Full Plate: Flavor-Filled, Easy Recipes for Families with No Time and a Lot to Do$15.99
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‘Jubilee’ by Toni Tipton-Martin
Image Credit: Clarkson Potter. A celebration of African American cuisine, Toni Tipton-Martin’s 2019 cookbook Jubilee is a James Beard Award Winner and named one of the best cookbooks of the year by the New York Times. Tipton-Martin is also the author of The Jemima Code, a tribute to the role Black women played in the creation of southern cuisine. The 2015 cookbook, which presents more than 150 Black cookbooks dating as far back as the early 1800s, also won the James Beard Foundation Book Award in 2016.
‘Jubilee’ by Toni Tipton-Martin$18.36 $35.00 48% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘The Dooky Chase Cookbook’ by Leah Chase
Image Credit: Pelican Publishing. Anyone who’s lived in or visited New Orleans knows about the Dooky Chase Restaurant, a landmark restaurant visited by Ella Fitzgerald, Barack Obama, Ray Charles, and more. And this cookbook, published in 1990, features all of the Queen of Creole Cuisine Leah Chase’s famous recipes, from her Crawfish Etouffee to Squirrel Pie.
‘The Dooky Chase Cookbook’ by Leah Chase$43.95
on Amazon.com
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‘In Pursuit of Flavor’ by Edna Lewis
Image Credit: Knopf. NPR calls her the first Lady of Southern cooking, so if you want to learn a thing or two about about this beloved cuisine, then you’ll want to read Edna Lewis’ In Pursuit of Flavor. This James Beard Foundation Cookbook Hall of Fame-inducted tome shares Lewis’ recipes, and woven throughout are stories from her life and memories of growing up in rural Virginia. But what we’re really here for is the food, which includes mouthwatering dishes like Whipped Cornmeal with Okra, Pan-Braised Spareribs, and Raspberry Pie.
In Pursuit of Flavor by Edna Lewis$24.72
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‘Brown Sugar Kitchen’ by Tanya Holland
Image Credit: Chronicle Books. When it opened in 2014, Brown Sugar Kitchen became the soul-food destination in West Oakland. And if you never got a chance to taste the food for yourself, then you’ll want to pick up chef-owner Tanya Holland’s 2014 cookbook. In it, you’ll find nearly 90 recipes that’ll help you re-create favorites from the restaurant, like Holland’s shrimp gumbo and her celebrated mac ‘n’ cheese.
‘Brown Sugar Kitchen’ by Tanya Holland$25.37 $29.95 15% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Black Girl Baking’ by Jerrelle Guy
Image Credit: Page Street Publishing. 2019 James Beard Foundation Book Award nominee Black Girl Baking tells the stories behind each and every one of Chocolate for Basil founder and chef Jerrelle Guy’s desserts. This cookbook even caught the attention of chef and TV personality Carla Hall, who raved, “Black Girl Baking has a rhythm and a realness to it.”
‘Black Girl Baking’ by Jerrelle Guy$13.49 $23.99 44% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Sweet Home Café Cookbook’
Image Credit: Smithsonian Books. The National Museum of African American History and Culture compiled this 2018 cookbook, described as a celebration of African American cooking. Sweet Home Cafe not only boasts more than 100 recipes, but this 2019 James Beard Foundation Book Award nominee for best American cookbook also offers a new perspective on African American culinary culture.
‘Sweet Home Café Cookbook’$19.58 $29.95 35% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Carla Hall’s Soul Food’
Image Credit: Harper. The Chew host Carla Hall’s Soul Food cookbook is an ode to her Nashville roots, featuring 145 original soul food recipes — all with a Carla Hall twist. One of many fans of Soul Food? Cravings founder Chrissy Teigen, who wrote: “It’s no secret how much Carla Hall loves food. Her passion to share, her knowledge of tradition, and her palpable excitement have been witnessed by millions everywhere. Here, she translates that energy into a beautiful book where love and soul ooze off the pages. I can’t wait to cook these recipes for my family.”
‘Carla Hall’s Soul Food’$18.96 $35.00 46% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Afro-Vegan’ by Bryant Terry
Image Credit: Ten Speed Press. Chef and food justice activist Bryant Terry has published one of the best vegetarian cookbooks of all time, Afro-Vegan. In it, you’ll find more than 100 vegan-friendly recipes that beautifully blend African, Caribbean, and southern plant-based cuisines.
‘Afro-Vegan’ by Bryant Terry$15.49 $27.50 44% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Sweet Potato Soul’ by Jenne Claiborne
Image Credit: Harmony. Another cookbook for vegans, Sweet Potato Soul is Jenne Clairborne’s fresh, flavorful take on soulful, plant-based dishes, from her Georgia Watermelon & Peach Salad and Jalapeño Hush Puppies to her Bootylicious Gumbo. “Jenné makes a vegan lifestyle look easy — not to mention totally delicious. Her tips and recipe roundups are super-practical for vegans and non-vegans alike,” Rachael Ray wrote.
‘Sweet Potato Soul’ by Jenne Claiborne$13.99 $19.99 30% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Between Harlem and Heaven’
Image Credit: Flatiron Books. Winner of the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook, Between Harlem and Heaven presents more than 100 Afro-Asian-American recipes created by James Beard Award winning chef Joseph Johnson, and Alexander Smalls, a restaurateur, opera singer, and co-owner and executive chef of award-winning restaurant The Cecil and its sister restaurant Minton’s. If you’re looking for something new to inspire you in the kitchen, this cookbook holds the key.
‘Between Harlem and Heaven’$19.32 $37.50 48% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘The Africa Cookbook’ by Jessica B. Harris
Image Credit: Simon & Schuster. The Africa Cookbook is just one of 12 cookbooks written by award-winning food historian and one of the world’s leading experts on African Diaspora cooking, Jessica B. Harris. “I like the way Jessica Harris thinks,” says Maya Angelou of The Africa Cookbook, which features more than 200 traditional and contemporary recipes. “I very much like the way she writes, and I am a great admirer of the way she cooks. This book is valuable to all thinking, writing cooks.”
‘The Africa Cookbook’ by Jessica B. Harris$15.55 $20.00 22% Off
on Amazon.com
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