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17 Essential Cookbooks By Black Chefs And Authors

Here's how you can support #BlackPublishingPower.

Headshot of Katie BourqueBy Katie Bourque
cookbooks by black chefspinterest icon
Alyssa Gray

Research has found that Black chefs, cooks, and influencers are underexposed compared to their white counterparts—and they also earn less for their efforts.

Now consider this: You can help change that, and stay involved in the anti-racism movement, and improve your cooking skills in the process. Let's begin with updating your cookbook shelf. It's a small start, but it's something. The following cookbooks celebrate the voices and talents of Black chefs and authors—and, well, they're chock full of insanely delicious recipes. While you're at it, consider supporting these Black-owned kitchen brands, small restaurants, and Black culinary influencers.

The books listed range from having some of the best desserts you've ever tasted to recipes from the famous Maya Angelou (yes, she wrote a cookbook!) to recipes from culinary historian and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris (who you might recognize from Netflix's series High On The Hog) to some delicious dishes from "the queen of Creole cuisine" herself. We know that purchasing any of these cookbooks will bring some amazing tastes into your home. So what are you waiting for? Get to reading, clicking, buying, and cooking! Oh, and bring an empty stomach. You are going to need it, for sure.

Below, when possible, we've linked to Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. We recommend purchasing these and all books from them when ordering online.

1

Toni Tipton-Martin Jubilee

Jubilee
1

Toni Tipton-Martin Jubilee

Now 43% Off
$20 at Amazon
Credit: Clarkson Potter Publishers

Thomas Jefferson is often credited with introducing French cuisine to America, but who were the people actually cooking these recipes? This is the question posed by activist and culinary journalist Toni Tipton-Martin in her raw collection of stories and recipes. By reviewing over 400 Black-authored cookbooks spanning from 1827 to present, Tipton-Martin highlights the influence and tradition of Black cooking in American and its oft-overlooked contribution to culinary history on a whole.

2

Tanya Holland Brown Sugar Kitchen

Brown Sugar Kitchen
2

Tanya Holland Brown Sugar Kitchen

Credit: Chronicle Books

Tanya Holland's West Oakland restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen is more than just an eatery. The soul-food spot is a neighborhood watering hole where sharing food turns into making connections. From caramel layer cake with brown butter-caramel frosting to herbed mushroom spoon bread, the recipes Holland shares prove why her interpretation of soul food has become so important to the neighborhood.

3

Lazarus Lynch Son Of A Southern Chef

Son Of A Southern Chef
3

Lazarus Lynch Son Of A Southern Chef

Credit: Pelican Publishing Company

Chef Lazarus Lynch's cookbook reads like a love letter to his Guyanese mother and his father from Alabama. Inside, he shares the southern and Caribbean-inspired food he grew up with in his father's restaurant. Come for the dulce de leche banana pudding and brown butter candy yam mash with goat cheese brülée—stay for Lynch's vibrant voice and the brilliantly modern photography.

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4

Jessica B. Harris The Africa Cookbook

The Africa Cookbook
4

Jessica B. Harris The Africa Cookbook

Credit: Simon & Schuster

Culinary historian and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris collected more than 200 recipes for this tome—all from different nations in Africa, like flavorful chutney from the Swahili coast and Senegal's popular Thiebou Dienn. Each paints a portrait as vivid and dimensional as the various cultures highlighted. This book serves as a great entry point for those unfamiliar with cuisine from the continent.

5

Benjamina Ebuehi The New Way to Cake

The New Way to Cake
5

Benjamina Ebuehi The New Way to Cake

Credit: Page Street Publishing

The Great British Bake Off fans will be familiar with Benjamina Ebuehi from the seventh season of the series. For those who don't watch the show, this London-based baker won audiences and the judges over with her inventive flavor combinations—and now she's sharing creative cake recipes like caramelized plantain upside-down cake, and a plum and black pepper cake for you to try at home.

6

Jerrelle Guy Black Girl Baking

Black Girl Baking
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Jerrelle Guy Black Girl Baking

Now 12% Off
Credit: Page Street Publishing

In this James Beard Award–nominated book, Jerrelle Guy beautifully weaves together lush, visceral recipe descriptions with intrinsically related moments in her life—like the similarities between twisting together plaited dukkah bread and the braids she wore in her hair as a child. Plus, as a former vegan, the blogger behind Chocolate for Basil includes plenty of dietary alternatives.

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7

Jocelyn Delk Adams Grandbaby Cakes

Grandbaby Cakes
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Jocelyn Delk Adams Grandbaby Cakes

Credit: Avery

Growing up, Jocelyn Delk Adams would regularly take the ten-hour ride from her childhood home in Chicago to Winona, MS, to see her grandmother, Big Mama. Adams recounts these sweet memories while sharing recipes for the delicious desserts they made together.

8

Leah Chase The Dooky Chase Cookbook

The Dooky Chase Cookbook
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Leah Chase The Dooky Chase Cookbook

Credit: Pelican Publishing Company

You don't get nicknamed "the queen of Creole cuisine" for nothing. Dooky Chase is a New Orleans institution, and the woman behind the restaurant, Leah Chase, teaches you how to make the spot's famous gumbo and turtle soup, among many other recipes.

9

Bryant Terry Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora [A Cookbook]

Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora [A Cookbook]
9

Bryant Terry Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora [A Cookbook]

Now 39% Off
Credit: Amazon

This book explores the Black foodways in America and around the world by looking into the Black experience, offering delicious recipes, moving essays, and arresting artwork.

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10

Maya Angelou Hallelujah! The Welcome Table

Hallelujah! The Welcome Table
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Maya Angelou Hallelujah! The Welcome Table

Credit: Random House LLC

Did you know Maya Angelou wrote a cookbook? The Pulitzer Prize– and Presidential Medal of Freedom–winning poet recounts her path from her childhood in Stamps, AR, to becoming a world-traveling adult by way of her favorite recipes. Even if you never make a recipe from the book, it's worth a read just for the book's heart-wrenchingly beautiful prose.

11

Edna Lewis The Taste of Country Cooking

The Taste of Country Cooking
11

Edna Lewis The Taste of Country Cooking

Credit: Knopf

American chef Edna Lewis, who passed away in 2006, is a culinary legend. She grew up in a Virginia farming community settled by formerly enslaved people (she was the granddaughter of one), and went on to espouse the use of fresh, local ingredients in her recipes. In here, you'll find wild mushrooms in a spring salad and freshly picked blackberries in her summer cobbler.

12

Marcus Samuelsson The Red Rooster Cookbook

The Red Rooster Cookbook
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Marcus Samuelsson The Red Rooster Cookbook

Now 51% Off
Credit: Bookshop.org

You'll almost always have to wait in line to get into Marcus Samuelsson's bustling Harlem eatery. But with this cookbook, you can make the Ethiopian-born and Swedish-raised chef's fried yardbird, corn and oyster soup, and Obama's short ribs (yep, named after you know who) at home.

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13

Jenné Claiborne Sweet Potato Soul

Sweet Potato Soul
13

Jenné Claiborne Sweet Potato Soul

Credit: Random House LLC

Soul food has a reputation for being super indulgent, which is why author Jenné Claiborne thought she would have to give up her favorite buttery, fried meals when she went vegan. Instead, she spent years rewriting soul food recipes with plant-based ingredients. The result: delicious eats like coconut collard salad and peach date BBQ jackfruit sliders.

14

Klancy Miller Cooking Solo

Cooking Solo
14

Klancy Miller Cooking Solo

Credit: Klancy Miller

Thirty-one million American adults live alone, author Klancy Miller points out, and they deserve the pleasure of cooking ornate, delicious meals even when it's just for themselves. With recipes like smoked duck breast salad and spicy pork burger with coconut, Miller shares creative ideas one serving at a time.

15

Bryant Terry Vegetable Kingdom

Vegetable Kingdom
15

Bryant Terry Vegetable Kingdom

Now 42% Off
Credit: Bryant Terry

Food justice activist Bryant Terry breaks down a style of veganism in this cookbook that's not just meat substitutions, but whole food, plant-based recipes. You'll learn the fundamentals of plant-forward cooking alongside gorgeous recipes.

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16

Suzanne Rousseau, Michelle Rousseau Caribbean Potluck

Caribbean Potluck
16

Suzanne Rousseau, Michelle Rousseau Caribbean Potluck

Now 59% Off
Credit: Random House LLC

Jamaica-based sisters and chefs Suzanne and Michelle Rousseau walk through the rich history of food in the Caribbean, combining traditional island dishes with new recipes of their own.

17

Atria Books Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You

Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You
17

Atria Books Cooking with Love: Comfort Food that Hugs You

You likely know Carla as a delightful staple on a few of your favorite TV shows, but you'll grow to know her even more (and believe me—to know her is to love her) through her 2013 cookbook, a personal tome filled with warmth and flavor.

Headshot of Katie Bourque
Katie Bourque

As an Editorial Fellow for Good Housekeeping, Katie covers health, beauty, home, and pop culture. Outside of the office, you can find her killing it on the karaoke machine or listening to true crime podcasts.

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