Bundling Cookbooks With Special Tools and Ingredients Is the Best Gift

Cookbooks make fantastic gifts, and a thoughtfully chosen book can easily become a cherished addition to someone’s culinary collection. But why stop there? Pairing a cookbook with a few carefully selected tools or specialty ingredients takes the gift to the next level, adding a personal touch and practical elements that help bring the recipes to life (and possibly convince less adventurous cooks that the book belongs in the kitchen instead of on a coffee table gathering dust). It doesn’t need to be expensive — though if you want to go big, a saute pan, Dutch oven, and chef’s knife appear in many a book. Below are some of the most giftable cookbooks of 2024, plus a few extras to make your present even more memorable.

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In her debut cookbook, Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store, pastry chef Paola Velez pays tribute to the Bronx (where she was born) and the Caribbean (where her family has roots) with a delightful collection of guava-and-cheese turnovers, chewy cookies, a Maria Cookie icebox cake, and more. They’re colorful, creative, and most of all, fun, showcasing ingredients such as guava paste and dulce de leche, which would make excellent gift companions. Or match the book’s vibe with an equally vibrant baking sheet and rainbow sprinkles.

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Cookbook author Kristina Cho follows up her James Beard Award-winning exploration of the recipes central to Chinese bakeries by going savory. Chinese Enough: Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries, and More is great for anyone who’s interested in learning and applying Chinese techniques in non-traditional ways. Cho’s recipes are immensely approachable and interesting, drawing from her Cantonese heritage, Midwest upbringing, and current Bay Area home. Include a bamboo steamer, chopsticks, chile crisp, and rice-scented candle so your giftee can follow in Cho’s footsteps by throwing a lively dumpling party.

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There are no butter boards or gimmicky TikTok trends in the debut cookbook from social media star Justine Doiron, aka @justine_snacks. Instead, Justine Cooks: A Cookbook: Recipes (Mostly Plants) for Finding Your Way in the Kitchen delivers 100-plus plant-forward recipes that are both thoughtful (ingredient lists are refreshingly brief but industrious) and satisfying, rigorously tested in the small corners of her cramped Brooklyn apartments but perfect for anyone who wants to fill their meals with more vegetables. When it comes to products, she recommends common tools that cooks of all calibers will likely have on hand. But, Doiron’s an especially big fan of tiny whisks (“small bowl, small whisk, small cleanup”), and of having a robust olive oil and vinegar collection.

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This newly reissued edition of Marcella Hazan’s homage to Italy features 250 recipes, many of which were updated by her husband and longtime collaborator, Victor. Marcella’s Italian Kitchen is a must for cookbook collectors, or those who want to dive deeper into Italian cooking. Hazan keeps her list of essentials tight — in fact, she observes that “the tools most essential to an Italian kitchen are full of holes.” So drop in a colander and slotted spoon, or a nice bottle of balsamic vinegar and Italian extra-virgin olive oil to round things out.

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These are not your grandma’s Jell-O salads. The aptly named Jiggle!: A Cookbook: 50 Recipes for Sweet, Savory, and Sometimes Boozy Modern Gelatins has given the wobbly dessert a modern — and occasionally boozy — glow-up. The fridge is undoubtedly the most important tool (and patience the key ingredient), but consider adding a giant measuring cup, silicone bundt pan, and stylish fluted glasses that double as single-serving vessels to help jumpstart their gelatin journey.

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Beans are still very much having a moment and if there’s a legume fanatic on your list, they’ll appreciate this wide-ranging cookbook from the bean man himself, Steve Sando. His latest endeavor, The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, from the Rancho Gordo Kitchen, is part encyclopedia, part culinary primer, filled with globally-inspired recipes that span dips, soups, entrees, and even desserts. A bag or two of Rancho Gordo beans is a no-brainer addition, but also consider a soup ladle (this one has measurements handily written on the inside) and nice bowl for scooping up and enjoying those bean-filled creations.

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It’s been more than a decade since Sarah Fennel started her blog Broma Bakery and her recipes continue to be wildly popular. She’s developed completely brand new ones — with a few Broma Bakery classics sprinkled throughout — for her first book, Sweet Tooth: 100 Desserts to Save Room For (A Baking Book). They’re designed for home bakers of all levels, especially ones who prefer unfussy and straightforward instructions that don’t require a scale or fancy ingredients. Pair it with one of Fennel’s most-used tools — silicone spatulas, measuring spoons, differently sized cookie scoops — or a collection of fragrant, single-origin baking spices.

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As the inventor of cascatelli, Dan Pashman knows a thing or two about pasta. He has gathered all of that noodle knowledge in Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People, which goes beyond the usual spaghetti and meatballs. Sure, you could just get this pre-bundled book and pasta set, but it’s just as easy — and a bit more meaningful — to assemble a more personal gift package yourself. All you need is a box of Pashman’s preferred kosher salt, a cheese grater, and these fun pasta-shaped salt and pepper shakers.

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A gift for the youngest chefs in your life, Indian-Ish author and New York Times Cooking reporter Priya Krishna’s latest book, Priya’s Kitchen Adventures: A Cookbook for Kids, is designed to get kids cooking — not just mixing and decorating, but slicing and sauteing (with adult supervision, of course). It’s inspired by Krishna’s globe-trotting childhood and journeys beyond typical American “kid” foods to dishes from Peru, Japan, Egypt, and more. Get your pint-sized chef everything they need to kick off their own kitchen adventures, like a knife set, a non-slip cutting board, and of course, a cute apron.

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Patty Lee is a writer, editor, home baker, and native New Yorker.