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Celebrity cookbooks are always greeted with a little side-eye at first. Don’t famous people all have private chefs or eat at fancy five-star restaurants all the time? But it turns out sometimes these celebs really do know their way around the kitchen and publish surprisingly excellent recipe books.
Our favorite celebrity cookbooks combine delicious recipes with beautiful imagery and — and this is key — some of the personality that attracts us to these celebs in the first place. Chrissy Teigen brings some of her signature wit that made her such a favorite on Twitter to her Cravings cookbooks, while Reese Witherspoon leans all the way into her Southern charm thing withWhiskey in a Teacup. And Stanley Tucci proves that he’s a made of many talents with his best-selling table tome too.
What Makes a Good Celebrity Cookbook
Quality writing, imagery, and, of course, food make the difference between a gimmick and a good cookbook.
Writing: We’re not mad at a celeb who uses a ghostwriter. In fact, we encourage it! But the writing should still sound authentically like the figure we already know and love, while remaining engaging, entertaining, and clear.
Photos: These should depict the food, not just the celebrity’s face. Colorful, beautiful images are also part of the appeal of cookbooks rather than finding recipes online.
Recipes: As with any cookbook, celebrity cookbooks have to clearly instruct people how to make good food. Ideally, the recipes are also unique or creative in some way, and stay on theme with the rest of the book (if there is a theme). This is where we learn if Antoni Porowski can make more than guacamole and if Stanley Tucci is as Italian as he claims.
