More and more of us are cutting down on meat and getting creative with vegetarian meals. Chosen by the Good Food team, our top vegetarian cookbooks list is a collection packed with colourful, innovative recipes that put vegetables centre-stage, fuse flavours from around the world and will help you create delicious veggie meals at home.
Whether you’re a veggie beginner, flexitarian, an athlete looking for plant-power to fuel your workouts or simply want healthy, everyday meals for your family, there’s something for everyone. This is vegetarian food to get excited about.
For more inspiration, check out all our cookbook reviews, including the best air fryer cookbooks, best student cookbooks, the best cookbooks for kids or the best vegan cookbooks. For some lifestyle inspiration, our friends at olivemagazine.com can recommend the best coffee table books.
Best vegetarian cookbooks at a glance
- Best for everyday cooking: Weeknight Vegetarian by Joe Woodhouse, £21.13
- Best for Italian vegetarian cooking: Verdura by Theo Randall, £16.81
- Best for vegetarian entertaining: Bubala by Marc Summers, £28
- Best for Eastern European recipes: Kapusta by Alissa Timoshkina, £18.51
- Best for global flavours: Sabzi by Yasmin Khan, £20.02
- Best vegetarian cookbook for Indian cooking: The Curry Guy Veggie by Dan Toombs, £10.49
- Best everyday vegetarian cookbook: Dinner by Meera Sodha, £20.79
- Best vegetarian cookbook for families: Little Green Kitchen by David Frenkiel & Luise Vindhal, £11.23
- Best celebrity vegetarian cookbook: Veg by Jamie Oliver, £23.75
- Best Asian vegetarian cookbook: East by Meera Sodha, £27
- Best vegan and vegetarian cookbook: Plant Power by Annie Bell, £13.35
- Best vegetarian cookbook for children: The Vegetarian Cookbook, £11.35
- Best adventurous vegetarian cookbook: Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage, £18.17
- Best healthy vegetarian cookbook: Chetna’s Healthy Indian Vegetarian by Chetna Makan, £10
- Best for vegetarian barbecue: Charred by Genevieve Taylor, £16.23
- Best for midweek meals: The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer, £14.45
- Best for comfort food: Greenfeast by Nigel Slater, £22
- Best for sustainability: The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook by Linda Ly, £14.35
Best vegetarian cookbooks to buy 2026
Weeknight Vegetarian by Joe Woodhouse
Best for everyday cooking
Minimise stress on busy days with chef and author Joe’s new book, full of inspiring, colourful, meat-free dishes like mushroom parmigiana, squash saag and garlic-chilli potato dumplings. Plenty of the dishes can be batch-cooked, and it’s full of make-ahead info and handy tips to help you get dinner on the table in no time. Perfect for vegetarians or those who want to jazz up their meat-free repertoire.
Available from:
Amazon (£21.13)
Waterstones (£26)
Verdura by Theo Randall
Best for Italian vegetarian cooking
You won’t even notice the meat missing in this Italian cookbook from chef Theo Randall. Each chapter focuses on a different veg, from aubergine and courgettes to mushrooms and broccoli, and gives you 10 smart recipes to celebrate it as the base of a meal. There are impressive recipes for weekend entertaining, as well as ideas for speedy meals, especially in the tomato chapter.
Available from:
Amazon (£16.81)
Waterstones (£28)
Bubala by Marc Summers
Best for entertaining
Fans of vegetarian London restaurant Bubala will jump at the chance to try some of their famous recipes at home, and even if you’ve never been, this is your chance to recreate the magic. Marc Summers describes the Bubala food ethos as guided by playfulness, loud flavours, and making vegetables the stars – not using fake meat or dairy substitutes. Vegan recipes draw on flavours from the Middle East and East Asia, whilst vegetarian dishes lean into Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences. Build your own ultimate mezze platter with recipes for silky baba ganoush, burnt butter hummus, falafel with tahini sauce and sumac onions, and oyster mushroom skewers.
Available from:
Amazon (£17.14)
Waterstones (£28)
Kapusta by Alissa Timoshkina
Best for Eastern European recipes
This book focuses on the five of the most popular vegetables in Eastern Europe – cabbage, beetroot, potato, carrot and mushrooms – and offers plenty of sustainable, low-cost recipes to use them, primarily in vegetarian recipes but with a handful of meat dishes too (which can be adapted to also be veggie). The diverse range of dishes give a fascinating insight into lesser known cuisines and culinary traditions, including dedicated chapters on dumplings and ferments to highlight their importance in the culinary DNA.
Available from:
Amazon (£18.51)
Waterstones (£28)
Sabzi by Yasmin Khan
Best for global flavours
‘Sabzi’ is the Persian word for fresh greens or herbs, and in this collection, food writer Yasmin Khan shares vegetable-based dishes with Middle Eastern and South Asian flavours. From stuffed aubergine with walnuts, pomegranate & feta to Punjabi spiced red kidney beans and halloumi lasagne, Sabzi proves how exciting plant-based cooking can be.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.02)
Waterstones (£20.02)
The Curry Guy Veggie by Dan Toombs
Best vegetarian cookbook for Indian cooking
The third book from food writer Dan Toombs is a truly expert guide to navigating meat-free Indian dishes, packed with recipes showcasing just how colourful, creative and delicious vegetarian Indian food is. Plus, every recipe comes with instructions on how to make them vegan.
Available from:
Amazon (£10.99)
Waterstones (£15)
Dinner by Meera Sodha
Best everyday vegetarian cookbook
Meera Sodha has long been hailed one of the best vegetarian and vegan food writers out there, with this book being an example as to why. We really enjoyed how there is a complete understanding that many of us love food, but some days it is the biggest effort to even consider cooking. With the ‘Bung it in the Oven’, ‘Quick’ and ‘One Pot/Pan’ chapters, this helps all of us with the everyday task of putting food on the table. This veggie and vegan-focussed book is also a great one if you’re looking ahead to Veganuary next year.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.79)
Waterstones (£27)
Little Green Kitchen by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl
Best vegetarian cookbook for families
Luise and David, the husband-and-wife team behind acclaimed vegetarian blog Green Kitchen Stories, are here to help you perfect the art of quick and easy vegetarian and vegan meals for all the family. Tried and tested by their three small children, their simple recipes include creamy broccoli pasta, tofu cashew masala, plus party food options and lunchbox favourites.
Available from:
Amazon (£20)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Veg by Jamie Oliver
Best celebrity vegetarian cookbook
In Veg, Jamie makes vegetarian cooking easy, sharing over 100 fun-to-make recipes full of flavour and all family-friendly. You’ve got stews, pastas, curries, pies and traybakes, each designed to make vegetarian cooking accessible and most importantly, delicious.
Available from:
Amazon (£23.75)
Waterstones (£28)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
East by Meera Sodha
Best Asian vegetarian cookbook
Meera’s experience as a successful food writer really shines through here. Full of innovative flavours, East brings a new lease of life to Indian, Asian and Southeast Asian cooking, melding classic recipes with innovative flavours to create authentic and vibrant plant-based recipes.
Available from:
Amazon (£20.79)
Waterstones (£27)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Plant Power by Annie Bell
Best vegan and vegetarian cookbook
Distinguished food writer Annie Bell’s book Plant Power features 100 protein-rich recipes for vegans and vegetarians, in which she shares how to source plant proteins from high-quality unrefined whole foods. With stunning images, this book is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach.
Available from:
Amazon (£13.35)
Waterstones (£20)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
The Vegetarian Cookbook: More than 50 recipes for young cooks
Best vegetarian cookbook for children
If you’re looking to eat less meat as a family, this vegetarian children’s cookbook is packed with more than 50 nutritious recipes full of colour to help your young cook learn about the importance of a balanced diet. Food fact files are an added bonus, offering insights into vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbs.
Available from:
Amazon (£11.35)
Waterstones (£12.99)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
Best adventurous vegetarian cookbook
For this book, Yotam Ottolenghi has teamed up with chef and core member of the Ottolenghi test kitchen Ixta Belfrage, to create something beautiful, informative and truly inspiring. It features over 100 impressively innovative, exciting dishes which bring a new lease of life to everyday veg. Think romano pepper schnitzels, cabbage tacos with celeriac and date barbecue sauce, hasselback beetroot and kimchi rice fritters. The duo also explain how to get maximum flavour from food, looking at how different methods, flavour pairings and produce can elevate your cooking.
Available from:
Amazon (£18.17)
Waterstones (£30)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Chetna’s Healthy Indian Vegetarian by Chetna Makan
Best healthy vegetarian cookbook
Another must-have for Bake Off fans, Chetna Makan – one of 2014’s semi-finalists – is back with a collection of healthy recipes. This cookbook contains over 80 recipes such as garlic and tamarind soup, courgette kofta curry, beetroot and sweet potato korma and masala paneer. Her vibrant dishes are nutritious and packed full of flavour.
Available from:
Amazon (£10)
Waterstones (£20)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Charred by Genevieve Taylor
Best vegetarian barbecue book
Summer barbecues don’t have to be limited to burgers and sausages. Genevieve Taylor shows us how to make the most of seasonal veg and grill up a meat-free feast. Serve up whole roast cauliflower drenched in spiced garlic butter, griddled radicchio with burrata and figs, or corn on the cob with Cambodian coconut, lime and chilli. These inventive dishes are perfect for creative chefs.
Available from:
Amazon (£16.23)
Waterstones (£20)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer
Best vegetarian cookbook for midweek meals
Rukmini Iyer brings us a collection of easy traybakes, the perfect solution for busy weeknight evenings. Simply chuck all your ingredients into a roasting tin and let your oven do the work. See her delicious recipes including beetroot, chickpea and coconut curry, roasted tomato and bay orzo, leek and Puy lentil gratin and stuffed mini pumpkins with sage and goat’s cheese.
Available from:
Amazon (£14.45)
Waterstones (£22)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter by Nigel Slater
Best for comfort food
Best-selling author and presenter, Nigel Slater has compiled a selection of comforting recipes perfect for the colder months. Warm up with a bowl of fiery udon noodles or polenta with garlic and mushrooms. Tuck into a cosy dessert like creamy pudding rice with rosewater and apricots, or ginger cake with cardamom and maple syrup. For the warmer months, see the Spring, Summer version to accompany.
Available from:
Amazon (£18.15)
Waterstones (£22)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook by Linda Ly
Best for sustainability
In response to the increasing awareness surrounding food waste, we’ve seen a growing movement for ‘nose-to-tail’ meat-eating and more recently, ‘fin-to-tail’ fish-eating – but what about all the fruit and veg we discard? This book is about ‘whole plant cooking’, teaching us how to make use of entire vegetables, including all those bits you’d usually discard. From tough kale and chard stems, to spring onion bulbs, tomato leaves, beetroot stalks and even watermelon rind, discover recipes that make use of often underused parts – such as kale stem pesto, chard stem hummus, and stir-fried watermelon.
There’s plenty of recipe inspiration for what to do with less common vegetables like kohlrabi and acorn squash, too. This is a great book for inspiring home cooks, especially those who grow their own fruit and veg.
Available from:
Amazon (£14.35)
Waterstones (£18.99)
Want to see this content?
Accept and continue
More cookbook reviews
Best Indian cookbooks
Best baking books
Best vegetarian cookbooks
Best vegan cookbooks
Best drinks and cocktail books
Best family cookbooks
Best Italian cookbooks
Best budget cookbooks
Best keto cookbooks
