Note: Some of the books in this list were originally sent to me for review.  But if they made this list, it’s because I truly consider them to be great options for the category in which I’ve placed them.

A few days ago, I put together a list for my email subscribers of helpful tools for common yearly goals (eating better, getting fit, getting organized, etc.)  One major need for improvements in the area of diet, though, is recipes.  I have some great special diet cookbooks to recommend, but space didn’t allow for a list within a list, so I thought I’d create a list here for reference.  I’ll try to remember to update it as I find new options.

The Best Whole Foods/Real Food Cookbooks

The Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook: With More Than 1,000 Recipes for Choosing, Cooking, & Preserving Natural IngredientsRodale’s Naturally Delicious Desserts and SnacksThe Naked Foods Cookbook: The Whole-Foods, Healthy-Fats, Gluten-Free Guide to Losing Weight and Feeling GreatThe Essential Home-Ground Flour Book: Learn Complete Milling and Baking Techniques, Includes 100 Delicious RecipesThe Homemade Flour Cookbook: The Home Cook’s Guide to Milling Nutritious Flours and Creating Delicious Recipes with Every Grain, Legume, Nut, and Seed from A-Z

• The Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook
• Rodale’s Naturally Delicious Desserts and Snacks
• The Naked Foods Cookbook
• The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book
• The Homemade Flour Cookbook

Standout Gluten-Free Cookbooks

The Spunky Coconut Cookbook, Second Edition: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Sugar-FreeBaby Nosh: Plant-Based, Gluten-Free Goodness for Baby’s Food SensitivitiesGluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Baking Revolution Continues with 90 New, Delicious and Easy Recipes Made with Gluten-Free FloursThe Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking

• The Spunky Coconut
• Baby Nosh (This is meant for babies/toddlers, but has a lot of recipes I’d eat!  See my review here.)
• Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
• The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking

(Of course the paleo and AIP cookbooks below are all gluten-free, too.)

Paleo Cookbooks (Beyond the Ordinary)

I don’t have a lot of straight-up paleo cookbooks, because I went from whole foods to gluten-free to AIP in my own household.  So there’s a dearth of really great “plain” paleo cookbooks here.  Sorry!

Latin American Paleo Cooking: Over 80 Traditional Recipes Made Grain and Gluten Free

• Latin American Paleo Cooking

Best AutoImmune Paleo (AIP) Cookbooks

The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook: An Allergen-Free Approach to Managing Chronic Illness (US Version)The Healing Kitchen: 175+ Quick & Easy Paleo Recipes to Help You ThriveThe Essential AIP Cookbook: 115+ Recipes For The Paleo Autoimmune Protocol DietThe Paleo Healing Cookbook: Nourishing Recipes for Vibrant HealthHe Won’t Know It’s Paleo: 100+ Autoimmune Protocol recipes to create with love and share with pride

• The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook
• The Healing Kitchen
• The Essential AIP Cookbook (I thought this was pretty pricey for what it is…and then I started flipping through the recipes.  These are so appealing, it’s worth the price.)
• Nourish
• He Won’t Know it’s Paleo (This is probably my single favorite AIP blog, too.)

Repertoire-Expanding Vegetarian/Vegan Cookbooks

If you’ve been around here for a while, then you know I don’t advocate a vegan diet long-term.  (Well, I don’t advocate a vegetarian one, either, but I don’t think that’s necessarily unhealthy.)  Even for non-vegans, though, vegan cookbooks can be especially helpful resources for those with egg and dairy sensitivities, as they’re inherently egg-free and dairy-free.  Be careful, though, because some make heavy use of soy as an alternative.

Vegetarian Cooking for EveryoneLaurel’s Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and NutritionEveryday Wholesome Eating…In the RawThe New Milks: 100-Plus Dairy-Free Recipes for Making and Cooking with Soy, Nut, Seed, Grain, and Coconut Milks

• Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (This is great for all cooks to have on hand for its wealth of information about preparing vegetables.)
• Laurel’s Kitchen (vegetarian – also a good one for all whole-food cooks)
• Everyday Wholesome Eating in the Raw (vegan)
• The New Milks (good as a reference)
• and don’t miss the Chocolate-Covered Katie blog!  (She has a cookbook, too, but I like the blog better.)

My Favorite Fermented Foods Cookbooks

Real Food Fermentation: Preserving Whole Fresh Food with Live Cultures in Your Home KitchenCultured Food for Health: A Guide to Healing Yourself with Probiotic Foods Kefir * Kombucha * Cultured VegetablesFermented Vegetables: Creative Recipes for Fermenting 64 Vegetables & Herbs in Krauts, Kimchis, Brined Pickles, Chutneys, Relishes & Pastes

• Real Food Fermentation
• Cultured Food for Health
• Fermented Vegetables

Best Cookbooks for Kids in the Kitchen

Although only the first of these three is truly “whole foods,” the other two are “from scratch,” so only minor changes (like subbing whole grain flour for white flour) would be necessary to make them so.  They aren’t full of processed ingredients like a lot of children’s cookbooks. 

The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children: Teaching Children to Cook the Nourishing Traditions WayThe Young Chef: Recipes and Techniques for Kids Who Love to CookChopChop: The Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food with Your Family

• The Nourishing Traditions Cookbook for Children
• The Young Chef
• ChopChop
• and don’t miss the Kids Cook Real Food e-course!

Other Cookbook Favorites

The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30 Day Gourmet : A Month of Meals Made EasyNot Your Mothers Make-Ahead And Freeze Cookbook (Not Your Mothers) Not Your Mothers Make-Ahead And Freeze CookbookMiss Vickie’s Big Book of Pressure Cooker RecipesEveryday Cooking

• The Freezer Cooking Manual from 30-Day Gourmet
• Not Your Mother’s Make-Ahead and Freeze Cookbook
• Miss Vickie’s Big Book of Pressure Cooker Recipes
• Everyday Cooking (This is my mom’s cookbook, with all the recipes we grew up on.  Leans whole-food, but isn’t all whole foods. It has a new section of InstantPot recipes, though.)