Eating and Entertaining at Home: 10 Cookbooks for the Family and the Kids

What’s cookin’ good lookin’?

Let’s be honest mamas, who doesn’t become weary of cooking the same ol’ food for family dinners and gatherings? While you want to prepare fun and healthy meals that impress the fam, you also want to inspire your kiddos to get involved as well. If you’re in need of fresh inspo for family meals, (and want the kids involved!) this one’s for you! Whether it’s chipotle chicken with zucchini fries or watermelon critters with polka dot rice, these cookbooks have easy recipes that both you and your little chef can follow! Here are 5 of our favourite cookbooks for the family and 5 more that are just for the mini master chefs.

Read more: Best Family Friendly Cooking and Baking Classes in Hong Kong

Written by food editor/writer/blogger Katie Workman, this cookbook presents 20 culinary crises every mama faces, with five savvy solutions for each! The whimsical writing style and innovative recipes entertain everyone at the dinner table from the vegetable-averse to the overnight vegetarian-converts. What’s more, every recipe in the book has a section suggesting ways your kiddos can help prepare the meal!

How much: $160
Buy it here.

Here at Sassy HQ, we’re huge fans of #bossbabe and super mum, Chrissy Teigen. In her cookbook, Cravings, Chrissy not only talks about fancy dinner recipes for family gatherings and date-nights, but also creative ways to make the comfort foods that you and your fam crave most nights. We’re talking about tortilla stew and grilled cheese sandwiches with brie, peaches and sweet chilli. Yum!

How much: $270
Buy it here.

Picky eaters in the fam? Not to worry! This book has inventive fork-in-the-road variations of meals to satisfy the fussiest of eaters. With easy-to-follow mix-and-match recipes for a range of palettes, Katie Workman once again works her magic and shows how to transform mildly flavoured dishes to hot and zesty, or a veggie-based tikka masala into a meaty chicken tikka delight in just a few minutes!

How much: $144
Buy it here.

What’s not to love about guilt-free desserts? Let your sweet-toothed kiddos (and mamas!) feast on heavenly cakes and pastries made entirely with healthy, unprocessed, seasonal and natural ingredients by Henrietta Inman. With a complete guide on how to stock a Clean Cakes pantry and elegantly photographed groundwork recipes (read: homemade chocolate and jam!), this cookbook is sure to turn any mama into an award-winning patisserie chef!

How much: $240
Buy it here.

For those of us with no energy to cook delicious healthy meals every night, Kathy Brennan and Caroline Campion are here to your rescue. With easy and time-saving weeknight meals and tasty recipes like the Skillet Lasagna, Chicken Pot Pie and Cucumber Watermelon Salad, this book will make you feel motivated to whip up something new every night!

How much: $120
Buy it here.

Written by television personality and celebrity chef Rachael Ray, this cookbook will teach your kids to make their own meals using basic methods of cooking with fresh and healthy ingredients. With easy 30-minute recipes organised by age and experience level, this cookbook will turn your little ones into gourmet chefs, whether they make Candy Sushi or Worms and Eyeballs (aka Spaghetti and Chicken meatballs!).

Ages: 4-16  years
How much: $155
Buy it here.

Gone are the days when you played pretend cooking with your toddlers with empty pots and pans. This children’s cookbook by Mollie Katzen and Ann L. Henderson has easy pictorial cooking recipes and tips on safety that will now let them fully explore their potential in the kitchen. At the end of the day, there is no better bonding experience than helping them make Polka-Dot Rice, Quesadillas and Popovers!

Ages: 3-8 years
How much: $155
Buy it here.

If your kids likes to play around with flour, sugar and butter this book will be an instant favourite! With detailed step-by-step instructions on basic baking skills such as mixing dough, measuring ingredients, and pictures of the process and the finished product, this cookbook will not only teach them to make cookies and cakes, but also how to bake breads, tarts and pies.

Ages: 9-11 years
How much: $148
Buy it here.

If you’re wary of letting your children go near the cooking flame or sharp objects, this cookbook presents easy salads, sandwiches, breakfasts and desserts that your kiddo can make without any knives or fire. Phew! All you need to do is some prep work outlined in the “Parent’s Prep” section of the book and sit back and watch your budding chefs do the rest!

Ages: 4+ years
How much: $155
Buy it here.

This health-centric kids cookbook by Deanna F. Cook will teach your kiddos the importance of wholesome foods with fresh and healthy ingredients to make imaginative and fun meals such as fruit flowers, mashed potato clouds and homemade applesauce. Not just that, it also teaches them ways to set the table, place cutlery, fold napkins and the importance of cleaning up, so you don’t have to! Perfect.

Ages: 6-12 years
How much: $88
Buy it here.