Quick and easy cooking book series in reading order

by Betty Crocker

by Mark Bittman

Betty Crocker is a fictional character created in 1921 by General Mills, then the Washburn-Crosby Company, to answer consumer questions about products in a personal voice. The character is used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The catalogue carries 251 books under the Betty Crocker name, from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book (1948) to Betty Crocker's Frosting Secret (2025). Titles include Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook (1950) and Betty Crocker's Cookbook (1969). Subjects cover American cooking, quick and easy cooking, cookies, pasta and chicken.

Mark Bittman

44 books• 1 series

Mark Bittman is an American food journalist and author, born in 1950, and a former New York Times columnist. Bittman promotes VB6, a flexitarian diet of vegan eating before 6 p.m. The catalogue lists 44 books from Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking (1994) to How To Cook Everything Kids (2024), including The Minimalist Cooks at Home (1999) and the How to Cook Everything series. Subjects include quick and easy cooking, international cooking and vegetarian cooking.

Nigel Slater is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster, born in 1956. Quick cooking is his signature subject: Real Fast Food (1992), Real Fast Desserts (1993), The 30-Minute Cook (1994) and 30-minute Suppers (1996) all work that ground, with Real Cooking (1997) and Real Good Food (1997) after them. Slater wrote for Marie Claire for five years before moving to The Observer Magazine, where his column has run for more than a decade, and he is the principal writer for Observer Food Monthly. His 27 catalogued books reach A Thousand Feasts (2024), at a median of 288 pages.

Jamie Oliver

40 books• 1 series

Jamie Oliver is an English chef and restaurateur whose 40 catalogued books are mostly cookbooks. The Naked Chef (1999) accompanied the BBC Two series of the same name that ran to 2001, and Jamie's Kitchen, Jamie's Dinners and Jamie's Italy extend a run reaching Eat Yourself Healthy (2025). Oliver started the Feed Me Better campaign in 2005 to put healthier food into schools, and the government later backed it; the first Jamie's Italian restaurant opened in 2008. Oliver has also written the children's series Billy and the Giant Adventure.

Gordon Ramsay

27 books• 1 series

Gordon Ramsay, born 8 November 1966, is a British chef, restaurateur, television presenter and writer. Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, founded in 1997, has earned 17 Michelin stars in total and holds eight. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has kept three stars since 2001 and is run by chef Matt Abé. Ramsay first became famous through the 1999 British miniseries Boiling Point. The catalogue lists 27 books from 2000 to 2023, starting with Passion for Flavour, A Chef for All Seasons and Passion for Seafood (2000). Humble Pie (2006) and Playing with Fire (2007) are listed, and Gordon Ramsay's Uncharted (2023) is the newest. Quick and easy cooking and British cookery appear in the subject tags.

Mary Berry is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter, born on 24 March 1935. Berry trained in catering at college and went to France at 22 to attend Le Cordon Bleu. The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook (1970) was the first Mary Berry book, and the Baking Bible followed in 2009 among more than 75 cookery titles. Berry has presented television series for the BBC and Thames Television. The catalogue opens with Mary Berry's Cookbook (1970) and covers baking, cakes, desserts, freezer cooking and make-ahead cooking, with titles such as Popular Freezer Cookery (1972) and Family Cooking (1978).

Susan Westmoreland is credited with 19 cookbooks published from 2014 to 2020. The subject tags cover quick and easy cooking, smoothies and juices, natural foods, comfort food, and diet therapy for heart disease. Comfort Food (2014) is the earliest title, and others include Good Food for a Healthy Heart (2015), Slow Cooker (2015), Easy Paleo (2017) and Sheet Pan Cooking (2017). 400-Calorie Instant Pot (2020) is the last listed.

Gina Homolka is a cookbook author whose catalogued work carries the Skinnytaste name. The Skinnytaste Cookbook (2014) is the first of 11 books, and Skinnytaste High Protein (2025) is the newest. Skinnytaste Fast and Slow, Skinnytaste One and Done, The Skinnytaste Air Fryer Cookbook, Skinnytaste Meal Prep and Skinnytaste Simple are also listed. Subjects include recipes, low-calorie and low-fat diets, quick and easy cooking and one-dish meals.

Lorraine Pascale writes cookbooks. Recorded subjects include baking, baked products, recipes, quick and easy cooking, international cooking, low-fat and low-calorie diets, cookies and cake. Eight titles run from Baking Made Easy (2011) to Bake (2017), taking in Home Cooking Made Easy (2011), Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food (2012), A Lighter Way to Bake (2013), Everyday Easy (2014), How to be a Better Cook (2014) and Eating Well Made Easy (2015). The median recorded length is 288 pages across five volumes measured.

James Martin writes cookery books. Eighteen catalogued titles run from The Deli Cookbook in 2000 to James Martin's French Adventure in 2017, covering British food, desserts, quick and easy cooking and delicatessen fare, with Saturday Kitchen Cookbook (2007) and James Every Day (2008) among them. Driven, published in 2008, turns to motoring, and a strand of autobiography sits beside the recipes.

Prue Leith, born Prudence Margaret Leith on 18 February 1940, is a South African and British restaurateur, chef, cookery writer, novelist and broadcaster. Leith judged BBC Two's Great British Menu from 2005 to 2016, then replaced Mary Berry as a judge on The Great British Bake Off in 2017 after the show moved to Channel 4, staying until 2025. Leith was also Chancellor of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, from 2016 to 2024. The catalogue lists 42 books from Leith's All Party Cookbook (1972) to Being Old...and learning to love it! (2026), including Leith's Cookery Bible and the Angelotti Chronicles novels. Paul Hollywood shares credit on 2 of the books.

Ree Drummond, born in 1969, is an American food writer and television personality who came to notice through her blog The Pioneer Woman, a record of her life on a rural Oklahoma ranch. The blog led to a Food Network programme of the same name from 2011 and to a homey lifestyle product line launched in 2015. Her nine catalogued books are cookbooks, from Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl (2009) through A Year of Holidays (2013), Dinnertime (2015), Super Easy (2021) and Dinner's Ready (2023) to The Essential Recipes (2025).

Heather Alexander has 56 catalogued titles, running from The Case of the Tattooed Cat (2003) to Henri Matisse (2025). Subjects include children's fiction, mystery and detective stories, friendship, schools, camps, owls and the human body. Series include Life on Earth, Wizards of Waverly Place, Wallace and Grace, Easy Cookbooks for Kids, Amazing Stardust Friends, Eat Bugs and Life with Derek, and the Who Was/Is...? line also appears. Other titles include The Case of Camp Pom-pom (2003) and The Case of the Easter Egg Race (2004). The median book runs to 82 pages.

Giada De Laurentiis

19 books• 1 series

Italian cooking dominates the subject tags for Giada De Laurentiis, whose catalogue begins with Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes (2005) and runs to Super-Italian (2025). Giada De Laurentiis, born Giada Pamela De Benedetti on August 22, 1970, is an Italian-American chef, entrepreneur, writer and television personality. Giada De Laurentiis hosted Giada at Home on Food Network, appears on NBC's Today as a contributor and guest co-host, and founded the catering company GDL Foods. Awards include a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle Host and a Gracie Award. The listing also includes the Recipe for Adventure series, and its subjects extend to children's fiction, magic, and space and time.

Joe Wicks, born Joseph Trevor Wicks on 21 September 1985 and known as The Body Coach, is a British fitness coach, television presenter and author. The Wicks fitness method is built on High Intensity Interval Training workouts. Wicks began by sharing 15-second recipe videos online and built one of the most followed fitness accounts on Instagram and YouTube. Lean in 15 (2015) was a best-seller that sold more than 900,000 copies. The catalogue lists 17 books through Protein in 15 (2025), including Veggie Lean in 15 (2018) and the Burpee Bears series.