10 Cookbooks for People Who Don’t Cook Ever

The I Hate to Cook Book, by Peg Bracken
This can’t-cook classic was originally published in 1960, but Peg’s daughter Johanna oversaw an update and revision in 2010. The result combines the original’s focus on simplicity and ease with a modern understanding of the arterial consequences of heavy cream. The ebullient illustrations will get you into the mood so you can at least pretend cooking is a joy, and the recipes are so easy even someone splitting their attention between the stove and their phone will nail them.

The Can’t Cook Book: Recipes for the Absolutely Terrified, by Jessica Seinfeld
Maybe you really wish you could cook, but you’re terrified of starting. Seinfeld gently takes your hand and starts you on the basics, identifying the tools of the trade and common kitchen terms, then walking you through some beginner recipes designed to give you the biggest possible chance of success. At the end of the book, you’ll have confidence in the knowledge that your cooking won’t poison anybody—and they may even enjoy it.

A Man, a Can, a Plan, by David Joachim
The classic cookbook for folks who want nothing to do with their local organic grocery, this book is pitched at broke bachelors but is a treasure trove for anyone who’d rather just hit up Grubhub. Joachim offers up simple, canned-goods-only recipes that prove great cooking is more about understanding the chemistry and creativity involved than having the freshest ingredients.

My Drunk Kitchen, by Hannah Hart
Some folks think cooking is Serious Business and will lecture you endlessly about resting your meat and over-boiling your veggies. Hart is Your People, someone who celebrates not just adventure in the kitchen, but, more importantly, booze in the kitchen. Based on her uber-popular YouTube channel, Hart’s book offers up recipes, life stories, and cocktails with exactly the vibe you’d wish for in your own cooking adventures.

Microwave Cooking for One, by Marie Smith
Sometimes referred to as boasting the saddest book title ever devised, this classic is a life-saving book for anyone currently using their oven as shoe or baseball card storage. Smith demonstrates that all you need to create some truly spectacular meals is a working microwave and the willingness to cook in stages, so you can eat like a king even if your kitchen is the size of a postage stamp (or has a bathtub in it).

Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen, by Nancy and Kevin Mills
Let’s say you don’t cook out of simple ignorance, but you wouldn’t mind learning. The Mills’ book is a gentle introduction into using your kitchen for something other than wine-chilling and chips storage. The book is written by people who were once you, and offers foolproof recipes that assume no special knowledge and hold your hand each step of the way.

101 Sandwiches, by Helen Graves
Of course, if you truly hate and/or fear cooking, the question is: why cook at all? Sandwiches were invented for a reason: they’re easy, dead simple, and delicious. But they could be more delicious, if you know the secrets, and Graves’ book offers up sandwiches to cover every meal and stage of life. If you prefer eating one-handed while doing four other things, this book will save your life.

Love Your Leftovers, by Nick Evans
If you don’t cook, chances are you’re That Friend, the one who’s always inviting themselves over for dinner at places where people do possess this basic life skill. And chances are those kind folks take pity on you and send you home with leftovers so you don’t accidentally die while they’re not paying attention. This book will show you how you can take those pity plates and turn them into something greater than the sum of their parts.

My Pizza, by Jim Lahey
Maybe you don’t cook because the moment you hear the word “poached” you glaze over and start dreaming of pepperoni pizza. Okay—maybe you just need the right inspiration. Lahey’s genius book shows how you can make incredible pizzas at home without any special equipment or intense kneading labor. Pizza counts as cooking as long as you make it yourself, don’t forget.

Breakfast for Dinner, by Lindsay Landis
Sometimes cooking doesn’t seem like cooking; if you’ve enthusiastically made a nice scramble or some flapjacks while singing songs, you’ve been cooking this whole time! Take that comfort level and apply it to dinner with Landis’ guidance. And just think about the enthusiastic response your invitation to a “breakfast for dinner” party will get!