Best BBQ and Grilling Cookbooks

This is the barbecue cookbook that teaches you how to recreate each region’s unique flavors regardless of where you live. Matt Abdoo and Shane McBride were both Michelin star chefs who followed their love of barbecue to open their dream restaurant, and these recipes will help you create their distinct hit flavors and even includes new dishes that will make mouths water! 

Rodney Scott definitely knows his barbecue! As the owner of Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ in Charleston, SC and as a kid whose family had their own barbecue spot, Rodney Scott’s recipes will make your stomach rumble as he spills what makes his BBQ so good. With essays on South Carolinian foodways and traditions along with wonderful photographs, this cookbook is so much more than just a collection of recipes and will have you connecting with his journey to where he is today. 

Aaron Franklin and his wife started out with a small BBQ trailer in Austin, TX, and now Franklin Barbecue is one of the most acclaimed barbecue joints in the country! In this cookbook, readers will discover secrets and years of wisdom behind their great barbecue. From smoking to choosing the perfect meat, this cookbook is the perfect one to teach you all things BBQ. 

Do you want to make chicken? Turkey and stuffing? Flank steak? All of the above? Then check out this brilliant cookbook by Mark Anderson and Ryan Fey, The Grill Dads, where they teach you how to cook literally anything on the grill! 

What better food for summer than anything you can eat with your hands?! In this cookbook, Sam Zien turns any handheld food into something delectable and irresistible. From beef to seafood and hot dogs, you won’t want to miss these recipes that will have every guest of yours eating out of the palm of your hand (and theirs)! 

If you like meat, or the tv series/podcast MeatEater, then this cookbook is the perfect one for cooking fish and other wild game. Great for both expert and novice chefs, this book is full of great recipes to help you take on Steven Rinella’s favorite staples or exotic meals with accessible recipes! 

We can’t believe this is Shaquille O’Neal’s first cookbook. He’s already a fixture in the food world; he has launched restaurants, a kitchen equipment line, and hosts a cooking show. In his official debut, Shaq highlights family-friendly, gather-around-the-table favorites. The recipes are pitch-perfect and entertaining to read as Shaq’s bigger-than-life personality shines on every page. 

In this cookbook, readers will find the quintessential how-to guide with tips for everything from what wood to use and accommodating the weather to cooking through all the life stages of the fire. From searing tomatoes to cooking a whole hog, this cookbook by Pat Martin is a must-read for anyone looking to cook outdoors this summer.  

For a cookbook with odes to both Texas’ and the Carolinas’ barbecue styles but with a Californian twist, you’ll want to check out this one by Matt Horn, one of Food & Wine’s ten “Best New Chefs” in 2021! Full of non-traditional BBQ proteins (like poultry and seafood) as well as insights into Matt Horn’s own story about his BBQ Journey, this cookbook is a must-read.  

Full of food and family, this collection of 75 recipes is an engaging guide to everything you possibly need to know about BBQ. Plus, there’s no one better to learn it from than Kevin Bludso, the owner of Bludso’s BBQ which started as a small walk-up stand in Compton and has expanded to locations in California, Texas, and Australia!