The best cookbooks, according to hackers
7 cookbooks were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one. None of them earns the Hacker Approved badge yet.
All 7 cookbooks, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Food Labby J. Kenji López-Alt | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 2 | On Food and Cookingby Harold McGee | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 2 | Modernist Cuisineby Nathan Myhrvold | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 2 | The Sourdough Frameworkby Hendricius Ruppel | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 2 | The Flavor Bibleby Karen Page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 2 | Tartine Breadby Chad Robertson | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| 7 | Ratioby Michael Ruhlman | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same cookbook in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to cookbooks that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.