How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman Summary

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is a comprehensive guide to meatless cooking, offering over 800 recipes with a focus on flexibility, sustainability, and plant-based diets. The 10th edition features new vegan options, a chapter on beverages like smoothies, and full-color photos. It emphasizes foundational techniques, ingredient substitutions, and creative variations, making it a timeless resource for both beginners and seasoned cooks.

This book is ideal for vegetarians, vegans, and flexitarians seeking practical recipes and cooking methods. It’s also valuable for home cooks exploring plant-based meals, sustainability advocates, and those needing a reliable reference for kitchen basics. New cooks appreciate its step-by-step guidance, while experienced chefs use it for inspiration and technique refinement.

Key features include:

• Versatile recipes with vegan adaptations and ingredient swaps.
• Technique-driven guidance for building dishes like soups, grains, and salads from scratch.
• Full-color photos and updated charts for visual learners.
• A new chapter on beverages, including teas and smoothies.

The book covers staples like soups, salads, grain bowls, and plant-based proteins, with standout recipes such as Chickpea Fries, White Bean and Kale Soup, and Mostly Vegetable Vegan Quiche. It also includes global flavors, baking guides, and DIY pantry staples like nut milks and breads.

Yes. While not exclusively vegan, most recipes offer vegan adjustments, and many are inherently plant-based. Mark Bittman highlights alternatives like chickpea flour for egg substitutes and provides dedicated vegan sections, making it easy to adapt meals without dairy or eggs.

The book breaks down fundamentals like knife skills, sautéing, and baking, with tutorials on building flavor profiles and improvising meals. It includes troubleshooting tips (e.g., adjusting recipes for high-altitude baking) and emphasizes minimalist tools, making techniques accessible to all skill levels.

Some users find certain steps overly complicated (e.g., parboiling green beans) or note occasional ingredient redundancies. A few reviewers prefer more guidance on portion sizes (main vs. side dishes) and crave more visual inspiration despite the added photos.

The 10th edition adds color photography, a beverage chapter, and expanded vegan content. Recipes are refreshed for modern tastes, with clearer instructions and updated ingredient charts. Sustainability and ethical eating contexts are deepened to reflect current dietary trends.

Unlike niche or theme-driven cookbooks, Bittman’s guide prioritizes technique mastery and ingredient flexibility over rigid recipes. It’s often compared to The Joy of Cooking for its encyclopedic approach but stands out with plant-based focus and minimalist philosophy.

Yes. The book ties plant-based eating to environmental and ethical benefits, encouraging readers to reduce meat consumption. It highlights seasonal produce, zero-waste tips, and pantry staples that align with eco-conscious lifestyles.

Absolutely. Bittman’s clear instructions, foundational tutorials (e.g., knife skills, boiling eggs), and “no-fail” recipe structures build confidence. The book’s troubleshooting advice and substitution charts help newcomers adapt dishes without stress.

Bittman advocates for simplicity:

• “Use what you have”—improvisation over perfection.
• Master a few core techniques (e.g., roasting vegetables) to create endless variations.
• Prioritize fresh, seasonal ingredients while allowing pantry staples to shine.