How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food Reviews

• 
  Allison

  BEST. COOKBOOK. EVER.
  
  I could get rid of every other cookbook I have. I've had this one for ten years and refer to it often. I rarely pull out any of the other cookbooks I have.
  
  This guy is simple, honest, casual and creative. No crazy ingredients you can't find, no recipes that tie you to the kitchen for hours. Just simple recipes for real people using real food. And he offers TONS of variations on his recipes, and coaches you how to substitute other ingredients if you have to. Lots of vegan options too.
  
  LOVE this book. If my house was burning and I could bring ten items, this would be one of them!! :)
• 
  Jeanette (Ms. Feisty)

  This is an amazingly comprehensive book! My two favorite things about it are: 1)The TRUE simplicity of many of the recipes. Just a handful of ingredients you have on hand and can throw together for something healthy and tasty.
  2) Many of the recipes can easily be converted to vegan. He even gives variations of the main recipe that include vegan choices.
  
  This book has something for everyone. It's an excellent reference manual for much more than recipes.
  
  It would be a fantastic gift for someone who doesn't know much about basic cooking techniques. The illustrations and instructions for these techniques are admirable.
• 
  Mona

  A good basic vegetarian cookbook. Very extensive & informative. A good resource. Some nice recipes.
  
  Still...not my favorite veggie cookbook.
  
  Sometimes
  Mark Bittman makes things unnecessarily complicated. As when he says to use simple syrup in a dessert, when it’s easier (and tastier and healthier) to use maple syrup. Or advises parboiling green beans before sauteeing, when they are very tasty just sautéed without parboiling (and it saves a step and dishes).
  
  I think he’s so bound to the ways he’s always done things that it makes him less adventurous.
  
  Update 04/23/2022
  
  This cookbook has been growing on me.
  
  The recipes are simple, but lend themselves to infinite variation.
  
  I made the “Mostly Vegetable Vegan Quiche” today
  and it was quite good.
  
  The “Eggplant Slices with Garlic and Parsley” was
  extremely simple and very good (even though I had
  no parsley).
  
  Update 08/30/2022
  
  While this book is a useful reference, it will never be my go to vegetarian recipe book.
  
  Bittman gets as many things wrong as he gets right.
  
  A lot of the problem is that he’s not a vegetarian himself.
  
  I find more tasty vegetarian recipes online.
• 
  Anna Wanderer

  This is one of the most useful cookbooks on my shelf. I use it several times a week and have not yet made anything that I didn't like. It has helped me try new foods with confidence.
• 
  Carol

  If I had to choose one vegetarian book to own or to give someone thinking about starting a vegetarian lifestyle, this would be it.
  
  The title says it all!
• 
  Inder

  This a great basic cookbook!
  
  My only issue is whether I need this giant tome in ADDITION to Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. There's a lot of overlap, and the answer is probably no. I prefer Deborah Madison's format and style slightly, but the books are similar in many ways. The clincher: I already own Deborah Madison's book.
  
  Still, I could totally see living out of this book, much as I already do with Deborah Madison. This is a great resource for old and new vegetarians alike, or for meat eaters who eat vegetarian sometimes (which is to say, everyone). If you like this better than Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, I won't blame you.
  
  I have limited cookbook real estate - my cookbook corner is already precariously piled high. So even though this is a more useful tome than Patricia Well's Vegetable Harvest, I might buy the latter instead of this one, because it's less basic and more fancy, and thus fits in a slightly different niche.
• 
  Alien Bookreader

  This cookbook is so comprehensive and informative! One of the best vegetarian cookbooks out there.
  
  If you like learning new things as you cook, this is a great book. It's not just a collection of recipes, it has a lot of other knowledge. You'll learn the background of ingredients, practical kitchen skills, and some of the science behind food.
  
  There are pages about different kinds of ingredients (fruits, vegetables, spices, etc) and how to cook them. For instance, in the Herb Lexicon section there's a table of herbs with info like if the herb is best added at the end of the recipe or earlier, if it's best used dried or fresh, if it's better in sweet or savory recipes.
  
  There are diagrams and instructions for skills like, how to: poach dried fruit, cut open an avocado, stuff cabbage leaves, use a chef's knife, use a pasta machine.
  
  In the fruit section there's info on all the fruits and how they are best used. For instance for figs - fresh figs are best in recipes if they are grilled, and dry figs are best macerated or stewed.
  
  In the pages there are little boxes with info like: 12 Ideas for flavoring mayonnaise, 12 things you can stir into any waffle batter, bleached vs unbleached flour, 11 toppings for baked potato.
  
  This cookbook will take you far. You'll have tons of recipe and tons of variations on them.
  
  A lot of the recipes are easy to veganize, and the author mentions this (which is a plus). There's even a cashew cheese recipe on page 102. I got this book for my little sister who's trying to transition to vegetarian. She hasn't really read it. I'm vegan, so many of these recipes I would modify before making, but still I think I can learn a lot of cooking skills just by reading through it.
  
  The photography is also great. I love the book cover of the 2017 edition with the artichoke.
• 
  Jen

  Okay, I'm only through the first 100 pages of this nearly 1,000 page cookbook, and I'm sold. I think this is the "Laurel's Kitchen" for the 21st century, and will proudly sit on my bookshelf next to it. Bittman's writing is in an easy, conversational, been there-done that level that doesn't make you feel either lost if you've never cooked anything before or talked down to if you've been a cook (or a vegetarian) for years. Recipes are coded for Fast, Make Ahead or Vegan and each basic recipe has several variations to suit anyone's particular flavor, and most ingredients are those you are familiar with if you've spoken vegetarian before. I've only tried one recipe in the book so far (cornbread--I know, not an exclusively vegetarian cookbook food) and it turned out to be the best I've ever made before.
  
  This is a cookbook that only a fellow home chef could pick out for another. There are plenty of cookbooks that say vegetarian in the title or description, but this one lives up to it's name with good basic cookery that just happens to be vegetarian.
  
  Thanks Nancy...and I suppose Drew too, but let's be honest about who suggested giving me this as a gift...
• 
  Julie Wiley

  It's one of those books that everyone should have up on their shelves. (Even though he's given away all of his cookbooks because he doesn't have room in his kitchen.) It also doubles as doorstop. This sucker is heavy. I love Bittman's "keep it simple and real" attitude. I made his hummus this week as well as banana blueberry muffins which was a combination of a few of his muffin recipes. Adding buttermilk, may I add, makes them heavenly.
  
  There was blog posting of Mark's kitchen. It made me laugh. His kitchen is a tiny, NYC kitchen. He doesn't even have room for a food processor. The stove is so small, he can only use two burners at a time. He did state though that it just goes to prove, you don't need a big huge kitchen with granite countertops to make fabulous food.
  
  As in everything else, good food comes from the heart and focused attention
• 
  William Mego

  With apologies to Mr. Bittman, I tend to enter any consideration of his recipes with a mistrustful squint in my eye. Who of us has tried to pry off a sticky towel from a mirthless lump of bread we were assured of being the ultimate no-knead bread has felt otherwise for at least a moment? You might have even been somewhat underwhelmed by the "how to cook everything" books you've encountered before.
  
  This book, however, is wonderful. Chock filled with useful recipes for the beginning OR advanced vegan/vegetarian, within a couple of days from the library, I ordered a copy for my house. Mr. Bittman, I promise I might even try that bready mess again sometime.
• 
  Steven Peterson

  This is an interesting cookbook. Mark Bittman, who has created other cookbooks, takes a shot at a vegetarian cookbook. One nice wrinkle--he shows Vegans how they can adapt some of these recipes to their needs. He begins by noting that (Page ix) "Increasingly, Americans are becoming `flexitarians,' a recently invented word that describes both vegetarians who aren't that strict and meat-eaters who are striving for a more health conscious, planet friendly diet." He follows up by noting, simply, that (Page x): "A diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes is a healthier diet than one that isn't."
  
  Some nice features aside from the recipes: a section on key ingredients that one needs in the kitchen, required equipment for cooking, various kitchen techniques (how to sharpen knives, different ways of "cutting" with knives, measuring, different methods of cooking (e.g., steaming, sautéing, braising, etc.). Then, on to recipes.
  
  Recipes are grouped in the following categories: salads; soups; eggs, dairy, and cheese; produce (vegetables and fruits); pasta, noodles, and dumplings; grains; legumes; tofu, veggie burgers, and other high-protein food; breads, pizzas, sandwiches, and wraps; sauces, condiments, herbs, and spices; desserts. Obviously, there are too many different categories to go into great detail in each. Following, a set of recopies that look interesting (and doable) to me. I hope to try some of these out in the near future (confession: I am not a vegetarian, but I am a "flexitarian").
  
  Salads: Carrot salad with cumin. Nice look to it--carrots, orange juice, lemon juice, olive oil, pepper, and--most interesting to me--cumin. Pretty simple to make and it looks tasty. Soup: I recently made potato and leek soup using another cookbook. This one has a somewhat different recipe that looks worth trying out. One nice aspect of this cookbook well exemplified by this dish: Bittman provides alternatives variations. In this case, that includes how to make this into Vichyssoise, Vegan Vichyssoise, and Korean style potato and leek soup.
  
  Produce: Roasted or grilled asparagus. Very simple recipe, but I love asparagus, so any recipes are welcome at my home! Asparagus, olive oil (extra virgin), salt, and lemon wedges. What could be easier? Broccoli Roman style: Unlike George H. W. Bush, I love broccoli! Whether raw or cooked or done any other way! Pasta: Pasta with broccoli (my bias shows again, regarding broccoli). Legumes: Vegetarian chili con carne (depending for its power on hot chili). Burger: Spicy autumn vegetable burger. Key ingredients: Kale, cannellini, extra virgin olive oil, sweet potato, bread crumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch of cayenne). Sounds yummy to me!
  
  So, bottom line, a nice cookbook. The recipes tend to be pretty straightforward. If interested in more vegetarian eating, this would be one nice volume to explore.
  
• 
  ·Karen·

  Everything? EVERYTHING!
  No luscious photographs, but useful illustrations of techniques. This is a reference work that assumes (quite rightly in our case) that you are prepared to make that little bit of effort and make your own tortellini, wonton skins, kombu dashi, chapatis - ooh and a recipe for dosas, luv'em, and even how to make cheese. But Bittman aims at those who are unfamiliar with basic cooking techniques too, with fine drawings that show what to do with a green pepper, or a tomato, for example. A little obvious perhaps, but invaluable when it comes to How to Deal with an Artichoke. This is the kind of cookbook that gives you confidence to experiment: the basic method is given and then suggestions for creative variations on a theme. This is perhaps what is essential for those of us who were brought up on a fairly traditional meat-and-two-veg diet; beyond dal I never had many ideas of what to do with legumes, or grains other than rice. And there is a whole section on salsas and dips and pickles to whizz up rapidly and add a bit of pizazz to the palate.
  I like his ethos. When writing of yoghourt: "I want whole milk, I want active cultures, and I want no thickeners. (But use low-fat if you must)" - he has an excellent section on bread making - "What you don't want is a bread machine" (too right you don't) - and takes away a lot of the mystique that surrounds yeast dough and bread making. As he says, you can produce very good bread straight away and get 90 per cent down the road to great bread in a season of bread making. "The last 10 per cent is the hardest, and, except for a couple of great home bakers I know, few of us make it there." And admits that he has not. Lucky for me then, that I have a tame great bread maker here at home and sourdough permanently lurking in the fridge.
  There are plenty of ideas for the less ambitious or for those short of time, and there is a handy system that marks the recipes that are quick, that can be made ahead, that are vegan.
  
  The only slight disadvantage to this kind of extremely tasty home-cooked vegetarian food is that it spoils you for going out for a meal. The only kind of restaurant I've ever been to where I would really prefer the veggie choice is Indian: otherwise the non-meat alternatives are often bland and unappealing. Maybe pizza, and some pasta dishes at the Italian. We're not dogmatically vegetarian, we just avoid meat as much as possible (and much is possible). But most non-veggie restaurants here tend to just pay lip service to those who would rather not eat the flesh of dead animals, and offer a melee of over-cooked vegetables with cheese sauce from a packet over the top. Or you can have the salad, madame, we can serve it without the shredded ham. So then all that's left is tasteless iceberg and a bit of woolly tomato. But if we give in and have the meat or fish, then there's no incentive for the restaurants to improve the alternatives, is there?
• 
  Sara

  This book is useful not just for the recipes, but for the illustrations and instructions on how to chose, prepare and cook various types of vegetables. He addresses various staples of the vegetarian diet with brief introductions followed by recipes and tips.
  
  Non-vegetarians could find this book very useful, in expanding their fruit and vegetable repertoire as well as just adding to their stock recipes for common ingredients. Plus, not every recipe here is for a main dish, so many of his ideas would be useful in filling out a meatier menu.
  
  I enjoyed reading some of it straight through, skipping over ingredients I don't like and then used the handy and well-organized index to identify recipes I would cook from. Bittman shares some of personal preferences and suggestions along with page references, so when he suggests a variation on one recipe, he leads you conveniently to further instructions.
  
  I don't usually buy cookbooks, I just browse them and save the recipes I like. But this is a great blend of kitchen reference and menu-planning and I want it on my shelf permanently. It's going on my Christmas list, and it ought to go on the "Worth A Try" list of anyone who loves to, or is learning to cook.
  
• 
  Scott

  This is a variation on Bittman's more famous cookbook. We have been eating less meat, but simply removing meat from a recipe doesn't always work. I picked up this cookbook to get some ideas for more meatless dishes. It is very nice. There are a few things I really like about the cookbook. The first is that it contains more than recipes. It talks about how to buy, store, prepare, and cook many types of fruits and vegetables which is pretty useful. The thing that I like more is that Bittman provides insight and suggestions for variations on many of the recipes. Being someone who likes to tinker with a recipe this is really handy as it provides me a somewhat proven path to tinker along.
• 
  Morgan

  This is a great cookbook--and I'm not even a vegetarian. Excellent tips, clearly written, lots of pictures, and so far, the recipes have been relatively easy and tasty. This is broken down into many categories and subcategories, so there's something for everyone, even meat-eaters. Probably my favorite part is how he shows how to add, revise, or tweak recipes--for example, he gives a basic pancakes recipe, and then gives a number of variations: poppyseed, blueberry, buttermilk, etc. That's good for someone like me, who makes a recipe once and then likes to play with it. And everything is all homemade!
• 
  Carrie

  This is my husband's go to cookbook. I have used it a bit, but am not the main cook at our house. I can say two things: (1) as a person not adept at cooking, this cookbook is easy to use and has tons of useful information, but more importantly (2) the recipes are wholesome and DELICIOUS. Would highly recommend to all: vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.
• 
  Charity

  This is my food bible. I use it primarily for technique and tips rather than recipes, but it's the best all-around vegetarian cookbook I've ever found. Mark Bittman is my hero.
• 
  Sandra

  This book is thick with ideas. My favorite bit is the lists nested within the recipes to provide pivot points and extra ideas for serving. I always learn so much from Bittman's books.
• 
  Hafsa Sabira

  The problem with reading cook books is that you can't really claim that you have read this until you have tried out a few recipes.
  Now I haven't gone through the whole book but I did go through the detailed introduction about the basic cooking methods,techniques etc. I will try a few recipes though,maybe when I find any interest to cook.
• 
  Phillippa Wightman

  My boyfriend and I religiously cook from this book - we have used it for seven meals this weekend already!
  
  It's winter here so rather than go out for dinner we invite our friends to come over for some vegetarian fare. As a rule all recipes come from this book.
  
  They say that when you have guests you never cook something that you haven't made before. Well we have broken this rule and every dish we make is a first for us, we typically make an entree, main and desert. Our guests seem impressed and they usually have 'seconds' - they are not vegetarians so surely that is a good sign!!!!
  
  On one occasion we made devilled eggs for an entree, the eggs were pre boiled and we all sat at the table and prepared them - not typical but well received.
  
  This book is our cooking bible and is great for when you are stuck for ideas or just need a bit of guidance. I love that there is a base recipe and then several options - sometimes you just end up throwing in lots of bits and pieces as the book basically says that is ok.
  
  I have just made leek and potato soup for lunch, now what's for dinner?!
  
  
• 
  Varied Books

  2/10/17 on sale for $3.99.
• 
  Erin

  I definitely haven't read every page of this book - it's enormous! I had seen this book many times at my co-op and often scoffed at the title. I thought it would be a bunch of recipes that normally call for meat, but were altered with the simple removal of meat.
  
  I was wrong. It's a great tool book and guide for new cooks or people always wanting to learn more. He offers tips on how to build soups and how to experiment in your own kitchen.
  
  I'm always on a quest to find cookbooks I find useful enough to buy. I hope to have this on my shelf some day.
• 
  Eve

  I am a Bittman fan and I love the original How to Cook Everything. For a man who advises sauteeing split peas in bacon fat, this book is an about face. I have made a quite a few recipes that are easy and understandable.
  
  I particularly like his intro where he discusses how the general trend is toward less meat and how that is good for you--health, environment, etc.
• 
  Kristine

  You don't have to be a vegetarian to love this book. Plenty of omnivores have given this book rave reviews. I've been cooking from this book for my blog,
  www.theglobalkitchen.blogspot.com and everything I have made has been fabulous. I love that Bittman gives a lot of variations and twist to his recipes and overall they're easy and healthy. I do use less oil than he does though.
• 
  Martha

  I really want to like this book. I am so sick of cooking the same food all the time. I love the charts, and how most recipes have easy additions/substitutions mentioned. But I've prepared 3 things now (tomatoes and soy, Zucchini soup, and black bean chili) and they were all just ok. Edible, but not very tasty.
  Will keep trying, but that's not a good sign.
• 
  Sara

  I am a Mark Bittman worshipper. There, I said it. This is my go-to cookbook for pretty much everything even though we aren't vegetarian. We make TONS of side dishes from this tome and sometimes modify slightly to include chicken or fish. I find all of his cookbooks so approachable and easy, but the food is so tasty and complex. Can't wait to dig into VB6!
• 
  E

  The one and only. Mark Bittman is a phenomenon. You could pick one recipe or recipe variant out of here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next 60 years, and still not run out of things to try.
• 
  Mary Margaret

  A cookbook, if it's useful, will be read again and again and again, thus my rating.
  
  Have I actually finished all near 1000 pages?
  
  Fuck no. But I am reading the introduction and enjoying Bittman's straightforward style, his honesty, and the simplicity of his instructions. This isn't my book. I'm borrowing it, but I plan on making an investment when I'm able.