Best selling cookbooks of 2017

Last month our friends at cookbook stores around the world gave us their picks for their favorite books of 2017. Now we asked them for their top sellers. We thought it would be interesting to compare the lists from specialist stores in the USA to that for all US sales from the publishing industry data company, Nielsen.  

The unstoppable Pioneer Woman has the #1 and #6 books (almost 600,000 copies sold) after last year having just the #3 book. Thug Kitchen is the only book to appear on both the national bestsellers list and a bookstore list (and only one store at that). It’s rather dispiriting how many of the top selling cookbooks are diet books – I bet many of those will be in thrift shops by next year. 

Please do remember when buying cookbooks to support your local cookbook store, if you are lucky enough to have one. You will miss it if it closes! Philadelphia’s much-loved The Cookbook Stall closed at the end of December. Please don’t let that happen to any more of these precious stores.

USA

Bestselling USA Cookbooks as supplied by Nielsen BookScan – Source:  Publishers Weekly

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It!1. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It by Ree Drummond
2. The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook by Laurel Randolph
3. Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook
4. The Instant Pot Miracle
5. Food, Health, and Happiness by Oprah Winfrey
6. The Pioneer Woman Cooks Dinnertime by Ree Drummond
7. The Keto Diet by Leanne Vogel
8. Air Fry Everything by Meredith Lawrence
9. The Complete Ketogenic Diet for Beginners by Amy Ramos
10. Skinnytaste Fast and Slow by Gina Homolka

 

Omnivore Books (San Francisco) – owner Celia SackSalt Fat Acid Heat

1. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
2. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
3. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
4. L’Appart by David Lebovitz
5. By the Smoke & the Smell by Thad Vogler
6. Salad for President by Julia Sherman
7. On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox
8. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark
9. Unforgettable by Emily Thelin 
10. Naturally Nourished by Sarah Britton

 

Kitchen Arts & Letters (New York) – owner Matt Sartwell Sweet

1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
2. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
3. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
=4. The Wizard’s Cookbook by Ronny Emborg
=4. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark
6. Out of Line by Barbara Lynch
=7. The Home Cook by Alex Guarnaschelli
=7. One Day at Geranium Restaurant by Bent Christensen
9. Bread is Gold by Massimo Bottura
10. A Grandfather’s Lessons by Jacques Pépin

 

Book Larder (Seattle) – owner Lara Hamilton Smitten Kitchen Every Day

1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
2. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
3. L’Appart by David Lebovitz
4. Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
5. Bringing it Home by Gail Simmons
6. My Rice Bowl by Rachel Yang and Jess Thomson
7. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
8. In My Kitchen by Deborah Madison
9. Joy The Baker Over Easy by Joy Wilson
10. One Pan and Done by Molly Gilbert

 

Powell’s City of Books (Portland) – cookbook buyer Tracey T.

Six Seasons1. Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
2. Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck
3. Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish
4. Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen by Richa Hingle
5. Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi
6. Vegan For Everybody by America’s Test Kitchen
7. Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
8. Cook Korean! by Robin Ha
9. Minimalist Baker’s Everyday Cooking by Dana Shultz

 

 

Read It and Eat (Chicago) – owner Esther Dairiam

Feed the Resistance

1. Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
2. Feed the Resistance by Julia Turshen
3. Homegrown by Matt Jennings
4. State Bird Provisions by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski
5. Joy The Baker Over Easy by Joy Wilson
6. The New Paris by Lindsey Tramuta
7. Beekman 1802: A Seat at the Table by Brent Ridge & Josh Kilmer-Purcell
8. Casa Marcela by Marcela Valladolid
9. Artisanal Preserves by Madelaine Bullwinkel
10. Little Book of Jewish Appetizers by Leah Koenig

 

 

Kitchen Witch Cookbooks (New Orleans) – owners Debbie Lindsey and Philipe LaMancusa

Talk About Good

1. Talk About Good! by Junior League of Lafayette, LA
2. Gumbo Shop Traditional and Contemporary Creole Cuisine by Richard Stewart
3. Austin Leslie’s Creole-Soul by Austin Leslie and Marie Rudd Posey
4. Cooking up a Storm Edited by Judy Walker and Marcelle Bienvenu
5. Vegan Dawlin by Barbara Ganucheau
6. Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
7. Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen
8. La Bouche Creole by Leon Soniat
9. Lift Your Spirits: Cocktail Culture in New Orleans by Liz Williams
10. Joe Simmer’s Creole Slow Cookin’ by Richard Stewart

 

CANADA 

Good Egg (Toronto) – owner Mika Bareket

Sheet Pan Magic

1. Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat
2. Sheet Pan Magic by Sue Quinn
3. The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt
4. The Modern Cook’s Year by Anna Jones
5. Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden
6. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
7. Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark
8. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark
9. On Vegetables by Jeremy Fox
10. David Tanis Market Cooking by David Tanis

 

Appetite for Books (Montreal) – owner Jonathan Cheung

Montreal Cooks

1. Smitten Kitchen Every Day by Deb Perelman
2. Second Helpings Please! New Edition by Norene Gilletz
3. Montreal Cooks by Jonathan Cheung and Tays Spencer
4. Dinner: Changing the Game by Melissa Clark
5. Lidia’s Celebrate Like an Italian by Lidia Bastianich
6. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
7. Bake with Anna Olson by Anna Olson
8. David Tanis Market Cooking by David Tanis
9. The Inviting Life by Laura Calder
10. Bringing it Home by Gail Simmons

 

AUSTRALIA

Books for Cooks (Melbourne) – owner Tim White

Tivoli Road Baker

1. The Tivoli Road Baker by Michael & Pippa James
2. The Broadsheet Melbourne Cookbook
3. Brae by Dan Hunter
4. A Charcuterie Diary by Peter J. Booth
5. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
6. Ostro by Julie Busuttil Nishimura
7. I Taste Red by Jamie Goode
8. Project Smoke by Steven Raichlen
9. The Vegetable by Carolyn Griffiths & Vicki Valsamis
10. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

 

EUROPE

De Kookboekhandel (Amsterdam, Netherlands) – owner Jonah Freud

Vleesbijbel

1. Vleesbijbel by Gertjan Kiers
2. Gather by Gill Meller
3. Eat Vegan (Smith + Daughters in English) by Shannon Martinez and Mo Wyse
4. De Banketbakker by Cees Holtkamp & Jonah Freud
6. Veg! (River Cottage Veg Every Day in English) by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
7. Duizend-en-een smaken (Arabesque in English) by Claudia Roden
8. Bakbijbel by Rutger van den Broek
9. Les Diners de Gala by Salvador Dalí
10. Groentebijbel by Mari Maris

 

Cook and Book (Arnhem, Netherlands) – owner Riejanne Schimmel

Vleesbijbel

1. Sweet by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh
2. Just Cook It by Sergio Herman
3. The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet by Dr. Michael Mosley
4. Lekker & Simpel by Sofie Chanou & Jorrit van Daalen
5. Home Sweet Home Xmas by Yvette van Boven
6. 5 Ingredients by Jamie Oliver
7. Home Sweet Home by Yvette van Boven
8. Stoven by Janneke Philippi
9. Solo Food by Janneke Vreugdenhil
10. Sous Vide at Home by Lisa Q. Fetterman

Post a comment

4 Comments

  • annmartina  on  January 24, 2018

    As soon as I saw the photo of "Talk About Good" I knew Kitchen Witch's list was included. Truly a wonderful bookstore to visit. If it were still in print, I believe Tiger Bait, by the LSU alum, would also be on their list. It is also a great cookbook, but reasonably priced copies are hard to find.

    At first I was so disappointed to see the Pioneer Woman at the top of the first list, but it gives me hope that that is the only list she appears on.

  • adewar  on  January 29, 2018

    It's a shame you don't have a list of bestselling cookbooks published in the UK – why not?

  • Jane  on  February 14, 2018

    adewar – apologies for the delay in my reply. Our list shows the bestsellers from specialist cookbook stores around the world, which they supply to us. As far as I am aware there is only one cookbooks store in the UK – Books for Cooks in London. I contact them (many emails!) every year for their top picks of the year and their bestsellers but for the last few years they have never replied. Anyone in the UK who wishes they would contribute could try emailing them – their contact email is on their website https://www.booksforcooks.com/ I also have been unable to find a UK bestsellers list for all booksellers like the one published by Publishers Weekly in the USA. If anyone knows where to get one, please email us and I will add it.

  • RogerP  on  February 18, 2018

    I think the Bookseller would have the data for the UK, but their content is behind a paywall. https://www.thebookseller.com/tag/charts

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