10 best cookbooks to inspire your midweek meals

Stuck making the same dinners on repeat? Whether you’re short on time, low on inspiration or simply bored of your usual rotation, adding a new cookbook to your collection can completely refresh the way you cook midweek meals.

From speedy 30-minute recipes and flavour-packed Indian dishes to clever vegetarian cooking and low-effort family favourites, these books are designed to make weeknight cooking feel exciting again. We’ve rounded up the best cookbooks to help you break out of a cooking rut and discover new go-to recipes — without spending hours in the kitchen.

For more inspiration, check out all our cookbook reviews, including the best air fryer cookbooks, best vegan cookbooks or the best global cookbooks to try a new cuisine.

Best cookbooks to inspire your midweek meals

One Dish, Four Ways by Barney Desmazery

• Available from Amazon (£21.98), Waterstones (£22)

Best for seasonal twists on your favourites

If you find yourself cooking the same family favourites on repeat, this book will help you gently try something new that everyone will still love. By Good Food's very own Barney, he takes 25 popular dishes, from soups to cheesecake, and gives you a variation to try for each season.

There's plenty of family favourites in here to give both your midweek dinners and weekend treats a boost, like twists on cottage pie (including a tempting lamb keema variety), creamy pastas and lasagne. The multi-use mince chilli is an endlessly handy go-to for enchiladas, burritos, tacos and more. Plus a very strong baking section I can't wait to get stuck into (millionaire chocolate tart, anyone?).

Available from:
Amazon (£21.98)
Waterstones (£22)

Cooking Made Simple by Alexandra Dudley

• Available from Amazon (£21.33), Waterstones (£28)

Best for mix and match cooking

Step into the world of easy breezy cooking with these relaxed, no-frills recipes from Alexandra Dudley. Rather than just whole meals, there are lots of simple recipe ideas that you can mix and match – choose different salads, platters and techniques from each chapter (divided by methods such as Baked and Tossed) to create your ideal dinner. Lots of the recipes would equally be great for easy entertaining.

I've got my eye on the gnudi with roasted tomato sauce, whilst feta wrapped in filo with harissa and honey is sure to be a crowdpleaser. As is the molten chocolate skillet brownie, for a Friday treat...

Available from:
Amazon (£21.33)
Waterstones (£28)

Dinner, Solved by Holly Dingwall

• Available from Amazon (£17.59), Waterstones (£22)

Best for easy takes on trends

You’ve probably watched Instagram reels of lots of the recipes in this book: crispy chicken smashed tacos, mince-filled pittas for a take on arayes, one-pan dumpling traybakes. It is helpfully divided up by time so whether you've got 10 minutes in the middle of the week or 40 minutes at the weekend, you're sure to find something to shake you out of a cooking rut.

I've already made several recipes from here, my favourite of which was a Greek butterbean orzo with plenty of courgettes, jammy tomatoes and feta.

Available from:
Amazon (£17.59)
Waterstones (£22)

Kapusta by Alissa Timoshkina

• Available from Amazon (£18.66), Waterstones (£28)

Best for Eastern European recipes

Are you trying to get more veg into your meals each week? This book will help you, focusing on five of the most popular vegetables in Eastern Europe – cabbage, beetroot, potato, carrot and mushrooms – and offers plenty of sustainable, low-cost recipes to use them. Recipes are mainly vegetarian but there are a handful of meat dishes too (which can be adapted to also be veggie).

The diverse range of dishes give a fascinating insight into lesser known cuisines and culinary traditions, including dedicated chapters on dumplings and ferments for when you've got a bit more time to spare.

Available from:
Amazon (£18.66)
Waterstones (£28)

What to Cook when Everyone’s Hungry by Shelina Permalloo

• Available from Amazon (£19.63), Waterstones (£25)

Best for flavour-packed family dinners

Is there a more appropriate name for a book about midweek cooking? Known for her colourful Mauritian food, Shelina’s new book is all about taking the stress out of family dinners. The recipes are easy to make and packed with flavour, with plenty of one-pots and 15-minute meals – a saviour for busy days. The Mauritian noodles, prawn butter masala and five-ingredient coconut chicken curry are all top of my list to make.

Available from:
Amazon (£19.63)
Waterstones (£25)

Donal’s Real Time Recipes by Donal Skehan

• Available from Amazon (£20.53), Waterstones (£25)

Best for when you're short on time

If you're repeating the same recipes again and again because you know you can get them on the table in time after work, then Donal's Real Time Recipes is for you. The recipes are ready in 30 minutes or less and chapters are centred around familiar ingredients you're probably already buying but just need new ways to use, such as pasta and chicken. I’ve cooked my way through plenty in here, from the indulgent n’duja carbonara and ‘broc n cheese’ to an easy Thai fish stew.

Available from:
Amazon (£20.53)
Waterstones (£25)

Honey & Co Daily by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich

• Available from Amazon (£20.98), Waterstones (£20.99)

Best for Middle Eastern inspiration

Husband-and-wife duo Sarit and Itamar are behind hit Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co, which has expanded to four sites across London. This book is based on the menu at their café in central London’s Store Street, where the food is easy and relaxed, so it's perfect for revamping your go-to meals, with wholesome dinner ideas alongside easy bakes and desserts. Try everything from crispy za’atar chicken schnitzel sandwich to chocolate and ginger cookies.

Available from:
Amazon (£20.98)
Waterstones (£20.99)

Easy 10 by Amy Sheppard

• Available from Amazon (£14), Waterstones (£22)

Best for hearty family meals

Content creator Amy Sheppard centred this book around 10 everyday ingredients (think cheddar cheese, potatoes, canned fish) and gives 10 ways to use each of them – meaning there are 100 accessible, easy dinners in here to keep you busy for a while. You won’t be stuck for midweek inspiration again! I've made the oven baked faijta gyros so many times I don't even need the recipe anymore. The 20 minute Chinese chicken curry is next on my list.

Available from:
Amazon (£14)
Waterstones (£22)

Weeknight Vegetarian by Joe Woodhouse

• Available from Amazon (£21.13), Waterstones (£26)

Best for vegetarians

Whether you're freshly vegetarian or a long timer looking to jazz up your meat-free repertoire, you'll get new inspiration here to minimise stress on busy days. It's full of colourful, meat-free dishes like mushroom parmigiana, squash saag and garlic-chilli potato dumplings. Plenty of the dishes can be batch-cooked, and it’s full of make-ahead info and handy tips to help you get dinner on the table in no time. Read our full guide to the best vegetarian cookbooks to buy for more ideas.

Available from:
Amazon (£21.13)
Waterstones (£26)

Chetna's 30-minute Indian by Chetna Makan

• Available from Amazon (£13.84), Waterstones (£20)

Best for quick Indian cooking

If you've been avoiding making Indian food at home because you're nervous of long ingredients lists and processes, this book is here to change your mind. Chetna shows just how easy Indian cooking can be with 30 minute recipes that are highly achievable for midweek cooking. From a speedy salmon curry to a creamy butter chicken, everyone will think you’ve been in the kitchen for hours! Check out our full guide to the best Indian cookbooks to buy for more inspiration.

Available from:
Amazon (£13.84)
Waterstones (£20)

More cookbook reviews

Best Indian cookbooks
Best baking books
Best vegetarian cookbooks
Best vegan cookbooks
Best drinks and cocktail books
Best family cookbooks
Best Italian cookbooks
Best budget cookbooks
Best keto cookbooks