Some of my Favorite German Cookbooks in English

When we moved a few years ago, I had to box up my Cookbook collection. Some might think I have a cookbook problem, but I look at it more as an “enthusiasm”. There were a lot. I stopped counting at 15 boxes. My Tech Guy just shook his head, but since he benefits from the meals, he has no real complaints. While packing them up, I did a bit of real sorting, and I noticed that slowly but surely, I’ve managed to collect a lot of German Cookbooks, especially German Cookbooks in English. (I also have quite a few in German, but that’s another story.)

This list of German cookbooks in English is made up of my favorites. The ones I reach to most often, the ones I know I can rely on, and the ones I page through when I’m looking for cooking inspiration! And they are also the ones with the most kitchen splatter on them.

I know I’ve written about many of them in past posts, but here they are in one place, and in no particular order!

(NOTE- Don’t be afraid to buy used cookbooks. The way I see it, they get splattered on anyway.)

Also!! Please note that some of the older Cookbooks have fallen out of print. Do NOT be alarmed if you see outrageous prices for the book. Ignore those. Unless you are buying a gold-plated cookbook, there is no reason to pay hundreds of dollars for a collection of recipes. Dig a bit, and you’ll usually find some reasonably priced used ones or different editions.

German Cookbooks in English

Easy German Cookbook

Looking for German Cooking made simple? Try my “Easy German Cookbook,” which makes German home cooking accessible even to those with little to no cooking experience. These are recipes that you would find at home or on your Oma’s table. But you’ll also find quite a few restaurant and Festival favorites. Pork, beef, fish, vegetables, desserts, and more! Satisfying and delicious, yet translated to the American Kitchen. This labor of love includes some recipes from my website, as well as those I enjoy cooking for my family. Priced under $20, this book offers a lot for the money and makes a great gift. You can even get a signed copy!!

Easy German Cookbook: 80 Classic Recipes Made SimpleEasy German Cookbook SIGNEDGermanGirl Shop

German Meals at Oma’s

“German Meals at Oma’s” was written by Gerhild Fulson, the force behind the website/blog Quick German Recipes, Just like Oma. This is the cookbook you need if you miss having Oma stand next to you while you recreate those meals you remember from childhood. There’s nothing overly fancy about these dishes, although a few ‘Holiday meal’ recipes are included. Mostly, these are recipes for the German food we remember and grew up eating. There is a photo included for every dish, and best of all, Oma’s corner has some great tips for each recipe (just like your Oma is whispering in your ear). German Meals at Oma’s is great for new and experienced cooks. She also has an excellent Baking Book! Baking Just Like Oma- by Gerhild Fulson, my Review

German Meals at Oma’s: Traditional Dishes for the Home Cook

This year, Gerhild Fulson released a new cookbook. This book is also loaded with great recipes and great tips…and there are more recipes than German Meals at Oma’s. Both are on my cookbook shelves.

Cooking Just Like Oma: Traditional German Recipes

Culinaria Germany

Culinaria Germany is both an encyclopedia of German food and a cookbook. The softcover, oversized book is filled with Traditional German Recipes to make at home. Also, regional specialties are highlighted and explained in depth.  Best of all, this book is LOADED with photographs! Not just the completed recipes, but also the ingredients that go into those recipes. This is one of those cookbooks that you can read for pleasure or for increased knowledge. There are even sections on how people ate in Germany hundreds of years ago!

Since it’s out of print, you can typically find it at a great price.

For a more in-depth review, click here–>Culinaria Germany

Culinaria Germany: A Celebration of Food and Tradition

 

The German Cookbook by Alfons Schuhbeck

The heaviest and most complete cookbook in my collection is “The German Cookbook” by Alfons Schuhbeck. Chef Schuhbeck is a Michelin-starred chef with several restaurants and food-related businesses in Munich, and this cookbook is a culmination of many years of experience in the kitchen, preparing exceptional German Cuisine. Containing over 500 recipes, this book is fairly comprehensive, covering everything from clear starter soups to vegetables, wild game, cake, and salads to sausages. The cookbook is in English, but has both metric and American standard measurements. This is an excellent cookbook for anyone who wants to dig a bit deeper into German cooking, or for someone who has memories of regional dishes that you don’t find on most restaurant menus.  You can read my review here> The German Cookbook

The German Cookbook

Best Recipes German Cooking and Baking Dr Oetker

If you are looking for a solid German Recipe Book that includes all your favorites from your favorite German restaurant, as well as many regional specialties, Dr. Oetker Best Recipes is your go-to cookbook. There are recipes for everything from Asparagus Soup to Kassler to Sauerbraten, and even Roast Goose. There are sauces, salads, and veggies. Best of all, the last third of the book is baking and desserts. There are enough recipes in this book to keep your stomach happy for a long time.

Most of the recipes have photos (so at least, if you don’t know what it’s called, you can see what it looks like). Since it’s a Dr Oetker book, you know that the recipes have been tested and simplified for the home cook. Before you know it, you will be producing Cabbage Rolls and Eintopf just like your Oma.

Best Recipes: German Cooking And Baking

Biergarten Cookbook

In Germany, Biergartens aren’t just about drinking; many people take along a picnic of dips, salads, and even warm foods that make an afternoon more gemütlich. Our family loves to visit local Breweries here in the US, but many don’t serve food. Since they allow us to bring food in, I always do (drinking without a base to soak up the alcohol doesn’t make sense to me). This little Biergarten cookbook is loaded with traditional Bavarian recipes, with a leaning toward “take along” foods. You will find recipes for soups, sausages, noodles, potato dishes, and even sweet baked desserts. To make the food easy to transport, the book gives tips on packing your food so that it arrives safely.

Plus, when we show up with a packed hamper, we end up meeting a lot more people than we expected. Sharing food is fun! Read a longer review of the Biergarten Cookbook here–>Biergarten Cookbook

Biergarten Cookbook: Traditional Bavarian Recipes

 Spoonfuls of Germany

I am sorry to see that Spoonfuls of Germany is out of print, because this is a fantastic German Cookbook in English for the American Kitchen. Luckily, both the original hardcover and the more recent paperback edition are still available used.  Nadia Hassani shares her recipes for the German Cooking I grew up with. Not just heavy meat and potatoes, but also salads and vegetables. Nourishing and healthy meals that people eat every day. The recipes are arranged by region. And all of the measurements will be familiar to an American cook. Unfortunately, there aren’t many photos, but she does have a blog called Spoonfuls of Germany, where she shows off many of her dishes.

Spoonfuls of Germany is an excellent cookbook for both new and experienced German Cooks. The recipes are straightforward and easy to follow, and the ingredients can all be sourced here in the United States. I highly recommend this book! Click here for a longer review–> Spoonfuls of Germany

Spoonfuls of Germany: German Regional Cuisine

The Wurst

If you are looking for a German cookbook that features all the traditional German dishes (and no fancy variations), then “The Wurst: The Very Best of German Food” is for you. These are the recipes everyone immediately thinks of when they think of “German Cooking”. You will find Rouladen, Rotkohl, Sauerkraut, Spätzle, AND Käsespätzle, Königsbergerklopße, Bienenstich, and your Oma’s Gurkensalat (cucumber salad) recipe. Every recipe includes a photo, so even if you’re unsure, you can see what it’s supposed to look like. What’s interesting is that Otto Wolff also includes recipes for Weißwurst (not just how to cook it, but also how to make the sausage itself) and a few other common sausages. There are snacks, main dishes, sweets, salads, and sides. If you want to cook BASIC German Food without worrying too much about regional specialties, get The WURST!

The Wurst!: The Very Best of German Food

New German Cooking

You can teach a traditional chef new tricks. New German Cooking by Jeremy and Jessica Nolen takes the recipes our Oma’s cooked, but adds a terrific modern twist. The flavor profile is more “fresh” and fitting with our modern lifestyles. And while home cooks may cook with a lot of vegetables, this pair adds even more, including some that you wouldn’t have found on the table 25 or 30 years ago. For example, in Germany, Radish Salad is not unusual, but the addition of Daikon radish gives the salad a bite that I can certainly appreciate. And, to me, roasting those Rosenkohl (Brussels sprouts) is much tastier than boiled ones (sorry mom…).

You’ll find easy-to-follow recipes for Griebenschmaltz, Spiesbraten, Pretzels, Potato Sauerkraut Gratin, and more. This is an excellent cookbook for anyone who wants to have their German food the way it is today.

If you are in Philadelphia, you can visit the Nolen’s restaurant, Brauhaus Schmitz.

New German Cooking: Recipes for Classics Revisited

Das Cookbook

I’ve included Das Cookbook: German Cooking California Style because it emphasizes the lighter side of German cooking. Hans Röckenwagner’s Cafe and Bakery in Los Angeles takes German food and fuses it with California produce (and the Californian desire to eat minimal calories). What you get in the cookbook is classic German dishes, along with a lot more vegetables. So yes, there is a great recipe for Spätzle, but he adds pea shoots and morel mushrooms (that’s dinner here tonight, btw). There are many more sandwich and salad recipes than in your average cookbook, and I defy you to find another German Cookbook with Avocado fries. Still, the classics are here, including Wiener/Jäger Schnitzel, Roast Goose, Goulash, and baked goods like Pretzels (which he also uses for Knoedel!), Vanilla Kipferl, and Lebkuchen. And while he uses less Streusel than most Americans expect on their “coffee cake”, his recipe for Rhubarb Streusel Kuchen is spot on for me.

If you are looking to include German flavors into your everyday California Kitchen, or any kitchen that loves lots of fresh fruit and veggies, then Das Cook Book is perfect for you.

Das Cookbook: German Cooking . . . California Style

Classic German Cookbook by Lesley Chamberlain

70 Traditional Recipes from Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic

The Classic German Cookbook is not thick, but then, it’s not overloaded with a load of recipes that you might never even consider trying. I do love that there are photos of each dish, and even step-by-step photos for many of the dishes, so you know what it’s supposed to look like as you are cooking and when it gets to the table. Since the book was published in England, there are three measurements for each ingredient (for example, 1.2 liters/ 2 pints/ 5 cups of water), so you can use whatever you are accustomed to. You’ll find a variety of foods in this book, from the classic Red Cabbage, Sauerbraten, and Potato Pancakes to the less common fish dishes made from Pike.

Many of the recipes originate from Germans from Eastern countries, such as Hungary and the Czech Republic. There are several versions of Goulash, and several regional recipes that you probably won’t find on the table in Bavaria or Hamburg. While this is a very good cookbook with some interesting dishes, I’m not sure if it’s the ideal “first German Cookbook” for someone learning about German cuisine. But, if you want to go beyond the standards, or your Oma came from the East, and you want to recreate those flavors. This is a cookbook for you.

Classic German Cookbook: 70 traditional recipes from Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, shown step-by-step in 300 photographs

The Flour is Different by Trudy Gilgenast

I’m including this cookbook because I love books of gathered recipes. “The Flour is Different” is a spiral-bound collection of recipes compiled by Trudy Gilgenast from German cooks in the Delaware Valley. Most were handed down from generation to generation. Some are clearly “Americanized” versions of German foods. Think of it as cooking in Denglish.

Still, I love that you get the stories from the cooks and learning where the recipes came from. And between the recipes, you will find German traditions.

This little book is out of print (and can be expensive), but if you find it at a decent price, it’s a fun read.

The Flour is Different

 

More German Cookbooks in English- German Baking Recipe Books

Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss

I really like Classic German Baking. All of the recipes I have tried are spot on. Luisa Weiss works in Berlin and really knows her flavors. Although it’s a large book, there are only 100 recipes. Each one is described and explained, the ingredients are listed by weight and American measurements, and (best of all) each step of the baking process is explained in GREAT DETAIL. You can’t mess these up, even if you are a total amateur. It’s almost like she’s in the kitchen with you! And all of your favorite baked goods are in here! Torten, cookies, breads, and Broetchen, Kasekuchen (Cheesecake), and Strudel. There are even 20 specialty Christmas recipes!

Best of all, there are recipes for the building blocks of German Baking. You won’t have to buy Quark, Vanille Zucker, Marzipan, or Lebkuchengewürz again; the recipes are all here.

Classic German Baking: The Very Best Recipes for Traditional Favorites, from Pfeffernüsse to Streuselkuchen

German Cookbooks in English for Christmas

Christmas Baking Christian Teubner

Christmas Baking is actually a translation of the baking recipe book, “Weihnachts Bäckerei“. It’s LOADED with all of your favorite German Christmas cookies and cakes- everything from Lebkuchen and Vanille Kipferl to Stollen and Lebkuchen. The recipes are straightforward and come with both volume and weight measurements, so you can use what feels most comfortable. The ingredients are fairly easy to source here in the US, either in a supermarket or online. Best of all, there are lots of wonderful photos of treats to tempt you into the kitchen.

If you love to bake at Christmas and want to fill that Bunte Teller with German Treats, Christmas Baking is the perfect cookbook for you. Since this is an older book, it might be out of print. Luckily, there are numerous used copies available for purchase online.

Read my longer review here–> Christmas Baking

Christmas Baking: Traditional Recipes Made Easy (English and German Edition)

Looking for German cookbooks in GERMAN?

Click here-> German Cookbooks in German