9 Popular Thai Cookbooks to Explore All About Thai Cuisine

thai cookbook

There are reasons why Thai food is so special. Apart from the fact that it uses contrasting flavors, Thai food often combines spicy spices with sweet and mild citrus flavors like lime and mango. The signature peanut sauce sits between sweet and savory and adds depth to any dish.

Thai food is also flavorful and evokes a stronger reaction with taste buds—a balance of sweet, salty, sour, and less often bitter—which makes it easy to really enjoy a meal. To celebrate Thai food, we’ve compiled a list of nine of the best Thai cookbook recommendations. Let’s take a look!

1. Pepper Teigen’s The Pepper Thai Cookbook Recipes

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The Pepper Thai Cookbook: Family Recipes from Everyone’s…
Offers 80 Thai-inspired recipes with playful twists, alongside anecdotes from her life, providing mouthwatering flavors and a humorous narrative. It’s a New York Times bestseller and an IACP Award finalist.

Teigen’s Pepper Thai Cookbook contains 80 delectable Thai recipes. Through this book, you get to learn some of the most popular recipes from everyone’s favorite Thai mom, including fried chicken larb, pad Thai Brussels sprouts, khao tod crispy rice salad, and tom zap hot and sour soup.

The thing is, you will be surprised at how Teigen adds little twists to these recipes. Aside from recipes, the author also shares inspiring stories about life. Also, this book has been recognized as one of the best cookbooks of the year by Time Out and Food52. It was also nominated for an IACP Award.

2. Leela Punyaratabandhu’s Simple Thai Food

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Simple Thai Food: Classic Recipes from the Thai Home Kitchen…
Presents 100 easy, budget-friendly Thai recipes, blending authentic flavors with accessible ingredients. From Pad Thai to Green Papaya Salad, Leela shares beloved family recipes and street food favorites, making authentic Thai cuisine achievable for home cooks.

This book is known for providing Thai takeout that meets authentic, regional flavor. With its 100 incredible recipes, this book is ready to be a good companion to your kitchen and help you make scrumptious Thai meals.

This book is filled with the author’s favorite recipes, including family recipes, popular Thai street foods, and iconic dishes from Thai restaurant menus around the world.

You will also learn how to make popular recipes such as stir-fried chicken with chile jam, crispy wings with three-flavored sauce, and leaf-wrapped salad bites. At the end of the book, you will prepare tom yam soup and red duck curry that will embarrass your local restaurant.

3. Jet Tila’s 101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die

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101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die: The…
Presents 101 authentic and craveable Thai recipes, from classics like Street-Style Basil Pork to modern creations like New Thai BBQ Chicken. Includes plant-based options and expert techniques for a true taste of Thailand.

If you want to be a part of the rich culture of Thailand, you have to take a look at this book. This is the one book that offers 101 essential recipes, techniques, and ingredients from Thailand.

In the book, Jet Tila opens the world of his Thai heritage to today’s home chef with recipes that are authentic, accessible, and highly craveable. He and his mate, Tad Weyland Fukumoto, channel their years of Southeast Asian culinary expertise into mouth-watering recipes.

These recipes include street-style basil pork, hung lay northern pork curry, glass noodle stir-fry, new Thai BBQ chicken, fried tilapia with three-flavor sauce, and so many more. The book also talks about tantalizing classics, popular street food, and unsung heroes scattered across the region.



4. Pailin Chongchitnant’s Hot Thai Kitchen

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Hot Thai Kitchen: Demystifying Thai Cuisine with Authentic…
Offers an immersive journey into Thai cuisine, with personal anecdotes, expert guidance, and QR codes for video tutorials. Featuring must-make recipes, including vegetarian and vegan options, for an authentic Thai cooking experience.

When talking about the best Thai cookbooks, we have to include this book that comes from Pailin Chongchitnant. This 264-page book is where you can learn about the Thai classic in fun ways. In this highly anticipated book, Pailin brings her signature warmth and impressive technique to Thai food lovers everywhere.

With incredibly simple and easy-to-follow instructions, Pailin also outlines the key ingredients, flavors, tools, and techniques needed to master authentic Thai cuisine. Not only that, Pailin also shares the must-have recipes for curries, salads, soups, and stir-fries, including entire chapters on dips and sauces, vegetarian and vegan dishes, and flavorful Thai desserts.

5. Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok

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Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and…
Offers bold, authentic Thai recipes inspired by popular Pok Pok restaurants. With over 50 recipes, Ricker shares traditional dishes alongside essays about Thai culture, guiding readers through ingredient sourcing, cooking techniques, and flavor profiles.

If you love Thai food, you are probably familiar with the wildly popular Pok Pok restaurants. This book comes from a restaurant owner who is willing to share more than 50 recipes from Thailand and his restaurants.

This book is more than just a cookbook with a collection of favorite recipes; it is also a master’s course in Thai cuisine from one of the most passionate and knowledgeable authorities on the subject.

Pok Pok is also a book where you can learn how to source your ingredients, master Thai cooking skills and techniques, and understand flavor profiles that are unique to Southeast Asian cuisine.

6. Danette St. Onge’s The Better Than Takeout Thai Cookbook

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The Better Than Takeout Thai Cookbook: Favorite Thai Food…
Enables you to effortlessly create flavorful Thai dishes at home in under 30 minutes. With pantry prep tips, curry paste recipes, and over 100 dishes categorized by meal type, it brings the essence of Thai cuisine to your kitchen.

Another Thai cook book that needs to reach your kitchen is this one. This book is made for those who want to try fast, simple, and yet delicious Thai food. Through this book, you will be able to learn how to make curry paste from scratch to have on hand for last-minute meals. It also shares favorite 100 recipes like pad Thai and yellow curry with chicken and potatoes, Thai-style omelet, and jungle curry.

Alongside the recipes, this book also provides chapters that have been organized like a Thai restaurant selection, such as soups and salads, noodles, seafood, curries, and much more. And the good thing is that all these recipes can be made in less than 30 minutes.



7. Dan Toombs’ Curry Guy Thai

Curry Guy Thai: Recreate over 100 Classic Thai Takeaway…
Shares over 100 recipes for beloved Thai takeaway and restaurant favorites, including beef massaman curry, red duck curry, pad Thai, fishcakes, and summer rolls. With store cupboard tips and beautiful photography, you’ll master classic Thai dishes at home.

This book allows you to recreate classic Thai takeout dishes at home. With more than 100 recipes, this book offers the author’s much-loved dishes, such as beef massaman curry, pad Thai, red duck curry, fishcakes, and summer rolls.

You also get to see beautiful color photography throughout the book and shop cupboard tips and advice. You will learn how to make your own classic dish at home with this book.

8. David Thompson’s Thai Street Food

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Thai Street Food: Authentic Recipes, Vibrant Traditions [A…
Offers an insider’s look into Thailand’s bustling street food culture, featuring nearly 100 authentic recipes accompanied by vivid photography. David Thompson’s passion for Thai cuisine and culture illuminates this tempting and authoritative cookbook.

There is no denying that Thai street food is among the most popular things in Thailand. With this book, you have the opportunity to experience and cook real Thai street food. The book features nearly 100 authentic dishes, plus the lavish photography that accompanies each recipe.

Known as the definitive guide to Thai street culture, this stunning cookbook lets you learn how to make steamed fish with chili and lime sauce, roasted duck and egg noodle soup, pork satay, and sweet banana roti.

This ambitious piece also shares its insight into the rhythms and nuances of everyday Thai life, along with the fascinating history of its rich and diverse street cuisine.

9. Saiphin Moore’s Rosa’s Thai Café

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Rosa’s Thai Café: The Vegetarian Cookbook
Saiphin Moore introduces a wealth of vegetarian Thai recipes, challenging the dominance of fish sauce in the cuisine. From Tom Yum Mixed Mushrooms to Panang Curry with Tofu, this book expands Rosa’s culinary repertoire.

If you are wondering about the Thai vegetarian cookbook, this Thai cookbook is a brilliant book that adds many exciting new recipes to your vegetarian repertoire.

The book features authentic dishes like tom yum mixed mushrooms, stir-fried eggplant with soy sauce, panang curry with tofu, and butternut red curry. This book is a great option to consider as it comes from one of London’s best female chefs who shares her cooking secrets with you.