15 Favorite Healthy Cookbooks for Families
Healthy cookbooks for family dinners you'll feel great about serving to the kids. Whether you're trying to lose weight or just increase the amount of vegetables on your dinner plates, these books are practical for busy families.
Trying to balance family dinner can be such a challenge when your kids are little and picky.
On the one hand, you might be looking for healthy recipes that will help you be stronger and fitter.
On the other hand, you need to serve meals that the kids will actually eat and meets their physical needs, too.
When I'm looking for fresh inspiration for our family dinners, these are the top healthy cookbooks for real family meals that I tend to turn to time and again.
Why are these "Healthy" Cookbooks?
When I'm feeding my family, I'm looking for healthy recipes that meet the following needs:
Want to Save This for Later?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
- Real Food: The recipe is made mostly from scratch. It needs basic ingredients that I can pronounce. No artificial sweeteners required.
- Lots of Fruit & Vegetables: I'm always looking for new ideas for getting more produce onto our plates. I cook with fruit in our dinners frequently since they tend to be more popular with the kids than vegetables.
- Fairly Light: I look for recipes that are light on the butter and cream and use more olive oil instead. Bonus points if the books aren't heavy-handed with starchy ingredients like pasta and breaded coating.
- Mediterranean Influenced: Our family eats meat but I do look for Mediterranean recipes because they are known to be so heart-healthy.
- Balance: I believe in all things in moderation. If we have something really delicious on the table like warm, fresh bread, I balance it with something super healthy like a vegetable-filled soup.
I think the best way to stay healthy is to eat all things in moderation and focus on healthy portions. That's why I've loved the 21 Day Fix strategy for feeding my family and myself the same meals.
Healthy Cookbooks for Families
This is one of my favorite healthy cookbooks of all time. I still refer to it for family dinner frequently.
I love the focus on real food, fresh produce, and the lighter calorie count for all the recipes included.
Gina Homolka's popular SkinnyTaste series is filled with best sellers for a reason. All of her books are fantastic, but Fast and Slow is one of my favorites because it is filled with practical ideas for busy nights as well as things we can take our time with on the weekend.
When you want to make better food choices for your family, using popular kitchen appliances, like slowcookers, is definitely a fantastic shortcut that will help you avoid the drive-thru lanes or meal deliveries.
Many appliance-specific recipes can be unhealthy, but I love this lightened up slowcooker book from America's Test Kitchen. So many delicious ways to use chicken and pork!
This popular Instant Pot book is the best in the series because it focuses on much lighter, healthier versions of his popular recipes.
This stunning cookbook was my favorite cookbook purchase last year. It has a wide variety of vegetable-heavy dishes that my family has loved eating.
Not all of the recipes are quick and easy, but you could prep them ahead to make dinnertime faster. This is a perfect cookbook for exploring how deeply delicious healthy food can be.
As I mentioned, our family eats meat but the popular vegetarian books in The Forest Feast series always go over well with my family.
I love how this particular book focuses on simple fruit and veggie side dishes that I could pair with grilled chicken or fish.
No one in our family is diabetic but this whole food cookbook is perfect for families because the recipes are very low in sugar and carbohydrates.
You'll find tons of inspiration on fiber-rich foods with a wide variety of nutrients and whole grains.
Lisa Leake's 100 Days of Real Food is a challenge I think most families should try at least once. The experiment is very eye opening and can lead to wonderful, permanent new habits that improve your health and well being.
We are so much more likely to consistently choose healthy foods if we don't feel like we're eating on a "diet." The recipes in the Well Plated cookbook are real, healthy, and feel like a treat because they are so delicious.
In the last two years before I had a total hip replacement surgery, I tried everything I could to help reduce the significant pain I was experiencing in my joints.
This anti-inflammatory book was so helpful in learning to avoid some of the foods that were triggering my pain. While it didn't fix my issue and surgery still ended up being the final solution, some of the recipes we tried during that phase were so delicious they've become a permanent part of our rotation.
I don't believe in restrictive diets because they are unsustainable for real world family cooking. However, the Whole 30 cookbook is filled with veggie-heavy recipes that my family has loved.
When I want to cook a recipe for ME that I am going to get excited about, I turn to this cookbook by Jessica Merchant. I've loved every last thing I've cooked from it and my family has enjoyed them, too.
Sometimes you just need a super-easy meal for the kids or yourself when you're on the go. The protein smoothies in this cookbook are absolutely delicious and will stick with your family for the long run vs. a smoothie that leaves you hungry in an hour or two.
It is a great way to sneak in some spinach or other vegetables when the strong fruity flavors can help hide them.
I believe that healthy cooking starts when the kids are little. If you're struggling with picky eaters like I did, invite your kids into the kitchen and get them making meals they'll love.
My cookbook for kids is filled withour family's most-favorite family dinner recipes and each one offers suggestions to play with the ingredients list to try new vegetables.
The recipes are not "diet food" in any way but I believe this book will help your kids discover new favorites and help make them a little more adventurous at the dinner table.
Finally, you might be surprised to see a bread machine cookbook on a list of healthy cookbooks, but I firmly believe in balance.
When I'm serving up a cozy soup that is loaded to the brim with fresh vegetables, I'm more likely to get the kids excited about dinner if there's a delicious piece of warm bread to go with it for dunking.
Making your own homemade bread in a bread machine takes 5 minutes or less of prep and the rest of the baking is hands off. You can learn how to make a from scratch honey whole wheat bread, sourdough bread, rye bread, and so much more.
Bonus? Skip all the preservatives and hidden sugars in prepared bread from the grocery store. From scratch bread is so much more delicious and healthy for you.
More Favorite Cookbooks
I like the Glow one. Nice price and looks like it would be easy on the eyes.
As much as I love my iPad, I do love that the Nook has expandable storage via a micro SD card. And the graphics look awesome. Thanks for the chance to win!
We had one of the original Nooks and had terrible luck with it. the battery wouldn't stay charged and even though they replaced the Nook twice it still never worked properly. So I would be excited about the battery life.
I like the 14 hours of continuous video play and the Integrated fingerprint scanner for secure access
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I have a hard time reading on tablets/phones, but samsung does make lovely products; I used to have a samsung phone, and they made my gas range and my refrigerator as well.
I like how thin it is and the fact that it has a camera.
I love the beautiful color display. I too have been hesitant to get cookbooks or kids books on my tablet, but they look great with this Nook.
It looks thin and not bulky. I also love that you can read it outside. And the resolution looks excellent.
I would love it's size! No more deleting an old book every time I want to read a new one!!
The two page spread ability and the quality of those pictures is amazing! I never buy cookbooks for my kindle because of the lack of ability to do a two page spread like that/the way the layout is.
The portability is a plus! I love that you can have an entire library with you in your purse!!
I do like the glow light feature!! I have an old old old nook with no lighting features and a kindle that is too bright and not friendly on the eyes. This product seems amazing!! Happy reading!!
I love that you can read without the light on!
I am always looking for small, light, easy to read, tablets. I like to carry "books" with me to read while waiting for appointments, lessons, or kids. Battery life is important as are reading apps.
I love the ability to have many books in a small package. The wifi feature allow the ability to download books from the library in addition to purchasing books from home. When my husband had his transplant, I was not able to get to the bookstore or library. I needed something to read during the hours in the hospital. However the screen size on the NOOK would be mush easier to read on than my phone.
My favorite feature of the Samsung Nooks is ability to hold so many books in a small lightweight device. I no longer need a bookshelf full of books. Also that I can load library ebooks into it!
I love the Glow Light technology! It can be a struggle to read outside sometimes. It looks like this would help with that!
I don't have a NOOK but I love the fact that I have the app and get books from the NOOK Store to read.
I love being able to take it anywhere and read my book as well as check emails and search the web.
I'm intrigued by the speed of the new Nook (no waiting on a download) and the storage upgrade ability.
I have the original Nook that I have loved for reading outside in bright light but I like that the Samsung Nook has such a vivid display and would allow for also watching movies/videos and using other apps. Great for a long plane ride!
I love the thumbnail previews. That would be so helpful when searching for specific pages especially in a cookbook.
There are a few features that appeal to me: first off the Glowlight as I'd be able to read whenever. Love it being so thin looks really comfortable to hold. And love the fact that I could have my recipes all in one spot!
I like how thin it is and I like the Glowlight. Thanks for the chance to win!
Just do me a favor and keep writing such trheancnt analyses, OK?
I was a college kid in the Bronx, fifteen years into my Irish arts addiction, when I first found Luka at the Red Lion on Bleeker Street in the village. His performance was perfect last night. I hope he returns to The Egg – next time there will certainly be more folks there! Great review.
I like this self-illuminated e-reader! I currently don't have one but I am officially tempted. The qualities I like are that its thin, lightweight and of course everyone needs/wants the built in wifi. I think the sd card slot is genius and very useful. While laying in bed this e reader would be very useful with its adjustable lighting and easily read at many angles. All and all you've had me read about the nook which has made me more curious! Thanks 🙂
Vibrant images and ease of use are right up my alley. I read a lot of blogs and use Pinterest regularly in addition to reading ebooks.
Love the color and how thin it is. I have an older Nook which is black and white. I like it but color is to much better.
I love how thin the Nook is and that I can read in the dark or outside in the sun.
I have the 7" and love the display! I do love how light and thin it is too!
The size/weight are a big plus. I have the original nook (gave it to my daughter) and my other daughter has the glowlight. They've come a long way since then 🙂
I love the ease of holding the nook and turning pages with just one hand. I received the nook glowlight as a mommy gift before having baby #4, and it was awesome to be able to read a few pages at a time during all those middle-of-the-night nursing sessions, while keeping the room dark. I also am a big fan of cookbooks but hesitate to purchase the digital versions. The Samsung is intriguing for this!
I love how thin it is - I had the original first color Nook, but traded in on a Kindle because it was so much lighter, but this makes me think of going back to the Nook!
Oh, and as far as eating right goes, I've been doing a 90-day fitness challenge that came with meal plans for three months. I don't love all the food, but it has helped me to understand what, how often, and in what portion sizes I should be eating. The plan has a lot of repetition, which I didn't mind in the beginning, but with just a week left to go, I'm getting seriously burned out. However, knowing that I can trade out my macros (proteins, carbs, and fats) for other choices...think chicken for fish and zucchini for broccoli...it's been a lot easier to adapt to my needs (and cravings). Pinterest is my go-to source for recipes, as well as food porn when I'm hungry. 😉
I love the NOOK GlowLight. I read books in some of the worst possible lighting conditions...outside on my deck in bright sun, while my husband is watching TV with the lights off, and in complete darkness before I go to bed. Anything that can make tablet reading easier (and maybe save my poor eyes) is a win in my book...or ebook, in this case, 😉
The Nook by Samsung has several features that I like. The built-in Wi-Fi is a plus, but I also like how lightweight and thin the device is. The fact that it has so much power but is not heavy is an advantage. That feature alone would save me the hassle of having to use multiple devices. It looks to be a great product!
I don't know anything about the Nook, so I would say my favorite thing would be that it is an e-reader and I love reading!