10 Tantalizing Thai Cookbooks

For those who love Thai cuisine but feel discouraged whenever they think about trying out the delicious recipes at home, Quick & Easy Thai is the cookbook for you! Experienced chef Nancie McDermott provides a collection of 70 recipes that use easy-to-find ingredients and include time-saving tips to make cooking intricate, delectable Thai food more accessible for the average cook. 

Mouthwatering recipes include Grilled Shrimp and Scallops with Lemongrass, Sticky Rice with Mangoes, and to quench your thirst, she’ll also show you how to make Thai Iced Tea. 

Chef Jet Tila, along with fellow chef Tad Weyland Fukomoto, shares his love for his Thai heritage through amazingly enticing Thai favorites like Street-Style Basil Pork, Thai BBQ Chicken and Glass Noodle Stir-fry. Allow your tastebuds to traverse Thailand’s various regions while paying homage to beloved classic meals and popular street foods. 

And for lovers of Thai food who are also vegetarian (or anyone who would like to try tasty dishes without meat), Jet Tila has created plant-based recipes that are his take on the delicious classics. Just don’t crack this cookbook open on an empty stomach, or you just might find yourself trying to cook all 101 recipes at once!     

After getting married as a young woman, Pepper Teigen moved to America from Isaan, a city in the eastern part of Thailand, and quickly realized that the Thai delicacies she had grown up cooking with her mother were nowhere to be found. She desperately craved the taste of home, so she decided that if she couldn’t find this kind of cooking near her, she would make it herself. 

This cookbook is a lovingly curated collection of years of recipes—those she would cook as a young girl with her mother and those that she created herself by being imaginative in the kitchen. All of which she has shared with her kids and now, grandkids, including recipes with a modern twist (Pad Thai Brussel Sprouts, I’m looking at you!), along with traditional dishes like khanom khrok or coconut-rice pancakes. You’ll definitely find yourself salivating over these Thai-American-inspired recipes.       

This Cordon Bleu-educated chef decided the best way to share Thai cuisine while connecting with others from around the world would be to start a YouTube channel. It was soon after that Hot Thai Kitchen became her passion project, allowing her to act as a helpful guide for those unfamiliar with the technique of cooking Thai meals. Included in this cookbook are stunning photographs from her trip to Thailand and recipes that will allow you to perfect curries, soups and desserts (there are also chapters on vegetarian and vegan dishes). 

But what makes this cookbook extra unique are the QR codes that link to video tutorials so that you can observe Pailin’s cooking methods and replicate them in your own kitchen. At-home chefs will feel supported and empowered to try recipes they might have never known about before.  

Delicious food is meant to be shared with family and friends (even if sometimes we don’t want to necessarily share straight from our plates!), and chef Kris Yenbamroong has flavorful recipes you can whip out for your next party that will make your guests extremely happy. 

Hot crispy rice salad, lush coconut curries, or a wok-seared Pad Thai paint a picture of Kris’ culinary influence growing up eating at his family’s restaurant and traveling Thailand’s Northern countryside. Learn about this chef’s culinary journey and how he has created a successful L.A. Thai restaurant that infuses both Thai and American culture while trying his masterful creations for yourself.  

Tired of having to order takeout, but not tired of eating yummy Thai food? This cookbook will allow you to indulge in your favorite Thai takeout recipes and show you what goes into making the signature sweet, sour and spicy combination of intricate flavors. 

What awaits you are detailed recipes, stunning images and a brief history of Thai takeout food. Whether you are looking for an appetizer like Fresh Summer Rolls with Tamarind Sauce, a filling entrée like Thai Lemongrass Pork Chops or a sweet treat like Banana Fritters, this cookbook will satisfy your cravings.

Saiphin Moore is no stranger to Thai cooking; she grew up in Khao Kho, Northern Thailand, on a mountain farm where she would use ingredients picked from her field. Eventually, she married and opened her first sit-down restaurant, Tuk Tuk Thai, in Hong Kong, but currently resides in London and runs Rosa’s Thai Café with her husband, which has grown from a street food stall to 10 impressive London restaurants. 

A mouthwatering sequel to Rosa’s Thai Café: The Cookbook (which you should also check out!) challenged Saiphin to create over 100 recipes catered to vegans and vegetarian lovers of Thai food. This book features Butternut Red curry, Congee With Shiitake Mushrooms and Tom Yum Noodle Soup, to name a few recipes you can look forward to digging into.   

Esteemed food writer, television chef, and cookbook author Katie Chin is passionate about working with fresh ingredients to make meals that are both delicious and keep our bodies healthy. She was named Culinary Ambassador to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, whose role is to help educate the American public about the relationship between healthy ingredients and the benefits they offer for an individual’s physical well-being. 

Kaytie knew there was a need for simple and convenient Thai recipes (especially as a mother of twin toddlers) that also didn’t fall short of flavor. Her cookbook proves that easy doesn’t have to mean bland and boring. Many of the recipes have around a 30-minute prep time and include Crispy Mango Chicken, Crunchy Siam Spring Rolls and Fragrant Coconut Fish in Banana Leaves. Learn how to make your cooking goals a reality with Everyday Thai Cooking!

John Chantarask is the co-founder of AngloThai, a pop-up restaurant that fuses traditional Thai cuisine with British ingredients, drawing from his half-British and half-Thai heritage. Kin Thai, or “Eat Thai,” is a collection of 80 of his favorite Thai recipes that are organized by the type of dish you’re in the mood for. 

You’ll savor each and every delectable meal, from Langoustine and Rhubarb Hot and Sour Soup (dtom yum goong) to Red Fire Greens with Yellow Soybean Sauce (pak kheo fai daeng). Trust me—pick up this book; your stomach will thank you!    

Nuit Regular is the first Thai Select Ambassador for Canada and has been recognized by the government of Thailand for the authenticity of her Thai cooking. She was awarded the prestigious Thai Select Premium designation for her restaurants: Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Sabai Sabai, Sukhothai, and Kiin. Her accolades do not stop there; this cookbook of 120 authentic recipes from Northern Thailand has won the 2021 IACP Cookbook Awards, International Cookbooks, and was the Gold Winner of the 2021 Taste Canada Awards, Regional/Cultural Cookbooks. 

Nuit encourages us to not only try to make these recipes but to also eat them in the traditional Thai style—surrounded by family and friends at a table filled with aromatic dishes meant to be shared.  After you try her Young Green Jackfruit Curry, Steamed Chicken Dumplings and Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Barbecue Pork, it’ll be apparent why she has been named one of “The 20 Most Influential Female Chefs and Restaurateurs Right Now.”