The growing world of Substack newsletters

As the world continues its shift to digital publishing, new media crop up to replace the old guard, and that is especially true with newspapers and magazines. Long-form online stories reminiscent of the early days of blogging are rapidly replacing printed media (thankfully with the exception of cookbooks!) via newsletter tools like Substack, Ghost, Medium, Buttondown, and Beehiiv. Of these, Substack is by far the largest. We've gathered links to Substack newsletters from some of our favorite cookbook authors, food writers, and chefs. Most of these require a subscription but several have free options available as well which is a wonderful way to support your authors and writers. If you know of additional newsletters to add (from Substack or other sites), please email jenny at eatyourbooks dot com to let us know and we will update the list.

Newsletters from cookbook authors and food writers

Samin Nosrat - A Grain of Salt - building a vibrant community focused on cooking, gardening, reading, and general good living
Dorie Greenspan - A newsletter for all of us who are crazy about food + curious about the world. Dorie Greenspan is the author of many cookbooks and an EYB Member favorite.
The Boy who Bakes - All things baked. Recipes, bakery recommendations, behind the scenes and more. Edd Kimber is the first GBBO winner and author of many cookbook titles.
ZoeBakes - Zoë François is a professional baker, TV show host, author of Zoë Bakes Cakes and Zoë Bakes Cookies and co-author of the Artisan bread titles.
David Leite - Writer. Author of The New Portuguese Table and Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression. Founder of the indexed recipe site Leite's Culinaria. Three-time James Beard Award winner.
Nik Sharma - The Flavor Files - Best-Selling Cookbook Author and Photographer, Chef, and Molecular Biologist.
Kate McDermott - Cookbook author and pie expert.
Jessie Sierra-The Last Bite - Jessie-Sierra Ross has a cookbook coming out this October - Seasons Around the Table: Effortless Entertaining with Floral Tablescapes & Seasonal Recipes - she shares recipes, techniques, and behind the scenes looks at food media content production.
The Bittman Project - A home for those who believe food is everything and should be treated that way. We celebrate the joy it brings us, but also focus on the very real challenges of making it sustainable and available for all. Mark Bittman is a cookbook author and columnist (indexed) and the indexed The Bittman Project.
What to Drink - Maggie Fills Your Glass: Maggie Hoffman is a writer, digital creator and the author of two books on cocktails including non-alcohol drinks.
David Lebovitz - Delivers a tasty mix of food, life, Paris and travel. David Lebovitz has written several cookbook titles and his self-named indexed blog.
The Smitten Kitchen Digest - Deb Perelman has written best selling cookbooks and her indexed Smitten Kitchen blog.
To Vegetables with Love - Hetty McKinnon's cookbooks are Member favorites
Amateur Gourmet - Recipes and food adventures with Adam Roberts, a food writer and cookbook author who doesn't take himself too seriously. The Amateur Gourmet blog is indexed.
Pass the Fish Sauce - Written by cookbook author Andrea Nguyen.
Domenica Marchetti - Author of Italian cookbooks; freelance food writer & recipe developer; cooking teacher; occasional tour guide.
Simply Divina - Judy Witts Francini is an American cook in Tuscany who is becoming more Italian, one recipe at a time.
The Jewish Table delivers recipes + stories from the world of Jewish food, by cookbook author Leah Koenig.
Last Call - Spirited dispatches from James Beard Award-winning author Brad Thomas Parsons on bars and bar culture, drinks and spirits, restaurants and regional foodways, and popular culture.
La Briffe - A newsletter about cooking, eating and making life more delicious by author and food writer Ruth Reichl.
Kate Hill - "Finding France: a Memoir in Small Bites" Kate Hill's serialized book, is published weekly here, a lifetime of inspiration from the kitchen, garden, farms & markets of Gascony written at the Relais de Camont, her home & writer’s residency in Southwest France.
Elizabeth Minchilli - Food, drink, fun links & travel from Italy from the cookbook author.
Rosie Birkett is an award-winning food writer, recipe developer, cookbook author and mum living by the sea. She wrote a monthly recipe column for The Sunday Times for three years, but now you’ll find most of her recipes on Substack.
Melissa Helmsley - Feel good chef, food writer and sustainability champion. Six-time cookbook author passionate about spreading the power of feel good food.
Susanality - Highly seasonal recipes from cookbook author Susan Spungen inspired by the market (sometimes just the supermarket) and musings about life in and out of the kitchen.
Gluten Morning - Recipes from Kitty Tait's bakery. All proceeds donated to Breaducating Britain, giving free bread kits to schools, food hubs and community groups.
How I Cook - Ben Lippett - A chef's guide to really good home cooking.
The Langbein Newsletter - A newsletter from Annabel & Rose Langbein, helping you discover pleasure in simple things. Their Langbein blog is also indexed.
The Department of Salad - Step into Emily Nunn's salad laboratory. They have your leafy greens, grains, veg, and protein. Plus: salady guests, salady books & recipes, recipes, recipes
Emiko Davies - Writing from Tuscany, Emiko shares recipes, insider travel tips and personal stories about her family life in Italy.
Anne Byrn - Author of the famous "cake mix doctor" books, Anne also has a website where you'll see a preview of her upcoming book Baking in the American South
Julia Turshen - Award-winning cookbook author and recipe developer.
Alison Roman - New York Times bestselling author, she also has a website to complement her newsletter
Joyous Things (Karen Barnes) - ex-editor of delicious. magazine (UK), all issues indexed.
Caroline Chambers - What to Cook - her Substack inspired publication of two cookbooks so far.
Vittles - Vittles is an online magazine based in the UK and India, publishing new food and culture writing.
Dinner a Love Story - NYC-based cookbook author Jenny Rosenstrach and food writer for the website Cup of Jo and other publications.
Wishbone Kitchen - Substack for chef and recipe developer Meredith Hayden, who also has an additional newsletter called the group chat to "discuss anything and everything from food to fashion to home decor."
Kitchen Projects - Nicola Lamb is a recipe developer, consultant and pastry chef based in London with a brand new cookbook Sift: The Elements of Great Baking.
Carla Lalli Music - Bestselling cookbook author and former food editor at large of Bon Appétit. Her website features videos, recipes, and more.
José Andrés - Founder of World Central Kitchen, tireless celebrity chef, and cookbook author.
The Sunday Stack - Katie Zukhovich aka babytamago known for her aesthetic TikTok food posts.
Brunch with Babs - Barbara Costello, grandmother of eight and a mother of four and author of Celebrate with Babs, became a viral sensation and TikTok’s favorite grandma.
Life's a Feast - Jamie Schler - an American food writer and cookbook author who's lived in Europe for 25 years, Schler is best known for her pandemic cookbook Isolation Baking.
Diana Henry - We can't say enough good things about one of our favorite cookbook authors and food writers whose work also appears in The Sunday Telegraph and other publications.
Scraps - Carolina Gelen is a winner of a Jamie Oliver contest in her native Transylvania, Romania who now lives in the US. She has a cookbook coming out this autumn entitled Pass the Plate.
Michael Ruhlman - Prolific cookbook author who has worked with some of the biggest names in the food biz including Anthony Bourdain and Thomas Keller. His books have received international acclaim.
Michele Anna Jordan - An award-winning author, Michele has written over twenty books about food.
Seafood Savvy - Seafood adventures are shared by cookbook author Cynthia Nims who has written many cookbooks.
Illyanna Maisonet - Food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, James Beard winner and author of Diasporican: A Puerto Rican Cookbook.
Spatchcock - Food stories from food writer Michael Procopio.
Pen & Spoon - Effortless recipes and dispatches from the front line of food by award-winning food writer and cook book author Sue Quinn.
Taste Food - A newsletter by cookbook author Lynda Balslev.
Adeena Sussman - A weekly dispatch about the author's life and eating adventures in Tel Aviv. Adeena Sussman is a cookbook author and food writer.
Dear Clarissa - Musings on food and culture by a Taiwanese American writer and cookbook author, Clarissa Wei - author of Made in Taiwan
Have You Eaten Yet? - Kristina Cho author of Chinese Enough and Mooncakes and Milk Bread
Leaf Notes - author and chef - Thom Eagle: "I cook and I grow things and I read and I write books about cooking and growing things. This is a journal about cooking and growing and reading and writing."
The Dinner Plan - offers cooking inspiration for wherever you are in life. The Dinner Plan will be a podcast run by Maggie Hoffman launching on September 27th.
In My Kitchen - is a fortnightly newsletter from author Julia Busuttil Nishimura with brand new original recipes plus recommendations, tips and general good stuff. Simple, seasonal and delicious home cooking straight into your inbox every other week.

Cookbook and food writing news

Stained Page News - Paula Forbes, cookbook author and collector of cookbook news
Salt + Spine - Salt + Spine is the leading podcast on stories behind cookbooks, featuring in-depth interviews with cookbook authors. ‍Plus find featured recipes from favorite cookbooks, join our Cookbook Club, and more!
Not So Secret Agent (Sally Ekus) - One heaping scoop insider info on the nuances of publishing. A dash of mom life. Seasoned generously with industry resources from a cookbook agent.
Dianne Jacob A newsletter for food writers - Dianne is the author of Will Write for Food
Topographic Kitchens - written by Nic Miller, UK food writer and journalist

13 comments

Indio32July 31, 2024

Hard not to see the likes of substack etc as a just flash in the pan. Its popular now because its new. Firstly, those subscription dues add up pretty quickly also there's no guarantee of quality or even content (if author is sick etc). I also find it odd that despite presumedly production costs being far lower ie little/no staff, office space with no paper, printing & distribution costs the subscription costs to these newsletters are around 50% more than the print equivalent.

elizaJuly 31, 2024

I haven’t got into substack; I did sign up for one free one and ended up getting a lot of unwanted emails about other substacks I could subscribe to, so now I’m staying away from it.

RinshinJuly 31, 2024

None of that for me either. However many Japanese chefs have free youtube channels with recipes and detailed direction written within youtube that I spend watching exclusively when it comes to cooking. More than half are non Japanese recipes such as French, Spanish, Italian, etc. These are all excellent recipes without all that added commotion of food network stuff and these recipes have become my some of my all time favorites. Few add English subtitles too that I see more English speakers adding comments after watching and making these recipes.

saladdaysJuly 31, 2024

If you often dream about moving to Mediterranean France, as I do, I can recommend Debora Robertson's Lickedspoon blog. She's moved from London to Marseillan in the Hérault and writes about her life there, the food, the market with a weekly recipe.

lean1July 31, 2024

I only get the free newsletters. If I want their recipes I will buy their books.

stefJuly 31, 2024

I refuse to get into paying for substack. Will gladly buy a book from my favourites.

SheilaSJuly 31, 2024

Thanks for sharing this list. I know these folks put a lot of work into the newsletters and other content they share on Substack and I like being able to support them by subscribing, That said, I’m on a limited budget and it really adds up. I often wonder whether to subscribe to their Substack or purchase their cookbooks as I can’t afford both.

Ganga108July 31, 2024

I enjoy David Lebovitz's writing so much, but have only signed up for the free subscription. I'd rather spend my money on cookbooks :)

pomonaAugust 1, 2024

I understand why content producers want to move to formats like substack, but it's one thing to read a series of short things from a lot of people, like instagram, but I would be doing nothing but reading newsletters if I subscribed all the substack newsletters of people I follow on other social media. That said, I highly recommend Vittles for fascinating writing about food and food cultures.

CathywAugust 3, 2024

So many cooks in the kitchen! All trying to make a living doing what we love. I tend to support and read a few excellent political and feminist columns, but as of yet no food ones. As a number of commenters said cookbooks are generally a available from most of these people, and you can only subscribe to so many people.

reader1treesAugust 20, 2024

I think the link in Diana Henry's name might be to a different person with the same name.

FrenchCreekBakerNovember 28, 2024

I read a comment by Zoe Francis asking why Substack doesn’t let you pay to access only one post with a recipe you might want instead of requiring a monthly fee?

She also mentioned signing up for multiple paid subscriptions takes a toll on the pocketbook.For instance, although an extreme example, if someone subscribed to all the paid Substack newsletters mentioned the annual cost would be $3,420 if the cost is $5 a month.

That said, I do consider this post a valuable resource. And while I may have dropped all my paid subscriptions but one to Substack, Eat Your Books is one subscription I will never drop. Thanks for all you do at EYB!

Apologies:

Sorry for the typo.
Spelling correction for cookbook author/Substack blogger name on my previous comment:
Zoe Francois not “Zoe Francis”

I apologize I do not have the French typeface to add proper marks on her name’s spelling.

Just too eager to share! Wish I had an option to edit comments after posting to spare everyone my hasty blunders?