2025 James Beard Award Winning Cookbooks

Each year, a new group of standout cookbooks and food writers are honored at the James Beard Media Awards. This is considered one of the most prestigious recognitions in the culinary world.

These awards spotlight the best cookbooks, and nonfiction food and beverage books published in the U.S. during the previous year, celebrating excellence in writing, storytelling, and culinary insight. I do not envy the judges as with all the great food writing every year it is a huge task to choose just one.

Below you will find the list of the 2025 James Beard Media Awards winners and links to their winning cookbooks and books.

About The James Beard Foundation

The James Beard Foundation was established in 1986. Today it is leading the culinary industry towards a new standard of excellence. Their mission is brought to life through the annual James Beard Awards, programs and initiatives in the industry and community, as well as advocacy, partnerships and events across the country.

James Beard Award Winners

Baking and Desserts

Sift: The Elements of Great Baking

by Nicola Lamb

Beverage with Recipes

The Bartender’s Pantry: A Beverage Handbook for the Universal Bar

by Jim Meehan, Bart Sasso, Emma Janzen

Beverage without Recipes

Sake: The Art and Craft of Japan’s National Drink

by Yoshiko Ueno-Müller

Bread

Richard Hart Bread: Intuitive Sourdough Baking

by Richard Hart, Laurie Woolever, Henrietta Lovell

Emerging Voice

Paola Velez

Author of: Bodega Bakes: Recipes for Sweets and Treats Inspired by My Corner Store – A Baking Cookbook

Food Issues and Advocacy

Ruin Their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food in the United States, from the Trail of Tears to School Lunch

by Andrea Freeman

General

Pass the Plate: 100 Delicious, Highly Shareable, Everyday Recipes: A Cookbook

by Carolina Gelen

International

The Balkan Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of the Balkans

by Irina Janakievska

Literary Writing

Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves

by Nicola Twilley

Professional and Restaurant

Convivir: Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country

by Rogelio Garcia, Andréa Lawson Gray

Reference, History, and Scholarship

McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches

by Gary He

Single Subject

Jang: The Soul of Korean Cooking (More than 60 Recipes Featuring Gochujang, Doenjang, and Ganjang)

by Mingoo Kang, Joshua David Stein, Nadia Cho

U.S. Foodways

Our South: Black Food Through My Lens – A Cookbook

by Ashleigh Shanti

Vegetable-Focused Cooking

Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques [A Cookbook]

by Joe Yonan

Visuals

McAtlas: A Global Guide to the Golden Arches

by Gary He

Cookbook Hall of Fame

Rose Levy Beranbaum

Rose is an American cookbook author, blogger and most importantly baker. She is well known for her meticulous skill in baking and recipe development.

Rose has published 14 books and a laminated pie booklet! She has won James Beard Awards for her cookbooks including: The Cake Bible (in both Baking and Desserts and Book of the Year 1989), Rose’s Christmas Cookies (1991), and Passion for Chocolate (1989). Plus, she was added to the James Beard Who’s Who in 2004 and now included in the Cookbook Hall of Fame (2025).

In 2024 she celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Cake Bible with a new printing including new recipes and some updates to the original ones.

Every home chef deserves to have one of Rose’s cookbooks on their shelf.