Delish The How-To Cookbook for Young Foodies: 75 Skills + Recipes That'll Make You a Great Cook for Life

by Joanna Saltz, Delish (editor)

Boost your budding foodie’s kitchen confidence with this beginner-friendly Delish cookbook featuring easy-to-follow recipes and instructions for kids ages 8 to 12

Follow step-by-step photos and complete each task to learn 35 essential cooking techniques, 50 delicious recipes, and fun food facts!

Any kid can be a great cook, it just takes some practice! Follow the editors of Delish on an epic cooking quest to learn all the basics and have tons of fun along the way. 

In this gamified cookbook, step-by-step photos and clear instructions present essential know-how so young chefs can follow along as they learn cooking basics.

Organized from simple techniques to more complex ones, kids will amp up their cooking skills as they progress through the book and put their new skills to practice with amazing and inventive recipes such as Mac & Cheese Pizza Bites and Sugar Cookie Fries. 

Inside young foodies will  
How to slice vegetables and make Horiatiki (Greek Salad) and Cucumber Sushi The best way to prep citrus and how to whip up GranitaThe secrets to whisking and then using that skill to make Funfetti DipHow to knead dough for the best-ever Calzones and Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel NuggetsAnd so much more! 
Plus, crave-worthy color photos, helpful tips, and cool food facts will encourage kids to cook through every page making this the ultimate gift for your budding chef.

Genres: Cookbooks, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

Published April 8, 2025

About the author

Joanna Saltz is the current Editorial Director of Delish and House Beautiful, where she oversees all food and home content for both brands. From North Caldwell, NJ, Saltz has held editorial positions at Food Network Magazine, Seventeen, and The Knot. She describes herself as Captain Chaos—she loves her family, her Delish and House Beautiful teams, loud music, science-fiction movies, laughing, and making people happy.

Reviews

[Lizzy Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic cookbook for kiddos! Gave me lots of great ideas for Library Programming!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. The COLORED pictures are very good. I love the steps on how to do things. Also the level of easy to hard. If you have kids that love to cook this book is a must have!!!

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bright, beautiful and wonderful book for anyone that is interested in learning all the basics of cooking! The information is step-by-step and the recipes vary in skill level. Non-intimidating and beautifully organized! Perfect for teens as well as adults who haven’t cooked much. Great book!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would recommend for ages 11 through 14, upper elementary through middle school. The instructional advice is excellent as are the recommendations for cooking supplies and techniques. The recipes feel like they are trying too hard to appeal to the very young. Lots of great photos!

[Yycdaisy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous cookbook for beginner cooks.