The Christmas cookbooks to buy this year, according to top chefs and food writers

Paul Ainsworth is chef-patron of Paul Ainsworth at No 6

If you’re looking for restorative food for a cold, grey day, this is the cookbook for you. “While it’s not dedicated to Christmas it has some great, hearty recipes,” says Ainsworth, who noted that the “slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with boulangère potatoes” was his favourite dish from the book. We know what we’re making during the Christmas period. 

According to Ainsworth, food is “THE most important element about Christmas Day. Food is a magical, powerful thing that brings people together and that’s what Christmas is all about – enjoying a beautiful meal with the most important people in your life”. 

With any luck then, this cookbook will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to create a show-stopping feast that will bring your loved ones together.

Rukmini Iyer is the food writer behind the best-selling Roasting Tin series, including her latest The Roasting Tin Around the World

A big fan of Ottolenghi, Iyer’s pick was justified by her opinion that “Christmas is an opportunity to push the boat out with cooking, and if you enjoy being in the kitchen and have a few hands on deck to prep and cook together, the recipes in Flavour are well worth the effort. And they lend themselves to mixing and matching so well for sharing feasts.” 

Henry Firth and Ian Theasby are the duo behind BOSH! the social media sensation that has taken the vegan community by storm. They have since released a range of cookbooks, including Speedy BOSH! 

If you’re embarking on a plant-based Christmas this year, or perhaps you're a seasoned pro, the BOSH! boys recommend Vegan Christmas by Gaz Oakley, since it’s full of “wonderful recipes to choose from, and as always has great imagery and flavours too”. If they had to choose, their favourite recipe from the book is the “smoked chilli and rosemary doughball fondue”, thanks to it being “a great thing to share with friends and family during the festivities”. 

Felicity Cloake is a food writer and author of four books, including Completely Perfect: 120 Essential Recipes for Every Cook

Having worked her way through most cookbooks as a food columnist, Cloake tends to rely on her own versions of recipes, but has come to love “Nigella Lawson's irreverent approach to Christmas”, which is her go-to for festive cooking beyond the big day. Her favourite recipe? It “has to be Nigella’s gingerbread stuffing — sweet, spicy and rich it’s so ridiculously good you don’t even need turkey with it”. We know what we’ll be trying on Christmas Day!

Miguel Barclay is known as the One Pound Chef and author of five best-selling cookbooks, including Storecupboard One Pound Meals

How to Cook the Perfect… offers a chef’s level of understanding with step-by-step recipes to help you achieve a show-stopper at home, and according to Barclay he still uses “these philosophies today", adding that he really likes to keep “things simple but cooked perfectly when it comes to Christmas”. With this in mind, his advice to you this year is “cook chicken instead of turkey. Why would you put yourself under so much pressure? Turkey is really tricky to cook and takes up the whole oven, just do two chickens, you can almost cook a chicken with your eyes closed, it’s one hour and 20 minutes." 

Diana Henry is a food writer and author of nine cookery books, including From the Oven to the Table

During the cold months, we need food that warms the soul, which is why Henry selected her own Roast Figs, Sugar Snow as her go-to. When writing it, the food writer and author said it involved “lots of travelling in cold, often snowy, places to do the research for it”. Adding that it’s a collection of her favourite cold-weather recipes in one place, and she usually makes the same dishes every year. "That’s what Christmas is like – continuity and familiarity”.

Her favourite recipes? "My Danish goose (with a rye and prune stuffing), ale-soaked plum pudding, gravlax (I always make that at Christmas), and Russian smoked fish pie, as well as a Christmassy bread and butter pudding (made with mincemeat, apples, cranberries and whisky) and Scandinavian mulled wine”. A delicious compilation that will see you through the festive season and winter months. 

Tom Kerridge is an English Michelin-starred chef, pub owner and writer of a range of cookbooks, including The Hand & Flowers Cookbook

Thanks to Delia Smith’s “easy to follow” recipes that are “guaranteed to work”, Kerridge praised her cookbooks for helping to make “Christmas a little easier”. Delia’s Happy Christmas offers a fool-proof guide to festive food and will help you plan your celebrations to the very last culinary detail.

If you’re searching for advice on how to tackle your first Christmas show-stopper, Kerridge offered up some words of wisdom: “Get yourself organised, work cleanly and don’t be scared of doing lots of things in advance, even cooking the veg the day before.” We’ll take that!