When I started using cannabis to treat my crippling depression in 2017, I immediately wondered about making edibles. I have loved cooking and baking my entire adult life, and I'm a huge reader. Naturally, I turned to edibles cookbooks, and I've amassed quite a few over the years.
In this post, I'll share my best cooking with cannabis books after six years of collecting and cooking from them. Let's get cracking.
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The Best Cooking with Cannabis Books.
2. The 420 Gourmet: The best edibles cookbook for people who don't like the taste of cannabis.
3. Cooking With Herb: The best cooking with cannabis book for foodies.
4. Edibles: The best cannabis cookbook for cooks who want lots of pictures.
5. Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics: The best cannabis drinks book on the market.
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1. Your favorite cookbook: I promise you'll love these cannabis edibles best!
If you're screaming at me through the computer that this isn't a canna cookbook, I hear you.
I'm going to share a dirty little secret. I don't love most edibles cookbooks I've read. Once you master the pantry basics like infused butter and oil, sugar, salt, and cannabis flour, you can turn ANY recipe into the best cannabis-infused dish ever, and I'm often left disappointed by cannabis-specific recipes.
So my best trick is to just take your absolute favourite recipes or cookbooks and add in some canna-goodness.
Some of the best recipes I've ever made come from this golden oldie, The Betty Crocker Cookbook. Think infused cornbread, Thai chicken with basil, watermelon lemonade, and my personal favourite, gingersnaps.
All I do is substitute some or all of the fat, sugar, flour, or salt in the recipe with my infused version. When I'm having guests, instead of infusing the dish itself, I'll put out some infused olive oil so they can add a couple of drops or more, depending on their tolerance.
Voila! Delicious canna recipes that I already know I love.
Americans, get your copy from Bookshop.org and support local bookstores.
2. The 420 Gourmet: The best edibles cookbook for people who don't like the taste of cannabis.
As much as I love and adore cannabis, I really don't like the taste of it most of the time in my food. I'm constantly trying to mask it with chocolate or spices.
But when I heard of Jeff The 420 Chef's way of getting rid of the weedy taste, I was skeptical. After, he was asking me to wash my weed! That's how he gets rid of the flavour, and it works!
Yes, it's an extra step, and yes, you probably have a little bit of potency loss, but for people who want cannabis edibles without the green taste, this is a game changer.
After he teaches you his signature cannabis-washing technique, the author goes on to share almost 250 pages of recipes from soups to fish to pasta to desserts. My favorites so far are Real "Hash" Browns, Potzo Ball Soup, and Canna-Garlic Knots.
Americans, get your copy from Bookshop.org and support local bookstores.
3. Cooking With Herb by Cedella Marley: The best cooking with cannabis book for foodies.
So many cannabis cookbooks are filled with quick, simple recipes, and there's a place for those. But for foodies and home chefs, they can leave a little bit to be desired.
Enter Cooking with Herb, written by none other than Bob Marley's daughter, Cedella. It's filled with mouthwatering pictures of Jamacian-inspired drinks, appetizers, main courses, and desserts that are filled with flavour.
Think Quinoa with Curry Cashews and Coconut, Superpowered Hemp Dip, and Grilled Jerk Vegetables with Lime Vinaigrette.
If you're new to cooking with cannabis, there aren't a lot of pantry basics in here. You'll learn canna-oil and canna-butter, but not too much else on the cannabis side. However, it's one of the few cookbooks I've seen with a recipe for canna-vanilla extract.
Many of the recipes are chock full of veggies and spices, and I definitely couldn't find everything I needed in small-town Ontario, but I've loved even my modified versions of her dishes.
Grab your copy at your local bookstore.
Edibles - Small Bites for the Modern Cannabis Kitchen by Stephanie Hua: The best cannabis cookbook for cooks who want lots of pictures.
How is it still a thing in 2023 that we have cookbooks that don't have photographs of each recipe? Everyone knows people eat with their eyes first!
If you're like me and want to see what each recipe should look like, Edibles by Stephanie Hua won't disappoint you. But I promise it's not just the pictures. The recipes and techniques are excellent as well.
This is one of the few cannabis cookbooks that I see teaching about the sous vide method for making infusions. Sous vide is a simple technique ensuring your cannabis butter or oil never overcooks, so you don't lose potency.
The best recipe I've tried is HANDS DOWN the Cardamom Caramels. I love caramels and cardamom, but the combination of them both in these chewy, sweet, delectable bites is irresistible. She warns you that the recipe makes a big batch, but I promise they'll be gone as soon as you're done making them.
And did I mention cannabis Nutella? Yup. I said it. Go click the buy button, and you too can be licking delicious hazelnutty goodness from a spoon at 2:00 am.
There are a few savory recipes in here as well, but to be honest, I'm too stuck on caramels and Nutella and haven't even tried them yet.
Americans, get your copy from Bookshop.org and support local bookstores.
5. Cannabis Cocktails, Mocktails, and Tonics by Warren Borrow: The best cannabis drinks book on the market.
I don't think cannabis-infused drinks get enough love, and they can be so easy. Most of the time, I would simply prefer putting a few drops of tincture into my afternoon mocktail than drinking an alcoholic bevy. There's no hangover, I feel in control, and there are usually fewer calories in my canna-mocktails.
But Warren Borrow has been obsessing over drinks for decades, and he doesn't just keep things simple. He takes you on a full culinary tour of dozens of ways to deliciously drink your cannabis.
He teaches you how to infuse not only alcohol but also maple syrup, coconut cream, and even cocktail cherries. Then, you can go on to make truly unique drinks that leave you feeling happy (and damn proud of yourself!)
Many of the drinks contain alcohol, but I tend to stay with the mocktails. My favourite so far is the Cosmopolitan. It's filled with fresh fruit juices and is just the right amount of sweetness. The Vietnamese Coffee with cannabis-infused condensed milk and coconut water ice cubes is also drool-worthy.
Americans, get your copy from Bookshop.org and support local bookstores.
What's your favourite cannabis cookbook?
I'm always looking for new books to add to my sagging bookshelf, so hit me up with your best ones in the comments below. And don't forget to join our free Cannabis Book Club.
With love,
Andrea
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