Inspiring family cookbooks for tasty mealtimes

Jamie Oliver has been delivering healthy recipes for years, and his quest to make school dinners healthier has made a tremendous impact on young people's health around the country - and his cookbooks are no different. Jamie's super-accessible family cookbook, uses limited good quality ingredients that make a lovely simple meal for everyone. Each recipe requires five key ingredients, perfect for those nights when the fridge looks quite bare. With dishes like Lemon Courgette Linguine, Roast Tikka Chicken to Scrumptious Chocolate Orange Shortbread - you will discover that you don't need to have a fully stocked kitchen to create a feast.

Review: "It's a typical Jamie Oliver Cookbook - nicely put together - very easy to understand - dead easy to follow the well-written recipes and he provides us with a nice colour photograph of how the finished dish should look. Not that it always does in my case!"

Known as the 'Queen of Wean' Annabel Karmel is a bestselling children's cookery writer and has created a book that fits a busy modern household. This no-fuss recipe book is packed with quick meals perfect for weeknights. You can find ideas for packed lunches, snack inspiration and even prep-ahead recipes. Not to mention these recipes take no more than 30 minutes to prep and whip up. Cook up Annabel's tasty Breakfast Granola or her delicious Veggie Fusilli, which will please even the fussiest little eaters.

Mum review: "I really love this book for family cooking. The recipes are tasty and easy to make, suitable for all the family. There are many recipes to choose from, and they don't use too many ingredients, which is also good. Would recommend."

Jam-packed with 100 easy and delicious family recipes, this book from the Ella's Kitchen series is perfect for your little ones to get involved in your cooking ventures. The book is organised by mealtime, and each recipe has been developed to make sure it is friendly for both kids and parents alike. You can also find meals that are easy to adapt for weaning babies, plus recipes for playdates and dinners with the family too. Featuring meals such as 'Crunchy Coconut and Cranberry Granola', 'Munchy Cheese and Leek Sausages' and 'Your Sunshine Carnival Curry is in the oven' you will never have a shortage of exciting meals to make together.

Review: "There is a good variety of recipes and they are easy to follow and don't require any strange ingredients. Most of the main meals are based on meat but there are also several vegetarian recipes."

Cooking can be creative and fun - but the same can't be said for cleaning up. If you hate spending your evenings washing up, you will love Rukmini Iyer's The Quick Roasting Tin. Each recipe only takes 10 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes in the oven. So all the hungry people in the house will be satisfied as soon as possible (thankfully). The book features simple and wholesome recipes like the Summer Sausage Traybake, Sticky Soy and Honey Roasted Salmon with Greens, Spiced Sweet Potato Curry and Pecan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Review: "I love this book. I use it loads - for meals at home, packed lunches and entertaining.
It’s massively changed what I eat at home (more variety, more vegetables, better flavours), and also given me better packed lunches for work - I make one of the recipes and it lasts me 3 lunches."

If you are looking for simple, easy-to-follow recipes that the kids can get involved in, Jo Pratt's cookbook would be an excellent pick. Divided into three parts 'Monday to Friday Survival', 'The Busy Weekend' and 'Cling On To Your Social Life', Jo's advice, techniques and recipes have been created to help busy parents get dinner on the table without any hassle. There are even shortened preparation and cooking times and plan-ahead tips to make preparation smooth sailing. Featuring recipes like Chicken, Spinach and Potato Curry in a Hurry, to Chocolate Cake Pops - you can't really go wrong.

Review: "I'm new to Jo Pratt's work and this was a really nice surprise. I really enjoyed the way it was structured–by the times of the week and what's happening, rather than starters, main courses, etc. It makes it really practical for my family. We've tried a few things already, and they've been a big hit with the kids and us as well."

If you watched Mary Berry's no-fuss cooking in her previous BBC Two series, then this cookbook is the perfect match for you. This book specialises in 20 to 30-minute Mary Berry recipes to make midweek cooking effortless. The queen of baking's book has over 120 new recipes with meals like Pan-fried Falafels to Sunday Roasts and, of course, sweet treats like Upside-Down Rhubarb Pudding.

Review: "Love this book! Recipes are just my cup of tea, full of flavour, easy and quick. I will be coming back to this book on a regular basis."

Nadiya Hassim has really taken off in recent years after being crowned the winner of GBBO in 2015. Her book has recipes for every occasion -from quick weeknight meals to special weekend treats. From Avocado Pasta, Butternut Squash Pasta Soup, Ginger Rice with Spiced Chickpeas to Carrot Cake, you can teach your children how to be a little adventurous in the kitchen. Plus, as you would expect from a GBBO winner - you will learn how to make decadent treats like a to-die-for Peanut Honeycomb Banana Cake.

Review: "Her recipes are simple and very relatable. Best part of it - it’s fool-proof and turned out delicious! Even when I made some mistakes on some of the steps, it still turned out delicious!"

This family cookbook has a wide selection, from weekly menus to quick bites through to something for the weekend, making it easier for the kids to decide what is on the menu tonight. We love that it includes sections like budget days, kids parties and old classics. It even comes with a free Nosh menu and shopping app. Every recipe shows a cost per person, and the average price for each meal is only £1.28 per person.

Review: "This is an excellent recipe book! The book is laid out very well - with a recipe on each page and the dish's image, which is crucial to me for a recipe book! The ingredients and instructions are all very clear and easy to follow."

The enthusiastic, fun-loving vegan twins, David and Stephen Flynn of The Happy Pear, have amazing vegan recipes on their YouTube channel and in their cookbook. This best-selling book is packed with wholesome and flavoursome, kid-friendly, plant-based meals. Vegan cooking certainly doesn't have to be tricky - with easy dinner recipes, hearty suppers and plant-based alternatives to family favourites, such as nuggets, kebabs and double chocolate brownie cake.

Review: "The recipes all look incredible and I cannot wait to try them. We've really been getting into eating a more vegetable-based diet, so it's lovely to have some new recipes to try and different ones too, that we wouldn't normally think of putting together."

We're big fans of Rebecca Wilson's recipes and in her second cookbook, she shares 100 brand new, flavour-filled dishes. We're talking quick suppers that can be prepared in a matter of minutes to slow cooker heroes that deliver big flavours with minimal effort, joyful weekend feasts, brilliant bakes and warming desserts. The straightforward recipes are suitable for little ones from six months as well as being great for older siblings and adults too. What more could you want?

Review: "Brilliant recipes..even if you aren't cooking for children! The beef stroganoff, peanut curry, lentil Dahl are regular dinners for us. It's great having a slow cooker section as well. Very easy recipes and adaptable."