“I tell you not to worry because I’ve done all the worrying for you!”

Bonnie Stern, beloved teacher and bestselling cookbook author, wants nothing more than for you to feel like she’s in the kitchen cooking beside you.

In her latest cookbook, Don’t Worry, Just Cook, written with her daughter Anna Rupert (who has, in fact, been in the kitchen cooking beside Bonnie her whole life!), Bonnie and Anna are here to help cooks of all experience foster comfort and connection through food.

With her trademark encouraging style and attention to detail, Bonnie writes recipes that are consistently delicious, widely appealing, and, as always, timeless. Like all of her cookbooks, Don’t Worry, Just Cook doesn’t simply give instructions to create a dish, it also shares stories, lessons, and kitchen wisdom that will build your cooking technique and confidence in the kitchen.

In this new book, you’ll find easy-to-follow recipes for all-day breakfasts, soups, starters, and side dishes, as well as breads and vegetarian, fish, and meat mains. And, for those wanting something sweet, Bonnie and Anna have included plenty of desserts! You’ll be amazed by how quickly such special dishes like Jeweled Roasted Salmon with Herbs and Sheet Pan Chicken with Lemon and Olives come together. The simplicity and beauty of dishes like Ja’ala Herb Salad with Lemon Honey Dressing and Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Tahini and Z’hug will impress even the cook! And the desserts, like the Pavlova Cake with Lemon Curd and Berries, Bonnie’s Rugelach, and S’mores Chocolate Bark have never been so fun or delicious.

Bonnie and Anna have also provided notes and variations to help you modify dishes for special diets, and have sprinkled in essays on topics that will resonate with all of us, from things not worth worrying about, to a love of leftovers and what to do with them. Bonnie and Anna’s warm voices and subtle humor come through on every page. With 125 enjoyable and thoughtful recipes, and stunning photography, home cooks will turn to this instant classic time and time again to nourish themselves and the people they love.

Bonnie Stern's profile page

Anna Rupert's profile page

Yotam Ottolenghi's profile page

BONNIE STERN is the founder of the Bonnie Stern School of Cooking in Toronto, which she opened and operated from 1973 to 2011. She has studied and taught cooking around the world, hosted three national cooking shows, and for 17 years, wrote a weekly column for the National Post. She has conducted popular workshops for the James Beard Foundation in New York City and leads culinary tours to various delicious destinations. Bonnie is also the creator of a groundbreaking book club in which authors are invited to discuss their work during thematic dinners. She has authored 12 bestselling cookbooks, including Bonnie Stern’s Essentials of Home Cooking, which won a coveted International Association of Culinary Professionals award. Bonnie is the recipient of many awards, including the Ontario Hostelry Institute’s Gold Award, the Premier’s Award, and, in 2021, Bonnie was inducted into the Taste Canada Hall of Fame.

In addition to being Bonnie’s daughter and sous-chef, ANNA RUPERT is a speech-language pathologist, health and social care manager, researcher, and consultant in Toronto. Anna holds master’s degrees in Speech-Language Pathology and International Health Policy from the University of Toronto and the London School of Economics, respectively. Anna’s research and consulting has focused on the inclusion of rehabilitation services (like speech pathology) in global health systems, health system funding and planning, and the relationship between early childhood mental health, childhood trauma, and communication development. Clearly, she has multiple interests! Anna has been cooking with Bonnie since she was able to sit unsupported on the kitchen counter and hold a wooden spoon (there is photo evidence). This is her first book.

“For decades, Bonnie has inspired confidence in home cooks to try a new dish or technique, and now with her daughter, Anna, that sense of warmth and comfort is doubled. The wait is over for this new delectable and trustworthy recipe collection, and your only worry will be which recipe to try first.”
—ANNA OLSON, chef and author

“Don’t Worry, Just Cook radiates warmth from every recipe. The strong connection between Bonnie and her daughter, Anna, imbues the pages. This beautiful cookbook offers more than just delicious, easy-to-execute recipes—it reveals Bonnie’s myriad culinary experiences, coupled with the refinement of Anna’s perspective of her mother’s creations.”
—RENÉ REDZEPI, chef and co-owner of Noma

“Home cooking is all about sharing food and recipes, and passing down the love of food from one generation to another. And there’s no better way to do this than in Bonnie and Anna’s fantastic selection of irresistible and colorful dishes.”
—SAMI TAMIMI, chef and award-winning author

“Funny, insightful, and packed with irresistible recipes, Don’t Worry, Just Cook is exactly what we need in our lives right now. This gorgeous, delicious work is so much more than a cookbook. It’s a manifesto on food, family, friends, and love, all played out in Bonnie and Anna’s kitchen. As someone who has had the frequent privilege of sharing a table with these two and devouring a meal they’ve cooked, I can confidently say that you will want to make every single thing in these beautiful pages. Throughout her long and illustrious career, Bonnie has been a trusted, wise voice, imparting expert, accessible cooking knowledge to legions of home cooks (and now their children and grandchildren), hungry to recreate what comes so naturally to her. Now, by partnering with her equally talented number-one student, we are granted priceless access to the envy-inducing culinary osmosis that only this mother-daughter duo can create.”
—ADEENA SUSSMAN, author of Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors From My Israeli Kitchen

“Bonnie and Anna’s new book is irresistible. It is partly the exquisite, colorfully-photographed recipes themselves, like Jeweled Roasted Salmon with Herbs, but it is also that mother and daughter are there, at your elbow, to give you any help you might possibly want—what brand of tomato paste to use, how many minutes you should blend the hummus for until it is really silky, and recipe substitutes if you’re vegan. I think I am going to start with their Delicious Chicken Patties.”
—MADHUR JAFFREY, actor and author

“A book of recipes of love and food and family, with the sweetest of people cooking the most delicious of foods. Feels like home to me. ‘Don’t worry’ indeed, just make these glorious recipes and eat with your heart.”
—ANTHONY ROSE, chef and author of The Last Schmaltz: A Very Serious Cookbook

“Cooking, like life, in the age of social media is riddled with anxiety and FOMO. Everything, everyone looks too perfect. Ordinarily pleasurable things like making dinner for your family or inviting friends over for brunch can seem too intimidating to consider. Put down your phone! Bonnie and Anna show you there’s no reason to worry about making delicious food. With a collection of inspired recipes that tap into trends in flavor and global cuisines, they’ve created a manual for cooking and eating well perfectly tuned to our tastes today. Every recipe, every photo, every page makes me want to get in the kitchen and cook.”
—MITCHELL DAVIS, author and food strategist @kitchensense

“Useful, well-organized, and creative but approachable recipes with gorgeous photography to match. A welcome addition to anyone’s cookbook collection.”
—JACQUES PÉPIN, chef, author, and educator