The Plum Village Cookbook

Selected as one of PETA’s “Vegan Cookbooks Shaping 2026”

“The Plum Village Cookbook offers something increasingly rare in contemporary food culture: an invitation to slow down. Having spent time at Deer Park Monastery, a Plum Village monastery founded by Thầy Thích Nhất Hạnh in California, I was struck by how faithfully this book captures the community’s culture of mindfulness and its spirit of generosity, compassion, and care for one another. Drawing from Vietnamese culinary traditions, the recipes are simple, nourishing, and deeply appealing. They reflect a thoughtful plant-based approach grounded in compassion for both people and the planet. More than a cookbook, The Plum Village Cookbook is a guide to cultivating presence at the table and reverence for the many hands, histories, and ecosystems that sustain us.”
—bryant terry, James Beard Award–winning author of Vegetable Kingdom and Afro-Vegan

“I have spent years in monastery kitchens throughout the world and I know how rarely a book manages to carry the genuine feeling of those sacred places onto the page. The Plum Village Cookbook does just that. These are recipes you can taste before you cook them, unfussy and deeply rooted in the Vietnamese table. But what stayed with me are the small routines and practices tucked between them: the reminders to breathe, to express gratitude for simple things, to treat the washing of a pot with the same attention as the meal itself. Thích Nhất Hạnh taught that how we cook and how we eat is how we live. This book makes that teaching something you can hold in your hands, and it belongs in any kitchen where someone is hoping to slow down, to feel at peace, and to cook with joy, intention, and gratitude.”
—Jody Eddy, author of Eat Like a Monk and Elysian Kitchens

“This book is a fabulous resource to help you be fully present in the kitchen. WIth tips on how to practice mindfulness with every step of preparing your food, from thoughtfully harvesting vegetables from the soil, peeling and cutting ingredients with purpose, attentively stirring a simmering soup or stew, to enjoying your meal alone or sharing it with friends with compassion and generosity. It will be easy to incorporate these accessible classic Vietnamese dishes and smattering of global recipes into your everyday meal rotation.”
—Cameron Stauch, author of Vegetarian Viet Nam

“This book braids together stunning photography, simple and delicious recipes, and essential wisdom for living and tasting fully. Page by page, meal by meal, it transports you to the beautiful monastery of Plum Village—and then gently reveals that the spirit of Plum Village can be experienced anywhere, even in your own kitchen. After all, Plum Village is not just a place. It’s a way of being: mindful, joyful, fully present.”
—Andrea Miller, editor of Lion’s Roar magazine and author of This Is a Very Good Strawberry: Mindful Practices from the Garden to the Kitchen