The Carnivore Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Success on the Carnivore Diet with Over 100 Recipes, Meal Plans, and Science

After reading Dr. Shawn Baker’s book I got excited to preorder this book and test some of the recipes. Even though it’s the first book I read from Maria and Craig Emmerich, I’m impressed by their clear and honest outlook of the carnivore diet. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down before finishing the first 2 sections. These are the chapters where we learn the science behind the carnivore diet and how to implement it. Following that, the writers share 2 well-organized meal plans. Whereas the first meal plan addresses weight management, the second focuses on an autoimmune protocol. Each meal plan covers dishes for 4 weeks and contains a weekly grocery list. Finally, the last section brings around 100 recipes, including all of the recipes previously mentioned earlier in the meal plans. Let me break the review down in 3 parts. First, I’ll share essential takeaways from the carnivore diet explained throughout the first sections. Next, some details from the recipes. Last, I’ll share my personal journey through the years. CARNIVORE PRINCIPLES Maria and Craig start by sharing the science behind the carnivore diet. For that, they don’t only explain the potential health benefits when adopting this elimination way of eating, but also include interesting evidences to support it. In addition to evolutionary data, which shows how our ancestors evolved over time, we also learn why consuming plant-based foods can be detrimental. Among the arguments, they explain in detail plant toxins, additives, hybridization, cross-breeding, and even seasonality. Last, there is an entire section covering the case in favor of a meat-based diet where it’s discussed bioavailability of nutrients, protein intake, as well as common myths about meat consumption. Whereas earlier Maria and Craig focused on the fundamentals, now they explore feasible ways to implement the carnivore diet. For that, they divide into 4 levels to serve different needs. For example, the first level, which is about elimination and healing, includes only parts of the cow and salt. Then, the second level adds all parts of other animals such as fish, lamb, pork, and poultry. Next, the third level incorporates eggs and low-sugar dairy products. The last level, which isn’t technically a carnivore diet, the inclusion of some low-sugar plant-based spices and condiments for seasoning is added. The writers then show how to choose the right level based on personal needs and preferences. Based on that, we delve into the implementation steps such as what to expect when transitioning to the carnivore diet. RECIPES Even though I have only cooked 3 recipes so far, I noticed that most of them are straightforward. Each recipe contains the number of servings, preparation time, cooking time, as well as macros and calories per serving. In terms of pictures, what I appreciate most is that they are appealing, and yet they don't look overly polished pictures that look unrealistic. Salt-Baked Fish: It’s an easy and impressive method to cook whole fish covered by salt. I served with ghee and we all loved the genuine flavor of the fish. Scotch Eggs: It was the first time I had wrapped ground pork around soft-boiled eggs. The combination of flavors is outstanding, and again, the preparation was quite effortless. Meatballs: It’s basically a blend of ground beef and beef liver. I didn’t only enjoy the flavor, but was also happy to find a practical dish to include grass-fed liver more often. MY JOURNEY Although I’ve been fortunate to be in good health, I became intrigued by the role of nutrition in physical performance and overall health when I was 17. Now, in my early 30s, it’s humbling to say I've navigated through different approaches during these years. In the beginning, my focus was to prioritize natural ingredients low in sugar. In college I became vegetarian. During those 2 years into vegetarianism, I was vegan for 6 months. Based on self-reflection and personal education, I ended up acknowledging that vegetarianism wasn’t doing well for my overall health. So I reintroduced meat based foods slolwy, trying to become a conscious omnivorous. In late 2013, I was hooked when I read The Paleo Solution, by Robb Wolf. From then on, I started following Robb Wolf and Mark Sisson’s suggestions, and have refined my approach from figures such as Dr. Hyman, Dr. Mercola, and Dr. Perlmutter. A considerable adjustment happened in early 2018, when I was introduced to Dr. Gundry’s program. He encourages us to avoid foods high in lectin. Upon adopting it, I felt even better—my skin looked brighter and my digestion worked smoother. That all said, I became intrigued in mid 2019 upon hearing Dr. Paul Saladino’s arguments in favor of a whole food animal based diet—the carnivore diet. In addition to human health, he is also an advocate of regenerative farming, and concerned about the ethics of eating meat and the socio-economic impacts. As counterintuitive as it may seem, having an unbiased outlook is important to acknowledge different perspectives—and perhaps give it a try. If so, this book is a useful companion replete of easy-to-prepare meals. As a final digression, independently of the eating habits we choose, creating a positive relationship with the food we eat is important. In addition to food, embracing positive habits that promote well-being deserve equal importance in our daily lives. Take care, Haical

TL/DR: if you are curious about carnivore, starting a carnivore diet, or currently a carnivore looking for some new meaty recipes, you need this book. I knew of the Emmerich power team from their amazing keto cookbooks and was super excited to see a carnivore iteration from them. This book does not disappoint! I know that it is titled The Carnivore Cookbook (and it is a excellent source of carnivore appropriate recipes) but it is so much more than a collection of recipes. The first quarter of the book is a science-intensive guide to the health benefits of meat and carnivory and the possible negative impacts that plants can have on the human body. While this may seem a bit nerdy and in the weeds, the information is presented alongside graphics that make the information dynamic, thought-provoking, and easy to understand. The next section of the book dives into the nitty gritty of safely storing and cooking meat. Again, this section proves the book to be so much more than a typical cookbook by providing meal plans based on your goals with the carnivore diet. Finally, the recipes! I think a lot of people assume the carnivore diet to be monotonous - it’s not, and this cookbook is proof! This book is jam (or beef)-packed with recipes that will make your mouth water. Not gonna lie, the carnivore hollandaise is mildly life changing. The recipes span the gamut of easy to cook weeknight meals, ways to try organ meats for the first time, and more complex, gourmet dining experiences you would not be ashamed to serve to your mother in law! Overall, this book is a comprehensive guide to the carnivore diet. The Carnivore Cookbook is well thought out and informative while remaining easily approachable.

Ok, a couple confessions here: 1) I’m not a total carnivore, 2) I don’t especially like meat. I’ve been following a LCHF diet since 2006. I’ve lost a bit over 200 pounds and have kept it off for 11 years now. HOWEVER I’m still pretty overweight and would love to lose more! Over the last 11 years I’ve tried just about everything imaginable and can’t drop another ounce. At least I haven’t gained the 100+ pounds back, but I still should lose more. So my latest iteration is trying keto with some intermittent fasting. No weight lost yet after a few months, but I keep changing things around and one of my issues had been, as I say, that I don’t actually like meat very much. I’ve loved Maria Emmerich for years and have some of her other books, and I hoped this one might help me find some ways to prepare meat in a way that I might like it. So I preordered this book and it arrived on the 7th as promised. It’s a gorgeous book, photos are great. I love that the recipes are pretty straightforward and not overly complicated or time consuming. One of my absolute favorite things is the photo thumbnail index in the back. As I read it I kept thinking “I want to try this, I want to try that” but didn’t want to stick a gazillion bookmarks in the book. The thumbnail index helps me easily find again the recipes I want to try. As for the recipes. In my fridge I happened to have some wild Alaskan smoked salmon as well as a small tub of mascarpone cheese - both of which I’d bought because it seemed like a good idea but I couldn’t think what to do with them. And I always have eggs. So right off the bat I had to try the very first recipe in the book, the Salmon French eggs! Wow, absolutely fabulous! Then I had to try me some ribs. I did add some more spices and herbs that just salt, but again amazing with the meat fork tender. But then I decided to try the carnivore waffles. Who doesn’t like waffles? And these looked like an interesting change from the “chaffles” making the keto rounds. Alas this recipe, for me, was a total strikeout. Hamburger meat, egg, salt. They looked good but essentially just tasted like ground beef. UGH. (have I said I don’t especially like meat? 😂) I hated them! I’ll probably never make them again and I do I’d definitely have to add some garlic, smoked paprika, and maybe a few other things to make them edible. Anyway clearly I’m not doing Maria’s carnivore level one. But there are still other recipes there that sound really worth trying. I’d love to do something with beef liver but I don’t think I’ve seen beef liver in a store in over 20 years. I always loved liver with bacon. I’m happy to have this book for the recipes that do look good, and maybe it will help me hang in there with Keto.

This carnivore cookbook is the golden tablet if you're going carnivore. Recipes are clear and have pictures to back it up! I am so happy I purchased this.

I've been doing a lot of research on carnivore diets and fasting for autoimmune and other illnesses for myself and some of my clients (I specialize in emotional and physical coaching for people with ME/CFS/FM and now Long Covid). Previously read another book on Carnivore eating and was disappointed because it didn't have a lot of information about how to apply the information practically (no recipes, only a few daily meal plans). So I was psyched to find that the author had created a cookbook. Which was also disappointing. Over a quarter of the recipes had dairy and the recipes were almost all very involved, many with recipes that included ingredients that would be very difficult to find (probably only through online specialty stores = expensive!). I ended up returning both books. THIS COOKBOOK is perfect for what I was looking for because of several reasons. 1. It delves into the concepts and science AND has *100* recipes! So basically those other two books put together plus 60 more recipes...for the same price. 2. Still a lot of recipes with cheeses, but there are so many recipes in the book that there are plenty of others to choose from that don't have cheese. 3. There's a *specific* month long meal plan for addressing autoimmune illness. Yes ma'am!! 4. There are 3 (I think it's 3...) more month long meal plans for various different levels of carnivore-ness. 5. Good mix of simple recipes and more complicated recipes. A lot of super simple ones! I do wish that they'd included some information about how to find some of the ingredients that aren't so easy to find (goat, venison, etc). But not a huge deal because again, so many recipes, plenty others to choose from. I did take off one star because I got the Kindle version and there are some things that are messed up within that...the Days in an few of the meal plans repeat themselves exactly for the first three or four days and the formatting in the meal plans are kinda funky. Overall, more accessible and more practical than any of the others I've run across. I enjoy the writing style, they obviously really care and know what they're talking about. Was wonderful to know that they are speaking from experience (the husband used carnivore diet to address Lyme disease). And more bang for your buck since it's theory, science, menu plans and recipes! So much value. Exactly what I was looking for.

This is my third book on the subject. The first one was Shawn Baker's, the second one, was Paul Saladino's. Both written by physicians. Maria's book is different. The approach is purely practical, it describes the carnivorous diet with two fundamental objectives; lose weight and bring into remission diseases whose common origin is immune dysregulation-inflammation (probably the core cause of all diseases). On the other hand, those who want to stay at an adequate weight or gain weight because are skinny, and explore the benefits of eating animal products will also benefit from reading this material. In short, a good conceptual base in carnivorous diet and a set of incredible recipes, where it is here where I want to stop for a moment: the author of the book has invaluable experience when it comes to complimenting her practical knowledge in nutrition with a complete nutritional program where I do not think she has any competition since, she does not need another person to create the dishes that she has developed, with great suitability. Besides, there is something fundamental, the combination of different animals and their products provides all the macro micronutrients necessary for our biology to function at its most optimal level, and her recipes, include almost one hundred percent of them. Conclusion, if one wants to read and understand a book on a carnivorous diet, where science is not extremely deep and has a balance between knowledge and practical application, Maria's book is the most recommended. I don't think the recipes in this book can be beaten. Thank you very much, Maria, for sharing your knowledge and experience with the readers.

This book is such a great read, it has a ton of research and information followed up with plenty of recipes to get you started. The text is well written, easy to understand, and helped me grasp the concept of the carnivore diet. There are plenty of photos and instructions for recipes are easy to follow. Overall this is a great book to get you started on the carnivore diet.

In keeping with their excellent ability to explain complex nutrition topics, the Emmerich’s have produced an outstanding resource for those attempting a carnivore dietary approach. I’m a dietitian and I LOVE it when I find resources that hit the nail on the head, that explain topics succinctly, in ways I wish I could. I love resources that have charts, pictures and descriptions that make sense to people from a variety of backgrounds. This book is that resource. It’s great that varying levels of carnivore-ism are explained too. In this “all or nothing” world, it’s so much kinder to think along a spectrum—because not everyone wants or needs the same things. You might want to be strict carnivore—or you might instead want to be “carnivore-ish”. Either way, you can use this resource. Many people get into a diet like this with a primary goal to lose weight. I like their explanation of oxidative priority (a theme in all their books) to help folks see how carnivore works with that framework and will result in weight loss. And these nice charts which show the P:E ratio resonate with me based on my mutual love for Dr. Ted Naiman, as well as Marty Kendall. This chart showing the cuts of beef with the percent of calories coming from protein vs fat is brilliant. The bar graph helps you see instantly which cuts to shoot for when you wish to hit a higher P:E ratio. Many folks may skip the first 80-something pages and go right to the recipes (which are quite good, I’ve tried many of them). But I personally find tremendous value in the preceding pages that really spell things out so beautifully. I love that they also mention the personal fat threshold in relation to insulin resistance. I’m telling you, they have their finger on all the relevant/emerging topics in the nutrition world. This is my “Bible” for carnivore in the same way as their book “Keto” is my keto Bible. Bravo!! This dietitian gives 2 thumbs up!! Julie Cottrell, MS, RD, LD

Superbe livre en anglais avec des recettes faciles et très visuels. Un indispensable pour les carnivores avec un guide très complet sur cette alimentation.

Bought this book based on such stellar reviews and the authors. Here is what is crucial to know before paying almost $50 for a paperback cookbook. Carnivore diet is radical for a radical fix and I'm in. The book has beautiful full page photos of each recipe. Recipes are quick to make and focus on technique. As an experienced cook and bit of a foodie, browsing through the recipes, I was looking for more than salt as the only listed ingredient to add. Some of the hundred recipes are for other organs like tongue, sweetbread, heart, you get the picture. Some are cooked in smoker. I do not own a smoker. You will need to purchase fresh very good quality meat to get an excellent result because all you are adding is salt! Am revising this review to 5 star having tried a few recipes. Anything to me with salt tastes better, especially the smoked salt. Short ribs with browned butter was spectacular. Seems to be the best cookbook for those following strict carnivore.

Great book about carnivore lifestyle and very good cooking recipes

Diese Buch kommt mit allem. Die Philosophie, Daten, Rezepten und Menuplan wenn man sich nicht zu helfen weiß.

I've been a carnivore for 3 months and LOVE this way of eating. Someone gave me this book and the recipes are brilliant and simple. Gave me some fresh ideas. I bought it for my friend. It is a great resource. Also do not believe the nay-sayers about carnivore, rather re-educate yourself about everything you think you know about food and diet.