If you want to cook Swiss food, here are ten cookbooks that focus solely on Swiss dishes. A few are classics targeted to a Swiss audience. A few are written by expats helping foreigners understand Swiss cuisine.
I selected mostly cookbooks that are available in English and can be easily bought online. These would be a great gift for yourself or anyone who wants to understand Switzerland through their food.
1. The Swiss Cookbook • Betty Bossi
Betty Bossi is the Betty Crocker of Switzerland, publishing easy to make recipes for home cooks for 50 years. This book has all the Swiss classics and specialties from each canton, also with information about the culture. The book is spiral bound with glossy pages.
Available in EN, DE, FR
Buy on BettyBossi.ch or OrellFuessli.ch
2. Globi’s Swiss Cookbook
An illustrated cookbook with Switzerland’s mascot, Globi the blue parrot. More than 50 recipes from all cantons, contributed by 26 Swiss cooks, many award winning professionals.
Available in EN, DE, FR
Buy on OrellFueslli.ch or ExLibris.ch
3. Tip Topf • Swiss School Cookbook
This cookbook is used by Swiss schools in their cooking classes, typically in 7th grade. Kids receive this free as their textbook. But you can buy your own copy on Schulverlag.ch if you like. It includes most of the classic dishes that you’ll see in Swiss restaurants.
The instructions are short and do not elaborate on technique, which can be frustrating for a non Swiss cook that might be used to different methods. It’s not available in English. But if you are learning German, this can be a fun way to improve your vocabulary and reading skills.
Available in DE, FR, IT
Buy new on Schulverlag.ch or used on Tutti.ch
4. Helvetic Kitchen • Swiss Cooking
Born in Canada to a Swiss mother, Andie Pilot now lives in the Bern area and has been sharing Swiss recipes on her website Helvetic Kitchen for years. In 2022, she updated and expanded her cookbook, a collection of her favorite Swiss recipes.
Available in EN
Buy on Bergli.ch • Preorder on Amazon.com
We also love this article on Helvetic Kitchen where she shows her extensive library of well used Swiss cookbooks that she uses for inspiration.
5. Swiss Cookies
In 2021, Andie Pilot of Helvetic Kitchen published her second cookbook, a collection of Swiss cookie recipes, just in time for the holiday baking season. The book includes 40+ recipes, lots of photos, and fun facts and stories about Swiss culture.
Available in EN, DE
Buy on Bergli.ch or Amazon.com for the U.S.
6. Swiss Bread
Originally from Minnesota, the author Heddi Nieuwsma now lives in western French-speaking Switzerland, blogging about Swiss food on her website Cuisine Helvetica. This book has recipes for over 42 kinds of Swiss bread, with information about the history and culture as well.
Available in EN, DE, FR
Buy on Helvetiq.com
7. Swiss + Sweet
In 2022, Heddi published her second book, with desserts from all over Switzerland. It includes 45 recipes for cakes, pastries, tarts, cookies, puddings. You can read about how the book came together on her blog.
Available in EN, DE, FR
Buy on Helvetiq.com
8. Swiss Fondue
This book explains the basics of fondue and gives recipes, using different kinds of cheeses and add-ins to achieve a wide variety of flavors. If you’re bored with your fondue routine, this is a great way to expand your repertoire.
Available in EN, DE, FR
Buy on Helvetiq.com
9. Cooking in Switzerland
I was gifted this cookbook when I first moved to Switzerland. The author Marianne Kaltenbach was born in Zürich in 1921 and published more than 50 cookbook until her passing in 2005. This adorable collection of many regional specialties has the look of a grandmother’s beloved resource, accumulating handwritten notes and grease stains over many years of happy cooking.
Available in EN, DE
Buy on Orell Füssli
10. E Guete Schweiz
This book is more esoteric than the others, exploring on 10 traditional Swiss ingredients, like Birnel (pear syrup), Dörrbohnnen (dried green beans), and Buttenmost (raw rose hip sauce). Each chapter describes the history, culture and use of these ingredients then gives a few recipes for that ingredient. If you understand German or French and want to dive deeper into traditional Swiss food culture, this is a good choice.
Available in DE, FR
Buy on ExLibris or Orell Füssli
Online Swiss Recipes
I have a few classic Swiss recipes here on the blog including Rösti, Bircher Müesli and Älpermagronen.
