As I continue with the cookbook reviews (Best of 2024), I keep getting gobsmacked by how unhip I have become. I’m out of the loop on so many things. My only saving grace is that I work with two thirty-somethings and one twenty-something so they will sometimes point out things I should know to stay culturally relevant.
I started the 2024 journey focusing on cookbooks deemed the “best of 2024.” I’m not sure how I found the featured book for today’s post. I may have just seen the 2024 publication date. Regardless, here’s today’s review of The Noom Kitchen.
About the book:
The only official Noom cookbook! Easy, healthy, nutritious recipes for achieving your health goals deliciously!
Noom is a global phenomenon—their digital health and weight management program has helped millions lose weight and feel better by focusing on the psychology of food and behavior change. The Noom Kitchen—follow-up to Noom’s bestselling book The Noom Mindset—offers spectacularly delicious recipes that make serving health-forward foods easy for cooks of all skill levels. The majority of the recipes focus on using “green foods”, nutritionally dense ingredients that fill you up without weighing you down. With selections like Saucy Pizza-Stuffed Chicken Breast, Spinach & Feta “Hot Pockets,” and Easy Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream, The Noom Kitchen applies Noom’s trademark approach to nutrition to help readers:
- Put a healthy twist on favorite foods like french fries, pizza, and dessert
- Cook meals and snacks designed to be portable and storable so you can eat well on-the-go
- Learn new techniques for boosting the nutrient density (and decreasing the caloric density) of any meal
These recipes will appeal to dedicated Noom users and new readers alike, providing accessible culinary guidance for anyone looking to kick-start their health and wellness in the kitchen.
What I thought…
Yeah.
Did not know this was a “global phenomenon.”
If you’ve followed my reviews, I love to read cookbooks from cover to cover. The introduction or prologue always sets the tone for me. This intro read like it was AI generated. There was no warmth, no wit, no hominess.
Like I said, it really set the tone so I wasn’t too receptive to the recipes that followed.
What I did like were some of the breakfast recipes like the Chai-Spiced Overnight Oats and the Quinoa Granola. I’ve made the overnight oats twice now. I love the flavor but I did have to tweak the recipe some by adding another tablespoon of chia seeds and changing the instructions a bit. (I also used Penzey’s Baking Spice instead of cinnamon, ginger and cardamom.) I put the entire concoction in a glass dish instead of individual jars. I was worried about the ratio of oats to almond milk. 
I really like this hack and just dish out what I want each morning. 
This photo was taken before I added another tablespoon of chia seeds to absorb some of the liquid.
I also want to try the salad dressings (conveniently all in one place on four pages) and referenced in the individual salad recipes. The Hummus Four Ways (plainish, w/cauliflower, w/beets, and with jalapenos) will also be tried soon.
I felt like I’d seen the soup section before. Nothing remarkable. The Surprise Chopped Salad with Creamy Dressing was interesting with lots of chopped veggies and a topping of pomegranate. But again I thought I had seen a lot of these before: Chinese Chicken Salad, a BLT salad with avocado added.
Nothing really inspiring in the Meat & Poultry section.
There is a vegetarian section. The spiced eggplant steaks looked remarkably like the cover of Ottolenghi’s Plenty. In “Sides,” there was nothing earth shattering—asparagus with grated egg, Za’atar roasted carrots….
I feel like I’ve been kind of a pill lately when it comes to book reviews so take my rant with a grain of salt. I’m sure the recipes are delicious and they definitely take some old favorites and make them healthier. I’m really not sure but Noom and I just didn’t click.
Maybe if I had been a Noomer I would be more impressed.
Linking up with Foodies Read for May.
As another person who is out of it culturally, I googled Noom. Evidently this weight-loss company have experienced both business troubles and criticisms of their weight-loss advice as being toxic and creating disordered eating. Subscribers are charged a lot and find it hard to stop the expensive subscriptions, and they feel as if there are no humans involved to coach their weight-loss efforts. That’s what google says anyway in the first few things I googled. I’m grateful to you for making me aware of this (I don’t need to lose weight so I had no info.)
So many cookbooks… so little time!
best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com
Yes, I prefer cookbooks that tell a story, with little asides and remarks from the author and lots of background information. I did a stint with Noom and some of their advice is very sound. It is all about being mindful when you eat and enjoying whatever you have decided to enjoy while nourishing your body.
Thank you for the review. I have also done a stint with Noom and liked that they focus on debunking all the big no-no’s and guilt about eating. I don’t think I will be buying the book though so I am very glad you reviewed it.
I guess I’m really not very culturally relevant because I had no idea that Noom was a global phenomenon. Thank you as always for your honest review.
I had heard of Noom, but I am not sure I would have bought the book. Thanks for reviewing.
I’m pretty clueless about Noom myself, and truthfully, not that much interested. I was just going through some of my favorite recent cookbooks, looking for really inspired dishes featuring meat. Hard to find lately. Yotam and crew have wonderful innovative recipes featuring various vegetables, which does help me with utilizing more of what’s in my garden. Why I’m currently online, searching for an alternative cookbook. This probably isn’t it.