Check Your Cupboards: Your Old Cookbooks Might Be Worth A Ton Of Money

Remember when recipes weren't just an endless scroll of pop-up ads and affiliate links? Younger readers may simply have to imagine it, but across demographics, people hunger for a simpler, tastier time. This nostalgia is just one reason collectors today crave vintage cookbooks — and might be willing to pay more for them than a whole cart full of ingredients at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's.

Some old cookbooks are fetching far more than market price, and maybe one rattling around your cupboard next to the sweet potatoes could be one of them. For example, AbeBooks, a global online marketplace specializing in books, fine art, and collectibles, has sold vintage cookbooks for upward of $7,500 (specifically, for Julia Child's "Mastering the Fine Art of French Cooking: Volumes 1 & 2"). Another example? Rabelais, Inc., a fine culinary book dealer (yes, there is such a thing) listed a rare first-edition (1931) copy of Irma Rombauer's "iconic" "The Joy of Cooking" in its catalog for $15,000.

All of these big-ticket prices for everyday items may be giving you a taste for the old-cookbook trade. But before diving into your own storage units or considering the best time and day of the week to hit your local thrift store, read on to learn what the recipe is for vintage-cookbook collecting.

Many century-or-so old cookbooks are worth a ton of money as collectibles. However, since those books may more so be in the antiquarian realm than, say, your grandma's storage unit, we will focus this article on more recognizable titles. A lesson can be learned from the price "The Joy of Cooking" earned through its Rabelais, Inc. listing: Classics are the classics for a reason. Iconic cookbooks do quite well in the collectible market, whether selling for $150, $1,500, or even $15,000. "The Joy of Cooking" is many home chef's first-ever cookbook, and has been since its first printing in 1931.

The 1950s and 1960s enjoyed a classic cookbook boom, and one legendary name from this era revolutionized cooking for "home chefs," and thus is a mainstay on the collectible cookbook market: Julia Child. Copies of Child's 1961 groundbreaking creation "Mastering the Fine Art of French Cooking" have fetched anywhere from $5,000 to $7,500 to $12,500.

As Julia Child's legend continues to grow among younger generations of home chefs gravitating toward gourmet experiments, chances are, the value of her books will, too. As with the booming sports memorabilia market, the "star players" and GOATs of the cooking world will always be of interest to collectors. An old, forgotten family copy of classic cookbooks — or possibly a well-loved one — might do well when sold as a collector's item. An autographed first-edition copy, of course, could do even better.

While celebrity chef cookbooks tend to prove valuable, it's not just household names to pay attention to. Local cookbooks printed by regional clubs or churches can be highly sought-after. The small print runs of these collections mean that only so many precious copies exist. Whether collectors want these books to trade like valuable Pokémon cards or because they want to cook the recipes, who's to say.

Whether recipe detectives are searching for their great-aunt's church's long-lost Blueberry Barbecue Sauce recipe binder from a bygone era or a mint copy of "Cooking with Columbo: Suppers with the Shambling Sleuth," chances are, they're doing so online. In online marketplaces and boards, such as Reddit's "r/Old_Recipes" subreddit, note that price points aren't always in the stratosphere. However, a novelty cookbook sold for a $20 margin isn't bad, especially if it was found in an old box of stuff destined for the donation bin.

While antiquarians are out hunting for thousand-dollar cookbook quarries, the casual cookbook flipper may do well to scour for cookbooks with wild vintage food photography, perhaps with hot dogs or other unique items as main ingredients, or maybe pop-culture tie-ins that would make some superfan so happy. Or, you might want to keep an eye on future modern classics in your cupboard, like the James Beard Award-winning "Salt Fat Acid Heat," the 2017 kitchen primer cookbook from famous cook and author Samin Nosrat. One day, a first edition of Nosrat's book may fetch prices close to Julia Child's books, and you could already have a copy. How delicious is that?