Shake Shack: Recipes & Stories: A Cookbook

by Randy Garutti, Danny Meyer (Introduction)

Shake Shack’s first-ever cookbook, with 70 recipes and plenty of stories, fun facts, and pro tips for the home cook and ShackFan, as well as 200 photographs.
 
Follow Shake Shack’s journey around the world; make your own ShackBurgers, crinkle-cut fries, and hand-spun frozen custard shakes at home; and get a glimpse into the culture, community, and inner workings of this global phenomenon.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, New York

240 pages, Hardcover

Published May 16, 2017

Reviews

[Cait]

10/10 would recommend if you love burgers or have a soul

[Maria]

Enjoyed reading about their story and learning about their process. Shake Shack's food is great! and so is their cookbook

[Dan]

Now I'm starving for a ShackBurger and a shake!

[Bookworm]

Depends on what you're looking for. The origin stories behind brand names are fun reads for me so I was intrigued by this book. It's basically what it says on the tin: recipes and stories regarding the Shake Shack brand. Their burgers, hot dogs, shakes, etc. How they came to be, a bit about the vendors they work with, plus recipes of various foods. Of course they don't give away company secrets (why would they undercut their profits?) but it's a fun cookbook/brand microhistory that might appeal to its fans.
 
There's not much to say about it. I picked this up on a whim after seeing it was available at my local library. Since I have actually only been in an SS location maybe twice that I can think of, I had no idea this book was being published. But it's a very nice-looking book with plenty of glossy pictures of their food, of the recipe steps, pictures of their food items, etc. 
 
That said, I didn't think it was the most amazing work. I have no objection to this type of book in itself and thankfully I felt it matched the title. But the writing is not that interesting (being from the company itself it's really just PR) and as I thumbed through it I felt like the book was trying to be everything to everyone: a cookbook, a history of SS, an acknowledgement/thank you to the vendors/customers/people behind the brand, etc. I'd guess for general SS fan who is a bit more interested in them it might be a great book.
 
Overall it was a good library borrow but for the right person who loves Shake Shack, is into burgers/hot dogs/the foods SS sells or enjoys general food/brand microhistories, this could be a good gift or borrow. I'd recommend getting this from the library or at least thumbing through at your local bookstore to see if this is something you really want to add. 
 
For a good microhistory behind a burger chain that has more warts (and no recipes if I remember correctly), the book 'In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules' was quite enjoyable. I don't care for the hype around that chain, but as a look behind the curtain I thought that was an interesting book.

[Chris Esposito-bernard]

More of a Cultural Artifact

I grew up in LA and took the art of the burger seriously. I explored the bounty of the pastrami burger at the Hat in Pasadena, would get chili fries from Tommy’s and pour the abundant chili on an In-and-Out double-double. So when I moved to NYC and the shake shack on the Upper West Side opened up, I was sold. I felt like, “Yes! This tastes like home.” I’ve preaching the gospel of the shack from my first sip of their Fair Shake and loved every bite since. And this book chronicles all the things I’ve loved about the whole experience.

In ten years, this book will be ring of nostalgia and capture the most romantic way to open a simple burger joint, committed to serving a community over attempting to reap profits and being the place we go remember what it was like back in the day.

[Minna]

Very interesting. I will be trying the Shroom Burger at home! The shakes look AWESOME but also like two entire days' worth of calories, so I don't know if I would be physically able to both make them AND eat them. (You know how, when you see what goes into something, and you KNOW how bad it is, it's harder to eat?)
The history of the company was also fascinating, and I am absolutely thrilled by Shake Shack's commitment to responsible sourcing and humane farming. We need MORE companies who do this when consumers aren't looking (and not just when they're in the spotlight). I am 24 miles away from the nearest Shake Shack but I may need to make my way there anyways to try it out. This is the kind of organization I feel good about spending my money on.

[Rebecca Hayward]

Having never been to a Shake Shack but heard tons about them I was eager to read their story. I loved all the stories about the local food and restaurant people’s wares that go into making the Shake Shack into the success it is. The recipes are nice too. I personally love cookbooks and read them like novels. Now I want to visit a Shake Shack someday.

[Bridget]

Surprising& mouth watering!

I did not have any idea about the personal stories and history of this wonderful restaurant! This was a great read and the recipes look simple and delicious, I am definitely going to revise the way I make hot dogs, hamburgers and fries at home!🍔🌭🍟😋

[P.L. Winn]

This was a lot of fun. Not just a cookbook, and not just a history of Shake Shack, it managed to include just the right amount of both. I devoured this in a single day!

[Suzy]

freakin love shakes shack, i loved the recipes i loved the stories on how it became the best burgers in the world. GREAT GIFT FOR EX-NEW YORKERS

[Kate Zdenek]

This was interesting. It's a history of the restaurant chain (which is one of my favorites) along with recipes. I can't wait to try their sauce recipes, even though they say it's not the exact one that is used in the stores.

[S Vanorse]

Here's a recipe it is not ours but it will get you really close! That's all you need to know about that if you want the original you gotta go there. Otherwise really nice history, love info on where sources for supplies are from, interesting.

[Honest Mabel]

I mean …

Like it’s okay and cute but on sale for $.99 type cute. This isn’t anything worth writing home over. I am happy to borrow it from the library anytime I may feel the urge to get it. But really this one is a Google what recipes you may want.

[Mindy]

It is a fun idea to replicate Shake Shack recipes at home.

[Leslie Jonsson]

Does not have the actual recipes from the restaurant...the history of this chain is interesting.

[TISHA]

I absolutely LOVE Shake Shack so this is a book that I must buy.

[Stefanie]

Now I need some of their delicious cheese fries!!!

[Janet]

I have not yet tasted the Kool-Aid so this book meant very little to me.

[Deborah Cleaves]

Fascinating both in its history and its corporate model. Particularly good in the way they share their path to creating their simple recipes and how to's so they can be replicated by the reader.

[Aliasger Talib]

read the chicken and fries section,, It was good..

[Trish]

This was a great way to see how it all started.

[Katie]

I really enjoyed reading about the history of Shake Shack. I can't wait to try out a few of their recipes at home.

[Chris]

Love love love the recipes and the history of burger and shake places that made burgers and shakes famous.

[Corban Ford]

Really fun book on the story of Shake Shack, with great pictures and behind the scenes details, and some really good recipes!

[Christina Turner]

The value of this book is the brand story, and the thinking around treating employees well as a fundamental prerequisite for being able to provide good customer service

[majorjay18]

One of my favorite places for a burger.

[Shirin Reh]

I LOVE SHAKE SHACK
so all the recipes were very cool
I feel like I've read something that should be kept top secret

[Morgan]

I'll give this book credit in that the recipes were interesting and seemed pretty basic and simple enough that anyone with minimal skill could pick up and make something. That being said, this book seemed to me to be a huge "look-how-great-we-are" publication. And I didn't think it was very gracious to mention how much they care about the low paid workers they employ but then not include a thanks to them in the acknowledgements at the end of the book.

[Deanna]

Ready to visit the only Shake Shack in my city for dinner! Yummy!