The No Recipe Cookbook

by Samantha Pillay

Then change your cooking, change your life! Learning to cook without a recipe can take the stress out of meal planning and cooking. If you’re someone who enjoys long lists of ingredients, fancy recipes, and glossy pictures - then this book is not for you. But if you Then this book is the answer to all your mealtime prayers.
About the

Dr Samantha Pillay is a urologist specialising in incontinence surgery. She is an advocate for public health, education, and financial security. She is a single mother, surgeon, entrepreneur, educator, public speaker, and director of a successful practice, Continence Matters, while managing her physical limitations from a medical condition from birth. Her skills to communicate in simple ‘how to cook’ language encourages newcomers to take the leap and develop an important life skill.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

171 pages, Paperback

Published December 18, 2020

About the author

Dr Samantha Pillay OAM's journey is a testament to resilience, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Diagnosed late with congenital hip dysplasia, she underwent multiple corrective surgeries during her childhood. Despite starting school in a wheelchair, Samantha graduated at 16, graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1992. She broke new ground by becoming the first female urological surgeon in South Australia. In 2025 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to urology.

Driven by a vision to provide specialized incontinence treatments to women in South Australia, Samantha became the first urologist in Australia to focus exclusively on female and functional urology. In 2002 she founded Continence Matters, a Centre of Excellence in women's health.

Her leadership extends beyond her practice. Dr Pillay has held numerous influential positions, including serving as Chair of the Female Urology Special Advisory Group for the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand from 2007 to 2013. She was the first woman to represent South Australia on the Board of Urology from 2003 to 2006, the first female scientific convenor for their Annual Scientific Meeting in 2007, and the first female chair of the South Australian Urology section in 2017.

As a single mother, Dr Pillay has dedicated her career to addressing incontinence, reducing stigma, and educating medical professionals and the public. She developed an online Continence Course to fill gaps in medical education and ensure that healthcare providers are well-equipped to manage this often-overlooked condition.

She is a five-time international Amazon No. 1 best-selling author. Her first book, "The No Recipe Cookbook," is a unique guide for people who don't cook, offering an intuitive approach to cooking that saves time, money, and calories.

Following this success, as a strong advocate for breaking gender stereotypes and shattering the glass ceiling for women, she authored When I'm a Surgeon, the first book in the Inspirational Careers for Kids picture book and activity book series. The series continued with the release of Book Two, When I'm an Entrepreneur, Book Three, When I'm an Astronaut, Book Four, When I'm the President, and Book Five, When I'm the Prime Minister. These books aim to inspire children to pursue their dreams regardless of societal expectations.

When I’m the President has received the following accolades:
• 2024 American Children's Fiction Award Winner
• Golden Wizard 2024 Book Prize Winner
• 2024 Firebird Book Award Winner
• Reader's Favorite Five-Star Review
• Global Book Awards 2024 Finalist
• NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite 2024

Samantha's contributions have not gone unnoticed. She was a finalist for SA Australian of the Year in 2022 and a 2023 State Finalist for the Telstra Best of Business Award in two categories: Accelerating Women and Championing Health. She was the 2024 winner of the Women in Innovation Social Impact award.

Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Pillay emphasizes the importance of dreaming big. Despite her challenges, she achieved more than she ever imagined possible. Her advice to young girls is simple yet profound: "Take your dream, double it, and double it again." Through her work, Samantha Pillay continues to inspire the next generation to reach for the stars and make their dreams a reality.

Reviews

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This quick little Australian book reminded me a lot of the information you'd get if you asked a Facebook group for meal ideas or called your grandma and asked how to make pancakes. It's composed of tips for shopping, minimizing time and mess, etc. and then very basic directions for how to make an assortment of things like pancakes and fish dishes. The directions are very minimal and new cooks are likely to be left with unanswered questions, while experienced cooks are likely to find not much that they don't already know. It is very Australian in measurements, ingredients and names of dishes (I'm still not sure what a "slice" is even after reading her directions).

As another reviewer mentioned, it is fairly heavy on the animal products. Pillay also calls for a lot of white flour and there is no information about gluten free baking. Ironically, while the introduction mentions diabetes and food-related health crises, these are pretty carb-heavy meals for the most part. Fats are not really mentioned other than lots of uses of butter. Fish is featured more than any other proteins, with no mention of proteins like beans and little information on cooking meats (though they are used often as ingredient suggestions like sandwich fillings). There was also a notable lack of suggestions in terms of salads or soups for meal ideas, or simple things like fresh fruits. There are no photos. It'll be a helpful guide to those who are pretty new to cooking though, especially parents (kid-friendly tastes and lunchbox options are frequently mentioned) and people who eat what I assume is a standard Australian diet fairly similar to the American one.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

[Tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though I know how to cook I was still drawn to this. I like the idea of a nontraditional cookbook, that gives you ideas and you just run with what you are given. I still learned a lot and will be putting her strategies into my everyday cooking.

I read this book in one sitting because I just couldn't get enough of it. Everything was sp easy to read, and even though there were no measurements it was still easy to follow a long. I wasn't interested in all of the recipes, but if I ever need to make any of these I will go to this book.

[Stefanie Bevins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the beginning part of this book as far the tips for how to shop and ideas for throwing meals together. The meals were all very animal based so I didn't care for that and wouldn't recommend this book for vegetarians or vegans. It is surprising to me that a Doctor would recommend so many meals that are so heavily meat centered.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s something gently evangelical about this little book which encourages us to get cooking for the sake of our health and our finances.
These are guidelines for the kinds of everyday meals that will nourish and satisfy a family – basics such as risotto, mince and pasta – showing how they can be planned to minimise shopping trips and avoid waste. It reminds me of the old-fashioned ‘home economics’ books for ‘housewives’, but without the sexism and with a definitely more modern style.
A couple of niggles:
Firstly, there are 23 kitchen safety tips , including gems such as ‘don’t lick sharp knives’ and ‘don’t cook naked’ . However, I’ve only ever suffered food poisoning once and that was from rice. Turns out reheated rice is a major food poisoning issue but Pillay mentions reheating rice many times without addressing this.
Also, although I liked the idea of organising the meals into ‘days’, I got a bit confused by this . ( eg days 6,7 and 8 Fried Rice???)
It’s not a long book but it is enjoyable and may be useful for some.
One final amusing point – the author is Australian and she mentions that the English call their main evening meal ‘supper’ – as an English person, I can say that I thought that supper was what you call a bowl of cornflakes before bed!

[Alina · Rating 2 out of 5]

***Note: I received a copy curtesy of Netgalley and BooksGoSocial in exchange for an honest review.

I think many people are looking for a quick and easy fix to get some homemade meals, but I didn't find any real solutions yet. Nor does this book provide any.

Unfortunately it wasn't the book for me, as it concentrates more on economy and seldom shopping (once every 2-3 weeks) than on the kind of meals I'm looking for.
It has lots of carbohydrate meals and not so many with fresh vegetables (because of the seldom shopping), and the recipes are only schematic, with no quantities and detailed instruction how to cook.

I hope it will help others..

[u1818 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!

Samantha Pillay has created an excellent and easy-to-understand guide to 'no-recipe' cooking.

The book details how to reduce your shopping trips and expenses and how to meal plan for the weeks ahead. I managed to get my shopping trips down to once every fortnight.

A must-read guide (especially if you don't like cooking).

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great guide for anyone really who is a little afraid to get in the kitchen to cook and great for kids, young adults, and basic adults. It is truly no recipes just a step by step on what /how to do in a kitchen from utensils the reason behind that said utensils also, you get a little background on the reasons why this book was written this way. She goes into how to eat healthy by cooking your own food but also saving money buy meal planning also saving gas and precious time with meal planning one shopping trip to buy all that is needed for the week. This book has a lot to teach and if you aren’t a cook basically if you are a cook you will still learn something/everything from this book.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful beginners guide to cooking and kitchen safety. I really enjoyed reading through the safety tips. For the most part everything is common sense, but the reminders are great and good for people who just never thought about it. I thought it was pretty interesting that the dinner and desert recipes came before breakfast and loved that there were explanations for different types of cooking and ingredients. Well done.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Tina Helzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great no recipe cookbook. This book will give you a lot of information about how to cook without a recipe and the ideas on how to prepare ahead for extra meals and so on. This really is a great book and I am enjoying it and will be using this book more in the future to help out with my cooking.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Andrea Barringer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick help guide

This is a fast read. The author has a conversational style and provides plenty of actually useful tips on how to cook, what to cook and when. Yes, when. She suggests, for example, to cook certain meals earlier in the week for freshness. I found it very helpful. This book is getting 4 stars because it did not have any pictures and I usually expect pictures in a cookbook. As long as you understand that I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

[Cozy Book Spot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is literally a no recipe cookbook! It teaches you how to cook and what ingredients you could use to make food like, for example, stir fry. It tells you what you can use to make stir fry, suggested ingredients, order of cooking and what to do with the leftovers. It's like when your mom tells you how to cook something but doesn't give you a list of how much of each ingredient you would need. It's a different and unique cookbook. I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

[Andreea · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange of my honest opinion.

I tried. I read over 60% of it, but I just couldn't do it anymore.
There is nothing here that let's see teach you how to cook with whatever you have in the fridge - no, it's a family's menu for two weeks. Stuff you can easily learn about online or on reddit groups.

[Janice Garey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review Title: Are You Hungry? (review of The No Recipe Cookbook by Dr. Samantha Pillay)
Reviewer: Janice S. Garey
***** 5 Stars
If you have a good appetite for a variety of healthy foods, and you desire to learn to cook from scratch for yourself and others, this is the book for you. It entertained me and made me feel cared for which is logical since a wise Austrailian medical doctor wrote the book. It serves as a crash course in cooking which is an essential life skill. It has all one needs to learn to put good food on the table day after day and lose the unhealthy habit of junk food and fast food consumption.
Many people today seem compelled to satisfy their hunger with whatever appears most convenient. Dr. Samantha Pillay teaches that if you learn the basics of cooking you can prepare ahead and make your own quick to go food that won't bust the budget or your waistband. She gives so many excellent tips that would take years to learn by trial and error. This book fills the need of young people with no cooking experience as well as the need for those like myself who at an older age are trying to downsize the kitchen by getting rid of unnecessary equipment and tools that no longer fit a former lifestyle.
This lovely book, which contains no photos because there are no recipes, has great charm for those unfamiliar with some terms used in Austrailia. Biscuits are cookies; peanut paste is peanut butter; and it took me a bit of head scratching to understand that "slices" are like what we in the States know as bar cookies only they are in much greater choices including savory.
I believe most people would benefit from reading this book either for basic cooking knowledge or to streamline processes and get rid of kitchen clutter. Rather than in the format of recipes, these pages give the reader flexible instructions which list a variety of ingredients and ways to prepare them for meals. If one feels the need for more information, a quick search of the internet should provide additional helps to create the meal to your individual specifications.
I received an ebook copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for giving an honest review. I have read the book and find it to be worthy of a high recommendation to anyone who wishes to learn to cook or to enhance their enjoyment of time spent in the kitchen.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read with lots of great tips, especially if you are a beginner cook. While there's not a lot of actual recipes here, there is a lot of lots of hints for planning, shopping, budgeting and time management - this is more of a guide with ideas for what to do with what you have.

The meals presented are definitely aimed at an omnivore family with no real dietary restrictions, so a little more diversity in meal choices might have been nice, but the hints are still. Also there are no photographs... even though there's no real recipes here, it would be nice to see a version of the finished dish or some of the variations on it.

This would be a great gift for a novice cook finding their way in the kitchen, or someone who is not yet confident enough to experiment. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me to read The No Recipe Cookbook in return for my honest opinions.

[Cathylynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the non cookbook cookbook. It has more tips and tricks for meal planning and how to eat and when to eat and more of what to put together. I think it is helpful and I really enjoyed the book it does have good information.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jamie Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recipes Written Like Open-Ended Procedures

This book’s title is a bit of a misnomer, as it is full of what I would call recipes. They simply aren't written in a traditional format with a fixed ingredient list and set of directions. Most are ideas with procedures and suggested ingredients; many are left very open to interpretation. The book starts with a long tip section. The author stated people who don't cook often (or at all) could use this book, but I think this section might be a bit much for the true rank beginners as much information in this section requires a level of greater cooking knowledge than a non-cook has. (In some places throughout the book, she actually has sections specifically meant for people who don't cook much.) The bulk of the book is main dishes, with smaller sections for lunches, desserts, and breakfast. You will get the author's “no recipe” recipe for things like muesli, soup, meaty main dishes, and simple desserts. These non-recipes are written in a lot of detail, as the author is more trying to teach you a process or procedure rather than give you a specific recipe with a set list of ingredients. The author is Australian, so some foods mentioned are stated in Australian terminology, and when she provides measurements (which isn’t often), they are in metric. I am a vegetarian, and I felt like the book needed a few more vegetarian and vegan friendly recipes; the book really is meat focused in the main dish and lunch sections. Despite its flaws and idiosyncrasies, this book got me thinking about ways I can better incorporate simple cooking procedures and dishes into my cooking routine to make my food both more healthful and easier to make.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

[Chris Kora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is indeed a different kind of cooking book than the average cooking book out there. It includes tips, tricks, explanations, arguments as to why cooking is better than takeaway, general meal ideas, different options to use from, steps to follow while cooking, different variations of a number of dishes and more.

Choosing to check this book out, my main goal was to become better at planning my meals (because I often tried but failed) and become more efficient in the kitchen, together with saving time, money and decreasing the food waste we throw away as a family. In my opinion this book did assist me in these areas.

The tips and tricks that it includes to make cooking simpler and stress free are useful, simple and effective (while as a non-beginner in cooking I already knew some of them, but I think total beginners would really appreciate being introduced to them, as I was when I was a total beginner. Having said this, I found many tips throughout the pages that I wasn’t aware of and I found them of great value).

I would recommend this book to total beginners in cooking, college students that want somewhere to start from and to busy people that want to be more effective in cooking. You will have to do the cooking but at least you will gain valuable time by following the tips, tricks and meals plan as included in this book.

I received a free ARC copy of this book but that did not affect my review in any way.

[lf · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you don't have a recipe learn how to follow your own tastes

The No Recipe Cookbook piqued my interest as I love to cook and have a collection of cookbooks, some are old and stained and others have barely made it off the shelf. I am always looking for new cookbooks that have a couple good recipes so when a "no recipe" cookbook comes up it is too interesting to not pick and and see what you will find inside. I thought this had an interesting concept of a cookbook with no actual recipes. It seems to be oriented towards people that maybe don't cook a lot, are starting out on their cooking journey or only follow a recipe exactly. It gives you encouragement to deviate and see what your own tastes are and then incorporate those tastes into your cooking. So do you like things sweeter, spicy, hot, flavorful, garlicky, tart, or something else.
For me this was an interesting book but did not really work for me, as I already deviate from recipes when I am cooking. However, it does give some good information and I did pick up a couple things, which is all I can really ask to make a book good.

I received a copy of this book and am leaving my honest review. My opinions are all my own.

[Couple Chapters More · Rating 3 out of 5]

I breezed through this easy read in less than half an hour. I picked up this book despite the description saying it probably wouldn't be for me as I already do enjoy cooking, however I still found it useful.

There are some really handy little recipe ideas and time saving idea in the kitchen, especially for those who would like to cook more at home but find it a challenge. The No Recipe Cookbook makes cooking seem very easy and accessible to those who may be put off by long ingredient lists and multi-step recipes.

I appreciate that no foods were off limits and sensible moderation was key. The tips and tricks provided were really useful to save time in the kitchen.

Overall, I think this is an interesting, easy and useful read for both seasoned home cooks and amateurs alike.

*Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

[Sara Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The No Recipe Cookbook by Samantha Pillay was a refreshing take on a typical cookbook.

I often take recipes and manipulate them quite a bit to make them my own. However, give me a bunch of raw ingredients and no guidance, and I am useless. That made this book particularly interesting to me. While I do not think this book has instantly made me able to just make something out a thin air, it has provided several ideas that I can play around with in the future. The ideas in this book are pretty simple and not super complicated, which I appreciated.

I also think the information about obesity and the money that can be saved is super important as well.

If you are someone who would like to get better at experimenting in the kitchen, The No Recipe Cookbook is a good place to start.

I received an eARC from BooksGoSocial through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

[MetLineReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new take on a cookbook. This book shows how to minimise and optimise your cooking over a two-to-three week period. i really like the approach, taking a base ingredient and showing how you can adapt it to make several different dishes. Will definitely be learning from this approach and giving my kids a variety while providing a core menu!
There's a lot of meat and things we don't eat due to allergies so it will probably give me a two-week rotation rather than three, but still a great way to diversify the menu while focusing on some core basics.
I'm not great at planning meals and their variety is much less than during the first lockdown, so i'm pleased that i discovered this n0-recipe book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

* I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. All opinions in this review are my own.

A nice straightforward guide on how to effectively grocery shop and cook for a couple of weeks at a time. Gives nice tips on how to shop and how to plan meals out by the freshness of foods to those that are more shelf stable. There are no actual recipes but guidelines on how to make meals, which makes it easy to customize for personal taste and for what is found in the store or your own cupboard. A few pictures or illustrations would have been nice to add visual interests. This book is great for those just learning how to cook for themselves and is a good reference for those that have been using mostly recipes to remind them that there is still a lot of wiggle room in cooking.

[Millie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be honest, I normally really dislike cooking. I don't know what to do, whether to add anything different and I end up in a rut of cooking the same boring meals.

This book has changed that.
I really enjoyed reading through and making changes to my cooking habits as well as how I plan my meals and shopping. I am starting to explore different flavours and have realised I do not always need a recipe, I just need ingredients and I can start.

I would especially recommend this book to students going off to university. It is a great way to start your journey learning to cook away from home and would set you up with great skills that will help anyone become confident in the kitchen.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The No Recipe Cookbook is a peculiar but highly practical cookbook for both novices and those who suffer from a bit of cooking phobia. There are no images and very few recipes (at least in the format that they are usually presented). Instead, the author provides broad text-only instructions for core or base dishes (think pancakes or stir-fry) and follows with some rough suggestions for variations in taste, flavor, or toppings. There’s a running theme of frugality, which is helpful for both those on a budget as well as those who are simply overwhelmed by the sheer amount of cookware crap available at the local home goods store.

[haruhimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️ actually. Im not sure what Was I expecting. I think kind of something that was useful for me because I have eating disorders. Mostly bc of don’t know what to cook or eat and not wanting to take so much time for it. So I was eager to read this bc I thought it was my salvation 😅 sadly it wasn’t like that. Didn’t think it were there something useful for me or something I didn’t already knew about. I have to remark that the tips for the very beginners were so cool to put. Bc it could serve some other people that have absolutely no idea of how to cook.
But for me didn’t serve so right. The only half interesting part were that of the sándwiches combination. But I can’t live on sandwiches can I?😅 so, I hope that it serves to somebody. I won’t criticize the author bc she doesn’t deserve something bad to say. I just was hoping a little different and better to me but I liked her way to write anyways.

[Kaytlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for a digital arc of this book. I loved the premise of this book. I think it will appeal to many who looking to become more empowered in their food choices but do not know where to start and are turned off by most food writing. The book's title, blurb, and synopsis came across to me as approachable and the book offers a refreshing take on food writing. The foods and ingredients discussed are concise and offer non-cooks a manageable set of options to get started with making their own food.

[Lois Brady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author has a great attitude and good advice. Liked the general ideas, although I eat a lot less meat and butter which means adapting many ideas to more vegetarian/vega-oriented meals. Really enjoyed her enthusiasm and encouragement.

[Nikki Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super quick read, informative and packed with hints and tips. Has some basic directions so if you are new to cooking you might need some other reading material to bulk out your knowledge base.

[Laura Duffy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing simple yet informative cookbook for both those who are experts and novices in the kitchen.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is purely a word recipe book on basic recipes but no fuss. It’s very encouraging why you should cook instead of getting takeout and quite lighthearted. Quite easy and good to read