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4.8
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Of Course It's Good! by Jessica Secrest Review: A No-Nonsense Weeknight Cookbook for Everyone
by Jessica Secrest
Of Course It's Good! Is a New York Times bestselling debut cookbook from Jessica Secrest — the home cook behind the viral TikTok account @applesauceandadhd — collecting unfussy, affordable weeknight recipes delivered with the snarky, "aggressively" encouraging voice her fans know well. This review assesses the book's content, organisation, and published reception from available sources; it does not reflect a kitchen test of the recipes themselves.
Tap to enlargeLuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Busy home cooks — parents, beginners, and budget-conscious weeknight warriors — who want a no-fuss, encouraging companion that makes affordable comfort food genuinely reproducible without any gatekeeping.
Worth it if
You want a broad daily-use cookbook — covering weeknight dinners, breakfasts, and desserts — that is honest about real-life constraints, built around pantry staples and store-bought shortcuts, and delivered in the irreverent voice Secrest's @applesauceandadhd audience already loves.
Skip if
Skip it if you are looking for technical depth, globally diverse cuisines, or a quieter read — the recipe scope is deliberately narrow and comfort-food-focused, and the sustained all-caps, italics, and profanity may wear thin across 176 pages for readers who prefer a less aggressive page.
What readers & critics say
Publisher's Weekly notes that Secrest "attempts to maintain her signature sassy-to-belligerent tone in print via excessive italicization, all caps, and plenty of cursing," while praising the book's judgment-free store-bought substitutions and practical freezing tips throughout. Bookshop.org surfaces reader voices describing the book as feeling "like being bossed around in the best way by your slightly aggressive big sister who actually knows what she's doing," pointing to strong resonance with its target audience.
“Secrest went viral for her self-described 'aggressive tutorials' — 'We need meals that are quick, easy, affordable.'”
— publishersweekly.com“'Pantry Raid' is full of clever suggestions for using up pantry staples, while 'Potato Tot Take-Down' serves up six meals made with tater tots.”
— publishersweekly.com4.8from 2,043 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
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Of Course It's Good!: Aggressively Delicious Meals is Jessica Secrest's debut cookbook — a New York Times bestseller that bottles the no-nonsense, budget-friendly energy of her viral TikTok account @applesauceandadhd into a practical collection of weeknight dinners, breakfasts, and desserts. It's tailor-made for busy, cooking-anxious home cooks who want flavour without fuss and a motivational voice that meets them where they are. The key caveat: cooks seeking technical complexity, global diversity, or a quieter page will find both the comfort-food scope and the all-caps, profanity-laced typography a deliberate mismatch.
- Is it worth reading?
- For its intended audience — busy parents, beginners, and anyone exhausted by elaborate recipes — Of Course It's Good! delivers exactly what it promises: affordable, reproducible meals without the gatekeeping tone common in more aspirational cookbooks. Its New York Times bestseller status signals demand that goes well beyond platform loyalty, and its practical features (store-bought substitutions, freezing tips, pantry-staple sections) address real budget and time constraints. Readers outside the target audience, however — those seeking complex techniques, global flavours, or a typographically calm read — should calibrate expectations, as the book leans fully and deliberately into its comfort-food, high-energy design.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to Of Course It's Good!'s unfussy, personality-driven approach will find kindred titles among the related cookbooks curated below. So Easy So Good by Kylie Sakaida shares the accessible, social-media-native energy; Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook by Nick DiGiovanni similarly targets home cooks who want creative results without intimidating technique. Everything's Good: Cozy Classics You'll Cook Always by Toni Chapman covers comparable comfort-food terrain with a warm, approachable voice. For readers who want a bit more technique alongside the personality, Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach by Molly Baz offers a step up in instructional depth while retaining an encouraging, non-precious tone. Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever brings a sharper, more irreverent voice for those who loved Secrest's attitude but want more culinary range.
- Who should read this?
- Of Course It's Good! is squarely aimed at home cooks who want flavour without fuss — specifically busy parents, beginners, and anyone exhausted by elaborate recipes with long ingredient lists, as Secrest frames it herself: "We need meals that are quick, easy, affordable." Existing fans of @applesauceandadhd will find the book an authentic extension of the account's personality. Those outside that target — cooks seeking technical depth, global variety, or a quieter typographic experience — are likely to find the deliberately narrow, high-energy format a mismatch for their needs.
- How practical is it for everyday use?
- Practicality is one of the book's clearest strengths: Publisher's Weekly notes that Secrest weaves in judgment-free suggestions for store-bought substitutions, tips for freezing dishes, and strategies for stretching meals across multiple servings — all signalling a design intent built around real-life constraints rather than idealised kitchen conditions. The book covers weeknight dinners, Sunday breakfasts, and desserts, positioning it as a broad daily-use reference rather than a single-occasion resource. The "Pantry Raid" section specifically addresses making the most of pantry staples, adding a budget-conscious utility layer.
- Is this a New York Times bestseller?
- Of Course It's Good! debuted as a New York Times bestseller — a notable achievement for a debut cookbook and a marker of the reach Secrest had already built through @applesauceandadhd before publication. That crossover from viral TikTok creator to traditionally published bestseller reflects a broader trend in food media, but the review notes the bestseller status signals genuine commercial momentum beyond platform loyalty alone. The publisher Page Street Publishing positioned the book with the tagline "none of the nonsense, all of the flavour," closely aligned with what Secrest's audience had already demonstrated appetite for.
- Does the visual style of the book work in print?
- Translating an online personality into print is a known challenge, and the review draws directly on Publisher's Weekly's observation that Secrest "attempts to maintain her signature sassy-to-belligerent tone in print via excessive italicization, all caps, and plenty of cursing." For existing fans of @applesauceandadhd, this stylistic continuity is framed as a likely selling point — the book reads as an extension of the account rather than a sanitised spin-off. For readers new to Secrest, however, the typographic intensity and heightened register may be an acquired taste, and the review cautions that sustaining it across 176 pages may prove tiring even for sympathetic readers.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
How practical is it for everyday use?
Is this a New York Times bestseller?
Does the visual style of the book work in print?
Summarize this book
Of Course It's Good! is a debut cookbook from Jessica Secrest, the home cook behind the TikTok account @applesauceandadhd, where her self-described "aggressive tutorials" drew a wide following for their budget-conscious, no-nonsense approach. The book collects weeknight dinners, Sunday breakfasts, and desserts — including recipes like The BEST Baked Mac and Cheese, Fried Pickle Quesadillas, Sloppy Joe Fries, and a Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip — organised around sections such as "Pantry Raid" and the tater-tot-centric "Potato Tot Take-Down." Throughout, Secrest weaves in store-bought substitutions, freezing tips, and pantry-staple strategies, framing the book around real-life constraints rather than idealised kitchen conditions. Its bestseller status reflects the genuine commercial reach Secrest had already built before publication by Page Street Publishing.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
sustained profanity throughout
Skip if you're looking for globally diverse recipes or technically challenging cooking instruction.
Our Review
A New York Times bestselling debut that turns social-media sass into a practical kitchen companion, Of Course It's Good! makes a credible case that home cooking needn't be precious or complicated.
What the Book Is and Who It's For
Jessica Secrest built her following on TikTok under the handle @applesauceandadhd, where her self-described "aggressive tutorials" attracted a wide audience drawn to her no-nonsense, budget-conscious approach to home cooking. As Secrest herself frames the book's mission — "We need meals that are quick, easy, affordable" — the collection is squarely aimed at home cooks who want flavour without fuss: busy parents, beginners, and anyone exhausted by elaborate recipes with long ingredient lists. The book covers weeknight dinners, Sunday breakfasts, and desserts, positioning itself as a companion for every corner of the weekly meal routine, not just a single-occasion resource.
The Recipes: Scope and Structure
The cookbook spans a range of everyday crowd-pleasers, with named recipes including The BEST Baked Mac and Cheese, Egg Roll in a Bowl, Cowboy BBQ Burgers, Teriyaki Pork, Fried Pickle Quesadillas, Sloppy Joe Fries, and a Slow Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip, among others. The organisation leans into Secrest's playful sensibility: one section, "Pantry Raid," is dedicated to making the most of pantry staples, while the boldly titled "Potato Tot Take-Down" groups six meals built around tater tots — including a Taco Potato Tot Casserole. Publisher's Weekly notes that throughout the book Secrest weaves in judgment-free suggestions for store-bought substitutions alongside practical tips for freezing and stretching dishes across multiple meals, signalling a design intent built around real-life constraints rather than idealised kitchen conditions.
Voice and Tone: From Screen to Page
Translating an online personality into print is a known challenge, and Publisher's Weekly observes that Secrest "attempts to maintain her signature sassy-to-belligerent tone in print via excessive italicization, all caps, and plenty of cursing." For the existing fan base, this stylistic continuity is likely a selling point — the book reads as an extension of the account rather than a sanitised corporate spin-off. Readers new to Secrest, however, may find the typographic emphasis and heightened register an acquired taste. The book's premise — that every dish the reader attempts will turn out good, because Secrest is "aggressively reminding you that no matter what you create, there's no doubt it'll be good" — functions as both a structural conceit and a motivational throughline aimed at cooking-anxious audiences.
Interior page featuring recipe introductions, author testimonials, dish photographs, and a brief author biography.
Significance and Reception
The book debuted as a New York Times bestseller, a marker of the reach Secrest had already built through social media before publication by Page Street Publishing. That crossover from viral content creator to traditionally published author reflects a broader trend in food media, but the bestseller status here signals genuine commercial momentum beyond platform loyalty alone. The publisher's positioning — "none of the nonsense, all of the flavour" — aligns closely with what Secrest's audience had already demonstrated appetite for: affordable, reproducible meals without the gatekeeping tone common in more aspirational cookbooks.
Genuine Limitations to Consider
The book's strengths are also the source of its natural constraints. Its deliberately unfussy, comfort-food-forward recipe selection — tater tot casseroles, quesadillas, sloppy joe fries — is an intentional choice, not an oversight, but cooks seeking complex techniques, globally diverse cuisines, or ingredient-forward fine-dining inspiration will find the scope deliberately narrow. Similarly, readers who are put off by aggressive typographic personality on the page — sustained use of all-caps and profanity as motivational tools — may find the voice tiring across 176 pages, even if they appreciate the warmth behind it. The book is designed for a specific kind of cook, and it leans fully into that design; those outside the target audience should calibrate expectations accordingly.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
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- Further reading
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