Beef It Up! by Jessica Formicola: Book Review

Happy Foodie Friday y’all! This week I’ve got a cookbook review for you. Beef It Up by Jessica Formicola offers readers 50 recipes focusing on beef. With recipes ranging from Cheeseburger Soup to Sheet-Pan Steak Fajitas to 20-Minute Mongolian-style Beef, there is bound to be something to add to your dinner rotation.

Beef It Up! is a softcover cookbook with an expected release date of May 24, 2022.

I want to thank Storey Publishing, LLC and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Beef It Up! All opinions presented here are solely mine.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Where’s the beef? It’s on the dinner table tonight! This focused collection of recipes offers 50 tasty ways to serve up protein-rich beef meals without a lot of fuss. Flavorful beef suppers (Cheeseburger Soup, Shepard’s Pie Mac & Cheese) are featured along with new classics (Sheet Pan Steak Fajitas, 20-Minute Mongolian-style Beef ), salads (Southwest Steak Salad w/ Chipotle Ranch and Steakhouse Salad w/ Blue Cheese), quick hits (Empanada Hand Pies and Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce), and the tried-and-true burgers, steaks, and chili. Juicy photos provide the inspiration and confidence cooks of all levels need to deliver on the promise of a great meal every time.

My Opinions

Beef It Up! offers something that I look for in every cookbook, photos of the recipes. I want to know what the dish is supposed to look like. In reality, the actual dish rarely looks like the photo. But we all know that the image is what draws you in and entices you to attempt the recipe.

Another draw is the recipe names themselves. They have to create interest and excitement. Who wouldn’t want to try Cheeseburger Soup or 20-Minute Mongolian-Style Beef?

One such recipe that drew me in with the name and picture was the Shepherd’s Pie Mac & Cheese. An easy casserole-type dish to feed a family and give cozy feelings. Who doesn’t love a good Shepherd’s Pie or bubbling mac & cheese? Sadly, the actual recipe let me down. I think it took me almost twice as long to make the dinner than the recipe said. And, in the end, the effort wasn’t worth it. There was little flavor or texture. My family was sad when the dish didn’t live up to the promise.

While it was the only recipe I tried, it doesn’t mean it was the only one I was interested in trying. What stopped me? My ability to find many of the ingredients. I am fortunate enough to have a large variety of grocery options where I live, but that doesn’t mean I want to visit every store for the ingredients. Nor do I want to spend a lot of money on ingredients that I may not use more than once.

Many of the recipes in the book felt as though they were ones that I had seen elsewhere (Pinterest, anyone?). And for that point alone, I find it hard to invest in another cookbook.

The one part of the cookbook that I found interesting and worth the investment was at the beginning, where the author goes into detail about the various cuts of beef and how to handle them. While I am not a novice in the kitchen, I enjoy learning more about different products, especially ones that may help me stretch my dollar a bit more.

I feel as though this book could be an excellent gift for a novice in the kitchen. Maybe the graduate in your life?

Are you looking for more food-related content? Check out my other Foodie Fridays posts.