If you want fast easy meals utilizing prepared foods, this is for you. The photos are beautiful and the food is really good. The ease of utilizing frozen items and jazzing it up for dinner is a great idea and there are lots to choose from. This is an easy to read book and will help inspire you in the kitchen to make pretty plates.

I think my idea of girl dinner is a bit different. The recipes in this book are lovely, simple and the photographs are well done. My definition of girl dinner is tossing random things on a plate that have little to no prep requirements, just rooting through cupboards and the refrigerator to see what you have that’s calling to you. (Ending up with canned pineapple slices, fishy crackers, half a cucumber, cream cheese and a handful of pecans) Girl dinner is a concept that is hard to put into a cookbook because of the randomness of it. A lot of the things in here I would have considered just a normal dinner, and several have ingredients I would never just have on hand. That being said, the book is full of yummy looking combinations and easy meal ideas for when you don’t feeling like putting too much effort into cooking so I will be recommending it. I will also be re-evaluating my definition of girl dinner 😊

Hm ok. What to say?

There are lots of pictures in this book so I’m going with a “quick easy food mood board.”

Lots of the recipes incorporate boxed, frozen, or prepackaged food HOWEVER I think that’s really what this book is about: pairing foods and making it look good. You don’t always want to or have time to prepare a spread, but being able to put foods together is always valuable. I’m old so this book isn’t really aimed at me anyway. It would definitely be useful to someone who wants easy but stylish preparation!

I received a free ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I gave it an extra star for the prosciutto skeleton, but the whole premise book fundamentally misses the point of girl dinner. Girl dinner is deranged. Girl dinner is scrounged, perhaps foraged. Girl dinner is eaten with your elbow holding the fridge door open. Girl dinner’s theme is “I’m hungry and this is what’s in my house”. It’s not the authors’ fault, but girl dinner’s theme is always derangement and disorganization.

I finished this book as soon as I got approved for a review copy.

Girl dinner (and girl lunch) is a big part of my life especially when burnt out. I'm always looking for quick and easy meal ideas and this book delivered!!!

If you're a fan of quick meals or looking to whip something up that doesn't require too much time or effort I definitely recommend this book for you.

This is a beautiful cookbook, with pictures for every recipe! I love the concept of accessible elegance that Girl Dinner conveys. It's okay to make a yummy small plate, with diverse ingredients. Like we're getting a permission slip to dial back our work in the kitchen. And for someone with disabilities, that's a welcome note to receive.
The recipes provide varying tastes and textures, spice and foods for seasons. Cozy or carefree. There's no shame in frozen veggies, boxed macaroni, or cans of delicious soup...and these chefs encourage you to use what works for you and your time/skill levels.
You will not be told to make handmade ravioli, that's just not what Girl Dinner is. It's knowing you want something yummy and fast, because you have a full life to enjoy!
I would recommend this book to young people, people with disabilities like ADHD or fatigue symptoms, foodies who don't want to spend eons, or a fortune, in the kitchen.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc

I love the concept of Girl Dinner and this book put it all together to make it feel like easy meals could look put together and planned. There were some really good food combinations and had my mouth watering. The photos of the meals were well put together and the recipes were nice and easy to follow which is exactly what you want when a night calls for a ………Girl Dinner

There are SO many ideas in this book. I know the concept of girl dinner typically means just whatever we have on hand, but sometimes that means plain noodles. This book has so many quick and easy ideas for things you probably have at home to make girl dinner more nutritious or to just change it up. I haven't tried any of these yet so I can't speak on that element, however very excited to try the "sometimes you get the bear"! I think this can really appeal to younger generations too. My only complaint here is that some of these are so basic are defeat the purpose of girl dinner. For example, some of these take 20+ min to prepare and that defeats the point. Also, many of these ingredients aren't things you just have on hand so I think they missed the mark with these 2 points.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a bit of a letdown for me. I saw the tiktok trend a while ago and absolutely loved it, I hoped to get a bit more with this book but it's a bit too simple. Following a pack instruction to have a girl dinner is not what I was looking for.

This is a good cookbook. I love the idea of “Girl Dinners.” It’s, honestly how I eat many of my dinners. The pictures in this book are great and look very appetizing. The recipes are diverse. There is very little cooking involved, but that is helpful when you want to make a quick and easy dinner. I would love a few more in-depth recipes, but overall, it’s a good book. I think this would make a great gift especially for any fan of the Girl Dinner. I would definitely recommend this book.

I'm so sorry but this is genuinely the most ridiculous "cookbook" I've ever read. I loved this idea but it was a major let down, the recipes were easy to follow but there's simple and then there's a waste of time and unfortunately this is the latter. I mean how are you going to include "make Mac and cheese by following the directions on the box" and expect to be taken seriously?

I liked the category names and the lovely layout. I appreciated that every recipe had a picture and they were beautiful and there are some great tips at the start

Girl dinner promises to be a selection of beautifully curated tastes that will elevate your file dinners with a elevated presentation. Unfortunately, asides from a few delicious sounding recipes, I'd say these were combinations or a shopping list more than a recipe book. Most recipes require pre-bought items such as a specific can of soup, doughnuts, tortellini etc which is great for convenience but undermines the nature of a recipe book for me! One that stood out was the 'recipe' for making a box of Mac and cheese because it's served in a fancy glass?!
As a British person, much of the convenience food isn't readily available here too so many of the 'recipes' aren't
accessible, however I found some flavour combinations in the book I look forward to trying. It does have a useful metric conversion table at the end of you're a Brit who doesn't work in cups and the pictures are a useful reference point for plating.

While I loved the idea behind this book, I felt that it didn't quite meet my expectations. As someone in their early thirties who enjoys TikTok & “girl dinners” I found that the book was more suitable for teenagers or beginners in the kitchen. I know the concept of girl dinners are simple, minimal cooking snacky type meals, I was hoping for a bit more innovation. The recipes are straightforward and some are as simple as following packet instructions. The photos are visually appealing, but overall, I would recommend this book to friends with teenagers rather than people my age

★★½
———————
I want to thank NetGalley and Cider Mill Press for the opportunity to review this book.

Girl Dinner has 85 recipes that are inspired by the "girl dinner" trend and are quick and easy to make. I was intrigued by this cookbook because I do not always have the time to spend an hour making dinner or I just want a quick snack, but the cookbook was ultimately a letdown. The recipes are divided into the categories of Quick Comfort, Glow-Up, What’s the Vibe, and Good Company. Each recipe has a short introduction, an ingredient list, directions, and a picture. I appreciate that every recipe has a photo so you know what the dish is meant to look like. However, the downfall comes from the ingredients and directions. There are so many frozen and microwavable foods in the ingredient lists, and the author simply states "Cook according to the directions on the package". I expect cookbooks to provide recipes that I have not thought about before or a new way of making a classic dish, but the recipes are basic and I do NOT need to be told to follow the directions on the package. For other meals, the author is often vague and states to "warm it", "cook until brown", or "cook until done" without giving any time frame to follow. The cookbook would be best for students who do not have enough time to cook or have limited cooking skills, but for the everyday person, I would recommend passing.

I like the idea behind this book: girl dinners. We’ve all made them. The dinners we make when it’s just us, or just us and friends, or maybe it’s a light dinner on a movie night. But this book calls out that “the girl dinner phenomenon is about making the easy road artful”.

Dinner might be easy but it’s still eye catching and delicious, there aren’t a ton of ingredients either.

Right off the bat I love the concept and all the pictures.

I also feel like the recipes are as promised. Some are super easy and barely cooking, others are a bit more prep, but everything is pretty.

I have saved these recipes to make:
Bougie AF (a pasta dish)
California Love (avocado tuna salad)
Bonanza (rice bowl)
Even I’m impressed (Mexican)
Summertime sadness (pasta dish)
Spa night (tuna)

To be honest, I’m kind of obsessed with this cookbook! As I’m looking through it, I see so many foods and pairings that I already enjoy and my first thought was “this is too simple!”. Then I thought about how all of my other cookbooks sit gathering dust on a shelf because I rarely have time for complicated dinners. What I really need is quick, easily attainable inspiration for meals that will tickle my senses and leave me satisfied! This book absolutely nails that formula! I will definitely be buying the hardcover when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Girl Dinner focuses on quick easy on the go snackie dinners.

The Sections are
Quick comfort
Glow-up
What’s the Vibe
Good Company

The recipes consist of ingredients and directions. The recipes are straightforward, but wouldn’t really say its that comprehensive. The cookbook would be suited for someone trying to get into cooking and don’t know where to start or college age with no much access to foods. As one of the recipes was just cooking Mac and cheese according to the package.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Love this beautiful cookbook filled with awesome idea love Thete are so many great recipes and beautiful full color photos.

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 (𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 “𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐏𝐨𝐩 𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧”)! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: “𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭,” “𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐔𝐩,” “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐞,” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 “𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲.” 𝐀𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦-𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲-𝐭𝐨-𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐫 (𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐜 𝐧’ 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐞), 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟, 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞). 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝟏 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 “𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐥” 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐞𝐭𝐜. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒥𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒜𝓁𝑒𝒿𝒶𝓃𝒹𝓇𝒶 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓏-𝐼𝓂𝓁𝒶𝒽, 𝒞𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝑀𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

I am not a TikTok girlie so of course the whole “Girl Dinner” thing passed over me until I learned what it meant on Armchair Expert (thanks, Monica). I, like many others I am sure, have been girl dinner-ing for many years, before “girl dinner” even had a name—always snacking, always looking for simple lunches and dinner—so yes, this “cookbook” was appealing to me. And while I abhor any kind of tacky named trend (and therefore the name of this cookbook), I can get on board with the idea.

Perfect for those looking for a quick, delicious snack or meal without much fuss. Ideas ranging from no-prep to medium-prep, I think everyone will be able to find something. The photography is beautiful with perfectly arranged plates but the Gen Z verbiage made me want to claw my eyes out, “POP OFF QUEEN!” “MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY!” ugh.

I grabbed this book in hopes that it would give me some new, fresh ideas on snack plates and such but, as someone who cooks for herself often and has been for quite some time, the ideas here remained rather basic and uninspired for most of the book. I enjoyed the recipe ideas more that actually involved some prep because the other ones are just… <b>too</b> simple. It’s hard not to laugh at a recipe that only calls for a box of mac and cheese and then reads “cook according to directions”… Hence why I hesitate to call this a cookbook.

This book would be suited for a younger crowd who hasn’t yet learned how to cook for themselves and wants to learn the basics of how to cook a burger, and hot dog, a baked potato, etc ; busy moms and dads who just don’t have the time; those who are altogether wholly uninterested in the art of cooking and prefer something easy; those cooking for one; or for anyone throwing a party that wants ideas for different small plates. I, personally, wouldn't buy this book for myself but I think it could be quite useful for others; I'm not the audience for it.