For Melinda Strauss, Jewish identity isn’t just something to explain online — it’s something you cook, share, and pass around the table. In her debut cookbook “Eat Jewish,” the influencer known to millions as the “Jewish TikTok Mom” transforms recipes into a kind of cultural conversation, one rooted in comfort, memory, and pride.
Released in September 2025, “Eat Jewish” brings together more than 100 kosher recipes across 13 chapters, pairing approachable instructions with family stories, holiday traditions, and reflections on what Jewish food can mean. The book is both practical and personal: a guide for home cooks, but also an invitation into Strauss’ kitchen, where recipes are inseparable from the people and traditions that shaped them.
Strauss, who has more than 1.75 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, began sharing recipes long before she became a major Jewish voice online. In 2011, she launched her kosher food blog, Kitchen Tested, where she posted original recipes alongside stories from her life and family.
“I like to think of myself as unprofessionally professional,” Strauss told Unpacked. “When people say ‘dress for the job you want,’ for me, that looks like sweatpants and a soft, cozy sweater. Not because I don’t take my work seriously, but because comfort helps me show up as my best self. I love being able to work from home, feel grounded and confident, and create in a way that actually reflects who I am.”
Building ‘Eat Jewish’
That blend of food, teaching, and personal storytelling is central to “Eat Jewish,” which feels intentionally approachable in both its instructions and tone. Each recipe is accompanied by personal anecdotes, cultural context, and brief introductions that guide readers beyond the ingredients themselves.
Rather than attempting to represent the full breadth of Jewish cuisine, Strauss focuses on the foods she knows best. “There are so many Jewish foods I’ve never tried and so many traditions I’m still discovering,” she said. “So I wanted this book to reflect the flavors and memories I know.”
Related post: Is the Zabar’s story a Jewish story? With David Zabar
Those memories are wide-ranging. Strauss’s family background spans Poland, Hungary, Russia, and Israel, and she grew up in Seattle surrounded by a Sephardic community with roots in Greece and Turkey. The result is a cookbook shaped by both Ashkenazi and Sephardic influences, with recipes that move between everyday staples, holiday dishes and family favorites.
The result is a collection that reflects a broader truth about Jewish food: it resists singular definition. “Jewish cuisine isn’t one style or one tradition,” Strauss said. “It reflects the many communities and cultures that make up the Jewish people.”
Throughout the book, Strauss recreates the feeling of cooking alongside family. She credits much of her culinary foundation to her grandmother, whom she watched closely growing up.
“While I have zero formal training in the kitchen, I like to think that all the time I spent watching my Savtah Adina cook was the only training I ever needed,” Strauss told Unpacked. “I grew up in Seattle, Washington, lucky enough to have my grandparents living right across the street. That meant countless hours in my Savtah’s kitchen watching her cook and bake, and happily volunteering to lick every mixing spoon.”
Creating community through food
Those memories help explain why “Eat Jewish” reads less like a formal culinary manual and more like an invitation into Strauss’ kitchen, where recipes come with family stories, cultural context, and the feeling of someone guiding you from across the counter.
That sense of intimacy extends to her audience as well. Known affectionately as the “Jewish TikTok Mom,” Strauss built her following by pairing recipes with Jewish education and glimpses into her daily life. Her decision to write a cookbook, she said, came into focus through those interactions.
“The idea to write a cookbook really came into focus when my TikTok followers started calling one of my most-shared recipes ‘Nora’s Broccoli,’” Strauss said. “It was the only vegetable Nora would eat when she was younger, so roasted broccoli always made an appearance on my Shabbos menu. It’s a simple recipe, but somehow it became something beloved by my community.”
That response helped Strauss see how even the most ordinary family dish could take on a life of its own online, building a relationship between her kitchen and the people watching from theirs.
“It made me realize how powerful food can be as a connector,” Strauss said. “Long before TikTok, I had already spent years as a kosher food blogger. But as my platform grew, I found myself blending that love of food with my passion for teaching people about Judaism — and the relationships I was building online.”
To ensure the recipes resonated beyond her immediate community, Strauss enlisted hundreds of volunteer testers from around the world. Their feedback helped refine the book, from adjusting ingredient accessibility to identifying which dishes translated best across different kitchens and cultures.
“It made such a difference,” she said. “Their input helped me understand which ingredients were harder to find outside large Jewish communities, which recipes needed adjustments, and which ones were absolute hits.”
Using food to teach about Judaism
Beyond recipes, “Eat Jewish” includes explanations of kosher practices, holiday traditions, and transliterations of Hebrew terms — making it accessible to readers with varying levels of familiarity with Jewish life.
The cookbook arrives at a moment when expressions of Jewish identity can feel fraught. Strauss is direct about how her Judaism shapes her work.
“I like to think that every choice I make in life, every product I share as an influencer, every recipe I create, every step I take, it’s all guided by my Judaism. Sometimes that guidance comes from the laws I follow as a Modern Orthodox Jew. Other times it comes from Jewish history, tradition, or even the collective trauma our people have endured. But it all falls under one truth. I am a Jew. A proud Jew. A Jew who shows up authentically. A Jew who uses her voice, even when others would rather quiet it.”
That pride runs throughout “Eat Jewish,” which Strauss frames as more than a collection of recipes.
“It’s a book shaped by the belief that food has the power to bring people together,” she said.
As for what comes next, Strauss is leaving the door open.
“Honestly, I’m not so sure yet — and I love it that way,” she said. “What I do know is that no matter what platforms exist, I’ll keep using my voice and see where it takes me.”
For now, “Eat Jewish” stands as Strauss’ clearest expression of that voice: personal, practical and proudly rooted in the Jewish table.
To cook some of the recipes from “Eat Jewish,” check out Melinda Strauss’ recipes for Cinnamon Bun Challah Pudding, Hummus with Chili-Crisp Chickpeas, Puff Pastry Deli Roll, and Nora’s Broccoli.
