Thug Kitchen 101: Fast as F*ck

by Bad Manners

Creators of the New York Times bestselling cookbook series, Thug Kitchen are back to deliver you the sorta gentle, but always hilarious shove you need to take the leap into healthy eating.

Thug Kitchen 101 includes more than 100 easy and accessible recipes to give you a solid start towards a better diet. TK holds your hand and explains ingredients from chickpeas to nooch so you’ll feel confident knowing exactly what the fuck you’re cooking. This kickass kitchen primer also serves up health benefits and nutrition to remind everyone, from curious newbies to health nuts, how a plant-based lifestyle benefits our bodies, minds, environment, and our pocketbooks. THAT’S RIGHT. EAT GREEN, SAVE GREEN.

So scared of commitment you can’t even dedicate some time to cook? Thug Kitchen’s here to fix that shit: all recipes in TK 101 are guaranteed to be faster than delivery, so you can whip up some tasty meals with simple ingredients regardless of when you stumble home from work.  You’re too damn important to be eating garbage, so TK has made it easy to take care of #1: you. No needless nonsense or preachy bullshit. Just delicious, healthy, homemade food for all the full-time hustlers out there.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Vegan, Food and Drink, Reference

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2016

Reviews

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never read a cook book from cover to cover before, and I've never read one that has literally made me laugh out loud. Until today. I haven't eaten meat in over 3 weeks, and I'm getting bored with eating the same things over and over. So I picked up this book to get some new options. It was highly entertaining and out of the 100+ recipes I bookmarked about 25-30 I realistically would like to try.

I know this is advertised as Fast as Fuck, but some of the recipes seem like they wouldn't be too fast. If it says 40 minutes, chances are it's going to take me closer to an hour. That's my only complaint. I'll update as I try some of the recipes, but the book itself was a total WIN!

[Arielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are some damn good recipes in here. And the swearing just makes it all the better. Highly recommend!

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am not a vegan, but i do plan to add more plant based foods into my diet for 2017. i am reviewing both Thug Kitchen:Eat Like You Give a F*ck and Thug Kitchen 101: Fast as F*ck together. they both felt the same, and had the same issues.

just to note, i first followed Thug Kitchen YEARS ago on tumblr. i loved their tumblr site. i loved how the recipes were set up on the tumblr site. everything was clear, concise with a side of sass that makes up Thug Kitchen. from my tumblr experience, i had these books on my wish list for a while, in-spite of other issues i had with them once their book contract was revealed. my reviews are ONLY focused on the material in the book.

Pro:
-i found most of the recipes did not contain odd ingredients, seitan or tempeh. this is always a bonus because most people either don't like the meat substitute soy products or they may be hard to find.

Cons:
- the set up of these books was not user friendly. some recipes called for others which were posted elsewhere in the book. (maybe because i had the ebook version, it didn't have a page number or direction to seek out the additional thing needed.)

- while i get and understand the gimmick that Thug Kitchen uses, it lost the charm of the original tumbler posts. the voice, tone, felt unauthentic and overdone, especially in the longer sections of explanations of why veganism is great, of how to cut up this or how to melt chocolate, and even a section of "basic sh*t to roast at home." it felt like filler and more opportunity to try to cement their "THUG"-ness.

this book and the other i previously mentioned are not going to grace my bookshelves. i'm happy i was able to check them out of the library first to review them.

[Lucille · Rating 4 out of 5]

These people curse more than I do! They cook more than I do too!

[Xanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are not adverse to swear words and colloquialisms, you will find this cookbook very funny. It had me cracking up throughout, which is not what you would expect from a cookbook.
The lay out is clear, and the photographs and illustrations are pretty cool.
Most of the recipes have a Latino feel to them, so if you are not a fan of that kind of food, you might not get as much out of this book.
Quick and easy vegan is the theme of this book. Despite the introduction covering the issue of too much salt/fat/sugar in most takeaways, processed food, restaurant menus, the recipes in this book are also laden with those three. You can pretty much substitute broth for oil for sauteing, and whilst vegetable fat is not as bad as animal fat, it is still fat. And the issue of sugar is similar in that agave and maple syrup are used, but again, these are only marginally better than regular processed sugar.
I realize that not everyone who is vegan, is doing it for health reasons, but at the same time, it would be good if the writers gave less oil/fat/sugar alternatives and techniques for those that are concerned with their health.

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of really good recipes. My carnivore gf even read it and picked over a dozen recipes that looked good to her. Every one has been a winner so far. I am a fan. This is my second Thug Kitchen book and I recommend to anyone wanting to eat healthier and who doesn't have a stick up their butt. It's a fun read so roll with it.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Awesome quick vegan recipes for weeknights with ingredients I already have in my kitchen, not weird stuff I have to hunt down. The recipes are what the stars are for.

Almost as much fun to read as it is to cook, until I realized the authors are white & capitalizing off of the 'thug' image, which they are clearly not.

[Cori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is delicious, hysterically funny, healthy, and a visual delight. One thing to note, there's no meat in this cookbook- something I didn't catch because I was so distracted by the constant use of profanity...in a cookbook. But it would be incredibly easy to add meat to the dishes if you were so inclined to get your protein that way (plenty of protein in the recipes as they are).

Who would have ever thought this would be needed, but I'd rate this cookbook a PG-13 for the incessant swearing.

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to make almost every recipe in this book. I have their other cookbooks as well, but I like the focus in this one on quick and easy recipes.

[Evie]

Have already had delicious successes with recipes from this, but it does read like a 2012 Tumblr post trying to be COOL and EDGY.

[Corvus · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you want to know just how hideously racist, dishonest, inconsistent, hypocritical, narcissistic, and cringeworthy these charlatans really are, I highly recommend The Bearded Vegans 2 part podcast "GASLIGHT: The Thug Kitchen Story" and all linked sources which you can see here:
https://thecommentist.com/bearded-veg...
https://thecommentist.com/bearded-veg...
Don't mistake their corporate appropriation of the current political climate as accountability.

[emery · Rating 2 out of 5]

don't feel like this one had as many good recipes as the original one imo. i'll still probably cook a few things though, but again i'm not here for white ppl appropriating aave.... more recipes, less appropriation would be great.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, Practical, Vegan, and Delicious

Real recipes for regular people. When I make these for potluck dinners, they go fast! People don't even realize they're vegan.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific recipes! Like them even better than the original Thug Kitchen. Even though I'm not a vegan, this book could help me eat like one more often. Nice photos and wicked humor.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great recipes, not all of them are fast though. Fun to read for people who are not easily offended by profane language. I often laughed out loud reading these recipes and the commentary that goes along with them.

[Chloe A-L · Rating 3 out of 5]

The recipes are good, I’ll give it that, but just. Just read this https://www-m.cnn.com/2014/10/10/livi... .
I’ll let a black man speak.

[Liz De Coster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recipes look interesting but idk that I need a cookbook that's so aggressive in tone?

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The cussing got really gimmicky really quick, even grating, especially when they slipped up into more or less standard recipe-writing style. It really diminished my enjoyment of the book and interest in cooking anything out of it. Which is really too bad.

[Blue · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciate food that is as fast as f*ck, I don't need so many actual f*cks in my cookbook. But I'm willing to overlook them when there are so many recipes that promise to be fast, good, and plant based.

And it is pretty impressive to make taking charge of what you eat sound like an edgy manifesto. Thug Kitchen addresses the number one excuse people give for not cooking - not having enough time - and makes that excuse irrelevant by pointing out how much time so many people spend in front of the television, and more importantly by creating a cookbook full of healthy food that can be prepared in record time.

While most vegan cookbooks are filled with recipes that rely on ingredients I can't or won't eat, Thug Kitchen 101 is not tofu heavy, and doesn't call for unnatural ingredients overly packaged in plastic. In fact every item in their pantry staples suggestions is already in my kitchen.

There are a dozen recipes I want to try in the coming days. The fact that longest prep and cooking time is 35 minutes, with most being even less time, makes it much more likely that Thug Kitchen recipes are going to actually be tried. And hopefully become part of my cooking rotation.

[Jess Macallan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic brought to you by Thug Kitchen. :) If you like a lot of humor and profanity laced in with your cooking, read anything by Thug Kitchen. This book offers quick, healthy, and delicious vegetarian/vegan meals. The ingredient lists are easy to follow, and the instructions will have you giggle-snorting (yes, it's a thing with these books).

As a health coach, I look for quality ingredients, ease of preparation, and overall appeal of the finished product. This book is one I'm happy to recommend to my clients who follow a plant-based diet. Most recipes can be easily converted to gluten free if they're not already.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"we want you to have a positive relationship with food and to look forward to giving a fuck about yourself with nourishing meals that taste goddamn delicious. " and they do! some of our new favorites are pg 38 French crushed chickpea and artichoke heart salad, pg 161 snickerdoodles

[Teah Gulbranson · Rating 4 out of 5]

meals were pretty fast. Love the pantry staples in the book, though I feel like they should have been in the front of the book. I loved the how tos at the end of the book as well. If you don't like cheeky texts don't pick this up- that's their entire niche. :)

[KC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the soups looks awesome!

[Rhianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, brilliant and tasty! What more could you ask for.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this full cook book which seems weird. It flows well, the recipes are interesting and easy to do, especially with the glossary and photos in the back.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn’t expect anything less, but amazing recipes & f*cking funny.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great cookbook full of different recipes than the typical American diet I grew up with. Very excited to try some of these out, and even put sticky notes on pages to remember the recipes I want to make. I love the variety of different vegetables (the comment about parsnips made me laugh...and parsnips are pretty awesome, I must agree!). In case potential readers don't infer from the title, it is full of profanity and swear-words, so if you don't like that or don't think you'll be able to get past the amount of cussing, you might want to just skip this one. I don't have an issue with profanity, and honestly, I felt like I was back in the Navy with my sailor people having a good time. Reading this book is like a one-sided conversation with my Navy BFF. The recipes are all plant-based/vegetarian (if I recall correctly, there is no meat) and there are some suggestions on substitutions. This book is not vegan.

[Letitia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have a lot of good things to say about 2020 other than I DID find a lot of time for cooking. And this book served as my template. Though I am vegetarian, I enjoy finding completely vegan meals that are tasty, and this served up. While there is way - WAY - too much reliance on seasoned rice vinegar, and there's not enough salt in anything, you have to love the irreverent way these recipes are delivered. I only had a few misses. Most of these are ones I will keep in regular rotation now. I did not know that creamy apple polenta was something I needed in my life but OH MY GOD.

It will be interesting to see what happens now because in addition to everything else 2020 has done, it forced the owners of Thug to confront their brand, and I have learned that they have now changed the company name to "Bad Manners." I think this is a good move, and applaud their responsive. I hope they keep cussing on every page, though.

[Tom Bateman · Rating 3 out of 5]

February’s installment of the Cookbook Club brings us Thug Kitchen 101. The premise is good—make flavorful, plant-based food. The execution is mixed. The meals are in fact plant based and usually made with readily available ingredients, even if they’re stuff you might not be familiar with (nutritional yeast?). Unfortunately the flavors were pretty bland, even with a generous dose of salt. My lentil stew was really just a bowl of mush, with no defining character. The rest of the recipes were largely the same. Not bad, but not something I’m going to return to anytime soon.

The recipes were simple, easy to follow, and presented with great pictures. There was an over dependence on “street” language, like “stir that shit real good”. It often felt like it was trying too hard to be hip. That and the inclusion of nicknames for ingredients (I shouldn’t have to look up what “nooch” is, for example) makes this a mediocre book of pretty middling recipes.

[Cate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent cooking 101 with a "stop bitching about how you don't have time or can't cook, and make these easy and outstanding recipes" attitude. It truly excels at the easy and delicious part, filled with tips on food selection, preparation, and cooking techniques. There's advice peppered in on better health and monetary savings on homemade vs take out.
It's also a vegan cookbook. This aspect is toned down and there's no promotion of a vegan or even vegetarian lifestyle. The single reference was, roughly paraphrased, "No meat? You eat enough fucking meat."
It was a fun cover to cover read, but this approach made the profanity extremely tiring, and I like the f bomb probably more than your average person.
Great cookbook for young adults who need cooking instruction and already eat too much fucking meat.