The Blue Zones Kitchen One Pot Meals

The Blue Zones Kitchen One Pot Meals

by Dan Buettner
Genres: Cooking / General
Published on October 19, 2025
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover Source: Book Tour

This mouthwatering cookbook features 100 quick and easy one-pot and one-pan plant-based recipes inspired by the blue zones, many made in 30 minutes or less.

The #1 New York Times best-selling author and Emmy-winning host of Netflix's Live to 100 helps busy home cooks boost their longevity with researched-based healthy ingredients.

After more than 20 years spent uncovering the secrets of the blue zones—the happiest and healthiest places around the world—Dan Buettner puts the lessons he's learned into practice with 100 research-backed recipes designed to boost your longevity.

Inside you'll find easier-than-ever plant-based breakfasts, dinners, snacks, and sides inspired by the ingredients of the blue zones and made with flavors Americans love best,

A protein-packed Tex-Mex Breakfast Skillet
The perfect crunchy Crispy Roasted Chickpeas
Good-for-the-soul Creamy White Bean and Tomato Soup
A twist on a a Deluxe Blue Zones Minestrone
Veggie-loaded Spanakopita Pasta
Crowd-pleasing Southern Style Sheet Pan BBQ Tofu with Sweet Corn and Green Beans
An easy Slow Cooker Bourguignon
No-Bake Peanut Butter and Honey Cookie Bites

Written with busy households in mind, these one pot, one pan, or one baking sheet recipes enable you to eat like the world’s longest-lived people without spending hours in the kitchen.

Perfect for busy families, health-minded home cooks, culinary enthusiasts, and anyone interested in eating the Blue Zones way, this is a cookbook that will change your diet—and your life.

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I’ve been following Dan Buettner’s writing on the Blue Zones for years. These were seven areas around the world where people lived to older ages than the norm for the rest of the population. It comes down to diet and lifestyle, of course. There are several books and a documentary series. This is the latest cookbook.

When I opened the book the first recipe I saw was for a barbecue tofu and vegetables baked on a sheet pan, so I knew this book and I were going to be friends. I’ve made several recipes so far to test out the book.

Most everything I’ve been interested in has been in the dinner section.

I started with the gochujang and honey sauce from the bibimbap. I used it over tofu, cauliflower rice, peppers, and carrots because that was what I had on hand. It was quite good. The recipe recommended adzuki beans, kale, rice, peppers, and carrots but this is a bowl that you can adapt to whatever you have around.

Then I made the Spicy Creamy Pumpkin Soup. I’m not normally a big fan of squash soups but this one was good. I did go a bit rogue on this one too. It has peppers in it. Now, I admit that I am a white, middle aged midwestern lady but I’m not in the “garlic is too spicy” subset of my type. (See above – I had the gochujang in my fridge.) But I looked at the proportions of ancho and guarillo peppers to pumpkin in this soup and pulled it back. Maybe my peppers were bigger than what they had in mind. I put half the recommended peppers in. Then I used pumpkin puree instead of a whole pumpkin. More power to you if wrestling those seeds out is your idea of a good time but it isn’t mine.

I simmered my puree, peppers, tofu, broth, and other spices for a while. Then before I blended it I gave it a taste. Good thing I did. The spice level was at my max just from the peppers leaching into the soup. If I had blended them in I don’t know if I would have enjoyed this. I took them out and then blended the soup. It was perfect served warm with a dollop of cold salsa in the middle. I’ll definitely be making this again.

Slow Cooker Bourguignon was up next. This is a mushroom and wine based stew served over mashed potatoes. It smelled great cooking all day. I always think that I’m going to like bourguignon more than I do because I don’t like a strong wine taste. That’s a me problem and not a recipe problem. It tasted just like it was supposed to.

I made the Butternut Squash and Pineapple al Pastor because I had a squash on my counter. This one wasn’t as successful for me. It involved making a spice paste and basting it on squash and pineapple and then roasting them. It turned out to be an odd combination of spicy but yet not very flavorful. I won’t be making this one again.

Overall, I really enjoyed this cookbook. There are more recipes that I would like to try as I have time.