Real Healthy

Real Healthy untangles the complicated world of ultra-processed foods and puts us back into the calm and comforting space of simple, sublime and tasty cooking. Embracing great ingredients, cooked with ease and simplicity but with Melissa’s own take of exciting and interesting twists to keep us all super interested and want to try every recipe in the book. Beautiful photography, amazing put together recipes that really are perfect for the home cook.

Tom Kerridge, Michelin-starred chef & restauranteur

A practical guide for busy lives, Hemsley serves up all the delicious and nutritious solutions to our everyday eating dilemmas with recipes you'll turn to again and again and know, without question, that they’ll make you feel great. It's real, good food.

Yotam Ottolenghi

A delicious guide to eating the healthy way.

Tim Spector

Jam-packed full of simple and delicious recipes – this book will become your go-to – making eating well a joy, not a chore.

Dr Rupy Aujla, author of The Doctor's Kitchen

Melissa leads us to ingredients that will help us feel well, and dishes them up in ways that will make us lick our lips.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, cook, writer, broadcaster and founder of River Cottage

This has everything you want from a cookbook: nourishing and scrumptious meals with accessible ingredients.

Dr Amir Khan, GP and broadcaster

I love Melissa’s real-life take on making healthier food easy and accessible.

Liz Earle MBE

A game changer in the kitchen!

Laura Whitmore, broadcaster

A delightful guide to shifting the focus onto eating more plants, cooking more intuitively and fostering a more sustainable and wholesome approach to mealtimes.

Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed, NHS gastroenterology doctor, author & MasterChef winner

I talk a lot about adding "extras" into family meals to help up the veggies and also increase the nutrition of our family foods – this book offers plenty of extras with fresh and nutritious ingredients, but in really simple recipes with lots of store cupboard ingredients too.

Charlotte Stirling-Reed, the baby and child nutritionist

Melissa is one of the most trusted people around. This book is so simple and helps us to understand so clearly why we all must make changes.

Gaby Roslin, broadcaster and author

With her joyful approach and simple to follow recipes, Melissa has created the ultimate kitchen companion for families.

Skye Gyngell, chef

A treasure trove of delectable and approachable recipes.

Rachel Khoo, food writer and broadcaster

Real Healthy encourages and shows us that meals made from scratch are inherently nourishing and full of flavour... and also totally achievable. The recipes and ideas here are lip-smacking and joyous, but there's pragmatism too – you'll actually cook and use them.

Ed Smith, award winning food writer and author

A practical guide to beating ultra-processed foods with easy-to-use, nutritious recipes. Essential for anyone looking to eat better and feel better. I absolutely love this book!

Rose Ferguson Msc Adv Nut. certified functional medicine practitioner

Fresh, simple meals the whole family can enjoy. Melissa is a master at making delicious fresh recipes that are quick and easy to make. This is the cookbook every kitchen needs. It’s the antidote to move away from ultra-processed foods without breaking the bank or needing a cookery class.

Dr Martha Deiros Collado, psychologist and author of How to Be the Grown Up

A cookbook for every kitchen. Amazing message. Amazing recipes. I love this book, which will help families put healthy, delicious food on their tables.

Dr Zoe Williams MBBS, DRCOG, MRCGP

A book I'd recommend to anyone looking to ditch ultra-processed food and enjoy real healthy food.

Adrienne Adhami, wellness coach and author

Your passion for combating the prevalence of ultra-processed foods shines through in your book, and I'm confident that its message of promoting wholesome nutrition will resonate deeply with readers seeking a healthier lifestyle. As a mum of two, it has been a concerning trend for ultra-processed foods. Your dedication to this cause is truly inspiring.

Romy Gill MBE, chef, broadcaster and author

There is no doubt about the damage that ultra-processed foods are doing to our health. To find a cookbook that makes it easier to return to real food cooking in a way that does not seem overwhelming is paramount.

Dr Tara Swart Bieber, neuroscientist, medical doctor, bestselling author of The Source, podcast host, and brand ambassador in beauty, health and wellbeing

Melissa provides a nourishing, kind solution to reducing UPFs in our diet. Her recipes and approach are achievable, and rooted in the wisdom and science that whole plants are the cornerstone of a healthy diet.

Dr Federica Amati PhD MPH RNutr, author and head nutritionist at ZOE

Joyful rather than judgmental. A genuinely pleasurable way to eat better with zero compromises on flavour.

Felicity Cloake, food writer

This book isn’t going on my recipe bookshelf. No, it’s going to live open, on the kitchen counter. Colourful, nourishing and beautifully do-able recipes with a humongous side-order of valuable, passionate guidance on how we can unprocess our diets and better nurture our bodies.

Anna Mathur MBACP (Accred) psychotherapist

I love this cookbook! It’s a beautiful example of how you can use food as medicine to nourish your body. The recipes are wholesome, colourful and full of plant points. I will be recommending Real Healthy to clients and will be using it myself.

Farzanah Nasser, nutritionist and certified functional medicine practitioner

With the wealth of evidence showing that UPFs are harmful to our health, the way we feed ourselves and our families is more important than ever. With Real Healthy, Melissa provides delicious, easy to prepare recipes and helpful tips that will inspire you to cook – and eat – more real food. As importantly, this book provides parents with nourishing recipes that their children will actually eat and enjoy; a feat in itself!

Rhian Stephenson, nutritionist and naturopath

With simple hacks, swaps and cooking method tweaks, the Hemsley magic returns. Whether it is time that you are pushed for, your kitchen confidence needs a boost, or you simply want to carry on eating good enjoyable family food that cares for your health too, Real Healthy will give you everything you need.

Dale Pinnock, nutritionist and chef on Eat Shop Save

I have never met anyone who screams "real food" more than Melissa Hemsley. Little says "real" like Melissa Hemsley’s abundant, vibrant, in-full-flow approach to food. I’ve had many meals cooked for me in her kitchen. The experience looks (and tastes) exactly like the glorious images in this book.

Sarah Wilson, author of New York Times bestselling I Quit Sugar

What a joy of a book! You’ve done the very difficult thing of hitting a great balance of encouraging healthiness without compromise on flavour and pleasure, and a total lack of worthiness while being serious about the issues and how to eat in a healthier way. Such appealing recipes and I loved the ‘How To Build’ pages!

Mark Diacano, author and food writer

In a time when ultra-processed foods are all too common, Real Healthy stands out by bringing whole food cooking back to life. This cookbook isn't just a set of recipes; it's a guide that educates and provides practical support for those looking to avoid processed foods and embrace a healthier, more natural diet.

Sarah Ann Macklin, ANtur, registered nutritionist, founder of Live Well Be Well Podcast and the Be Well Collective

A deliciously informative and inspiring book, full of hacks and advice. I’m drawn to all of the vibrant veggie recipes.

Mary McCartney, photographer, food writer and TV presenter

Joyful food at its finest, and just as importantly healthy and supremely practical too – Melissa’s recipes are my go-to for mid-week healthy meals that nourish body and soul.

Dr Emily Leeming PhD, RD, nutrition and microbiome scientist, registered dietitian and chef

Real Healthy masterfully navigates the complex landscape of modern nutrition. Melissa's approach emphasises nourishment, ease and finding joy in food, and gently offers practical and accessible information on UPFs. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their diet, and a beacon for those striving to mitigate the health impacts of ultra-processed foods in our hectic daily lives. Real Healthy is more than a cookbook; it's a guide to embracing food as a source of vitality and wellness, demonstrating that eating well can indeed fit seamlessly and deliciously into our real, everyday lives.

Dr Jenna Macciochi, immunologist and author

Good food can be such a pleasure, but it can also be a challenge for busy, working mums like myself! I love how vibrant, simple and accessible this book is... it's the closest thing to having Melissa pop around and help you prep a wholesome, delicious meal herself! I particularly love the How to Build a Smoothie/Salad/Tray Bake sections, a shortcut to getting it right every time and really taking the stress out of the well-honed dilemma, what to cook and how to make it easy?! This book is exactly what we need to combat the ultra-processed food juggernaut and get back to real, easy, accessible eating.

Pauline Cox BSc MSc, functional nutritionist, author and integrative medicine specialist

Melissa has produced a wonderful book stuffed with healthy and nutritious recipes which will help people cook healthy and sustainable food.

Jo Ralling, head of campaigns at The Food Foundation

Wholesome, easy recipes that don't compromise on taste

Closer

Filled with advice on products to side-step when food shopping, solutions to navigate challenges (like snacking!) and more than 90 recipes, it makes trying to avoid UPF a joy.

Delicious magazine

Avoid those ultra-processed packaged sarnies and level up your lunch with MELISSA HEMSLEY’s healthier options

Fabulous Mag

Easy, doable and delicious recipes, based around minimally processed ingredients, that will slot into your everyday routine.

RED

Full of quick, nutritious, budget-conscious and tasty recipes Melissa hopes will give UPFs a run for their money.

The Telegraph