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Feed your appetite for cooking with Penguin’s expert authors

5 minutes with Dr Rupy Aujla

by Jessica Lockyer-Palmer

published on 17 January 2023, last updated on 23 September 2025

Dr Rupy Aujla is a Sunday Times bestselling author, BBC presenter and host of the number one rated podcast, The Doctor’s Kitchen. Drawing on his Master’s in nutritional medicine, he is on a mission to make healthy, nutritious food accessible and inviting to all. This month, Dr Rupy releases his fourth cookbook, Dr Rupy Cooks, a collection of over one hundred meticulously researched, rigorously tested and absolutely delicious recipes. Keen to find out more about the author behind the books, The Happy Foodie caught five minutes with Dr Rupy.

Discover Dr Rupy’s latest cookbook

How would you define your approach to cooking in three words?

Fuss-free, colourful, diverse.

How would you sum up your new cookbook, Dr Rupy Cooks, for someone who hasn’t read it yet?

It’s all about healthy, easy, flavourful meals that save you time in the kitchen and help you effortlessly achieve and maintain a way of eating that supports your health and well-being. They’ve been rigorously tested by over a thousand people in kitchens across the globe and I personally reviewed every tester’s feedback to make sure all the recipes were spot on before we included them in the book. I don’t think there’s another cookbook that’s ever done such intensive testing!

All the recipes, including midweek meals, traybakes, stews, and curries, are designed to support your gut, brain, heart and mental health by ensuring they all contain at least three portions of plants per serving, a rich diversity of ingredients and lots of fibre.

If you had to pick, which is your favourite recipe in Dr Rupy Cooks and why?

It’s really hard to say because there are so many, but right now I’m loving the red beans in sweet spicy sauce. I made it the other day, it’s so simple to cook, everything goes in one pan and the sauce is tangy, spicy, sweet and aromatic. It’s gorgeous.

If you could cook for anyone, dead or alive, who would they be and what would you cook for them?

It would have to be Stanley Tucci and I would probably make my almond chicken recipe. It’s a play on my mum’s chicken curry and it hits the spot every time I make it. It never disappoints. But he’d be in charge of aperitivo negronis.

And finally, which cookbooks (other than your own) are always within easy reach in your kitchen?

Anna Del Conte and Madhur Jaffrey.

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