📖 🥔 Order Up! A Conversation with Chef Kate McMillan, Recipe Developer, Cookbook Author, and Mom of Three

She's published 15 (fifteen!) cookbooks!

Small Bites:

📖 We ❤️ Kate McMillan’s Cookbooks! Click here to browse & shop now

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If you’ve ever flipped through a Williams-Sonoma cookbook, browsed Crate & Barrel’s recipe collection, or spotted Soup of the Day on a friend’s kitchen shelf, chances are you’ve already crossed paths with Kate McMillan’s work. The Northern California-based chef, recipe developer, and mom of three has authored fifteen cookbooks (yes, fifteen!) and collaborated with some of the biggest names in the food world—from Pottery Barn Kids to Oprah Magazine. Her recipes are known for being approachable, seasonal, and family-friendly—exactly the kind of food we love around here.

In this conversation, Kate shares what it's like cooking for three growing daughters (and teaching them to take over dinner duties now and then), why she swears by frozen puff pastry, and how she’s found freedom in letting go of perfection. She also offers smart advice for home cooks feeling overwhelmed by the idea that everything needs to be made from scratch—spoiler: it doesn’t.

Whether you’re planning your next weeknight meal, juggling sports schedules, or just trying to make peace with store-bought chicken broth, Kate’s calm, funny, and deeply practical perspective feels like a breath of fresh air. And all the yummy food photographed below was cooked and photographed by Kate!

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One Potato’s Order Up! Interview: Kate McMillan’s kitchen wisdom is fast, flavorful, and full of grace for real family life.

Introduce Yourself:

I’m Kate McMillan. I grew up in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, and then moved to New York to start my career in publishing. Eventually, I headed west, thinking it’d be temporary, and ended up staying—going to culinary school, authoring 15 cookbooks for Williams Sonoma, and raising a family here. Today, I’m a mom to three girls: 22-year-old twins who are about to graduate college and a 16-year-old who’s still at home. That part of my life might be my most important title.

Was food always such a big part of your life growing up?