The social media star recently announced her upcoming book of recipes, which is set to release on Oct. 13, 2026, and is currently available for preorder
Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Nara Smith looked back on the process of creating her debut cookbook, Homemade, over the course of the past two years as she answered some of her fans’ questions
- In a Q&A-style TikTok shared on April 22 — two days after she announced the upcoming book on April 20 — Nara discussed how she was “freshly postpartum” with her youngest child during some of the recipe shoots
- She admitted that certain things happening in her personal life at the time made the experience “really, really hard,” though she soon came to appreciate it in full
Nara Smith is opening up about the process of creating her debut cookbook.
On Wednesday, April 22, two days after she announced the upcoming release of Homemade, the social media star posted a video on TikTok to answer some questions she received since the reveal. Nara, 24, began by sharing that it took her two full years to write the book, which is full of beginner-friendly recipes she tested out many times.
"Some of them worked on the first or second try. Other ones, especially the baking ones, took so many tries. I don't even want to know how often I've had sandwich bread," said the mom of four, who built a viral presence online by making impressive meals and dishes "from scratch," often starting with the most raw ingredients possible.
Credit: HarperCollins
She recalled how she was inspired to start cooking in her signature style after she was diagnosed with "autoimmune disease and severe eczema." Nara added that her conditions appeared after she and her husband, Lucky Blue Smith, 27, welcomed their second child together, son Slim Easy, in 2022.
"The things I was eating in the grocery store weren't really helping my autoimmune [disease], which led me into what I do now," she shared.
Many fans have voiced their appreciation for the striking imagery on the front cover of Homemade. The photo sees the German-South African model wearing a pink gingham top that matches the tablecloth sprawled out beneath an array of foods — and a live chicken — in front of her.
In explaining her creative inspiration for the book, Nara nodded to her love of fashion, a passion she demonstrates in many of her videos by cooking in haute couture clothing.
"Obviously, I had to include that in this book as well," she told her millions of TikTok followers. "I treated this kind of like a coffee table book that felt like it would be beautiful, not only in your kitchen."
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She continued to reflect on her experience throughout the process of creating the recipe guide. "I kind of found my voice and found myself," said Nara. She also noted how, during many of the shoots for the book, she was "freshly postpartum" with her youngest child, Fawnie Golden, who was born in September 2025.
"I think our first shoot was when she was 3 weeks old, and after that, there was a lot of stuff going on in my personal life that was really, really hard," Nara explained. "I feel like I really lost my spark and my vision for a certain amount of time. But then I kicked back into it and really just sat down and zoned in and really am proud of how this book turned out."
Homemade is set to release on October 13 and is currently available for preorder.
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