Giada De Laurentiis Reveals Her New Cookbook “Super-Italian” and the Chapter That Will 'Change Your Life' (Exclusive)

The celebrity chef's new book highlights six Italian superfoods

Giada De Laurentiis has found balance and she's sharing it in her new cookbook.

In Super-Italian, out March 2025, the culinary star highlights six flavorful-yet-healthy superfoods she thinks everyone should have on hand: olives and olive oil, beans and legumes, cruciferous vegetables, small fish, vinegar and tomatoes.

De Laurentiis, 54, began the project in 2021 following the release of Eat Better, Feel Better. She calls that book, which was focused on boosting gut health and immunity, “more rigid” than Super-Italian.

“After doing that book tour and being in COVID, I realized part of my upbringing was not so rigid,” De Laurentiis tells PEOPLE. “We ate pasta and we ate desserts and we drank some wine. It's more of finding that balance, and I think I was able to do that during COVID when I wasn't traveling so much, and I could really focus on going back to my roots a little bit more and without being in the rat race of my everyday life.”

During the pandemic, she had time to reconnect with family members, which led to discussions about food and the dishes everyone was making while home.

Related: Giada De Laurentiis Shows Off Her Daughter Jade, 16, Singing in Her Band — Watch

“They were still really craveable meals, but there's such an influx of Italian super foods, things like anchovies, tinned fish — which has now become really popular — olives and olive oils, and way more cruciferous vegetables,” she says. “Even though they were making pastas, they were infusing all of these things into it.”

One ah-ha moment was when her cousin added anchovies into his garlicky breadcrumbs.

“I love breadcrumbs,” says De Laurentiis. “But to make them more powerful with antioxidants and more superfoods that actually make me feel better and healthier when I eat them so I'm getting something good out of it? I think that that's something that we started to lose in our fast-paced life, especially here, that Italians still really are conscious about in their daily lives.”

The chef figured out which ingredients would be the most versatile for her recipes, and then researched their benefits. Some — like olive oil — even have uses beyond the kitchen.

“I grew up on olive oil,” she says. “That's pretty much all I eat. And people mention all the time, ‘Oh, your skin, it looks so clear and it looks so nice.’ And I feel like a lot of it has to do with the olive oil that I eat, and that I actually use in my face products. When I exfoliate my face, I use olive oil and rice flour. I use it in my daily life.”

Her favorite chapter of the book is devoted to condiments, but not traditional ones like ketchup and mustard. She means seasoned salt, kale salsa verde and the aforementioned breadcrumbs.

“I think that all of the condiments will change your life, and I think they will change the way you learn to cook,” she says. “I always say I don't always write a book just for the recipe itself … I write books in a way that teach you a technique, that will help you become a better cook subconsciously without even knowing it's making you a better cook.”

De Laurentiis reveals that her 16-year-old daughter Jade’s favorite recipes from the cookbook are a layer-less sheet pan lasagna with a simple pomodoro sauce; and chicken piccata meatballs. “She loves her meatballs, she loves her pasta,” says the proud mom.

She notes that her boyfriend, Shane Farley, is “very similar” to her daughter when it comes to meal preferences but "a little more adventurous." He favors the roasted salmon puttanesca and her casarecce with Sicilian pesto and shrimp.

Related: Giada De Laurentiis Gets Her First Tattoo: ‘Never Thought in a Million Years I Would Do It’

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De Laurentiis, who left the Food Network after 21 years to focus on her cookbooks and lifestyle brand, Giadzy, also told PEOPLE of this new (metaphorical) chapter in her life.

“I feel like I've gone to business school without really ever attending school,” she says. “It has blown my mind, honestly, how much I didn't know that I didn't know. It's helped me be okay with not knowing the answer and leaning on others to teach me, and to be open and the excitement of learning at my age.”

“I'm 54 now, and I think we get to a certain age and we're like, ‘I pretty much know.’ Especially if you've been successful at something, you think, ‘Oh, I know what there is to know about what I'm doing,’” she continues. “And I realized there's so much in the unknown and actually enjoying not knowing and learning in a way that I don't think I had done for the last 10 years before that... So it's renewed my energy in learning. I think it's grounded me a lot and humbled me.”

Super Italian: More Than 110 Indulgent Recipes Using Italy's Healthiest Foods will be released on March 4, 2025, and is available for preorder now.

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