Smith, 24, and her husband now share four kids: Rumble Honey, Slim Easy, Whimsy Lou, and Fawnie Golden. Because of their large families and the nature of their viral content, Smith and Neeleman both tend to get cited in conversations about a conservative cultural resurgence; in 2024, Nara and Lucky Blue Smith even took their kids to visit the Neeleman clan in Kamus, Utah. But Smith herself identifies as a working mom rather than a “hardcore Mormon.” In an exclusive interview, she tells VF that she’s hoping to shift the emphasis away from online debates and back toward her real passion: cutting processed foods out of her family’s diet.

Smith says she started reverse engineering things like cereal and Oreos as a young mother, after suffering a bad case of eczema. Now, the goal is to keep expanding her business outside of your iPhone screen. “Ultimately, I’m building a culinary lifestyle empire, and we’re only at the very beginning,” she says. “The most natural thing to do is put this cookbook out, and then just continue building and sharing what I love with people all across the world.”

Vanity Fair: Why did you feel like now was the right time for a cookbook?

Nara Smith: We started working on it about two-ish years ago, and at that point I felt like so many people were constantly asking for recipes. Instead of responding to all the questions and putting recipes out that might slip through the cracks, I decided to compile it all into one book that people can have in their homes and use and love.

I wanted it to be a mix of things that are fun to make and that might be unexpected—the things that people love seeing on my social media, like the Oreos or the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. People are so shocked that I make them, but it’s actually quite easy to make. Then things that I do on a day-to-day basis, like a roast chicken or a really good pancake, things that I naturally cook a lot.

Were you inspired by any cookbooks in particular?

Before I started this, I never owned a cookbook! After I started writing and figuring out my cookbook and my recipes, my publisher was like, “You should just go into Barnes & Noble and look at other cookbooks and see what this world is like.” So I did. One of the cookbooks I absolutely adore was this Julius Roberts one, [The Farm Table]. He’s just so grounded, and his recipes are just so in line with how I cook. That was the first cookbook I picked up and absolutely loved.

You grew up in Germany. Is that why you decided to include a schnitzel recipe?

I just love schnitzel! I grew up eating it so much. There’s this stripped-back, simple way of cooking German dishes that I really enjoy. The German recipes in the book feel really nostalgic to me since my dad is German; my grandma was German. Growing up, I would just watch her in the kitchen. The way her hands held the spoon, and the way she sprinkled stuff, and the way she put this clay lid on this clay pot with the roast chicken is seared into my memory. I was so sad when she passed, so I just wanted a little part of her to be in this book.

How did the cover come about?

I had this image on my mood board. It was this vintage cartoon-looking thing, and it was like a table dress, but it didn’t have food on it. It was like a theater image. And everyone loved that image. And there was this idea of, well, how do we construct this table dress? [My stylist] Thomas reached out to Rodarte, and they quickly turned around this dress, and got it perfect. I don’t know how they did it. My cousin Gary did the set design, and constructed this wood piece. Then I basically got drilled into it on set.