Book Review: ‘Hazbin Hotel Bar Book: Drinks and Snacks for Wayward Sinners’
Fans of Amazon Prime’s hit series Hazbin Hotel get ready. This new recipe book from Thea Engst and Jordan Alsaqa contains tons of delicious treats inspired by your favorite characters. There’s Rosie’s Sweet Tea, Lilith on the Beach, and Maneater Gimlet drinks alongside foods like Adam’s Ribs and Angel Wings. With a foreword from Vivienne Medrano, the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book: Drinks and Snacks for Wayward Sinners is perfect for fans of The Hellaverse.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Insight Editions for the purpose of this review.]
In the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book, the road to redemption is paved with tasty recipes
The Hazbin Hotel Bar Book is full of delicious recipes. Fans of the show will appreciate the themed treats that will make them feel like their favorite characters could drop right in. Considering the show is set in a hotel in Hell (or maybe Hell adjacent, I guess), the majority of Hazbin Hotel Bar Book is obviously alcoholic libations. But a large section of the drink recipes are actually dedicated to mocktails. As a nondrinker, I was really excited about this! Most recipe books just leave sober people out in the cold.
In addition to the mocktail sections, the front of the book has a nonalcoholic substitutes section that offers recipes for “vodka,” “bourbon,” “tea-quila,” and other alcohol replacements. These can be used in the different cocktails for those who want to enjoy one of these recipes but choose not to drink alcohol.
There’s also two sections that focus on solid food instead of liquid lunches. Most of the food is appetizer-type fare, things to munch on while you drink and watch TV. There are a few meals, like Angel’s Hair Pasta, but most of the food is intended to snack on, not serve as dinner.
One section of the food is meant to be recipes from cannibals that have been modified for those of us who don’t eat “long pig.” Those who don’t watch the show will be a little mystified by this section’s theme, but fans know why cannibal recipes are included in the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book.
You’re going to need a bigger pantry
There is a wide variety of drinks in the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book. The upside of that is there is something for everyone in there. The down side is that you need many ingredients, and many of them are unusual. This is not a problem that is unique to Hazbin Hotel Bar Book. I have reviewed several recipe books now, and they all tend to include rare or unusual ingredients.
I understand that the cooks creating the recipes have access to large pantries and considerable budgets, but most of the people buying these books and recreating these recipes do not. I think that the recipe creators should think about that when creating their concoctions and try to make things simpler. It is possible to make yummy food and drinks with common ingredients that everyone has in their kitchen, and I wish someone would make a recipe book like that. I would buy that book any day!
My favorite recipes from the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book
There are 66 recipes in the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book, and to be honest, I didn’t make every single one. But I did try a few. When it comes to the food, I really liked the Fat Nuggets (although I didn’t use the dip) and Niffty’s Favorite Snack (although I didn’t make the tortilla chips bug-shaped; that was too much work for me). Both were relatively simple and tasted great! Fat Nuggets are basically pigs in a blanket with a spicy dipping sauce. Nifty’s Favorite Snack is just guacamole and chips. Who knew it was so easy to make tortilla chips?!
On the drinks side, I quite liked the mocktail version of the Cherri Bomb and The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far. Both of those drinks came from an interesting section of the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book called CMocktails for Bad Boys!!! Sandwiched between actual mocktails and real cocktails, all of these recipes are presented in two forms: a mocktail version and a cocktail version.
The additions that make the mocktails into cocktails are written in like someone is commenting in their school textbook. It’s a cute section that I really enjoyed reading, and tasting, my way through.
Time for a Hazbin Hotel viewing party!
Now the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book: Drinks and Snacks for Wayward Sinners is strongly aimed at fans of Hazbin Hotel. The way I envision it being used most is for viewing party menus. Fans could invite their friends over to watch the latest episode and serve up food and drinks inspired by the show.
Serving recipes from the Hazbin Hotel Bar Book: Drinks and Snacks for Wayward Sinners is the perfect way to connect to the show while having fun with friends. And fans have years of the show left to enjoy. Hazbin Hotel has just been renewed with Prime Video through a 5th season, but they’re only on the 3rd season currently.
At the rate they’re going, there’s probably a good 5 years or more to go before the show concludes. That’s a lot of cooking, drinking, and viewing, so grab this book and get some sins in before starting on that turn to redemption!
My rating for this cookbook: 7/10
The Hazbin Hotel Bar Book: Drinks and Snacks for Wayward Sinners releases wherever books are sold on June 30, 2026 and is currently available for pre-order.
Also check out: Book Review: The Official Wednesday Cookbook by Mari Mancusi with Recipes by Jarrett Melendez
