Ereka Vetrini Dishes About Her Upcoming Cookbook, Turning 50 and Why ‘Cooking Was Love’ in Her Italian Family

Social media sensation and food content creator Ereka Vetrini is quick to point out that she’s on a mission—to make you fall in love with cooking dinner again!

“I truly love what I do, and I came to it late in life, but it’s always been a passion that I’ve had since when I was a kid,” Ereka tells Woman’s World as our cover star this week (get your copy here!). “It’s really cool to see it come to fruition. It’s such a pleasure to design a dish and then have people make it over and over again and tell you about it. It’s my happy space for sure.”

Ereka has been busy working on her first cookbook, Well Fed, due out next March. “It’s specifically geared towards my followers’ biggest pain point, which is dinner, so the book is all about dinner,” Ereka says. “It’s a book focused on balanced Mediterranean Italian dinners. My parents were both born and raised in Italy. My style of Italian leans more Mediterranean-Italian. My mom is from a farm near Naples. My dad is from the coast, so I grew up on a lot of vegetables, a lot of fish. There is definitely chicken and meat in the book, but the focus is really on color and balance. All the recipes in the cookbook are about dinner, about ease and simplicity.”

Ereka Vetrini’s recipes offer a healthy twist

Ereka’s recipes pay homage to her Italian roots while also putting a fresh, healthy spin on beloved pasta dishes. “There is pasta, but it’s with a different angle,” she smiles. “When I cooked for my kids when they were little, I designed a plate that was colorful and that I knew was nutrient dense, and I do the same thing now. It’s a little more complicated now, but that still carries forward. Most people are tuned into the fact that I have a focus on balance and I lean clean. There’s a lot of color in my dishes. There’s always greens and reds and fiber. I do try to design a beautiful plate. People like things that are pretty.” 

These days, her life feels like it has come full circle. Her parents immigrated from Italy to New York, and she spent her youth working at their family-owned restaurant, so food has always been an important part of her life. “Food is my creative outlet,” she says. “It’s how I feel love. I grew up in a family where cooking was love. My family nurtured through food. My mom still comes to our house and fills our fridge with food that she knows we’re going to love. So that was always a part of my childhood. 

“My fondest memories were tables filled with all my cousins, uncles and aunts, just chatting and eating, so for me those two are very much connected. I also learned the connection between what you eat is directly connected to the way you feel. I love knowing if I can make something delicious, balanced and beautiful that I’m going to feel good and the people that I’m feeding are going to feel good. I love that!”

The Pioneer Woman Reveals Her Must-Have Cookbooks

Embarking on her next chapter

These days, Ereka has nearly three million followers, but she’s relatively new as a food content creator. “In my late 40s, I did a complete career shift. I’ve literally lived nine lives,” she says of her journey. “I graduated and worked for GE in their financial program, so I was in finance first, then transferred into an operational auditor for Estee Lauder and traveled everywhere. That’s where I really got to dive into different cultures and taste food from all over the world.”

Ereka competed on an early season of The Apprentice and though she didn’t win, it led to a career in television hosting shows for NBC, TLC and HGTV. But during COVID, a new chapter began when her daughter encouraged her to post her gnocchi recipe on TikTok. It went viral, garnering three million views in three days. The Connecticut-based married mother of two has been happily surprised at the response to her recipes. “I think that people realize that this is what I do,” she says. “I’m feeding my family, so there’s comfort in knowing that I’m one of you. It’s just relatability. I’m able to look at the camera and I talk to them like they are my friends because that’s how I feel.”

Ereka’s tips for saving on groceries

Ereka also loves to pass along tips to help her viewers save money. “For cost effectiveness, don’t be scared to use frozen or canned when you can. There’s nothing wrong with that,” she says.

“People don’t realize that frozen goods are usually frozen at the peak of their season so when string beans are not in season, don’t be afraid to use a bag of frozen string beans. When fruit is not in season, use frozen when you can. I can make an entire meal out of canned goods. Most fish when it comes through the doors is frozen first and then they unfreeze it and sell it to you. Look to the frozen section if you are looking for inexpensive proteins.”

Celebrating turning 50

Ereka also loves to encourage people to celebrate milestones, holidays and just life in general at every opportunity. Though she says her family usually enjoys a big July 4th BBQ celebration, this year will be different because she’s actually celebrating her 50th birthday. “I’m a big believer that you have to celebrate birthdays, especially the older you get. You need to celebrate every moment,” says Ereka, who turns 50 on June 28 and planned two trips—one with girlfriends to Scottsdale and one with her family to San Sebastián. 

“On my 40th birthday, I had gone to San Sebastián with just me and my husband. It was our first trip away from our children. Now, my kids are teenagers and we’re going back to San Sebastián and they are coming with us. My daughter is off to college next year, so this is a very important time. It will be the four of us for the last time in a while, so I’m trying to take in all of these moments with my family. I realize it’s going to be different going forward. Having the first [child] leave the house is traumatic. She’s the one that actually got me into the business too, which is interesting. I’m going to miss her very much.”

Ereka Vetrini on creating a legacy

As she turns 50 and her first child heads off to college, Ereka says she has been thinking a lot about the passage of time. “It’s becoming more apparent how quickly time is passing, how fast everything goes,” she says. “I want to take in this part of life because I know it’s so special. I want to celebrate all the good things.”

She’s also mindful of her legacy. “I can have five million followers but none of that will matter if I die tomorrow. My legacy will be with the people I have relationships with,” she shares. “My memory will live on with my husband and my kids and my best friends. I want that to be the most important thing. Everything else is wonderful and I’m going to continue to cook my butt off and build this brand as much as I can, but at the end of the day, it’s really about the people and relationships that I have right in front of me. When you are on social media, it’s all about numbers, but I’m still very aware that happiness relies on my relationships.”