[2] It was one of the first cookery books to provide lists of ingredients, exact quantities, and cooking times, and to include Eastern recipes for chutneys.

[5] Her recipe for mincemeat (as in mince pies) still contained meat – she suggests ox tongue or beef sirloin – which she combined with lemons "boiled quite tender and chopped up entirely with the exception of the pips".

[16] The review in The Spectator stated that the order of the book was "very natural", while "the methods are clearly described, and seem founded on chemical principles".

[18] Bee Wilson, writing in The Telegraph, agrees that it is "the greatest British cookbook of all time",[18] adding that Acton deserves to be a household name.

"[18] Elizabeth Ray, editor of The Best of Eliza Acton—a selection of recipes from Modern Cookery with an introduction by Elizabeth David, notes that Acton began her writing career with poetry, only to be told by her publishers that a cookery book would be better, and that "an unmistakable literary talent appears even in her receipts, in the style itself, and in the engaging titles she bestows on some of her dishes", which include "The Elegant Economist's Pudding" as well as those of publishers and authors.

[7] Clarissa Dickson Wright, in her A History of English Food, calls Acton "the best cookery writer of the period", noting that she paid "considerable attention" to curry in the book.

She further notes that Acton suggested practical improvements, such as grating coconut into the gravy, and using tamarind, acid apples and cucumber to simulate the "piquancy you get with bitter gourds, mango, and so on", which she comments was certainly better than lazily adding lemon juice, but still nothing like "anything prepared by my grandmother's Indian cook.

They find the recipe for Mulligatawny soup "wonderful", the oyster sausages "very tasty", and the "Potato Boulettes" like a French equivalent of gnocchi.

They conclude that "this is an inspirational book with an Aladdin's Cave of recipes and wonderful, timeless writing" and an "absolutely essential part of any serious cookbook collection.

"[20] Kathryn Hughes, writing in The Guardian, observes that Acton has been set up as "the saint to Mrs Beeton's sinner", "an Austenish heroine: a stylish Regency spinster, a poet rather than a journalist, a committed cookery writer rather than an opportunistic hack."

She notes that Elizabeth David created this image, supported by Jane Grigson, and Delia Smith: "in short, anyone who wants to be in the kitchen cool gang knows that the name to drop is Acton's."

[21] Natalie Whittle, writing in the Financial Times in 2011, describes how recipes such as "Water Souchy"[22] (a clear fish soup) from Modern Cookery and other books of the period are being revived at English restaurants.

There is 'Kentish' sausage meat, suet pudding and cherry jam, 'Tonbridge' brawn, and ‘Bordyke’ Veal cake, preserved ham and bread.