39 Gifts for Food Lovers

Splurgey holiday meals on the town have their place, but going into winter with a freezer-full of pasture raised beef, pork, lamb, and chicken can feel like the real glamour to a home cook. Porter Road is my go-to for high-quality meat, available either as a single order, or as an ongoing meat subscription box.

Why settle for a regular old plastic cutting board when you could have this confetti-inspired number from New York-based Fredericks and Mae? Use as a cheese board, a charcuterie board, or for food prep.

Any home cook will appreciate a restock on their spice cabinet, especially from a spice retailer as trusted as Burlap & Barrel. Purchase this gift set that includes favorites like Wild Mountain Cumin, Royal Cinnamon, Tangy Black Lime, and hot Buffalo Ginger to use as a stocking stuffer or in a gift basket.

This sweetly nostalgic little enamel pot is the ideal cookware for warming milk for cappuccinos, making sauces, or of course, warming butter. It also looks right at home on the table as a serving vessel.

Sugarcane and recycled plastic—the by-product of kitchen tool production—come together to make this pastel-hued little cutting board. At just over 13” by 8”, this is the ideal petite prep board to hand out to friends who offer to trim green beans before dinner, or the size to pull out for small tasks like slicing fruit or crushing a clove or two of garlic.

Swing for this roomy non-stick skillet set for the recent grad, or a friend with a newfound love of cooking. The slick, non-toxic surface means delicate proteins like eggs and fish will come away with ease, but it’s also big enough for a whole batch of chicken thighs or sautéed vegetables.

This book from team Ottolenghi takes the lessons of pandemic cooking and gives them the incredibly flavorful, inventive, veg-forward Ottolenghi treatment. The resulting 85-plus recipes all call on pantry staples (as well as whatever may be camped out in the back of your crisper drawer or on your freezer shelf) but punch way above the standard kitchen cupboard pasta.

Amongst the delightfully nostalgic Irish sweets like lemon posset, sherry trifle, and sticky toffee pudding in JR Ryall’s Ballymaloe Desserts, you’ll find clear instructions for perfect renditions of pastry classics and the foundations they’re built upon. Anyone interested in classic patisserie can come away with a lighter, more tender genoise to sandwich with chocolate mousse, or a golden tarte tatin. But Ryall’s tempting recipes and the elegant photography that accompanies them might very well have you attempting a gâteau pithiviers before you know it. Needless to say, every recipe in here is miles away from the sourdough, cookies and snack cakes that dominate American pastry and baking books right now, which makes it a surprising delight for the well-versed baker in need of a new challenge.

There’s a reason why the Le Creuset Dutch oven is still a kitchen status item amongst food lovers everywhere. It will last forever (think cross-generational cookware levels of forever), it heats evenly, it has just the right sized handles and lid knob, and it is ideally shaped for whatever soup, curry, braise, or stew you want to pull together inside.

A cute little enamelware bowl with a cute little secret Santa-friendly price tag. It’s also low maintenance, as all things before morning coffee should be, meaning that it is shatterproof and dishwasher-safe.

I can think of no better way to enhance beginner baking skills than a Nordic Ware Bundt pan. This decorative pan takes even the simplest one-bowl cake and makes it a thing of beauty. Plus, thanks to its best-in-class American-made construction, it might just become the signature shape of your giftee’s cakes for years to come.

Tea leaves need a little space to brew properly. This Hario pot’s roomy brewing chamber provides just that. It comes in three sizes, the largest of which is just $20.

Everyone has a crumpled canvas tote, complete with either a coffee or a pen stain. Not everyone has a farmers market bag that can fold into the pocket of even the slimmest jeans and boasts a darling veggie pattern.

Dandelion Chocolate makes bars a true chocolate lover will adore for their intensity and feel good about eating. Although so much of the chocolate trade is mired by child slavery and generally exploitative farming and labor practices, Dandelion only makes single origin bars with long term partners paid far above industry standards. In the murky chocolate world, they stand out for transparency, even going as far as to publish their sourcing reports. The gift-able bar samplers are the perfect introduction to the brand.

For that one person that you somehow still love even though they drink iced coffee in the depths of January: The Yeti rambler. A Big Gulp disguised as an outdoors cup, this insulated stainless steel to-go cup is ideal for mammoth proportions of iced tea or coffee, or a morning smoothie.

To choose a favorite hot sauce feels impossible, irresponsible, and downright foolish: There is room for every last chili at my table. But unlike some of my favorite pungently fermented or extra spicy ones, this one is an easy crowd pleaser. It’s prime for BBQ thanks to its sweet-savory, Worcestershire-tinged flavor not nearly as hot as the label might suggest, and makes for a good little stocking stuffer.

Cookbook author and chef Gregory Gourdet tipped me off to Portland-based Finex earlier this year—he’s loyal to their octagonal cast-iron pans for their unique shape and stay-cool handle. Those eight points all work as pour spots, while the glossy pre-seasoned finish gives you the best of cast iron and non-stick right out of the box.

In all the holiday craze over cheese boards and charcuterie, let’s not forget the other highly important cracker topping: Butter. These pretty little spreaders give butter its due attention on the table.

Featuring designs from famous Italian artist Gaetano Pesce, these handcrafted resin coasters each vary slightly and come in six eye-popping color pairings—and they’d make the perfect final piece to the gift box you’re putting together.

While black tea is sturdy enough to be brewed in truly boiling water, the more delicate leaves of green tea do best in 150–160 degrees Fahrenheit. Of course, the tea lover in your life probably knows that already—this pot just takes the guesswork out of the morning cup for them.

The celiac you love, the one who is so often left out of holiday treats? This is the book for them. (Not to mention anyone interested in the complex nuttiness and nuanced flavor whole grain flours give baked goods.) While Aran Goyoaga’s wealth of knowledge makes her a favorite amongst the more advanced bakers, there are recipes here for at every skill level—just look at the dead-simple peanut butter banana cookies. Get this one under the tree or round the table sooner rather than later: There’s a chapter specifically dedicated to showstopping holiday bakes. I’ve got my eye on the deep caramel-colored honey cake edged with a sweet-salty seed brittle.

Tired: Gifting a knife set that doubles up on knives they already own. Wired: Gifting one unique little knife. The Japanese Fuji folding knife is small enough for delicate tasks, can easily be taken on the go as a pocket knife, and doubles as a bottle opener.

Does your favorite foodie also have a cabinet space issue? This Joseph Joseph mixing bowl and measuring cup set packs a whopping nine tools into one stacking set. This gift set is ideal for both the baker and the home cook, thanks to the included fine mesh sieve for prepping flour and the colander for steaming and rinsing.

The duo behind Los Angeles-based tabletop studio Atelier Saucier is always on the lookout for unique reclaimed fabrics for their tablecloths, placemats, and cocktail napkins. This set of patchwork napkins shows off their indigo fabric finds.

The next pick on our list of best gifts for foodies is Diaspora’s tadka spoon. Traditionally, a tadka spoon is used to temper or bloom spices and aromatics in a bit of oil—a key step in adding that final hit of flavor to Indian and Sri Lankan dishes. But regardless which cuisine you’re cooking, freshly ground and toasted spices are a game changer–and this minature cast-iron pan is the ideal vessel for toasting.

Taco people rejoice: Jorge Gaviria, the masa expert behind retailer Masienda, has written a book that explains masa top to bottom. Learn the history, science, and technique behind processes like grinding and nixtamalization, how to do them at home, and of course, recipes to showcase your prized handmade masa. Expect tortillas and tostadas, of course, but also masa waffles and even masa-battered vegetables.

Everyone needs a paring knife for hulling strawberries, peeling apples, and any other delicate carving task. And though the average knife—with its sleek metal blade and black handle—looks just fine, why not opt for something a bit more aesthetically pleasing? Made In offers any knife you could possibly need and you can buy them with brightly colored handles. Personally we recommend the bright cherry red option, but you can’t go wrong with blue or a rustic wood.  

And if you’re thinking, Well, the foodie in my life already has every knife they could possibly need, you know what they probably don’t have? A champagne saber.

Okay, so they already have all the best cookware, enough cookbooks to fill a library, and don’t need anymore spices or sauces to fill their cupboards. That means it’s time to venture into the next category of food gifts: wearable food. If they have a favorite condiment, drink, vegetable, ice cream, or, in this case, pasta, find a piece of jewelry they can always wear to showcase a bit of their personality.

This beaded pouch will make a perfect coin purse that your food enthusiast will never lose to the depths of their bag.

What’s the perfect gift for the foodie who has to bring a lunch to the office every day or always likes to supply some refreshing beverages at the group picnic? This swoon-worthy lunch box that could easily double as a purse in a pinch. Don’t let the luxe vegan leather exterior fool you—this bag has an insulated interior you can fit cans of drinks or a Tupperware of food in, and it features a few compartments for utensils.

We would be remiss to have a best gift ideas for foodies list and not include the Always Pan from Our Place. This leveled up version of the trending cookware we all know and love comes in a wide variety of gorgeous hues and will become a trusty go-to thanks to its versatility and nonstick performance.

Really want to make a splash this holiday season? Get the machine that’ll provide your food lover with all the best blends, soups, and more from now until the end of time. A Vitamix is already a state-of-the-art kitchen gadget, but a Vitamix from the Ascent Series is the Ferrari of blenders. It’s got five different programmable settings and a sleek touchscreen display. The recently released Vitamix Gold label delivers all that same high-performance in an even more elevated style, with a base available in five different colors and stunning gold accents. Morning smoothie-making never looked so lush.

You might think to yourself, Who needs a ceramic egg crate? We’ll tell you who—the home cook or baker in your life. This crate from Anthropologie will keep eggs in easy access as they bake while also functioning as practical decor.

You can’t go wrong with eggs—for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or home decor.

Every home cook needs some tools to help them keep the ingredients they use as fresh as possible for as long as possible. These silicone “huggers” will wrap around the exposed parts of your peppers or cucumbers and other produce to keep them fresh for longer.

Here’s something else they’ll appreciate: a decorative tray to display their creations. After all, what’s the point of being a baker if you can’t show off your treats?