Gifts for Cooks: What To Buy Your Culinary Friends at the Holidays

Gifting With Intention

Before you decide on the best gifts for your loved one, consider the intention behind your gift and why you think something would suit this person. When buying a gift, remember that it's not just about the present. Anyone can go to a store and grab something off a random shelf. The thought behind the gift counts too.

Consider the personal cooking memories and little details your giftee has shared with you. This is an excellent starting point to brainstorm the perfect, intentional gift that will make them feel loved and excited to be in the kitchen.

Not everyone is going to be an experienced chef, and that's okay. When searching for the perfect gift, consider their cooking skills and, with no judgment, reflect on what's a realistic purchase for them and their kitchen.

Research has shown that cooking home-cooked meals frequently results in healthier eating habits and reduces food waste. So, for this holiday season, let's look into some gift options for at-home cooking and dining experiences that will be exciting and beneficial for your loved ones.

Gifts for the Foodie

Maybe your culinary pal is more of an eater than a cook. If so, we've got them covered. Of course, these make fantastic gifts for your favorite home chefs as well.

Sauces, condiments, and simple ingredients make easy gifts or stocking stuffers for foodies. Here are our recommendations to give you some ideas:

Gourmet Sauces

The sauce you gift will depend on your loved one's preferences.

If your foodie is a spice lover, we suggest our TRUFF Variety Pack, which has several variations of hot sauce to try.

If they're more inclined to classic condiments, our TRUFF Mayo Combo Pack includes two decadent, gourmet spins on classic mayonnaise. They can use these with everything from sandwiches to pasta salads.

If they’re a lover of all things carbs, help them take their pasta night up a notch with a Black Truffle Marinara or Black Truffle Spicy Marinara sauce.

For someone who tends to like desserts, we'd suggest a sauce on the sweeter that they could incorporate into their favorite pies, pastries, or ice creams.

Staple Ingredients

For those foodies that cook often, an elegant imported olive oil is a perfect option. It's incredibly versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. That said, while plain olive oil is always nice, a black truffle infused olive oil would be even nicer.

Other thoughtful staples you can get are interesting spice blends, sea salt rubs, or specialty marinades.

Recipe Kit

If you're a more hands-on gift-giver, research a recipe and get all the ingredients for a DIY kit so your friend can try making exciting new foods.

For instance, if your friend loves Japanese food, you could gift them all the ingredients and tools to make their own at-home sushi. For inspiration, try using a recipe like our Spicy Sushi Roll recipe.

Gifts for the Beginner Chef

For beginners (or anyone who wants simple cooking without many detailed steps), here are some kitchen gadgets for quick and timely at-home meals:

Air Fryer

This gift is a popular choice for college students and stay-at-home parents alike. An air fryer works similarly to a convection oven and cooks food in a closed and heated space.

An air fryer is a perfect gift for someone looking for quick, delicious, and healthy cooking options. It requires significantly less oil than pan frying and is faster than using a regular oven.

Instant Pot

Similar to the air fryer, an Instant Pot cooks meals promptly and without the struggle of excessive dishes. Unlike an air fryer, an Instant Pot is more suitable for general cooking rather than crisp frying.

It can also be compared to a pressure cooker, which works similarly but is often used for cooking for even longer periods of time.

Hands-On Cooking

For a hands-on chef, the ideal gift might be a kitchen tool that requires a little more work to use. These can include different tools for your friend's stovetop, such as cookware to sauté or fry up simple meals like pancakes or stir-fried veggies.

Either a basic nonstick stainless steel pan or cast iron skillet paired with a flipping utensil makes a great gift.

Another option in this category is a large pot for soups and boiling foods like pasta. If you go for this option, a quality strainer is a fantastic bonus present.

The Simple Cook

If your giftee isn't looking to cook extensive meals and doesn't need anything in the stovetop cookware department, perhaps they'd appreciate a simpler countertop device.

You can find your loved one a simple gift based on their favorite parts of the kitchen. Do they survive on their morning caffeine? Get  a coffee maker or espresso machine for your favorite americano aficionado.

Are they a breakfast lover? Even something as simple as a toaster or sandwich maker for everyday eats makes a wonderful present.

For Baking Enthusiasts

If the foodie in your life is more interested in baking than braising, here are a few alternative gifts that may interest them.

Exciting bakeware gift options include measuring cups, a rolling pin, baking trays, or fun silicone molds.

For something a little more personalized, you could gift them oven mitts with a special message or design that complements their kitchen space.

Gifts for the Intermediate Chef 

If your giftee has been hanging out in the kitchen for a while, you may want to up the ante on your kitchen gifts for them.

For instance, a home chef with some experience might appreciate gifts that allow them to further practice their skills and expand their range of cooking like the following.

Cutting and Chopping Tools

Quality knife sets and cutting boards are always appreciated in the kitchen, especially if your cook's tools are getting old or worn down.

These types of gifts are very versatile and can be customized to the needs of your giftee (as well as to your own budget). You can even decide if you want to get them a single-piece gift or a gift set based on their needs. If you can't spring for a full set of quality knives, a chef's knife is often the most useful knife a cook can have.

Dutch Oven

If you know your loved one has oven aspirations, get them a dutch oven. Despite the name, a dutch oven is not an oven itself. Rather, it’s a heavy cooking pot that goes into the oven. It helps speed up the process of cooking thick meals like stews and chilis, but can also be used to make more advanced items like sourdough bread.

Additional Tools

Other great kitchen tools that you can gift include a slicer or a mandolin, which cuts food in specific directions and shapes, or a grinder that can be used to make sausages or ground meat.

Gifts for the Advanced Chef

Finally, for advanced home cooks, here are some more complex kitchen tools to gift:

Sous Vide Device

This cooking device is used for cooking food (often meat or seafood) at a specific temperature in a vacuum-sealed container. It's an excellent gift for a precise chef looking for consistent cooking results.

Pizza Oven

Pizza ovens are ideal for any skilled chef looking to explore the Italian side of cooking. These special devices have the ability to cook at hotter temperatures, which will give you the perfect crisp pizza crust. Your friend can create their own dough and experiment with different toppings and TRUFF sauces.

BBQ Grill

For all those who love to grill, a barbeque grill is the ultimate holiday gift. There are a large variety of grills available for those who love seared meats, kebabs, and seafood. If you don't want to get them a pricey full-sized grill, you can get them a more affordable countertop grill or a portable grill to take on outdoor adventures.

You can also get them a fresh set of grill utensils that includes our TRUFF Logo Grilling Spatula. This spatula is stainless steel and dishwasher safe, so your chef won't have to stress about the mess.

The Perfect Gift

We hope this gift guide gave you some insight into finding the perfect present for your favorite cook. To make things even clearer, we want to emphasize that you don't have to be of a certain level to use specific kitchen tools or gadgets. It all depends on the chef you're shopping for — and you can never go wrong with a delicious option from TRUFF.

Sources:

Frequency of Eating Home Cooked Meals and Potential Benefits for Diet and Health: Cross-Sectional Analysis of a Population-Based Cohort Study - PMC

The Gift and the Thought Both Count - PMC

Home Meal Preparation: A Powerful Medical Intervention - PMC