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What do you get for the cook who has everything?
It may be easy to default to yet another clever tea towel, a gadget made specifically for slicing avocados, or a new and exciting sauce from the culinary adventureland known as the food aisle at TJ Maxx. But the cold, hard truth is that most serious home cooks either don’t want that stuff, already have too much of it, or both.
So before you go buying something that will take up even more valuable space in a probably already cramped kitchen, take a deep breath and consider these gift options. They’re choices that will help make even the most well-stocked kitchen or dining room feel like better places to cook and eat. And each of the 13 items below have the same spirit as the stuff you might be used to falling back on, but they’ll all be much more exciting to unwrap for the serious cook in your life. We promise.
NOT tea towels with cheesy quotes
Loving something doesn’t always equate to wanting endless versions of that thing featuring inspirational, sassy, or supposedly-funny quotes. In fact, it rarely does. Take it fromBev Weidner, afood bloggerin Prairie Village, Kansas who hilariously documents her approachable meals, perfectly-styled home, and adorable twins on Instagram.
While Weidner loves all things linen, she prefers it plain, thank you very much. “Please, please, do not give me a tea towel with a nauseating inspirational quote on it,” she says. “And if it's in cursive? OrComic Sans? Done. We're done.”
Avoid the horrible fonts by—we mean it—skipping word art entirely. Instead, get the linen-loving cook in your life something more understated, but still really useful. (And hey: if you’re still dying to share clever words, save them for the card.)
This year consider…
Most home cooks will tell you there’s no such thing as too many good kitchen linens. Seriously: who wants to be washing the same small set of cloth napkins all the time? Plus, a quality linen napkin can double as a tea towel, aplacemat, and a prop for those who like to share their culinary creations on Instagram. Even better, gifting a colorful set in the perfect hue says, “See? I know you! I got you something beautiful in your favorite color!” without resorting to some cliché that might not be their cup of tea.
Whether they’re lugging essentials back from the grocery store or transporting a homemade meal to a friend, serious cooks who are often on the go will appreciate this stylish, roomy canvas tote with sturdy vegan-leather handles. The minimal design manages to fit in six pockets—which make toting delicate items like eggs and wine easy—while little details like a built-in keyring and even an exterior “seatbelt” for flowers make it a true carry-all for a trip to the market or anywhere else.
People love giving aprons as gifts. The problem is they're usually notgoodaprons. This year, instead of an ill-fitting piece of fabric that says "kiss the cook" or a ruffly retro number for the friend who happens to own a few pieces of vintage clothing, opt for our Test Kitchen director’sfirst choice. Chris Morocco calls the White Bark Work Wear cross-back hemp apron his “ultimate," because it has forgiving fabric, cross-back straps that don't pull at the neck, and plenty of pockets.
NOT that pan you saw on Instagram
Look, I understand the appeal of those aesthetically-pleasing pans you keep getting targeted ads for on social media, I really do. The muted colors are so pretty. The non-stick coating is so…not sticky. But you can be fairly certain that anyone who’s into food gets those ads, too, and if they haven’t already purchased or explicitly asked for one, it’s because many serious cooks generally only want two materials for their cookware:stainless steelandcast iron(or maybecarbon steel).
“The more into food they are, the more likely they are to have strong opinions about what they cook with,” says my colleague Wilder Davies. And unless they’ve told you otherwise, they probably already have the cookware they need.
“A good rule of thumb is that if the gift recipient knows more about food than the gift giver, the giver should either ask the giftee what they want or buy them a beautiful and well-reviewed cookbook,” Davies advises.
Of course that doesn’t mean you should just get any old five-star cookbook for the serious cook in your life. First, you should pick something that’s relevant to their interests. And to have a better chance of getting something they don’t already have, opt for anewly-released titleor something older but special.
This year consider…
Epicurious editors were eager to get their hands on a copy of this long-awaited November release from the close-knit family behind theWoks of Life blog. For their debut cookbook, parents (Judy and Bill Liang) and their two daughters (Sarah and Kaitlin) compiled their New Jersey kitchen adaptations of traditional Cantonese dishes likeclay pot rice that can be made in a cast iron skillet. The 100 recipes also include a range of regional Chinese fare, and even a few Chinese American favorites. Bound together, they paint a beautiful picture of this family’s culinary story that anyone interested in Chinese home cooking will appreciate.
Fans of the beloved West Village restaurantVia Carota(or anyone who loves Italian food) will thank you for this timeless cookbook by the same name. Full of seasonal recipes likeMeyer lemon risotto, green beans with basil pesto, and roasted peaches in amaretto, this isn’t a collection of quick fixes for people who just want to get dinner on the table in a hurry—which is exactly why a serious cook will be thrilled to receive it.
Not long ago, if you wanted a copy ofThe Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavernby James Beard Award-winning pastry chef Claudia Fleming, you'd have to be willing to spend a pretty penny. Originally published in 2001, the hardcover eventually went out of print, and hunting down copies wasnoteasy. It wasn’t cheap either; in 2017 I paid $171 to buy a slightly-tattered one for my husband. Likely due to that kind of demand—and the fact that she was writing a follow-up,Delectable: Sweet and Savory Baking, which wasreleased this year—The Last Coursewas reissued in 2019 and it’s now widely available at a much more accessible price.
NOT off-the-shelf spice mixes and gimmicky sauces
In recent years, some of our favorite direct-import spice companies have released very cool blends (exhibitsA,B, andC), and the Epi team haslong reliedon sauces fromBrooklyn Delhi快速周日夜晚晚宴。不幸的是,不是阿尔l spice blends and pre-made sauces are created equally and we guarantee that jar you found on clearance will be far more fun to give than receive. That’s because many people who really love cooking prefer to make their own sauces and spice mixes from scratch, so they prioritize versatility over novelty in their ingredients.
“Mixing spices is such a personal thing. Say I want a chimichurri spice: I’m going to make it myself, and then I can add whatever other flavors and ingredients I want to the final product,” saysNatasha Bailey, turophile and head chef atThelma’s Kitchenin Kansas City, Missouri. “And honestly, I just don’t like being in someone else’s box. One of my favorite parts of being a chef is being instinctive and trying new things. Pre-packaged spice blends don’t really allow for that.”
To ensure your gift doesn’t end up in the back of the pantry, skip the pumpkin spice sea salt and oddly-infused oils, and give ingredients and tools cooks will want to use right away, and often!
This year consider…
For those who prefer freshly-ground spices—which can make even a quick home cooking project feel special—this compact, super fast, and surprisingly quiet electric grinderis a dream. The large capacity means that you can blitz a good amount of ingredients at once instead of working in batches, and you're not limited to working with spices alone: turn raw or roasted almonds into almond flour or seeds into a dukkah blend with just a few pulses.
Because spiceslose their vibrancy over time, it’s a good idea to start each new year with a fresh stash. This set of six spices from Burlap and Barrel is a great place to start and makes for an excellent gift for the discerning cook. It includes special versions of must-haves like chile flakes, ground Laurel Bay leaves, Purple Stripe garlic, and potent royal cinnamon, plus specialty spices like smoked pimentón paprika and flowering hyssop thyme. If you’re feeling generous you can upgrade to a 9- or 12-jar set, or if youreallyknow what the serious chef in your life likes to cook with, canbuild a custom spice set.
Yes, anyone who’s serious about cooking probably already has good olive oil. But if they cook often enough, they’re bound to go through it quickly. Help subsidize the cost of this very important staple by getting them started withan olive oil subscription. This generous gift includes a stainless steel fusti and a three-liter tin of freshly-pressed olive oil.
NOT single-use gadgets and kitschy appliances
The downside of being a “food person” is that friends and family like to buy you cooking gadgets without considering how useful they might actually be. Tools and appliances that do only one thing usually just take up valuable counter space that’s needed for more important tasks, like chopping and mixing.
Sam Hiersteiner, a Boston-based food writer and co-author of theEventide Oyster Co. cookbook, even has a special place in his home where all that junk goes to die. "We have a cabinet in our basement that is a graveyard for single-use kitchen gadgets, and I don't want anything for the holidays this year that's going to end up down there,” he says. At his house that means “no cast-iron oyster grill pans, no milk frothers, no steam-cleaning gun for the grill, no back-up Instant Pots in case the main one that I don't use breaks down, no colanders with any more than one tier, and for god's sake, no more panini presses."
You don’t want your gift ending up down there either. So don’t waste your money on something that will only get used once or twice a year (or worse, never). Instead, opt for nicer, smarter, truly useful tools and gadgets.
This year consider…
For anyone who regularly cooks meat, an accurate thermometer is an invaluable tool that can be used on a grill or smoker, in the oven, or on the stovetop. And a sleek smart thermometer like the ThermoWorks DOT is a safe bet for gifting. The probe is attached to a digital face (available in nine colors) with a magnet backing, which can be affixed to the outside of your oven or grill lid as you cook. It's the ideal tool for anyone who's doing a few things in the kitchen at once and needs something else to mind the meat doneness—because with a DOT, the guesswork is entirely removed. If you later find out your giftee already has a digital thermometer, it’s not even a big deal; it’s always good to have a backup and these things don’t take up too much space.
Smart speakers are great tools for home cooks who need hands-free assistance soundtracking their time in the kitchen, setting timers as they work, or remembering the proper internal temperature for chicken without having to look it up themselves. This semi-portable, water-resistant version from Sonos is bluetooth-enabled, works with Google Home and Alexa, and also happens to haveamazing sound quality. (For something a little less spendy, there’s asmaller, more portable version, too.)
If you’re feeling extra generous, consider thisamazing induction burnerfrom Breville. The Control Freak is a portable countertop appliance that gives home cooks the kind of stovetop temperature precision that was, until recently, only possible fromimmersion circulatorsanda handful of countertop ovenswith sous vide capabilities. For anyone whose culinary success is dependent on getting something tojustthe right temp—which absolutely includes those who make lots of sauces or candy—this device is an absolute dream.
