All of the Foodie Gifts You Need to Buy for Friends, Family (and Maybe Even Yourself)

What better way to honor your friends who spend countless hours researching new spots to eat, or host dinner parties for any and every occasion, than with gifts made especially for foodies? Chances are they’re always putting tools and shops on your radar, so we’ve gathered some cool gadgets and gourmet goodies to help you put something new on theirs. With splurgy items like a digital air frying toaster oven and wagyu sando kit, to simple selects like a Bay Area-made mole sauce trio for their next dinner party, we’ve got all of the gifts for anybody on your list who likes to eat well more than anything else. 

These gifts are guaranteed to also be a hit for your friend or family member who’s just getting comfortable in the kitchen. For example, a starter salt kit from Jacobsen Salt Co. comes with six different styles of salt, including disks to perfectly salt pasta water, a fridge magnet with common conversions, a handy book all about different types of salt and when to use each, and more. 

For the foodie who’s always eating out but might not be too comfortable in their own kitchen (maybe they have a cabinet filled with instant ramen), give them a better version of the quick-to-cook noodles with Immi ramens. Immi’s variety pack comes in three totally delicious flavors: Spicy Beef, Black Garlic Chicken, and Tom Yum Shrimp. Plus they’re all plant-based—yep, totally vegan. Whichever of the items below you wrap up, loved ones are guaranteed a good meal in the future; and hopefully that earns you an invitation.

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Jacobsen Salt Co. Starter Kit

Jacobsen Salt Co.

There are so many different types of salt on the market and each has a different purpose in the kitchen. Your food-obsessed friend or family member may already be familiar with the difference between flaked salt and fine sea salt, but odds are they haven’t had the pleasure of dropping a salt tab into boiling water to perfectly salt pasta.

Finex Cast Iron Skillet

Finex

This cast-iron skillet comes from a small team of Portland-based craftspeople, cooks, and designers who worked together to create modern cast-iron products that will last for years to come.

Immi Plant-Based Instant Ramen

Immi

For the ramen lover in your life, Immi is changing the game when it comes to instant ramen. The plant-based noodles and broth packet don’t sacrifice flavor or spice in order to meet vegan standards; instead, they rise to the challenge and deliver a product so good even those of us who prefer pork broth will be diving into a bowl.

Messermeister Adventure Chef 3-Piece Set

Messermeister

For the camp cook in your life, this kit will be their best friend. This pocket-sized carrying case comes with a folding knife and cutting board that can be set up wherever there’s a flat surface, which makes creating a meal out of foraged goods even easier.

March Pantry Orange Marmalade

March Pantry

Whether this small-batch orange marmalade gets spread across a piece of toast in the morning or spooned onto a charcuterie board to be served with meats and cheeses, the foodie host in your life will cherish each moment spent enjoying this delicious jam.

Red Boat Fish Sauce Holiday Gift Box

Red Boat

Any and all sauce lovers will be over the moon to have these sauces in their pantry and fridge. This gift box comes with a recipe booklet that features seven Red Boat recipes to help use sauces and sides to their fullest potential.

Finamill Spice Grinder Bundle

Finamill

This grinder is a must-have for any home cook who understands the value of freshly ground pepper and spices. To use it, fill the pods with the spice of your choice (it can break down large and small spices) and pop a pod into the grinder as needed. Plus, it’s easy to alternate between spices without mixing flavors since they’re each in their own vessel, and the tray holds them all conveniently in one place.

 ¡Ya Oaxaca! Mole Sampler

¡Ya Oaxaca!

Gifts are about giving something that brings a smile and ease to the receiver’s life, and that’s exactly what these moles will do! The recipes for the trio including Mole Negro, Mole Rojo, and Mole Coloradito come from chef Susana Trilling and her cooking school based in Oaxaca. Her family in the Bay Area helped bottle her sauces to broaden the reach of her authentic moles with nationwide shipping online and to grocery stores in Northern California.

CRUX and Ghetto Gastro Indoor Smokeless Grill Pan

CRUX Kitchen

When two great brands come together, they create some pretty amazing appliances that any foodie or home cook will be willing to make counter space for. This grill pan is made for indoor use, which means the entertainer in your life can cook for a party without having to be isolated outside manning the grill.

Fly by Jing ‘Tis the Season(Ing) Box

Fly by Jing

The chili crunch that broke the internet earlier this year is now available in a set that offers far more than just crunch. This packed holiday kit includes four different types of chili paste and sauce, one package of preserved black beans, a jar of three-year fermented chili paste, and a bottle of 10-year aged black vinegar. All of these spicy condiments might need their own shelf in the pantry or on the spice rack!

Brightland Mini Essentials Box

Brightland

Brightland is known for its popular line of olive oils, which any foodie has probably added to their wishlist if not already invested in by now. This kit comes with a bottle of each of Brightland’s best-selling olive oils as well as balsamic and champagne vinegar for endless mixing and dipping.

A5 Wagyu Sando Kit

Regalis

What do you give the foodie who seems like they have everything? A kit that features some of the best meats on the market and all of the ingredients they need to enjoy it in cute sando form. For the bougie friend who’s ordering wagyu by the ounce at dinners and dreams of it long after the dishes have been cleared, this kit makes for a great gift delivered directly to their door.

Moonflowers Co. Pinch of Gold Saffron

Moonflowers

Saffron is a true delicacy of the spice family as the harvesting process is time-consuming and should always be done by hand. This saffron comes hand-picked from women in Afghanistan and only uses red saffron with no orange or yellow threads or crumbs that you might find in common grocery store saffron. It can be infused into drinks, rice, soups, stews, and more—your foodie friend will know exactly what to do with it.

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