32 Best Gifts for Home Chefs and Culinary Enthusiasts

For the butter enthusiast, we couldn’t think of a better gift. Le Creuset’s butter crock has a classic look that would fit in well with most kitchen aesthetics. It comes in four colors: “Cerise,” a rich red with a black fade; “Caribbean,” a happy blue and the colorway we evaluated; “Marseille,” a midtone, dusty blue; and white.

Like most Le Creuset products, it’s made from enameled stoneware. It’s dishwasher-safe and easy to wash by hand, too. The lid has a small divot that may retain water in a dishwasher, but putting it on its side will mean you won’t have to deal with gross dishwasher water in the lid after it’s supposedly clean.

The Cole & Mason Battersea Classic Electronic Mill Set resembles mills you might see at a high-end restaurant when you ask for pepper on your dish. They have a large plastic window to see how much salt, pepper, or other spice is left in the chamber. They’re elegant and sleek, and they look wonderful on the kitchen countertop.

The set doesn’t come with the six AAA batteries you’ll need to use these grinders. The reservoir mouth is narrow, and thus harder to fill. And the lock/unlock graphic is a bit unclear, so it’s hard to tell whether the set is sealed. It does, however, produce an even grind and has a larger total volume than the Osmo. Like the Gravity, the Cole & Mason set has a number of unmarked settings. This set is also bulkier and louder than many other sets we evaluated.

For more options: Best Electric Salt and Pepper Grinders

A mortar and pestle is a timeless tool, one that combines both beauty and function, says cookbook author Kiano Moju. “It’s perfect for grinding spices, making pastes, or crushing herbs to release their full flavors,” she says. “Choose one that is both sturdy and aesthetically pleasing, like a stone or marble design, to add a touch of elegance to any kitchen.”

The Great Jones cookware line puts a vibrant spin on culinary staples, turning the stocking of a kitchen into a—dare we say—fun experience. It earns a very good rating for cooking evenness in our tests, plus it heats up quickly and cleans up nicely. Pair it with all the necessary ingredients for chocolate chip cookies or a sheet pan dinner and you’ll be golden.

For more options: Best Sheet Pans

After testing six pairs of kitchen shears, all three of CR’s evaluators said the iBayam shears felt nice in their hands, were easy to use, and didn’t require them to grip too hard. Plus, you get two pairs of shears for this price, and our testers suggested you designate one for cutting meat and one for other kitchen tasks. The one downside is that the shears don’t come apart for cleaning, but the price and the comfort level make them CR’s top choice.

Read more: Best Kitchen Shears

Unlike other mandolines where the blade is stationary, this mandoline operates like a ruthless guillotine. Ruthless on your food, not your fingers, because your hands don’t need to go anywhere near the action. The stand-up mandoline measures 8x4.75x14.25 inches and has a spring-loaded pump lever that operates the blade. There’s a food hopper where you would usually be holding food with your hand and a bin to catch everything that comes out. The two julienne blades are integrated within the slicer, so there’s no need to manually swap out any attachments.

Henckels has been making knives in Germany for nearly 300 years, and its expertise in design is on full display with this knife. The Permio’s handle is contoured with no sharp edges, resulting in a knife that’s extremely comfortable to hold. It also excels at force transmission from handle to blade, which means you don’t need to exert as much effort when cutting.

For more: How to Shop for a Chef’s Knife

Whether it’s rolling out a pie crust from scratch or kneading dough for bread, kitchen counters can get a lot of action during the holiday season. Enter this handy nonslip silicone mat, which comes with measured markings that can take the guesswork out of baking. The food stylist and cookbook author Jesse Szewczyk loves to use this silicone mat for rolling out dough to specific shapes and doing so much more. “Need a 10-inch circle for a pie? Or an 11-inch square for shortbread?” he says. “Just check the mat! Not only does it help make measuring easy, but it’s nonstick and makes cleanup a breeze.” The best part? You can roll it up and take it to the sink—no need to clean the countertop—and just as easily stash it in a drawer when you’re done.

In an evaluation of the best extra virgin olive oils, our testers found Graza’s Sizzle to be prime for dipping and a good option for salad dressings as well as for spicy and bold-flavored foods. They found its flavor to be slightly bitter, with big, grassy flavor and some fruitiness.

Similarly, Graza offers a finishing olive oil aptly dubbed Drizzle, a variety our tests didn’t include. The perfect finishing touch for many a dish comes in the form of flavorful olive oil. “This EVOO is punchy and will elevate your salads, labneh, baguette or boule, and sandwiches,” says Kaari Stannard, president of Yes Apples, a network of over 50 New York-based family farms that grow an array of apple varieties for consumers across the country.

Treat the tinned fish enthusiast in your life with a trio that’s delicious and beautifully packaged. Fishwife’s Smoky Set includes one tin each of smoked rainbow trout from Idaho, smoked albacore tuna from the Pacific coast, and smoked Atlantic salmon from Norway. Each type is brined in its own mix of sugar (even the savory stuff has it) and spices. And if you’re just looking for some nice anchovies, our evaluators dubbed the Fishwife Anchovies in Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil the best of the bunch.

Miguel Leal is a big fan of Fly by Jing. The co-founder of Somos—a purveyor of ready-to-eat Mexican foods—recommends the Triple Threat gift set for home cooks who want to get creative in the kitchen. “It contains three products, one of which is the Sichuan Chili Crisp, which is a super-versatile sauce that I use on everything from eggs to dumplings and rice, and even on sushi,” Leal says. “It has a great level of spicy—but isn’t too spicy!—and I love the texture it adds to my food.”

Pass the hot sauce! “Everyone knows someone that considers themselves a hot sauce aficionado—and this set is perfect for them,” says Eunice Byun, co-founder of Material Kitchen, a direct-to-consumer kitchenware brand. This curated collection of Red Clay’s bestselling sauces and honey includes flavors like spicy peach honey and a verde hot sauce. “I love the vinegary flavor of the Original Sauce, and the hot honey drizzled on pizza is out of this world,” she says.

Vinegar so tasty you can drink it? According to Eunice Byun of the kitchenware brand Material Kitchen, this set from Brightland fits the bill. Sourced from California grapes and fruit, these double-fermented vinegars are prime for dressing salads and even cocktails. “These beauties would be ideal for my foodie friends, as well as neighbors that have been extra helpful this year,” says Byun, adding that the reusable bottles also make perfect bud vases.

The Ooni Karu is a perfect pizza oven if you’re looking to make small coal- or wood-fired pies. Many of the smaller pizza ovens we’ve seen feel cheap or flimsy, but the Ooni Karu is clearly built to last more than one or two summers. It has heft, weighing in at just over 26 pounds, making it pretty heavy for a small oven. It’s light enough to take camping or tailgating but heavy enough to feel sturdy when you’re cooking. The folding legs help with transport.

You control the heat in the Karu by adjusting the size of your fire—a bigger fire burns hotter—but this model also has a damper, which the others don’t. Open it up all the way if you want your fire to burn hotter or close it a bit to restrict airflow, which causes the oven to cook at lower temperatures. A solid, well-built oven door helps hold in the heat.

For more: Best Outdoor Pizza Ovens

The Dream Cooker from Our Place offers key cooking features that many home cooks want right now, albeit at a somewhat steep price. It streamlines the array of options offered by more traditional multi-cookers with far fewer functions (slow cook, pressure cook, sauté/sear, and keep warm). If you prefer the simplicity that comes with fewer buttons, status updates, and beeps, not to mention a chic design that looks cool on a kitchen counter, this cooker is not to be missed.

Read more: Our Place Dream Cooker vs. Instant Pot Pro: How Do They Compare?

Our evaluators really liked the consistent, creamy texture of the sorbet and ice cream that came out of this Cuisinart ice cream maker. This was true both immediately after production and after they froze them overnight. The sorbet was a bit icier and less perfectly consistent than that made by the compressor-style machines we also evaluated. But that was easily remedied by dragging a spatula around the sorbet to smooth out some of the ice mid-churn.

A thin layer of the ice cream and the sorbet remained frozen on the sides of the cylinder, which was a waste. Still, the difference in the quality of frozen confections the Cuisinart turned out compared with our top pick was small while the price difference wasn’t. If you don’t mind having to prefreeze the cylinder, we have no doubt you’ll be happy with this machine. And the smaller footprint and lighter weight make the Cuisinart much easier to store.

Read more: Best Ice Cream Makers