These kitchen essentials make the best gifts for home cooks. These small appliances, kitchen gadgets, and kitchen tools make excellent gifts for people who love to cook.
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Best Kitchen Small Appliances to Give as Gifts
Slow Cooker
Is it even possible to make it through winter without a slow cooker? They are amazing for low prep meals - you can make so many wonderful set-it-and-forget-it soups in a slow cooker. They also very tenderly cook meat and vegetables. We love our All-Clad slow cooker.
Food Processor
We use our food processor all the time. It’s great for dips and sauces, nut butter, and finely chopping veggies. This Cuisinart 14-cup food processor is a great option!
Sous Vide Machine
A sous vide machine has been the single most revolutionary small kitchen appliance we’ve bought! Sous vide, which translates to “under vacuum,” is a method of cooking that submerges ingredients in water heated to specific temperatures. It slowly cooks meat and vegetables in a warm water bath. This Breville Joule Sous Vide is a perfect gift!
Immersion Blender
Immersion blenders are incredibly helpful! They’re super easy to use when you don’t want to get a larger blender dirty. They whip up sauces and dressings quickly and puree soups in a snap. We love our Breville immersion blender.
Blender
We use our blend for all sorts of things - smoothies, sauces, soups. We love our Vitamix blender because it makes awesome soups and smoothies. This Blendtec blender is equally wonderful. If you a looking for a cheaper option that’s still powerful, check out this Ninja blender.
Instant Pot
The combined pressure cooker/slow cooker instant pot is a wonderful gift for home cooks, especially for people who need to make quick, weeknight dinners. This 6 Qt. Instant Pot is the perfect gift.
Soda Stream
Sparkly water is truly the best! This Soda Stream is a perfect gift for anyone who wants to DIY their fizzy water.
Best Kitchen Tools to Give as Gifts
Instant Read Thermometer
The best small kitchen tool we have is our instant-read thermometer. It immediately and accurately reads the temperature of meat and is essential for any serious home cook. We love our Thermapen Mk4.
Sheet Pans
A good sheet pan is infinitely useful. A rimmed sheet pan is even better - it’s great for roasting vegetables, making sheet pies, baking cookies, and more. These Nordic Ware half sheet pans make a great gift.
Silpat Baking Mat
Silpats are great for home bakers and people who love to roast vegetables. Silpat baking mats are non-stick baking mats for savory and pastry baking. I highly recommend the full-size Silpat baking mat.
Cast Iron Skillet
A good cast iron skillet will make any home cook smile. They cook meat extremely well (seriously, I never cook steak on anything else) and they’re fun for baking (cornbread, pies, skillet chocolate chip cookies). The best part about cast iron skillets is their price - this Lodge 9-inch cast iron skillet is under $15!
Mandoline Slicer
A mandolin is incredibly useful for precisely slicing vegetables. This KitchenAid mandoline (which I use at home) can julienne vegetables as well. It’s wonderful for cutting beets, onions, potatoes, radishes, etc.
Simplehuman Recycling Trash Can
We love love love our Simplehuman trash can. It’s sleek, the perfect size, and has compartments for trash and recycling. Who knew it was possible to adore a trash can?!
Best Kitchen Gadgets & Small Gifts
Microplane
Microplanes are incredibly helpful for a variety of purposes, but I find them most useful for zesting citrus and grating nutmeg. This microplane fine grater is an essential item.
Rosle Can Opener
We’ve given this Rosle can opener to several people as a gift. It’s such a high-quality can opener and it makes opening cans easy and safe. It’s a perfect smaller gift for a serious home cook.
Rosle Swivel Peelers
Peeling carrots or potatoes can be a difficult task without good tools. This Rosle swivel peeler is my favorite peeler, by far, and it makes the arduous task of peeling go so much faster.
Mini Cookie Cutters
Once you have a set of mini cookie cutters, you’ll use them for everything. These adorable, small cookie cutters are perfect for bakers who like adding pastry details or cooks who want to jazz up a salad or smoothie bowl with fruit cut into little hearts.
Citrus Juicer
Citrus juicers can get juice out of even the toughest lemons and limes. This OXO citrus juicer is extra special because it measures the juice as well.
Still looking for more gifts? Check out our other gift guides: