Serious Treats: 26 Food Items That Make Truly Wonderful, Tasty Gifts

As someone who works for a food media company, I might be biased, but I truly think food gifts are some of the best. Who doesn’t want a little treat? My colleagues and I are constantly trying new goodies, including dark chocolate, olive oil, and even caviar—so we have a ton of great ideas for everyone on your list, including cheese, spices, honey, sparkling maple syrup, and the most delightful chocolate mice. (I won’t tell anyone if you buy something for yourself!) 

If you know someone who swoons at the smell of perfectly ripe Stilton, then consider giving them a cheesy gift that’ll keep on giving—for 12 days, exactly. This adorable Advent calendar features a scene of little cheese people going about their little cheesy tasks in a quaint town. Behind each door is a sizable wedge or round, as well as some tasty accompaniments like jams and crackers. It’s a delightful journey through what I like to think is the cheese version of Candyland.  

Van Van’s spices are unlike any other—they’re sourced from small farms in Vietnam and showcase hard-to-find specialties, like fragrant sparrow ginger and golden northern mountain garlic. Give your friend whose spice cabinet could use a refresh a set of these delightful spices, and share a link to some of our favorite Vietnamese recipes to get them started. 

If you know someone who loves getting tea (like, tea bags, not hot goss), consider this lovely gift from Dona. It's almost like an Advent calendar, with little notches filled with 18 different kinds of tea. It comes with a pretty printout that shows a sourcing map, complete with information on each tea farm, all tucked into a beautiful box that opens like a book. The teas are lovely, too, and include a "malty, nutty" Palampur oolong, a "piney, floral, fresh" black tea from Marrakesh, and an array of herbal teas. It's a great way to sample a variety of teas and home in on your favorites.

This trio of honeys showcases the flora of Hawaii. Each jar is rich and indulgent: There’s a bright and nutty macadamia nut blossom honey; a jar of creamy, treacly ʻōhiʻa lehua honey; and a super special wilelaiki blossom honey, which tastes like Earl Grey tea with a dash of salt. They’d make for a truly special gift for someone who likes to drizzle honey on buttered toast or yogurt, or who simply eats it with a spoon. 

Add a little glam to your breakfast with this glittery, totally fun maple syrup. A glug of it will turn banana pancakes into unicorn banana pancakes, and who wouldn’t want that? Runamok was also one of our faves in our maple syrup review, for what it’s worth. 

Hand-formed with the most delicate chocolate shell, these are some truly special bonbons. They even have silky ribbon tails! Flavors include dark chocolate orange, milk chocolate espresso, and white chocolate, port, and cinnamon. All of the mice have crunchy toasted almond ears. L.A. Burdick’s freshly baked cookies are also phenomenal, and worth gifting (or buying for yourself—I’ve done it!). 

While bringing a bottle of wine feels like a requisite guest gift, consider being the cool, untraditional friend who brings some delicious nonalcoholic drinks to the party. My entire team loves Ghia’s Le Spritz line. My personal favorite is the lime and salt, which gets a floral note of citrus and body from a sprinkle of salt. The newly released blood orange, which nods to an Aperol spritz, is also wonderfully herbal and bright. 

Many people have a friend (or group of friends) whose drink of choice is an espresso martini—it could be 90°F, at midnight, on a Tuesday, and they’d still order one. So why not indulge their taste buds with this espresso martini syrup, which they can use to easily whip up a cocktail from the comfort of their favorite armchair? Because an espresso martini sipped in a comfy armchair by a roaring fire sounds like perfection to me. Get them a set of martini glasses, too. 

We are hot sauce fanatics here at Serious Eats—I know I can’t have scrambled eggs without a bottle of Tabasco within reach. And my coworker Rochelle Bilow swears by this three-pack, which makes a great gift. “These are the most flavorful, well-balanced hot sauces I've tried. The Roasted Fresno is particularly good,” says Rochelle. “I gifted this set to my boyfriend, a tried-it-all hot sauce fan, and he was duly impressed.”

These sexy little peppers have just enough heat to keep things interesting and provide a welcome zing of acidity to your average charcuterie board. I like serving them like pinxtos, threaded on toothpicks with a meaty anchovy and a cube of Manchego. 

This fun gift set includes everything you need to have a party in the kitchen, or at the very least, to make a very tasty pasta dinner: penne, San Marzano tomatoes, good olive oil, and a jar of olives. There’s even a bag of Melitta espresso, for a post-meal pick-me-up, and chocolate hazelnut cream for dessert. 

“These chic golden picks give me fancy cocktail bar vibes, at home,” says Serious Eats writer Ashlee Redger. “Get these for the friend who's always on bartender duty, along with a jar of Luxardo cherries.” I can’t think of a more perfect gift for someone who loves details and is always looking for ways to round out their bar cart. 

This is some truly special olive oil. To infuse it with a dusky orange sweetness, they actually crush the oranges with the olives. It’s divine in salad dressings, drizzled over warm dates with a sprinkle of salt for a snack, or even poured over ice cream. 

Cake truffles are squishy, rich, and utterly indulgent. This variety pack from Milk Bar includes chocolate cookie dough and birthday cake truffles, and they’re both wonderful. Be warned: They are really easy to keep eating. Milk Bar also sells limited-edition, seasonal flavors, like these delightfully cinnamon-forward apple cider doughnut truffles. 

If you really want to knock someone’s socks off, consider gifting them a tin of the good stuff: caviar. I helped my coworker Ashlee taste-test caviar you can buy online, and this set from Imperia was one of my favorites. It includes a tin of royal ossetra and kaluga hybrid caviar, each with unique tasting notes. The royal ossetra was creamy and briny, with a faint celery-like greenness and mineral note. The kaluga leaned richer, with a creamy, salty note that made it almost taste like American cheese. The tins come with mother-of-pearl spoons and a tin opener, and are sent in velvet bags for a touch of luxury. It’d make a stunner of a gift. 

If you know someone whose ideal martini is more brine than vodka (or who needs a grilling skewer to hold all their olives), then consider gifting this jar from Quincy. The olives are big and meaty, and the brine is balanced but potent; having a jar on hand lets you muddy the vodka as much as you want. 

Intense, flavorful olive oil is a great gift; it’s not cheap, and it’s meant to be savored, two markers of a great present. When I tried a slew of olive oils for my review, this one from Fat Gold stood out: It’s grassy and bitter with a proudly meaty, olive-y taste. It’s ultra-fresh too, and each batch is labeled with the harvest date. 

“Give this to your cheese-loving friend. It's the best pairing for salty, aged cheeses and makes charcuterie spread look extra fancy,” says Rochelle. While you’re at it, why not gift them a cute charcuterie board, too, like this one from Ironwood Gourmet? 

Food influencer Molly Baz loves mayonnaise and strange abbreviations, so she combined the two to create Ayoh!, a line of flavored mayo. And it’s really good. The Hot Giardinayo is one of my faves, with a pickle-y, piquant note that sings on a burger; it’s also great as a dipper for fries. 

A gift of these candy apple red piquillo peppers stuffed with tuna is a taste of Spain in a tin. They’re elegant, rich, and worthy of a dinner party snack spread. 

While giving a person a chocolate bar might feel, well, random, this is a great treat to brighten someone’s day. It’s complex, with a crush of flaky salt, big crunchy pistachios, and deep, dark chocolate flavor. It’d make a great stocking stuffer. 

If you love a baker, you know they love a good baking gift, even better if it’s a DIY kit. Consider this fantastic idea from my colleague, Ashlee: “I recently had the pleasure of testing these charming mixing bowls, and I do mean pleasure,” says Ashlee. “The intricate floral designs, the sweet color combinations, and the sturdy design make them a set worth cherishing for any avid baker. Round it out with some fancy sprinkles and our favorite yellow cake mix from King Arthur Baking Co.” 

"I swear, you can gift anyone this jar of nut butter and it won't be weird," says Rochelle. "Big Spoon Roasters is pure luxury." Known for its small batches and creative recipes, Big Spoon's jars are made with a mix of nuts, natural sweeteners, and surprise add-ins. This flavor, a mix of almonds, hazelnuts, apricots, and cranberries with a touch of wintery spice, is part of a limited edition run. Add jars of the Linzer Cookie and Gingerbread Crunch to really wow your (toast-loving) recipient.

There isn't a Serious Eats editor who doesn't love Burlap and Barrel. Its spices are so fragrant, fresh, and impeccably sourced. It's worth getting a set, but one or two spices also make an excellent stocking stuffer.

"I love vanilla lattes," says associate editorial director Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm. "And I really love vanilla lattes made with this syrup, which has flecks of vanilla bean and doesn't taste at all artificial."

A coffee subscription is the gift that keeps on giving for mornings to come. Our favorite comes from Trade. It offers nearly 500 coffees and has a detailed quiz to help find the best match. "When I didn't like one of my coffees, Trade gave me a site credit to replace it for free," Riddley says.

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly is a senior editor at Serious Eats.
• She’s constantly buying and trying new edible delights, and loves giving (and receiving) gifts. 
• Rochelle Bilow, Ashlee Redger, and Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, who contributed ideas to this article, have excellent taste.