Best Cooking Gifts for the Versatile Home Kitchen

Kitchen gift ideas make perfect presents for your favorite foodie – whether they’re a friend or family, gourmet home chef or cooking novice. Make holiday meal prep easier and more enjoyable with the year’s most versatile cooking gifts.

Pick the category below that best fits the home cook in your life, and suggest they try the matching holiday recipe so you can benefit from the results.

STAND MIXERS ARE A MUST-HAVE KITCHEN GIFT

If there’s one gift that home cooks will use with most any recipe, it’s the stand mixer. This versatile preparation tool quickly kneads, mixes, or whips batches of food to satisfy the whole family. Sizes range from space-saving miniature models to near-commercial capacities. This countertop workhorse quickly becomes the center of any culinary experience, while doubling as an appealing statement piece. Reliable, versatile, and stylish, these appliances come in hues to match any home chef’s decor.

Holiday Recipe Connection: Mixing a double batch of cookies becomes a breeze – saving plenty of time to enjoy all those additional treats.

MIXER ATTACHMENTS, THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT

Part of what makes stand mixers so functional and versatile is the possibility to add an array of attachments. If you’re shopping for a home gourmet who already credits their mixer as sous chef for most meals, expand their options with a specialized stand mixer attachment. Strain, grind, slice, and more – all with simple, interchangeable add-ons. Or take the mixer beyond traditional mealtimes with an ice cream maker or juicer attachment. For the cook short on kitchen space, attachments are also an ideal way to add to their tool kit without throwing off any painstaking storage arrangements.  

Holiday Recipe Connection: Consider a pasta press or roller to make homemade pasta attainable instead of intimidating. Make something so fresh and delicious your diners will struggle to compare it to the dried, store-bought noodles they’ve had before.  

FOOD PROCESSORS: ONE OF THE BEST GIFTS FOR COOKS

This next cooking gift idea is often underutilized. If you think a food processor is just a tiny blender, you’re missing most of its functionality. Sure, it’s great for pureeing. But try taking your processing prowess to the next level by kneading a loaf of holiday bread, dicing vegetables for a soup or whisking together a sauce in seconds flat.

In selecting or upgrading a food processor, consider factors like capacity, blade or shredding accessories, and speed options. From tiny choppers to 14+ cup commercial devices, food processors add immense speed and precision to wide varieties of meal preparation.

A NEW COUNTER TOP OVEN FOR THE COOK WHO HAS IT ALL

No longer just for bagels and frozen pizzas, Countertop Ovens offer convenience and flexibility to any cook’s meal planning. Especially when hosting a larger gathering, these devices make it a breeze to prepare multiple dishes for simultaneous serving. Ever tried to get a perfectly roasted turkey and a delicately broiled fish out of the same conventional oven at the same time? Inevitably, neither items end up perfectly cooked. A countertop oven solves all that.

Broil a side dish. Keep a finished entree warm. Finally execute that surf-and-turf special you’ve been trying to replicate for years.

Holiday Recipe Connection: Stave off your guests’ hunger pangs by baking a batch of sweet breads or cinnamon rolls in a Countertop Oven. Meanwhile, start slow-roasting the main course in the traditional oven and let the tantalizing aromas start to build.

GIVE THEIR KITCHEN AN UPGRADE WITH A MULTI-COOKER AS A GIFT

It’s time to move on from that ancient slow cooker. Updated models boast more nuanced temperature settings, can automatically switch to ‘Keep Warm’ after a timer expires, and offer functional features like ease-serve lids.

For next-level convenience, upgrade set-it-and-forget-it meal prep with a modern, function-packed multi-cooker. These mechanical marvels can steam, roast – even stir! After all, even the most enterprising home chef appreciates an easy midweek meal every once in a while.

Holiday Recipe Connection: Pair a hearty main course with a perfect truffled risotto – without taking all of that time stirring and standing by the stove.

CHOOSE THE BEST KITCHEN AND COOKING GIFTS FOR YOUR HOME COOK

Get your favorite home chef a kitchen gift they’ll love – and love to use. Pick a present from one of these categories in 2018, and look forward to seeing it on that special someone’s counter for years to come.