Kitchen Must-Have Buys for the Cook in Your Life - Home & Texture
Gift Guides Kitchen Must-Have Buys

Kitchen Must-Have Buys for the Cook in Your Life

October 13, 2023 at 8:16 PM PST

There are a lot of people who find solace in the kitchen. For those who love the kitchen, cooking is their love language. A bad day turns upside down at the timer’s ding, signaling the new recipe that they tried is ready to come out of the oven. As the holiday season approaches, you might want to think about adding some kitchen must-have gifts to your holiday shopping list for that special culinary lover in your life.

There are so many new products, old goodies and niche items on the market to make anyone’s experience in the kitchen better. From innovative kitchen gadgets to premium cookware, this curated list is the perfect starting point to search for unique gifts for people who like to cook. Your favorite foodie’s face will light up as they unwrap a gift that complements and fuels their culinary passion. Here are some kitchen must-have buys to fill your favorite culinary aficionado’s heart with joy and excitement this holiday season.

Caraway Squareware Set

If they’ve already fallen in love with a Caraway cookware set, then they’ll be head over heels for this squareware set. The square shape of the cookware allows more room for food to cook in a single layer without having to be stacked. The wider cook area also helps the heat to distribute to the edge of the pan for an even cook. The set includes two storage organizers, a griddle pan, a grill pan, a double burner grill and a roasting pan with rack.

Our Place Wonder Oven

From the makers of the viral sensation Always Pan comes a mini oven ready to replace the toaster oven. The Wonder Oven is a six-in-one air fryer and toaster oven with steam infusion. It’s compact multifunctional design allows it to air fry, bake, toast, roast, reheat and broil. It preheats in less than three minutes and features a stylish look that is perfect for countertop display. Although it is small, don’t let the size fool you. It can still roast a complete chicken.

Crucial Detail Porthole Infuser

The cooking enthusiast in your life may be completely floored when they feast their eyes on this infuser. In a sense, a kitchen is like a lab. There always are new ideas that enhance old recipes and create new ones using new flavors and combinations. If they’ve ever dressed a salad with their version of dressing, they’ll appreciate this round glass infuser that’ll house their new concoction and leave it in beautiful view.

Philips Compact Pasta Maker

Imagine having the ability to make perfectly textured pasta every time. That’s what your culinary aficionado will receive with this compact pasta maker. A smaller version of the original, this petite device can nestle nicely on your countertop. It comes with three discs to shape spaghetti, fettuccine and penne. Pasta will come out beautifully as long as the ingredients are combined in the right proportions. They also can create flavored pasta by adding spinach, carrots or beets. It mixes, kneads and extrudes one pound of pasta in 18 minutes.

FinaMil Pepper Mill and Spice Grinder

This device makes grinding spices easy. It includes two quick change pods that make switching between herbs effortless. It’s designed for easy one-hand use and has adjustable grind settings to control how coarse they want their spices to be. It can handle everyday spices, such as coarse salts, peppercorns and dried garlic, and more oily spices, like sesame, cumin, mustard and more. The grinder also comes in six different colors, so you’ll find one that’ll blend in with the kitchen aesthetic.

UÜTENSIL Automatic Pan Stirrer

If they’re always the host of family and friend dinners, your culinary mastermind will appreciate the extra set of hands that this automatic pan stirrer provides. With just one hand, they can place the stirrer in a pot or pan and watch it automatically rotate. It has three adjustable speeds and features LED lights to indicate the speed setting. It can move forward and backward to ensure an even mix of sauces, soups, gravies and more. It’s a great addition to the modern and tech-savvy kitchen.

Truff Hot Sauce Variety Pack

This set of gourmet hot sauce adds more than a little heat to your dish. Think of it as the love child between truffle oil and hot sauce. The set provides the right amount of sweet and savory spice. While your foodies' food may already be  delicious, this sauce can elevate their homemade pizza, wings, chicken and more. The sauce is vegan and gluten-free, so it suits most lifestyles.

Le Creuset Signature Cast Iron

Every master chef deserves a cast iron pan. It seems like everything grandma and em’ used to make tastes better if made in their cast iron skillet. This pan can sear, sautée, and stir fry with ease. The porcelain enamel makes cleaning easy, so you don’t have to season it. It’s built for minimal sticking and resists dulling, staining, chipping, and cracking. It’s a bit splurge-worthy but will long last the dent it might make in your pocket. And yes, it’s dishwasher safe.

Honeycomb 3-Tiered Stand

Each tier of this handcrafted marble stand is engraved with a honeycomb pattern and accented with golden honeybees. The frame is stainless steel with a brass finish and can serve everything from cookies and pastries to appetizers and charcuterie. Although significant in style, the surface is naturally cooling and quite space-efficient.

Brightland The Duo Extra Virgin Olive Oils

Brightland’s best-selling extra virgin olive oils are must-haves for anyone passionate about cooking. Named “Awake” and “Alive,” each oil has its own unique flavor profile. Awake is a bold and robust cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil that’s said to be ideal for roasting, sautéing, soups, stews, and bread. Alive has a smoother taste perfect for salads, hummus, baked goods, fresh greens, and bread. Both on hand ensures the ideal olive oil to elevate any dish.

Instant Pot 9-in-1 Pressure Cooker Bundle

Every kitchen deserves an Instant Pot. This mini, but mighty device replaces nine kitchen appliances. It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, sauté pan, rice cooker, yogurt maker, steamer, food warmer, sous vide and sterilizer. Other appliances might start to feel neglected once an instant pot enters the kitchen. It’s a fantastic gift for someone who loves to cook, but needs something efficient to reduce cooking time. It has 15 built-in innovative programs that make cooking versatile and convenient.

Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker

Precision is key. The sous vide ensures perfection every time by circulating water at the exact temperature required for your meals, making it remarkably user-friendly. To use, attach it to a pot, add food sealed in a bag, and set the desired settings either on the device or via its companion app—no stove, flame, or additional equipment needed. Cooking with the sous vide locks in flavors like no other method, allowing the user to achieve the perfect level of doneness for chicken, fish, vegetables, eggs, beef, lamb, pork, and more.

Figment 12-piece Plastic Mixing Bowl Set

Mixing bowls are essential to any kitchen. From whisking ingredients to storing leftovers, there’s a bowl for that. Each bowl has its lid, and the set nests inside each other for easy storage, ideal for people with little to no storage space. The bowls come in vibrant colorways made of recycled plastic. They also have a nonslip silicone base that will stop them from slipping and sliding all over the counter. They’re dishwasher-safe and break-resistant, ready to endure any dishes you throw in them.

KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer

If the cook in your life doesn’t already own this mixer, it’s set to be the highlight of their holiday season. This mixer, equipped with a five-quart stainless steel bowl, can easily handle both small and large batches, offering enough capacity to whip up enough batter for nine dozen cookies in a single batch. With ten optimized speeds, it ensures thorough mixing or whipping of any ingredients. The only challenge might be choosing from the 20 available colors to complement their kitchen decor best.

Ninja Foodi XL 7-in-1 Electric Indoor Grill Combo

Sometimes, living conditions aren’t suitable for outdoor grilling. If they live in an apartment or lack a yard, they probably don’t get to grill as much as they’d like to. Thanks to the Ninja Foodie, they can grill indoors all year long. Its large size is enough room to grill six steaks at a time. Beyond grilling (hood down or up), the grill transforms into a flat-top griddle, crisper, roaster, baker, broiler, air fryer, dehydrator, and more.

LEVO II Herbal Oil Infusion Machine

Creating an herbal infusion with the LEVO II is as easy as brewing a cup of coffee. The special culinary person in your life will be able to experiment with their own concoctions with the touch of a button. Herb-infused butter, oils, salad dressings, honey, baked goods and more can be infused with their favorite herb or botanical in a matter of minutes.

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