Food is a love language. Cooking, baking, being in the kitchen with loved ones, sharing traditions with children. It’s all centered around food, family and love.
Maybe you’re like me and decided to stop buying everyone gifts and instead decided to start making them things they’ll actually consume. Maybe you’re looking for inspiration – of this you’ll get plenty! Or perhaps it’s just a way to save money, which is also totally valid.
Whatever your reason, here’s my list of homemade food gifts you can give this holiday season. I’ve personally gifted every single thing on this list and then some. Let this be your year to gift someone a homemade food gift!
Merry Christmas!
Homemade Gifts From the Garden 🎄🎁
If you’re a gardener or just someone who likes to buy ingredients and make food. These homemade food gift ideas are unique and tasty – give them a try this season – at the very least, it may be something you just want to eat yourself!
Homemade Apple Chips
When to Make: Weeks/months ahead
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jar / Clear Bag
Apple chips are one of the easiest homemade food gifts on this list! A few minutes of prep followed by a few hours in the dehydrator and you have an aromatic smelling home and these tasty apple chips.
Slice the apples thinly, arrange them on the dehydrator trays and dry for 6-12 hours. They should be completely dried once you’re ready to take out.
Once completely cool, package the apple chips in a glass jar or clear food-safe bag. Add some ribbon, twine or a gift tag and they’re ready to give.
Want to make them? Follow our complete guide to making Apple Chips in a Dehydrator.
Fermented Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce
When to Make: during pepper season
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jar
We grow a lot of cayenne peppers, and fermented hot sauce is one of the easiest ways we’ve found to turn that harvest into something people actually get excited to receive – and us, excited to give!
Because it’s fermented, you can also make it well before the Christmas rush rather than adding another recipe to your already too long December list. Pour it into a small glass swing-top bottle, add a simple tag and ribbon, and you have a great homemade gift for anyone who loves spicy food.
Ready to make a batch? Follow our complete recipe: How to Make Fermented Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce
Homemade Basil Salt
When to Make: Months/weeks or days before
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jar
Homemade basil salt is a simple way to preserve your home grown basil and it makes a beautifully unique gift! This gift can be made weeks or months in advance, or days in advance if you buy some fresh basil from the store. It’s totally up to you.
Gift in a beautiful snap lid jar and on a kraft tag list some ways to consume (e.g. on top of tomato soup, on a tomato and mozzarella sandwich, on top of pasta or pizza, etc).
Love this idea? Follow our complete guide: How to Make Basil Salt from Fresh Basil
Apple Cider Vinegar
When to Make: Minimum 6 Weeks Prior to Gifting
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jar
During apple season we go through tons of apples and that means tons of apple scraps. This simple apple cider vinegar recipe is an ingenious way to use your apple scraps and making a homemade gift all in one.
I received homemade apple cider vinegar as a neighbourly gift one year and I loved the thought behind it. Making apple cider vinegar is little to no work for you, besides checking in on it while it ferments in the pantry.
To gift it, simply place in a traditional mason jar with a traditional lid, maybe add some fun Christmas stickers or ribbon and twine to add that Christmasy glow.
Ready to make a batch? Follow our complete recipe: How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar
Homemade Garden Herb Gift Set
When to Make: A week or days before
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jars and/or gift basket
This is probably one of my favourite gift ideas to give to someone if you grow your own herbs. Freshly dried herbs taste much better than ones from the store and if you dried them yourself, you have the added element of love!
Take a bunch of herbs you dried this year and add them to tiny mason jars or tiny glass bottles and assemble them into a beautiful arrangement of dried herbs in a basket. Or add them inside a fun piece of Christmas decor – double gifting!
Flower Sprinkles
When to Make: During flower season / a day before
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jars
This one is a fun and unique idea! We’ve all heard of the issues with chemical food dyes in sprinkles, this idea offers a natural alternative. Flower petals from your garden (or ones that can be ordered online) combined to make a ‘flower sprinkle‘.
Use the organic flower sprinkles on treats, cakes, cookies and more.
Love this idea? Follow our complete guide: How to Make Homemade Flower Sprinkles
Homemade Tea Gifts 🎄🎁
I wanted to make this as it’s own section, since tea is an amazing gift idea. Again, whether you are growing your own herbs or buying loose leaf tea and need inspiration, I got you covered here.
Homemade Herbal Tea Blends
When to Make: Months, weeks or days before
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jars and/or gift basket
It’s more than just herbs, it’s a thoughtful combination of herbs specifically for a unique individual. Do you know someone who needs a little help relaxing? Gift them a homemade herbal tea blend of chamomile, lemon balm, lavender, maybe even a jar of local honey. Package it in a beautiful basket and you have yourself a personalized gift for someone.
I know I’ll be giving our herbal tea blends, dried culinary herbs and tinctures as gifts this year and every year moving forward. It’s a gift that will always give and only bring good feelings.
Love this idea? Read about the 6 Medicinal Herbal Tea Blends I Use at Home
Homemade Tea Bags
When to Make: Months, weeks or days before
Gift it in: Glass jars, tea box, in a basket, etc
Using herbs from your garden or homemade herbal tea blends is a truly unique and personal gift for someone, but making your own homemade tea bag brings that level of thought and personalization to another level.
Instead of purchasing a metal loose-leaf tea infuser with the herbal tea blends in a jar – with just a few coffee filters and a needle with thread, you can make your own teabags at home. It’s an easy, fun DIY that even my four year old makes them.
Imagine watching a holiday movie with the Christmas lights on, the fireplace warming the room and a little DIY project your can do while watching the TV. It’s personal, affordable and so convenient that any tea drinker in your life will appreciate it.
Love this idea? Follow our complete guide: How to Make Homemade Tea Bags
Savory Homemade Food Gifts 🎄🎁
Savory treats are underrated as a homemade food gift to give! I don’t know about you, but I would muck up some local cheese with some homemade crackers with a slice of warm homemade bread with herb butter… Can you tell I like food?
Compound Herb Butter
When to Make: At least a day ahead of time, ideally weeks/months ahead of time
Gift it in: Parchment paper/Kraft paper wrapped in twine with a label
More on herbs – but this can be done using garden grown or store bought, and it’s truly a beloved gift! Who doesn’t want herb compound butter for roasts, steaks on bread? It’s honestly very easy to make. All you need is your butter and herbs of your choice. This is my recipe for:
Garlic Rosemary Compound Butter
- 1 cup softened butter
- 1-2 cloves minced/roasted garlic
- 3-5 tbsp finely chopped rosemary
- salt to taste
Combine the ingredients together and mix to incorporate well. Once combined, and evenly distributed, using plastic wrap or a parchment paper, roll into the shape of a log and chill it in the freezer until you’re ready to gift. Then, wrap in another parchment paper with twine and a card explaining the type of butter you just made. Ensure to refrigerated/freeze immediately upon arrival at the gift-giving location.
Important Note: Because compound butter needs to stay refrigerated, this isn’t a gift to wrap and leave under the Christmas tree. It’s better suited to a neighbour, family member or Christmas host who can pop it straight into the fridge. You can also make the butter ahead and freeze it until you’re ready to gift it.
Sourdough Discard Crackers
When to Make: At least a day ahead of time, up to a few days
Gift it in: Air-tight glass jar / Clear Bag
Now crackers is an unexpected homemade food gift. People expect the basics: cookies, teas, pickled vegetables or even bread. But I doubt anyone would expect crackers – especially sourdough crackers. These crackers have the beneficial probiotics that everyone loves, and they will take you less than 30 minutes to make, AND, they’re so savoury!
Pair these crackers in an airtight container, add a local cheese with some cowboy candy or fermented pickles or even just some traditional cookies and your giftee will want to become your best friend – if they aren’t already.
Love this idea? Find the full recipe on Two Ingredient Sourdough Crackers
Apple Fritter Bread
When to Make: Months, weeks or days in advance.
Gift it in: Christmas Box or Basket
Apples may not scream Christmas, but this apple fritter bread is truly mouthwatering and should be shared by all. The best part about this apple fritter bread is that you can make it with only a few apples so you don’t need to solely rely on apple season apples to make it.
Ideally, you could make a few bread loafs when you go apple picking, then freeze these in plastic wrap in a plastic bag until your gifting day. Then remove from the freezer to begin thawing.
I gifted a loaf to my sister once by leaving it wrapped in the plastic wrap, and placed it inside a beautiful woven basket and that was wrapped with a plastic cover and decorated with Christmas stickers for fun. Nothing was wasted but everything was enjoyed.
Want to make it? Follow our complete recipe for Apple Fritter Bread
Homemade Christmas Cookies 🎄🍪
The one you’ve all been waiting for! These are cookies I gift to everyone – I literally mean everyone, every single Christmas. Here’s my list!
Gingerbread Cookies
When to Make: A few days in advance or weeks ahead of time and freeze until ready
Gift it in: In cookie tin
Is it even Christmas without gingerbread? But this gingerbread is slightly different – it’s actually soft and chewy. Not like the rock-hard gingerbread you normally get at the store. These melt in your mouth and taste like Christmas in a cookie.
My children love receiving this yearly gift from our neighbor: 2 gingerbread cookies in a fun Christmas cookie tin along with frosting and some sprinkles to decorate the cookies themselves. It’s an experience and it’s festive! This is your sign to do the same this Christmas season for children.
Ready to make a batch? Follow our complete recipe: How to Make Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
Kourabiedes (Greek Christmas White Cookies)
When to Make: A few days in advance or weeks ahead of time and freeze until ready to bake
Gift it in: In cookie tin
Ya’ll… These cookies are life. Melt in your mouth buttery yet crumbly and I mean come on – they’re covered in white powdered sugar, these cookies scream Christmas.
These cookies along with the Koulourakia’s were the only Christmas cookies I had growing up in a Greek home, all my friends loved them and I would beg my grandmother to make them outside of the holidays. Now that the recipe is officially written down – you can make them too!
The recipe itself is much simpler than any other kourabiedes recipe you’ll find online today – I promise you. My grandmother was practical – no wets and drys, no fancy rose water. Put everything in a large bowl and beat until a dough forms. I pray you’ll love this recipe as much as I do.
Obsessed? Me too: Recipe on how to make Kourabides, Greek White Cookies
Koulourakia (Greek Twist Cookie)
When to Make: A few days in advance or weeks ahead of time and freeze until ready to bake
Gift it in: In cookie tin
You’ve seen the Greek White Cookies – now let me introduce you to the Greek Twist Cookie. As an adult, I’ve started to enjoy these more – not that I didn’t care for them as a child. But the white cookies literally have sugar on top of them. As an adult now I love the texture and subtle flavour of the koulourakia.
These cookies with a coffee just hits home in ways I cannot describe. Making it a homemade food gift that every adult will enjoy.
Similar to the white cookies, these twist cookies are a simple recipe – throw all the ingredients into a large bowl and beat until the dough consistency forms, then make some cookies.
Ready to blow minds?: Recipe on how to make Koulourakia: Greek Twist Cookies
Homemade Food Gifts Don’t Have to Be Complicated
One of my favourite things about homemade food gifts is that they don’t have to be elaborate. A few jars of herbs you dried from the garden, a batch of homemade crackers or something you’ve been preserving all year can become a thoughtful Christmas gift with a jar, some ribbon and a simple label.
I truly believe people would enjoy this more than you would think – I know my favourite gifts are those thoughtful homemade food gifts I’ve received.
And most importantly – you don’t need to make everything on this list. Choose one or two ideas that make sense with what you already grow, preserve or make in your kitchen – or just want to try out. Some of the best gifts are simply sharing a little bit of what you have with the people you love.
If you’ve been growing and preserving food with us throughout the year, Christmas is a pretty wonderful excuse to give some of it away. You can explore all of our hands-on advice in our Harvesting & Preserving or Garden Based Recipes, based on what actually works here on our homestead.
We are growing our website with more articles all the time, and we invite you to grow with us. If you have any questions about my homemade food gift list, or would like to share some of your knowledge with us please leave a comment below. Happy Gardening & Merry Christmas!🎄
