33 Food Gifts 2022: Sweet, Savory, and Saucy Gifts

There are plenty of top-notch bakeries to visit while in New York City, but few are better known than Magnolia Bakery. Their banana pudding is one to beat, and thankfully for any devotees, it can be shipped nationwide—this package comes with six large cups of the classic flavor, so no one in the family has to share.

For foodies, the main event of any trip to Maine is biting into the quintessential Maine lobster roll. Served on a fluffy toasted and buttered hot dog bun and packed with fresh lobster chunks, this purist’s delight is hard to match—but easy to source and ship, thanks to this lobster roll kit available on Goldbelly.

Doughy, deep-fried, and dusted with sugar, there is no breakfast more symbolic of New Orleans than the beignet. A French-inspired square-shaped spin on the doughnut, beignets are best when consumed hot and fresh and washed down with a creamy café au lait. And with a Bywater gift basket from Café Du Monde, the unofficial baron of NOLA beignets, you can send a mix for home baking, plus a heaping can of the Big Easy’s favorite chicory coffee blend.

Any way you slice it, pizza is the ultimate comfort food—and therefore, one of the best food gifts. Whether your loved one prefers it soft, thin, and hand-tossed, à la a NYC slice, or deep-crusted and layered thick with toppings, as they do in Chicago, there’s no doubt that pizza, consumed hot, bubbling, and straight out of the oven, is one of life’s most delicious pleasures. Lou Malnati’s deep dish has been satisfying Windy City appetites for half a century; Roberta’s is still considered one of the most important pizza joints in the Big Apple. And if you’re a fan of Detroit-style, or want to give it the old college try, you can’t go wrong with a pie from Emmy Squared: the Colony is a sweet and spicy mix of jalapeños, honey, and crispy cupped pepperoni. Order a pie to bake from home from any of these spots with just a few clicks.

Restaurants across the nation have been hit hard by the pandemic, but New Orleans had to face another destructive hurricane on top of COVID-related struggles. Show the city some love with a three- or six-month NOLA Restaurants subscription; you’ll get a mix of the city’s most iconic sweet and savory foods once a month, with enough food to feed four inside each box. (The same subscription exists for San Francisco, Chicago and New York City, too.)

For the person in your life who can’t get enough of brined and seasoned meat, send over some sandwich fillings from either coast. Pastrami, which is corned beef that’s been rubbed down with herbs and spices and then smoked and steamed, has aficionados in both New York and Los Angeles. Angelenos swear by Langer’s, the kosher-style delicatessen in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood; New Yorkers have been lining up for Katz’s pastrami on rye since 1888.

For the native Seattleite missing home or the traveler who couldn’t get enough of Pike Place Market, this gift box contains a little bit of everything from around the market (sans flying fish). There’s even a cookbook, so they can recreate some of the most beloved dishes at home.

Philadelphia loves few things as much as it loves its cheesesteaks: paper-thin slices of saucy ribeye and melted cheese, served up hot and dripping with mushrooms and onions on a long and toasted roll. But for decades, the City of Brotherly Love has been divided by a fierce rivalry over who prepares the best of these messy, melted sandwiches, with Pat’s King of Steaks, Jim’s Steaks, and Campo’s among the joints staking their claim as the superlative purveyor of Philadelphia’s favorite sandwich. As for us, we’re content ordering up one of each and holding a taste test at home.

New York City’s ever-popular ACME Smoked Fish company has launched a new online store, where you can send fan favorites like smoked salmon and herring all over the country. We’re partial to the Brooklyn Bling set, which features all the hits: five types of smoked salmon, including a pastrami and BBQ style; herring in wine and herring in cream sauce; and smoked whitefish salad.

Seattle Chocolate makes delicious, rich chocolate bars in tons of mouthwatering flavors. This dark chocolate truffle bar is filled with crunchy toffee bits and sea salt, and wrapped in a drawing of an orca whale created by Seattle illustrator Frida Clements. Order a handful of bars to distribute as stocking stuffers (and at least one extra to keep for yourself).

Christina Tosi’s wildly delightful bakery chain, Milk Bar, has been fulfilling our sweet fantasies since 2008. If you’re looking for the ideal sugar-soaked confection to send to someone far away, this New York standby, known for its Milk Bar Pie, classic birthday cake, and irresistibly soft cookies, is a solid choice. (The rich cake truffles make an excellent stocking stuffer, too.)

Good news: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream scoop shops have been expanding, with locations in a dozen states and Washington, D.C. If you don’t live close to one, though, you can sate your sweet tooth with this five-pack of pints, featuring its best sellers—Brown Butter Almond Brittle and Brambleberry Crisp included.

Craving some real-deal Vermont maple syrup? Or have a friend or relative pining for the good stuff? There’s an easy way to help them out of that sticky situation. Goldbelly ships pure Vermont maple syrup from Burgess Sugarhouse nationwide, so pancake lovers don’t have to settle for supermarket brands.

For the dessert fiends, Harlem’s famous creamery has just begun shipping nationwide. Favorites like Harlem Sweeties and Chairperson of the Board are available, but your gift recipient may most appreciate a set of four of the best-sellers.

A high quality mustard makes all the difference, and this one is even more unique thanks to its honey and white truffle infusion. Bring it as a hostess gift, or drop it into a stocking of a ‘team savory’ loved one.

An easy stocking stuffer and perfect gift for tinned fish aficionados: These chic little anchovy tins, swimming in a secret spicy sauce made by a family-run business from Parma, Italy.

For anyone yearning for their favorite Balkan dishes, Balkan Bites makes homemade burek—the flaky, stuffed phyllo pie found in the Balkans, Middle East, and Western Asia. This business hand-stretches the dough and makes their burek according to beloved family recipes. Choose from mushroom and goat cheese, beef and onion, spinach and cheese, and more, and have them shipped frozen to your friend missing their favorite treats.

It doesn’t get more prototypically Christmas than gourmet gift baskets from Harry & David. Send this to the family members or friends you wish you were celebrating with and they’ll think of you all weekend as they nosh on the brand’s famous pears, Moose Munch, milk and dark chocolate peppermint bark, Christmas tree-shaped almonds, and more goodies.

For the Brit missing home this Christmas, Williams Sonoma’s F&M collaboration is here to fill the gap. The iconic hamper comes filled with raspberry preserves, Sir Nigel’s marmalade, two types of teas, Piccadilly Stem ginger biscuits, shortbread fingers, Salisbury honey, and Champagne truffles.   

If your goal is to support women-owned businesses this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with this Women in Food gift set, filled with sweet and savory items from AAPI female-founded food brands like Omsom and Deux.

For the traveler who can’t stop raving about their stay at Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm, bring a piece of the magic to their kitchen with this breakfast set. They can plan a post-holiday brunch for six complete with Blackberry Farm coffee, griddle cake mix, biscuit mix, apple butter, honey, Appalachian maple syrup, Allan Benton’s bacon, and of course, blackberry jam.

Know someone who got really into the tinned fish craze this year? Refresh their stockpile with this gift set from Fishwife; not only will they get two tins of the good stuff, it also comes with black sesame seeds, Lady & Larder crackers, and Brightland vinegar.

Based in San Francisco’s Mission District, La Cocina helps low income food entrepreneurs—particularly women from communities of color and immigrant communities—get their businesses off the ground. Help support their mission and try a handful of delicious treats with this gift box, which brings together award-winning chocolate, festive holiday cookies, and more sweet and savory snacks.

Consider this the ultimate winter activity bundle: Your giftee will enjoy staying cozy indoors, working on a puzzle and sipping on chai tea (even better, the puzzle itself depicts a group of women enjoying tea time together).

This family cooking kit blends a cultural lesson with a cooking exercise, while also providing harder-to-find ingredients and sauces that define the meal. The subscription service allows you to explore a country, a continent, or the world, and each box comes with three recipe cards, ingredients, essential sauces, a shopping list, an activity sheet, and a collectible, like a cooking tool or flag pin.