The 25 Best Cooking and Baking Gifts for Budding Chefs

All great cooks — even junior ones — know that gifting knives is not bad luck. Certainly not when the plastic blades allow young chefs to slice and dice veggies without slicing and dicing their fingers.

Everyone knows that it’s cool to be into hot sauce, but what’s even cooler is making your own hot sauce. (Technically the coolest thing of all is having two hot-sauce holsters on your jeans so you can walk into a potluck like you’re the last habañero-slinger in the West, but let’s take this one step at a time.) Here’s a hot-sauce making kit for anyone who can handle the heat. 

Bert the ADORABLE Bluetooth Burger Speaker will play your favorite tunes for you with a sweet smile on his face while you cook and devour his kindred. OK, there are probably better ways of describing the act of listening to music while you enjoy a burger, but you get the picture.

Your budding Julia Child will be churning out steak frites and profiteroles by New Year’s once she cracks open this family-friendly cookbook. Note: Some parental assistance may be required.

When bunny and dolly need an afternoon snack, this painted wooden tea set makes the perfect serving piece for tea, crustless sandwiches, and petits fours.

Older afternoon tea enthusiasts (which, honestly, that’s everyone with taste) will enjoy painting their own ceramic tea set after they’ve whipped up some hot chocolate and raisin scones.

In the tradition of instant classics like Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and “Betty Crocker’s Cookbook” comes a culinary masterpiece from an absolute legend. If your teen’s too cool for the Betty Crocker stuff, get them rockin’ in the kitchen with this sizzling-hot collection of recipes from Snoop Dogg.

Just as guacamole is the pinnacle of human culinary invention, so ping-pong is the absolute peak of sporting competition. (We’re fairly sure this is true, anyway.) So, what if we told you that you could get a guacamole-themed ping-pong set for under $15??? 

The majestic nachosaurus pauses to refresh himself at the guacamole feeding hole, as the mighty red rivers of salsa froth and crash against the cavernous Snack & Dip Bowl banks. This is literally a perfect gift for anyone who likes anything. 

Be sure to keep this beautiful thing out of reach of your Snack & Dip Bowl Set above, as the TACOsaurus is a natural predator of the nachosaurus, and things could get messy. But this one’s an absolute beauty as well, and you probably need them both. 

It’s inconceivable, in this day and age, that anyone still chooses to drink out of a plain mug when they could be quenching their thirst from the epic gloriousness that is an oversized ceramic cheeseburger. Do your part to rectify this terrible wrong today. 

A is for angel hair, B is for bowties. … Begin your kids’ pasta education with this pretend play pasta-making kit, and perhaps they’ll learn that spaghetti is more than something to throw at the wall.

Lots of people claim they love cheese, but then you’ll take one look at their socks and they won’t have “cheese” written on there even once. 🙄 

The most delicious looking puzzle you ever did see. This one’s for anyone who likes ice cream, and the prize for completing it is going out and getting a double-scoop at the ice cream shop. Hey, we don’t make the rules!

If you’re hoping to raise baby as a foodie, start the vegetable education early. When this kale-shaped teething toy soothes his sore gums, it will be the beginning of a lifelong love affair with all things green, leafy, and delicious.

All chefs know that presentation is as important as preparation. Your aspiring Top Chef Junior contestant can practice his plate drizzles and garnishes with Fred, a face on a plate just waiting to be spruced up with edible creations.

Until they invent an actual pizza plant, we’re going to have to continue to do this the hard (and, honestly, extremely rewarding) way! This seed ball kit has everything you need to grow your own pizza toppings and start your own farm-to-table operation right in the backyard!

*In hushed, reverential tones* “What is that majestic beast, gracefully soaring through the blue skies like a golden eagle? Could it possibly be? … Yes! … It is! It’s a pizza kite. ’Tis the greatest of all omens to witness such a glorious vision.” 

If your play kitchen is lacking a Ninja-style blender to make healthy kale smoothies and protein shakes, this smoothie maker set will make breakfast in the playroom more satisfying. Just keep Kendall far, far away...

If you have to ask the question, you need the book. This chapter book for young readers will take them through the life and food loves of chef and TV star Julia Child.

It is said that every time someone makes a rainbow bagel, a unicorn gets its horn. And if it’s not said, it really should be. Anyway, bagels are awesome, and rainbow bagels are even better!

Give your kid the hipster kitchen you always dreamed of with this play set from KidKraft. It’s got vegetable boxes in the window for your organic urban garden, a stylish back splash, and a much coveted water and ice dispenser in the fridge.

Give a teen an everything bagel with cream cheese and they’re hungry in an hour. Teach a teen to make their own everything bagel with cream cheese and … they’re still hungry in an hour. Teens are very hungry. But it’s a very fun thing to know how to do!

When you’re truly in love, it’s customary to proudly wear a beautiful necklace with the name of your lover. Here’s a necklace for a love that will never, ever die.

For the burrito-lover in your family, so they can dream about being beans, rice, cheese, and hopefully guacamole!