9 Edible Gift Ideas

Homemade culinary gifts are one of the best presents to receive! Store-bought gifts are always welcome and appreciated, but there is something extra special about a gift made by a loved one. If you’re looking for edible gift ideas, we’re sharing our favourites today, along with some recipe inspiration to get you started.

First, a few things to consider as you select your edible gift ideas:

  • Aim for dry goods that will last. During the festive season, food tends to be everywhere as people gather to eat holiday meals. Edible gift ideas offer recipients the opportunity to consume their present at a later date.
  • Explore savoury edible gifts. Sweet treats are in abundance during the holiday season, so choose something savoury or sour to offset the sweetness.
  • Include a recipe. Make a little recipe card to go along with your gift so recipients can make the deliciousness again.
  • Consider storage containers. We’re not fans of plastic here at the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, so we recommend choosing a glass mason jar or stainless steel container for gift-giving.

And now, on to our 9 favourite edible gift ideas!

9 Edible Gift Ideas

1. Granola + Granola Bars

edible gift ideas

Homemade gluten-free granola is one of the easiest things in the world to make. All you need to do is toss gluten-free oats, nuts, seeds, coconut oil and maple syrup or honey together and bake until golden. Once baked, you can add in dried fruit, shredded coconut or chocolate.

The other benefit to this one is you can bake granola in huge batches and divvy it up into multiple gifts. It’s holiday multi-tasking at its finest!

Recipe to Try: Choose Your Own Adventure Gluten-Free Granola by Sondi Bruner (*ACN Head Program Coach)


2. Spiced Nuts + Seeds

edible gift ideas

Spiced nuts and seeds are an elegant gift, plus they’re loaded with nutritious fats, protein for healing and repair, and fibre that supports our digestive tract (few gifts are better than the gift of a good poop!). This edible gift idea can be customized based on the recipient’s spice preferences, and you can season them to be sweet or savoury. Some of our favourite spice combos are:

  • Curry powder + maple syrup
  • Sea salt, basil, oregano + thyme
  • Turmeric, coconut oil + honey
  • Cayenne pepper + cinnamon
  • Cacao + cinnamon
  • Smoked paprika + sea salt

You can also use any combination of herbs and spices to roast chickpeas for a wonderful snacking gift.

Recipe to Try: Rosemary Spiced Roasted Almonds by Sweet + Savory Pursuits


3. Tinctures

herbal-tincture

These edible holiday gifts take some foresight and planning, but they will be greatly appreciated and they’re certainly unique presents. Since the holidays tend to coincide with cold and flu season, you could create an immune-supportive tincture with ginger, turmeric, or oregano.

Your tincture doesn’t have to be complete in time for gift-giving – provide a date along with the tincture for when it’s ready to go.

Recipe to Try: How to Make Tinctures and Tonics: A Guide


4. Vanilla Extract

edible gift ideas

Vanilla extract is a tincture of the less medicinal variety. Everyone loves vanilla… and homemade vanilla? Magic. Purchase vanilla beans, alcohol and some small glass bottles and you’ll be ready to go. You could even add extra herbs such as lavender or chamomile to make the extract extra special.

Recipe to Try: The Best Homemade Vanilla Extract by The Daring Gourmet


5. Custom Tea Blends

Tea - Guide to Adaptogens

There is a wide range of powerful herbs for tea that can transform it from a tasty beverage into a health-supportive drink. You can design a custom tea blend with a purpose in mind (for digestion, sleep, calm, mood enhancer, etc.) or simply focus on making it delicious!

Tea blends will keep for a while, and each time your recipient sips on a cup they’ll appreciate your kindness and consideration.

Recipe to Try: 20 Healing Herbs for Tea + Tea Recipes

 

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6. Infused Vinegar, Oil, or Honey

edible gift ideas

A vinegar, oil or honey infused with herbs is the kind of gift that seems super fancy to the recipient but is actually incredibly easy to make. All you need to do is add your herb or flavour of choice with the vinegar or oil, seal it up, and let the flavours meld for two weeks. It’s effortless, right? But it will seem as though you toiled away in the kitchen.

And if you’re wondering what are the best oils for cooking, check out this handy guide to cooking with fats and oils.

Recipe to Try: How to Make Chive-Infused Vinegar from Well Preserved


7. Herbed Sea Salt

Edible Gift Ideas

Fresh herbs take regular sea salt to a whole new level. Chop up your favourites – we like parsley, cilantro and dill – and blend them into a bowl of sea salt. You can also toss in extra flavours like lemon zest or minced garlic. This is also a great way to use up leftover herbs!

For more condiment ideas, check out this list of 12 Homemade Condiments You’ll Never Need to Buy Again.

Recipe to Try: Homemade Herbed Salt by The Prairie Homestead


8. Gluten-Free Baking Mixes

edible gift ideas

Layer the ingredients for gluten-free baked goods into a glass jar – they look incredibly pretty, and give your loved ones the chance to make their own treats without resorting to processed baking mixes or frozen cookie dough. There are so many variations you can give and this edible gift idea is also a good one for making in large batches.

If you don’t want to give a sugary gift, you could make soup mixes in a jar instead! Add a variety of beans, grains, and dried herbs into a jar and your edible gift is ready to go.

Recipe to Try: Gluten-Free Cookies in a Jar by Detoxinista


9. Dairy-Free Chocolate

edible gift ideas

Our holiday edible gift ideas list wouldn’t be complete without some dairy-free chocolate! You can make your own chocolate with cacao butter, cacao powder, coconut oil and a natural sweetener (maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar), or you can buy dark chocolate and melt it into all sorts of goodies like almond butter cups, chocolate turtles and chocolate nut clusters.

And seriously, who doesn’t love the gift of chocolate?

Recipe to Try: Coconut Bacon Chocolates by Sheena Scott (*Culinary Nutrition Expert)

No matter which of these edible gift ideas you choose to make (or if you create more than one!), we’re confident you will become everyone’s favourite gift giver.

Edible Gift Ideas Infographic