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Skip the usual restaurant gift cards and kitchen gadgets this holiday season. Give the food lover in your life something more festive like a hands-on cooking kit or live virtual class. Be it a family dumpling-making night or an expert cooking session, these hand-curated gifts bring everyone together and might even earn you a homemade holiday feast in return. David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week. Expertise Kitchen tools | Appliances | Food science | Subscriptions | Meal kits Deena Shinn Contributor Deena Shinn is a freelance writer and editor. When she's not writing or wrangling her two feisty daughters, you can find her experimenting with sourdough bread or exploring northern California. Expertise Deena has over a decade of experience writing and editing, covering everything from celebrity news to child development to wedding trends. Written by David Watsky Deena Shinn Why You Can Trust CNET Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Reviews ethics statement Learn from top-rated chefs If your giftee loves cooking and is always looking to expand their repertoire, there's no better gift than a professional chef guiding them step-by-step through a new skill or recipe. These are a few of our favorites. The Chef & the Dish private cooking class Here is all the fun and know-how of a private cooking class from world-class chefs, but from the privacy of your home. The Chef & The Dish brings Michelin-level culinary masters into your kitchen via video chat, from places as far away as Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, New Orleans, Turkey and Thailand. Dinner is going to be awesome from now on. Classes for two start at $299, plus $50 for each additional person, making a four-person class as inexpensive as $100 each. You can also purchase cooking class gift cards and let them choose the lesson themselves. Close Sur La Table online cooking classes Did you know Sur La Table offers some of their cooking classes online too? Instead of heading to a retail store for the class, the food lover in your life can learn from the pros in the comfort of their own kitchen. These classes are very affordable too -- starting at $29. Each lesson is 90-120 minutes, and it's the same price no matter how many guests "attend" the Zoom class from the recipient's home. Offerings include tamales, Thai stir-fried noodles, lemon macarons and more. Close Rouxbe online culinary school Rouxbe is flexible and comprehensive, offering courses for both professional certification and first-time cooks. It's great for helping people learn the fundamentals of cooking, since it offers everything from knife skills to how to make a salad dressing. You can even take courses with a more a plant-based focus. Close Yotam Ottolenghi's Middle Eastern cooking MasterClass Few chefs today have a better handle on cooking vegetables and legumes in creative ways than Yotam Ottolenghi. His MasterClass course explores plant-based spreads and dips, including labneh, muhammara and other tasty mezze that are perfect for the serial entertainer or host. Explore all of MasterClass' food and drink lessons here. A subscription is $180 for one year and gives access to the full library of classes across dozens of categories and practices. Close Make a meal at home There's something incredibly satisfying about a home-cooked meal, especially when it doesn't require much planning or a long list of new ingredients. It's even better when you can share that satisfaction by gifting someone one of these cooking kits, all personally vetted by our CNET experts. Urban Cheesecraft Deluxe DIY Cheese Kit If you know someone who loves cheese, this kit is sure to bring them joy -- and plenty of cheese. All the cheese lover needs is basic kitchen equipment and their favorite milk to make portions of mozzarella, ricotta, burrata, string cheese, paneer, queso blanco, goat cheese and farmer's cheese. Are you already drooling at the thought? The cheeses can be further customized with their favorite herbs and add-ins, like honey or red pepper flakes. Yum. The best part? Making cheese with this kit isn't overly complicated or time-consuming -- it can be made in less than an hour. Quick, easy and delicious? Count us in. Close Momofuku bestseller pack Looking to boost your favorite foodie's pantry? Look no further than the Momofuku bestseller pack. It contains the brand's signature original Chili Crunch, of course, as well as 25 individual servings of the brand's noodle packs and sauces (five of each flavor), a soy sauce and seasoned salt. They'll think of you every time they need a quick and delicious meal -- and when they put a scoop of Chili Crunch on their eggs, BBQ or pizza. Close Paella Kit I made my first paella this year and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Having the right ingredients -- like bomba rice and paella spices -- along with a proper pan to cook and serve it in, makes all the difference. This kit from Williams Sonoma has much of what you need for under $60. Close DIY kits for bakers Whether you're looking for a gift for an experienced baker, someone just starting out or a loved one who's eager to dive into a new genre (like sourdough), there's a baking kit out there for everyone. The following kits cover the full spectrum, and we can confirm that they churn out delicious treats. Make your own focaccia kit For the aspiring bread baker, this hands-on kit includes (almost) everything needed to make your own delectable loaf of yummy herbed focaccia. You'll just need to provide the olive oil, warm water and sugar, and it includes the rest, including instructions, so that you wind up with a crusty, delicious loaf of bread. It'll be hard to go back to store-bought once you start whipping up your own loaves. Close Bake Eat Love monthly baking kit Each month, the Bake Eat Love box includes pre-measured ingredients, a useful baking tool, and step-by-step instructions with video tutorials. Whether the giftee is an experienced baker or just starting out, they'll love trying a new, delicious recipe every time. You can't go wrong with a gingerbread cake roll with eggnog whipped cream, for example. Since each box makes around 12 to 20 servings of the dessert, maybe you'll even be lucky enough to get a sample. You can opt to gift the Bake Eat Love subscription for one month ($39.99 per box), 3 months ($38.50 per box), 6 months ($38.50 per box) or 12 months ($38.50). Close Flour Shop Mini Explosion Cake Kit You’ve likely heard of the Flour Shop Rainbow Explosion cake that went viral. Well, the brand teamed up with Williams Sonoma so now you can make or gift a mini one. This set includes all the cake mix, coloring gels, frosting mix and sprinkles your giftee will need to whip up a small version of this Instagram-worthy dessert. Note that this kit does not include the baking pan, which can be purchased separately. Close Cook with kiddos at home Getting kids involved in the kitchen benefits everyone. They learn valuable life skills and their parents can reap the benefits of an enjoyable shared activity and the delicious outcome. Whether you're buying for your own kids or giving a gift, you can't go wrong with these tried-and-true kid-centric kits. KiwiCo Science of Cooking Bundle For better or worse, kids usually love getting involved -- and messy -- in the kitchen. And with these KiwiCo Science of Cooking kits (ice cream, bread & butter and mini cakes), they can help create something delicious and also learn the science behind yeast, weighing ingredients and more. Note that these sets contain tools, not actual food ingredients. But most of the required ingredients are likely things you already have at home or can easily find at the grocery store. Each kit includes an illustrated instructional booklet that explores related science topics (like crystal formation in the ice cream kit). Because of this, they’re recommended for kids aged 5 and up. Close Duff Goldman DIY Baking Set for Kids by Baketivity If you're hoping to see a kiddo in your life make it to the small screen on Kids Baking Championship, perhaps start with these tasty Duff Goldman DIY baking sets. This particular kit contains most everything they'll need to create delicious s'mores sandwich cookies. Need we say more? The ingredients look amazing even before they're assembled. Close MasterChef Junior dumpling making set Aspiring pint-sized chefs will love this MasterChef Junior dumpling kit that comes with all of the tools needed for the job: steam basket, dumpling press, measuring cups and steamer paper. It also comes with eight recipe ideas (geared towards all different levels of experience) and a blank card for writing down their own recipe iteration. How fun is that? It's one thing to teach a kid how to make a sandwich on their own -- but learning to make dumplings will hopefully take their cooking interest and skills to the next level. Close More gastronomically good gift ideas As Someone Who Cooks, Here Are the Gifts I'd Like to Receive Best Coffee Clubs and Subscriptions for 2024 Best Bar and Booze Gifts for a Home Mixologist
