Kitchen Gifts They Will Actually Use: A Christmas Gift Guide

The best kitchen gifts are the ones that get used before Boxing Day is out. Not the gadget that does one thing once a year, or the novelty that lives in a drawer, but the mug they reach for every morning and the butter dish that finally replaces the foil wrapper.

This guide is organised by the person you are buying for rather than by price, because that is how most of us actually shop. Everything in it is something we would happily give, and most of it sits at around £20.

For the coffee drinker

Start with a pair of mugs. It is the simplest kitchen gift there is, and the easiest to get right, because a good mug gets used several times a day.

Our mugs come in sets of two, in reactive glazes that mean no two are quite alike. If they take their coffee long, the 720ml Aurelia is the generous choice. If they like a mug they can wrap both hands around, the striped Luna or the large Vega speckle are good bets. New this autumn, the pale blue speckled Lotus and the blue and white Ignea join the range too.

If you know their kitchen, match the colour to it: a blue pair for a blue and white kitchen, a sage or mint pair for a room full of plants. Our guide to ceramic coffee mugs has more on sizes and glazes.

Gifts for tea lovers

For the person who will tell you, unprompted, that tea tastes better from a pot, a teapot with an infuser is the gift. It means loose leaf tea without the strainer, the soggy leaves or the washing up of a separate infuser.

Our Oslo teapots hold a full litre and come with a stainless steel infuser that lifts straight out. They come in pink, cream and sage green. Pair one with two mugs and a small bag of their favourite loose leaf and you have a gift that looks considered rather than bought in a hurry.

If they drink one cup at a time, the new Aska infuser mug does the same job in a single mug. It is a large reactive glaze mug with a lid and a removable stainless steel infuser, in navy, ocean teal, sea green and sage green.

If you want to know more about what makes a teapot worth having, our guide to choosing a teapot goes into it properly.

For the cook

People who cook tend to have every gadget already. What they often do not have is the nice version of the everyday things on the counter.

A ceramic butter dish is one of those small upgrades that gets noticed every single day. Our Paris butter dishes come in pink and green reactive glaze, and the new Nord butter dish comes in a deep ocean teal. The butter stays covered on the table instead of sitting in its torn wrapper.

A pair of ceramic oil and vinegar bottles does the same job for the dressing that lives by the hob. They come as a set of two, in pink and blue or in cream and duck egg blue, and they look a great deal better than the supermarket bottle with the label half peeled off.

For someone who likes everything in one place, the new Solen condiment set brings salt and pepper shakers and oil and vinegar bottles together on one bamboo stand, in navy or ocean teal. Add a Kusta salt pig for the cook who seasons by the pinch, or a pair of Elva salt and pepper mills in navy, dark teal or sage green.

For someone setting up a home

If they have just moved, are moving in with someone, or have finally had enough of mismatched plates, a complete dinner set is the generous gift that genuinely changes their kitchen.

The Havn 12 piece set in deep blue reactive glaze sets a table for four, with dinner plates, side plates and cereal bowls. The Rivah 16 piece set in green adds four pasta bowls. Both are stoneware, and both are dishwasher and microwave safe.

For the person who has everything

The honest answer is to buy them something they will use up or use daily, rather than something they will have to find a shelf for. A pair of mugs and a good bag of coffee. A butter dish with a block of proper salted butter. Oil and vinegar bottles with a bottle of something nice to fill them. The ceramic is the part that lasts; the thing inside is what makes it feel like a present.

Getting it there in time

Standard UK delivery is free on every order, so you can send a gift straight to their door without working out a threshold. If you leave it late, Next Day delivery is available for £4.99 to eligible addresses on orders placed before midday. Our delivery page has the details.

For the full edit, including gifts for gardeners and stocking fillers, have a look at our Christmas gifts page.