The best kitchen gifts for under $100

The best kitchen gifts can be large or small. If your home chef already has all of their key items, however, a smaller gift can be a great idea. It gives you the flexibility to be creative… And the flexibility to make mistakes!

A “frivolous” appliance, attachment, or other culinary tool can add value to a food-lover’s kitchen without interfering with their daily routine. It gives your loved ones the freedom to buy their own kitchen essentials, but with some fun, unique tools on the side to enrich their experience in the kitchen and dining room.

Kitchen gifts for the table 

As someone who loves hosting, kitchen gifts for the table are always a hit with me. My kitchen drawers are always slightly chaotic, with plates and bowls of a dozen different shapes and sizes. I love playing with different flatware throughout, or different cutlery depending on the meal—I could talk your ear off about my favourite small spoons. (It depends on the dessert, okay? Dishes that you eat in large scoops need different spoons than dishes that you want to savour in little bites, and fancier desserts need a spoon with a finer handle.)

I had a small obsession with double-walled glass mugs as a child, and glassware will always be the gift to give in my eyes. Double-walled mugs stay condensation-free, so they keep your drinks hot or cold for longer and produce less condensation than a regular glass. Smart mugs can keep your drinks at just the right temperature, and fine stemware gives just the right touch to dinners and late nights with a bottle of wine. Dining gifts are welcoming and sociable, and invite the recipient to spend more time with their loved ones at home. Who wouldn’t want that?

Useful kitchen gifts with an edge

In the kitchen, you’ll need a little more than just a couple different dessert spoons. I like kitchen gifts that serve a functional purpose, which are a great gifting opportunity that don’t create unnecessary clutter. These gifts don’t necessarily need to be pretty (though they can be). They just have to work well and make the recipient’s life a little easier.

Take, for example, KitchenAid attachments. I always call the KitchenAid stand mixer the gift that just keeps on gifting, because there’s a seemingly-endless variety of attachments you can follow up with. With each attachment, the mixer’s abilities grow. There are attachments that shred, slice, grate, make ice cream, roll pasta, and more. To see these tools in action, check out the Kitchenaid attachment reviews on the Best Buy Blog.

Frothy beverage making

Kitchen gadgets are another great gifting opportunity. I love a good kitchen gadget. From popcorn makers to avocado slicers, a good gadget is something that the recipient doesn’t really need at all—but oh, boy, is it nice to have around.

One of my favourite kitchen gifts to give is a milk frother. Like other coffee accessories, milk frothers aren’t something that will cause a household to fall apart if they aren’t there. But when they’re around, they can help to create a really beautiful cup of coffee.

Milk frothers and other drink accessories don’t stop there, either. No one in my family drinks coffee, but we’ve had a milk frother for years. I love having one around. They’re great for frothing milk to add to creamy drinks like Milo and hot chocolate, and models with the option to heat their contents work well throughout the entire year. In the summer, you can froth some oat milk for your iced latte; in the winter, you can heat and froth milk for hot chocolate. I love the convenience of electric coffee accessories, but there are manual versions of many of them too, including milk frothers.

Indulgent gadgets throughout the year

If the person you’re looking for a gift for isn’t a coffee drinker, there are many other kitchen and dining gifts available to choose from. Items like weigh scales and cute measuring cups are great gifts for bakers, and colourful kitchen utensils can be a wonderful choice. If you’ve noticed that one of your friends or family members is still working with black kitchen gadgets despite the fact that they love another colour, try looking for a set of silicone kitchen utensils in that very colour to brighten their day (and their home.)

One kitchen gift that I love is a soda and sparkling water maker. No one really needs their water to be bubbly, but it can be a delicious treat. I switched to sparkling water when I found out how terrible wine is for your teeth (something that I wish my dental hygienist took years to tell me), and I’ve been gifting them non-stop ever since.

The only downside is that, having been the person to give out all of these soda makers in the first place, I often feel obligated to exchange old CO2 cartridges for my family and friends when I notice they’re running low. But it’s a sign that they’re using and loving their gift, so I’m happy to keep their supplies well-stocked!

Products like the SodaStream or Aarke aren’t just great for making sparkling water. They’re also eco-friendly and health-conscious. Your recipient can enjoy them plain, add them to water, or add the brand’s drink mixes in any concentration to create a low-sugar beverage. I think they’re a great idea for families during the holidays and other celebrations, too—my family used to always pick up a few bottles of sparkling apple cider for everyone to drink together on New Year’s Eve, and a made-to-order version would be a lot of fun for kids at midnight. It’s a great kitchen gift for families trying to make a healthier choice, and awesome to have on hand to toast guests who choose not to drink alcohol.

Wrap up a little love

When it comes to kitchen gifts, there’s really no right or wrong way to go about it. There are so many different things that you could gift to someone, from fancy drink machines to odd kitchen knick-knacks and utensils. As someone who tries not to keep too many things around the house, little gadgets are a gift I always love. They’re both silly and functional; a delicious justification for excess in a warm, welcoming home.

Shop these kitchen gift ideas, gadgets, and more at Best Buy.