Is Christmas even still Christmas if you're not spending the entire day eating?
If your friends and family get just as excited by food as you, you may want to spoil them with a delicious foodie gift for Christmas 2019.
From hampers filled with all their favourite treats to affordable homemade gifts for a heartfelt present on a budget, we've rounded up our favourite food gift picks for Christmas below.
Not only are food gifts super practical (you do eat them, after all), but they're also a great chance to spoil your loved ones with delicious offerings they'd never justify buying themselves.
It's also a great chance to show your friends and family how well you know them. Forget the standard bottle of bubble bath - a packet of their favourite flavour crisps tells them more about how much you know about them.
With prices ranging from just a few quid to into the hundreds, there's certainly a foodie gift for everyone below.
1. Personalised tea bags, £20
Twist Teas make delicious, healthy teas full of natural flavours, without any added sugar or artificial flavourings.
Everything is hand-blended in the UK, with the teabags themselves made from biodegradable cornsilk teabags, while the metal tin is recyclable. Just choose a blend, personalise the caddy, and await the thanks from the lucky recipient...
Get it from Twist Teas for £20
2. One-of-a-kind cheese subscription, various prices
Whether it's a one off festive cheese feast for the holidays or an on-going subscription for your fromage-loving friends, The Cheese Geek - the creme de la creme of cheese gifting - has an array of different seasonal options to choose from, as well as an app for you to rate each cheese you get on so you know whether or not to buy it next time around.
Everything is selected by real experts so you know it's always of the highest quality, with some interesting options we've never even heard of, plus you can select helpful options such as no goats cheese, no blue cheese, and only vegetarian cheeses too.
Get it from The Cheese Geek, where prices depend on subscription
3. Make your own recipe book
The most thoughtful gift of them all, it could cost you absolutely nothing if you already have something to jot the recipes down on.
Compile a list of some of your favourite recipes - most of which can be found on the internet for free, and either print them out, or write them out on a nice bit of paper or a notepad - Poundland and Wilko both sell various pads for around £1 if you do need one.
4. Nando's sauce gift set, £20
Know a Nando's fan? Then treat them to the sauce selection of their dreams, complete with all the different flavours for them to recreate the brand's famous chicken dishes themselves at home.
From the brand new PERi PERi Vusa to XX Hot and of course, some lemon and herb for tasty marinading, it's also currently on Boots' 3 for 2 Christmas mix and match deal.
5. The Fortnum's Classic Christmas Hamper, £175
There's surely no foodie gift more luxurious than a Fortnum and Mason hamper, right? Sadly, they don't come cheap, with the cheapest hamper that comes complete with a wicker basket costs £50 , with the main Christmas offerings starting at £85.
Perhaps our favourite number of the lot though is the iconic department store's classic Christmas hamper, a perennially popular option that's filled with sparkling and still tipples, rich and delicious puddings, utterly buttery biscuits and the sweetest of jars.
Get it from Fortnum and Mason for £175
6. Manchester gin, £34.95
Whether you're from Manchester, have good memories there, or just want to support a home-grown UK business, a bottle of gin is always a great shout when you're not sure what else to go for - and this one adds a nice bespoke touch to the standard bottle.
There's plenty of flavours to choose from - from original, to infused, to the epitome of the city's music and culture - all brewed in the famous British town.
Get it from Master of Malt for £34.95
7. Kiku orange teapot, £34
If you know a tea drinker and want to get them something substantial for Christmas, what about a pretty teapot?
Not something you'd usually spend the money on yourself, every time they make themselves a cuppa they'll be thinking of you.
Get it from Oliver Bonas for £34
8. Pasta making kit, £35
For friends and family that are obsessed with pasta, treat them to a luxury kit that teaches them to make their own fresh stuff from scratch.
Complete with doppio zero Italian flour, fine Italian salt flakes, and tools fashioned from elegant Piemonte beech wood, this luxurious kit includes everything an intermediate pasta chef could ever wish for.
Get it from Not On The High Street for £35
9. Three course dinner at Gaucho, £100
Buying a present for two of your lucky loved ones? Treat them to a fancy date night at steak aficionados Gaucho, where you can get a three course dinner for two, with a glass of Prosecco for £100, rather than the usual £130 via Buyagift.
However, if your budget is a little smaller or you'd rather treat them to a meal out elsewhere, there's plenty of other foodie gift experiences available for all budgets, so you'll certainly find something that suits your friend's tastes on the site.
10. Hotel Chocolate hamper, £27.50
While most food gifts show people how well you know them, there are a few people on your Christmas list this year that you don't know as well as you'd like.
And for them, there's the Hotel Chocolat 'The Everything' Chocolate gift hamper, crammed full with all the different types and flavours of chocolate you can think of. Plus, fingers crossed they'll tell you which ones were their favourites for next year...
Get it from Hotel Chocolat for £27.50
11. Hot to Trot Habanero Pork Crackling Jar, £8.50
Whilst putting spicy sauce on your Christmas dinner might be frowned upon, that doesn't mean the whole day has to go by without some fiery heat.
So as a little something for your spice-loving comrades, you can get a jar of luxury pork cracklings in a super hot habanero flavour to toast Christmas in with in style.
