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18 Kitchen Gifts Under $25

These excellent kitchen gifts will keep your budget intact.

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. He earned a BA in English 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 the best way to cook bacon. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.
Expertise Kitchen tools, appliances, food science, subscriptions and meal kits.
David Watsky
4 min read
$18 at Amazon
vacu vin wine preserve and bottles of wine on table
Vacu Vin wine saver
Fresh wine for days
$25 at Target
viski glasses
Viski lowball glasses (set of 2)
Classy glassware
$16 at Amazon
Henckels bar board and two knives
Henckel's mini bar board set
A small set for slicing citrus
$9 at Amazon
sharpening machine on cutting board with knife
KitchenIQ knife sharpener
For razor-sharp edges
$22 at MoMa Store
mondrian coasters
Mondrian coasters
An artful homage to the Dutch master
$15 at Whiskee Straws
whiskee-straw
Whiskee straw
A straw meant for mixing
$23 at Wayfair
godinger decanter
Godinger whiskey decanter
A spirit holder with style
$22 at Williams Sonoma
le creuset
Le Creuset mini cocotte
A tiny icon
$16 at Best Buy
jar of hand repair balm
Bloody Knuckles hand repair balm
For repairing dry chef's hands
$12 at West Elm
butter dish on table
'Butter' butter dish
No mysteries here
$12 at Etsy
linen bread bowls on table
Linen bread baskets
A charming home for carbs
$8 at Amazon
bottle of barbecue sauce being poured on sliced steak
Bachan's Japanese barbecue sauce
Sauce good enough to sip
$2 at Sur La Table
egg-ornament.png
Fried egg ornament
Incredible edible tree decor
$16 at Amazon
jar of momofuku chili crunch on bed of dried chili peppers
Chili crisp
A condiment to obsess over
$25 at Amazon
clongs.png
Clongs
Like tongs only better
$13 at Amazon
strainer
Gizmo Snap N' Strain clip-on strainer
Perfect for pasta night
$16 at Amazon
skull-cibes
Skull ice cube trays
Talk about brain freeze
$24 at Amazon
screen-shot-2021-12-14-at-11-20-45-am.png
Adjustable rolling pin
OK, I really knead this

If you're looking for excellent and affordable kitchen gifts, we've been on the hunt to help you tick a few foodies on your holiday list. From playful table decor to more functional finds, a great gift for someone who cooks -- or eats -- doesn't have to send your holiday spending into a spiral. To stretch your holiday budget but still deliver a swoonworthy gift or stocking stuffer, we collected 18 great kitchen gifts for under $25. (And if you're looking to spend a bit more, check out our picks for the nine amazing kitchen products that are worth the extra money.) 

Read more: Best Food and Drink Subscriptions to Gift

Vacu Vin

This device pumps air out of an open wine bottle through a rubber stopper to help keep those chiantis and chards fresh for longer. 

If you're looking for the splurge version, Coravin makes wine-preservation systems that'll repressurize a bottle with gas, keeping it good to drink for months

Viski

If someone gave me this set of retro barware and a good bottle of sipping rum or bourbon, I'd be one happy camper.

This mini hardwood bar board and knife set is the ideal size for slicing citrus and other small fruits for cocktails. The set comes with two Henckels knives, one designed for slicing and the other for intricate cuts in case you're feeling fancy.

KitchenIQ

Sharpening kitchen knives is something most of us home chefs don't do, but definitely should. This CNET-tested and approved countertop sharpener is easier to master than handheld sharpening steels and costs less than $10 on Amazon.

MoMa

An art book is nice to have on the coffee table but these Mondrian-inspired coasters are much more practical.

Whiskee Straw

If you dirty a teaspoon each morning to mix your iced coffee and then stick a straw in to drink it up, this handy gadget does both and will save you a wash. Snag the small version for $15 or a larger Whiskee for $19.

Godinger

Those looking to channel their inner Don Draper or Jack Donaghy simply can't pour whiskey from the bottle like a heathen. This 10-ounce decanter will hold your best liquors with a touch of old-school style. 

Le Creuset

These mini versions of Le Creuset's iconic Dutch oven won't fit a braised lamb shank, but they will hold the mint jelly or a side of au jus to go with it. And quite charmingly, I might add.

Duke Cannon

Avid home cooks know the toll cooking can take on your hands. This unscented hand repair balm works wonders for healing dry skin and minor cuts. 

West Elm

Sometimes the best design is the simplest. This cheeky porcelain butter dish lets you know exactly what's inside, and what you can do with it.

Etsy

You could store a whole bunch of things in these rustic linen baskets -- crafts, plants, fruit --  but they make a perfect home on the dinner table for bread or crackers. 

Bachan's

Most of the barbecue sauces you find in the store are a little one-dimensional. Bachan's Japanese sauce has layers of flavor stemming from umami-rich fish sauce, ginger and sesame. It's an excellent topper for dumplings, fish, chicken and rice. It's also an excellent stocking stuffer for anyone who loves delicious things.

Sur La Table

OK, it's not actually edible, but it is the perfect stocking stuffer for an egghead on your list.

Momofuku

 If you don't have a jar of chili crisp in your pantry, I'm sorry but you're doing it wrong. It's by far my biggest new condiment obsession and I'm not the only one. Chili crisp is a crunchy, slightly spicy, sweet umami bomb that adds an incredible flavor dimension to blank-slate foods including eggs, chicken, fish, veggies and tons more. 

Dreamfarm

Dreamfarm makes some very useful kitchen tools like the Chopula and Supoon. None is handier than the Clongs, which are like tongs but have a built-in spoon rest so they don't dirty the counter. It's a small design upgrade but one the kitchen warrior on your list will appreciate.

Amazon

This strainer, which clips onto the side of your pasta pot, sits firmly in the "why didn't I think of this?" category. If you've got more coin to drop, the Perfect Pot (from the Always Pan people) also has a handy strainer lid, weighs less than 5 pounds and is an all-around solid pan, if not a little overpriced. 

Amazon

This is one of those gifts that's going to be hard not to keep for yourself once it arrives. Maybe get two, just in case? We tested these and the skull cubes come out perfectly defined, just how we like 'em. 

Amazon

Home bakers can use this adjustable rolling pin to make perfectly even dough for practically perfect cookies, biscuits and pastries.