I Write About Food All Day—Here Are the 10 Food Gifts That Are Actually Worth Giving 

This is Obsessed: my weekly column devoted to sharing all the things I'm loving right now—from unique food and gift ideas to travel destinations and beauty products—plus some tips and tricks for living your best life.

One of the greatest perks of my job is that I get to sample a lot of food and other goodies for editorial consideration (#spoiled). I’ve talked about certain products that I love in my column before—like this delicious coffee add-in or this tasty cocktail mix—and I always try to be honest with you guys and only feature things that I would actually want to give (or receive!).

So, I’ve put together a gift guide of all of the best food gifts for gift baskets, holiday surprises and more. The best part? You can order them all online, so no matter how you’re celebrating the holidays this year, you can still surprise your loved ones with a tasty food gift they’ll enjoy.

We buy this addicting peppermint bark for my father-in-law every single year. It’s so tasty that he keeps it in his freezer and eats it year-round. From a gifting standpoint, I love that it comes in lots of different sizes and is packaged in a festive red and white holiday tin (read: no need to gift wrap, unless you really want to).

Lobster rolls used to only be reserved for enjoying by the beach, but now you can send them just about anywhere in the U.S., thanks to Goldbelly. I personally love this four-person kit from Beal’s, but for a different (but equally delicious) approach, you can opt for this Brown Butter Maine Lobster Roll Kit developed by the James Beard Award-winning chefs from Eventide Oyster Co.

EatingWell is based in Vermont, so our team wouldn’t recommend just any old maple syrup (we have high standards!). But Runamok consistently delivers that just-right sweetness and delicious flavor. This “Pantry Favorites” gift set comes with mini bottles of syrup in four delicious flavors: Ginger Root Infused, Sugarmaker’s Cut, Bourbon Barrel-Aged and Cinnamon and Vanilla Infused. Whether your giftee uses it to top their pancakes, drizzles it over ice cream or stirs a little into their morning coffee, they’ll definitely appreciate the flavor upgrade.

If your gift recipient loves to grill (or is just a meat-lover), this is the absolute perfect gift. KC Cattle Company’s “Trim the Tree” package comes with a Wagyu roast, two types of Wagyu summer sausage, 2 pounds of Wagyu ground beef, Wagyu hot dogs and a Wagyu bacon cheeseburger bratwurst package—all for just $99! 

I’m a cheese addict, and once I discovered Murray’s I was absolutely done for (my favorite is their bucheron). If you know a cheese lover like me, Murray’s Cheeses of the World Sampler is a perfect gift. It includes three pounds of cheese, including some of Murray’s best sellers: Mitica Drunken Goat, Pyrenees Brebis, Murray's Estate Gouda, Piave, Murray's Cave Aged Gruyere and High Plains Cheddar. This gift is great on its own, but if you want to go all out, you could pair it with a beautiful cheese board.

While you could certainly put a chocolate bar in your gift recipient’s stocking, this curated, 16-piece selection of dark, milk and white chocolates feels so much more special. Bonus: It comes in a red and gold box with a gift ribbon, so the presentation is already beautiful.

There’s little that compares to the taste of fresh-caught seafood (it personally always reminds me of good times at the beach!). Treat your giftee to this sustainable seafood box that comes with 12 ounces of wild Chilean sea bass, 12 ounces of wild Alaska sockeye salmon, 1 pound of wild Patagonian scallops, 24 ounces of wild fish broth, 8 ounces of sashimi-grade ahi tuna and a tasty seafood rub with spices, seaweed and sesame seeds to season everything with. Since they can store the fish in their freezer, this gift will keep on giving for months!

True carb lovers know that little compares to a New York bagel. And now you can send the taste of NYC to wherever your giftee lives in the form of bagels from Zabar’s. This kit comes with all of the best breakfast essentials: coffee, bagels, cream cheese, nova and cinnamon rugelach, plus a cute mug and gingham napkin.

This year has put a damper on travel, but now you can send a fun gift basket that will (almost) make your recipient feel like they’ve traveled to Japan. Each month, they’ll receive a curated box full of 20-25 Japanese snacks (think: mochi, tea, Japanese candy, senbei rice crackers, etc.). But the coolest part is the box includes each snack’s origin story, flavor profile, allergens and more, so your recipient will get a mini culture lesson each month! 

A coffee subscription is the perfect gift for the caffeine-addicted, and I love that this one lets you customize everything. You can opt for single-origin, blended, espresso or even decaf whole coffee beans. Then, you can choose the exact size you want (from 6- to 36-ounce bags) and how often you’d like it delivered. Now that’s what I call service!

Jaime Milan is EatingWell’s digital editor for all things newsy and trending. She’s always on the hunt for the latest and greatest things to share with EatingWell’s readers. In her spare time, you can find her experimenting in the kitchen, tackling home projects with her husband or taking pics of her very photogenic American Eskimo Dog, Grits. Follow her on Instagram at @jaimemmilan.