19 Best White Elephant Gifts For Foodies Under $20

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Now that the holiday season is in full swing, you may be on the hunt for white elephant gifts. For anyone unfamiliar, a white elephant gift exchange goes as follows: One person opens a gift, then the next person can either steal it or open a new gift, and so on and so forth. Once everyone has had a turn, you may end up with something completely different than the gift you opened — whether you like it or not. The gifts are usually meant to be silly and fun, but everyone plays the game a bit differently, so sometimes the gifts lean more practical. You can certainly switch up the rules to your liking. You can even set a theme, like food-related gifts.

To help you prepare for any white elephant parties in your future, we've compiled a list of food-related gift ideas that foodies will love. Plus, all of these gifts are $20 or less, so you won't have to use too much of your gift budget for the year (plus, many white elephants include a predetermined price limit). These gifts include everything from goofy items to make the recipient laugh, like bread slippers, to practical gifts that will actually improve their day-to-day routine, like a handy-dandy butter sauna.

To start this list off, we have a silly gift that will certainly warrant a laugh, but it could also prove useful in the recipient's everyday life: a pizza blanket. Just as the name suggests, this is a round blanket that looks like a pepperoni pizza. It's machine-washable, lightweight, and made of flannel. Any food lover will get a kick out of this one, and it may just inspire them to try making their own homemade pizza using our simple classic pizza crust recipe.

You can buy this HDFK Pizza Blanket on Amazon for $20.

There are many ways to upgrade your ice cream sundae, like adding unexpected ingredients, but one way to improve the sundae-making process is to use this sturdy ice cream scoop that's shaped like an adorable bear. The dishwasher-safe stainless steel material allows it to easily cut through cold ice cream, but you can also use it to scoop cookie dough. Anyone who loves cute but practical products will be dying to steal this gift during the gift exchange.

You can buy the Ototo Stainless Steel Ice Cub Bear Ice Cream Scoop from Target for $15.

It's no secret that chips stay fresh longer if you use a clip to seal the bag. With this in mind, a set of those clips would make a great gift — and you can take your white elephant gift to the next level with these fun, whimsical clips designed to look like ridged potato chips. These will make sealing a bag of chips instantly a bit more fun. Each set comes with four clips.

You can buy these Fred Potato Chip Bag Clips from Sur La Table for $10.

This one will get the attention of any popcorn lovers at the white elephant party. This gift set contains five ears of corn on the cob, each with a different flavor. All you have to do is place one into the microwave bag and heat it up — and voilà, you have a fresh batch of delicious popcorn. The flavors include popcorn buffalo, buttery garlic, salted caramel, white cheddar, and dill pickle.

You can buy this Flavored Popcorn on the Cob Gift Set from Uncommon Goods for $20.

A ladle is an essential kitchen utensil — one that has unexpected uses, like being the secret to an effortlessly perfect fried egg. With that in mind, why not gift a cute, unexpected ladle to add to someone's kitchen collection? This adorable ladle is inspired by the Loch Ness Monster, but of course, there's nothing scary about this cute, joyful kitchen item.

You can buy this Ototo Original Nessie Ladle from Amazon for $20.

Everyone can use a good pair of household slippers, and these bread slippers are perfect for anyone who also loves all things baking. These slippers are comfy, silly, and undeniably unique — in other words, they're the ideal white elephant gift. And whoever takes them home will have fun wearing them while they eat pastries from a local bakery or try their hand at making, say, no-knead sourdough bread.

You can buy these Bread Slippers from Bits and Pieces for $15 (or $4.49 while they're on sale).

This option will get the attention of any home cooks who know the importance of good salt: Cornish smoky sea salt flakes. These sea salt flakes have been smoked with oak, apple, and cherry woods for a savory and smoky taste. It may be just what the recipient needs to switch up a go-to weeknight recipe.

You can buy this 1.8-ounce container of Cornish Sea Salt Smoky Flakes from Amazon for $7.

Hot cocoa is the quintessential holiday drink, which is why this hot chocolate bomb trio is the kind of gift that everyone at the party will want to take home. To use one of these hot chocolate bombs, all you have to do is bring 10 to 12 ounces of milk to a boil, then add in the hot chocolate bomb and stir. Before the bombs melt in the milk, the recipient can admire their holiday-themed shapes: a green Christmas tree, a gold ornament, and a red Santa head.

You can buy this Holiday Hot Chocolate Bomb Trio from Williams Sonoma for $20.

Everyone needs a pot holder (or a few), and there's no reason why something as practical as a pot holder can't also have a cute, super fun design. With that in mind, these fruit and veggie pot holders from Uncommon Goods are a fantastic cute-but-practical white elephant gift. The options are bright-yellow lemon, pink and orange mushroom, or vibrant red tomato.

You can buy these Fruit & Veggie Pot Holders from Uncommon Goods for $17 each.

BonBon is a Swedish candy company that sells everything from sweet-and-sour gummies to chocolates. Candy makes for a wonderful white elephant gift, as anyone with a major sweet tooth will ensure they end up with the box of treats. This BonBon small gift box comes with a ½ pound of mixed candy. You can choose between multiple mixes: sweet, sour, sweet & sour, or gluten-free & gelatin-free.

You can buy this BonBon Small Gift Box on the company's website for $18.

Butter that's too cold to spread is a common problem, but few people think to buy a product that's specifically designed to fix it. That's where this butter sauna comes in. It's a container that uses steam to heat your butter to the perfect spreadable temperature. All you have to do is fill the bottom compartment with hot water, place a stick of butter in the container, and it'll be ready to spread over toast in just a few minutes. The butter compartment also has built-in measurement guides to make cooking and baking easier. Lastly, it comes with a matching butter knife to really solidify the gift's cute aesthetic.

You can buy this Butter Sauna from Uncommon Goods for $20.

A milk frother may seem like a luxury item that won't get used much, but trust us, there are plenty of ways to make good use of this tool. Of course, it can make your homemade lattes and cappuccinos even better, but it also works as the secret to making homemade whipped cream in a flash. All that to say, someone in your white elephant group will see the promise of this milk frother and try their best to get their hands on it. It also comes in a range of fun colors, like red, pink, blue, and even purple-teal ombre.

You can buy this Zulay Milk Frother Wand from Amazon for $10.

A collection of hot sauces makes for a great gift, at least for anyone with a high spice tolerance. This hot sauce three-pack (or "Trinity") comes with a set of unique flavors: jalapeño tequila & lime sauce (medium), scotch bonnet & ginger (medium hot), and red habanero & black coffee (hot). Since the flavors are pretty unique — after all, when have you ever heard of black coffee hot sauce? — this pack definitely fits the white elephant criteria of being a little bit out there, but also useful (and delicious) for whoever ends up with it. Each bottle contains 2 ounces of hot sauce.

You can buy this Queen Majesty Hot Sauce Trinity Pack on the company's website for $18.

Deciding to go out for dinner or order takeout instead of cooking can be an instant relief — that is, until you have to decide what you're in the mood for. Luckily, there's a handy device that helps with this problem, and it makes for a fantastic white elephant gift. This set of two dice offers 12 food choices: pizza, Chinese, Mexican, pasta, steak, seafood, burgers, chicken, subs, sushi, breakfast, and a wild card. Roll both dice and choose between the two options that come up on top.

You can buy this Food Dice Game from Amazon for $11.

These socks, which are designed to resemble sticks of butter, are basically the quintessential white elephant gift — they're whimsical and silly while having a practical use at the same time. Any cooking or baking enthusiasts will be dying to go home with this gift. These socks come in butter yellow with red or blue lettering. They're made with a combination of cotton and Lycra, so they'll be as comfortable as they are cute (they're even designed to be "Buttery soft").

You can buy these Butter Socks from Uncommon Goods for $14 per pair.

If you cook often, then you know how important it is to have a spatula holder. You need a place to rest your spatula, spoon, or other cooking utensil so your counter doesn't get messy (when the time comes to clean it, we recommend using lemon and baking soda for sparkling kitchen counters). For a white elephant gift, you could go the practical route and pick out a basic spatula rest, or you could choose this ceramic spatula holder that's designed to look like a fried egg. It's fun and cute while still being incredibly useful. The lucky recipient will surely get a burst of joy every time they rest their spatula from now on.

You can buy this Ceramic Fried Egg Spatula Holder from Amazon for $15.

Here's another super practical gift idea: a 16-ounce oil sprayer. Just fill the bottle with any type of cooking oil, then use one of its two functions: spray or pour. It also comes with stickers for labeling the bottle. This is the type of gift that the recipient may not think to buy for themselves, but they'll use it basically everyday, and it'll make their life easier. Even if it's not as whimsical as some other gifts on this list, it may just be the gift that everyone wants to steal.

You can buy this Yarramate Glass Oil Sprayer from Amazon for $11.

Who doesn't love croissants? This mug is perfect for all the pastry lovers out there — it's a ceramic, hand-painted mug with a handle that looks just like a yummy croissant. This is another example of a gift that's both fun and useful. The recipient can enjoy coffee out of this mug while they munch on a croissant from their favorite bakery. Or, maybe they'll make their own homemade version (which, by the way, is easier to do if you use softened butter).

You can buy this Croissant Handle Ceramic Mug from World Market for $10.

Here's one more gift that someone probably wouldn't think to buy for themselves, but they'll end up using it so much, they'll wonder how they ever lived without it. We're talking about the Splatypus Jar Scraper Spatula from Ototo. This tool will help you scrape every single corner of a jar so that no food goes to waste. You can also use it as a spreader so you don't have to dirty a second utensil. But this isn't just any jar scraper — it's designed to look like an adorable platypus.

You can buy this Ototo Splatypus Jar Scraper Spatula from Amazon for $15.