Updated Dec. 7, 2023 11:30 a.m. PT

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David Watsky

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.

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David Watsky Senior Editor / Home and Kitchen

David lives in Brooklyn where he’s logged more than a decade writing about all things edible, including meal kits and meal delivery subscriptions, cooking, kitchen gear and commerce. Since earning a BA in English from Northeastern in Boston, he’s toiled in nearly every aspect of the eats business from slicing and dicing as a sous-chef in Rhode Island to leading complex marketing campaigns for major food brands in Manhattan. These days, he’s likely somewhere trying the latest this or tasting the latest that – and reporting back, of course. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week.

Expertise Kitchen tech, cookware, small appliances, food innovation, meal delivery and meal kits.

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Sq. Feet of Lab Space

See at CookUnity

Cook unity meals

Give the gift of a night off from cooking

CookUnity (prepared meals)


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See at iGourmet

igourmet

The one stop for hard-to-find ingredients

iGourmet


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See at Goldbelly

Momofuku Bo Ssäm dinner

The best eats from restaurants around the country

Goldbelly


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See at Mouth

mouth-com

Pickles, cookies, jams and more

Mouth


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See at Bokksu

The Bokksu subscription box and a lot of snacks are displayed against a colorful background.

The very best snacks from Japan

Bokksu


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Finding a great gift for a food lover is easy since there are endless kitchen tools to peruse and tasty eats everywhere. Don’t believe me? Check out our list of the best food and drink subscriptions and best places to buy specialty foods online. But often a little credit is the thing to give, particularly if you suspect that foodie friend, family member or co-worker would prefer to pick out their own food, drink or cooking supplies. That’s where e-gift cards come in handy, and we’ve rounded up the best online food, drink and kitchen gear e-gift cards to send a gourmand in 2023.

Most online e-gift cards can be bought in any amount you’d appreciate, and while a few have expiration dates, the majority of them are generally good for at least a year if not much longer. Some companies will send you a hard copy of the card or a link to print it out. But most allow you to order and deliver these via email so you can save the paper and send your gift right up until the very last minute.

Best food and drink gift cards for a foodie in 2023

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Of the prepared meal delivery services I tested in 2023, CookUnity was one of the three best. It’s also one of the most giftable since the recipes are both fun and seriously unique. This gift is perfect for anyone who needs a night off from cooking. 

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This virtual wonderland of cooking ingredients and pantry goods could keep a home chef busy for hours. It’s also a great place to get inspiration for recipes and cuisines to try. You’ll find specialty oils, premium cheeses, dry goods, sauces and lots more. The marketplace even has high-end meats and cheeses. 

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Goldbelly specializes in sending prepared eats from some of the most iconic restaurants in the country to you, no matter where you live. Want some Russ & Daughters smoked salmon? Goldbelly has it. Jones-ing for that turducken you’ve seen all over Instagram? Goldbelly will send you one straight from the bakery. 

A gift card to Goldbelly will keep a foodie busy for hours. The only problem is they won’t be able to order everything.

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This online butcher sells some seriously fine cuts, from big holiday roasts to rich ribeye, pork loins and more. Send a gift card and they can peruse the magnificent meats and snatch some up now or expect for grilling season to pounce. 

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If your giftee swoons over spicy chili crunch and salivates for a bowl of salty soba, load them up with loot to spend on Umami Cart. 

This Pan-Asian online market sells high-quality snacks, sweets, frozen foods (hey, dim sum,) fruits and vegetables made by cult-favorite brands from the Far East, many of which are tricky to find unless you have a good specialty market in your hood. Umami Cart also offers a unique snack box subscription starting at $36 a month. 

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The best part about a Food52 gift certificate ard is you don’t have to scroll too far to find something amazing. The food blog has a robust market of editor-curated goods including cookware, glassware, gadgets and pantry staples. Mostly everything is both stylish and useful and the prices are reasonable to boot.

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Mouth is a marketplace with tons of fun and trendy eats and subscriptions appreciate a pickle-of-the-month club or this basket of boozy sweets for your next movie night. This is another good option for a foodie who likes a little bit of everything since, well, they’ve got it.

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A meal kit gift certificate makes another great gift for a home chef or generally busy person. You could have one sent to their door, but unless you’re really sure of the person’s tastes, preferences and plan, you might be better off sticking with a gift card. Blue Apron is my top pick for a meal kit to give a seasoned home chef, but check out some great meal kits to give this season, including Purple Carrot for vegetarians and HelloFresh for beginners.

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Depending on where you or the person you’re shopping for lives, fresh seafood may be hard to come by. I wrote about the best places to order seafood online and can say that seafood flash-frozen and sent from the likes of Fulton Fish Market is the next best thing to a true port-side fishmonger. Fulton has an incredible selection of tuna, salmon, squid, shellfish and even caviar and some other packaged goods. This is the perfect gift to hook a seafood eater.

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If it’s high-end eats they want, Rastelli’s is a great place to snag a gift card for the home chef on your list. The gourmet market specializes in meats and fish including Wagyu beef, organic poultry and sustainable seafood. It also has all accouterments to make these meats pop, including rubs, butters and sides.

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If you’re hunting down a last-minute gift for someone who loves kitchen gadgets and fine cookware, Williams Sonoma is an excellent vendor to let them run wild in. From high-end Le Creuset cookware to funky barware and loads of gourmet pantry essentials, Williams Sonoma has a bit of everything for home cooks of all skill levels. 

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The Japanese have snacking down to an art form. Bokksu knows this better than anyone, collecting some of the best Japanese snacks from the east and sending them in a one-time curated box or recurring monthly snack box. And oh boy are they fun. The best part about the Bokksu box is that almost none of these Japanese snacks remind you much of snacks we already have in the US but are freakin’ delicious. This raises the question: “What the heck are we doing wrong here, people?!”

You can order Bokksu gift cards in denominations of $40 for someone to spend on curated boxes or to pick out individual snacks from the Bokksu market. 

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Bean Box has a vast inventory of quality beans with interesting profiles appreciate pomegranate and cherry maple hazelnut. You can certainly give a single shipment or keep the beans coming with a subscription gift. There are several other coffee subscription options to select from and we’ve outlined a few of the differences here.

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Read more: Best Coffee Subscriptions for 2023

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Sugarfina has some seriously fun candy and confections with interesting flavors, chic and surprising collaborations — particularly with booze brands. You can snag an e-gift card in any denomination and send it to the sweetie with a sweet tooth on your list.

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This one might be slightly more impersonal but if you suspect you’ve got a takeout addict that still needs a gift or perhaps a cash-strapped college student, they’ll definitely appreciate some money for grub.

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