You don't have to wait for a special occasion to treat your loved ones. If you're looking for gift ideas for your favorite people, consider a gift basket. While gift cards and flowers they are beautiful, you can't go wrong with an gift to eat basket – especially if the person you're shopping for is a regular cook or food connoisseur. From cakes to cheese to chocolates and more, we've rounded up the best gift baskets to gift your loved ones.
To help you find the best gift baskets for 2025, we've cut our way through a variety of tasty treats — all in the name of research. It's a tough job, isn't it? The items below cater to a variety of preferences and tastes — you just have to pick a theme. If you're shopping for someone with a sweet tooth, you can't go wrong with Leven Bakery's delicious cookies. Is your recipient of choice more into salty foods? Maybe the Momofuku ramen package or bag box will be the winning ticket. From brand new collections to tried and true classics, we have the best gift baskets for every palate. Don't take our word for it. Start scrolling and choose the perfect gift.
The best gift baskets overall
When it comes to edible gifts, Harry & David is a classic choice. The company is known for its beautiful boxes of juicy pears, but you can find much more to satisfy even the most discerning palate. We're fans of Harry's Gift Box, which offers all the greatest hits at an affordable price. For $60, you get:
- Half a dozen pears
- Moose Munch Popcorn
- Hickory Smoked Summer Sausage
- Sharp white cheddar cheese
- Mixed nuts
This one gets props from our team for including a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, a champagne that instantly elevates any gift basket. The McCreas caramels, among other goodies, are also a nice touch. This sophisticated gift basket will make a loved one feel special no matter the occasion, whether you're celebrating a birthday, holidays or just saying “thank you”.
Zingerman's is a favorite brand in Michigan, but since it ships across the US for free, these gift boxes can be enjoyed by everyone. The Weekender Gift Box is the most popular option. The colorful box contains an assortment of sweet and savory treats, including bread, cheese, beef sticks, coffee cake, peanut brittle and more. Everything we picked held up well during shipping and arrived fresh, with flavors that evoke the Midwest. We liked that the baked goods had instructions for freezing them if you don't plan to eat them right away.
New York's Manhattan Fruitier is known for its carefully curated gift baskets, and this fruit and snack tower is no exception. Inside this snack tower you will find a wonderful range of its most popular items, from fresh fruit, to chocolate covered orange slices and pretzels, to an assortment of nuts, mix and more.
The best breakfast gift baskets
Give your friends and loved ones a taste of Southern comfort. Callie's Hot Little Biscuit is based in Charleston, SC, and delivers sweet and savory butter biscuits straight to your door. The biscuits arrive fully cooked and frozen, so all you have to do is pop them in the oven whenever you're ready for a sweet biscuit. We tried the Charleston Cravings Biscuit Sampler (linked below) and especially enjoyed the sausage biscuits and pimento cheese.
Start your morning the right way with flaky, buttery croissants hot out of the oven. This mixed assortment of 12 pastries will transport your friends or loved ones straight to Paris with every greasy, tangy bite. Each box includes an assortment of chocolate croissants, croissants au beurre, almond croissants, quig-aman batons, chocolate kunj-aman and boli raisin. The pastries arrive frozen, so you can defrost them one at a time or eat as many as you like, which might be all of them.
Carb lovers will rave about this collection of English Muffins from Model Bakery. These are the English muffins that Oprah admitted she flew in specially from Napa Valley. Goldbelly offers a variety of options. A 12-pack of muffins with a jar of seasonal preserves is $60.
If your gift recipient has a soft spot for East Coast classics, the New York Bagel Box is the way to go. This curated selection from the legendary Russ & Daughters includes some of the best hand-rolled bagels in town, creamy spreads, and awesome Nova lox to layer on top. Extras include rich chocolate babka, a bag of Private Blend coffee and a Russ & Daughters ceramic mug to enjoy it in style.
The Best Savory Gift Baskets
Whether you want to impress everyone at a party or indulge someone who lives further afield, the charcuterie board from Boarderie is the ideal choice. These best-selling boards are expertly crafted using premium ingredients, including specialties like black truffle salami, merlot pecorino, creamy aged gouda, and dried fruit like hand-cut Turkish figs. Everything is thoughtfully prepared in advance and ready to serve. Just remove the cellophane wraps.
Classic cheese and charcuterie boards start at $129. The holidays start at $139, but you'll want to order yours quickly as they tend to sell out.
If you're gifting a cheese lover, you can't go wrong with a delivery from Jasper Hill Farm. The Vermonter includes three wonderful Vermont-specific cheeses (Whitney, Harbison and Cabot Clothbound Cheddar) plus Sea Salt Beer Crackers and Squirrel Purse Nuts.
Olympia Provisions has packed bites inspired by the best of Europe into this delicious snack box. Salami made in the styles of France, Italy, Spain and Greece is the main event, but there's also foie gras, a slice of cheese, honey, pickled beets, crackers, hazelnuts, olives and mini mustard in this heavenly package. You may want to try on some of this gift before you send it.
It is enough that a crate with a “beehive” comes with a jar of delicious honey. This gift crate actually gets its name because it's filled with all kinds of cheeses from Utah-based Beehive Creamery. Our favorite is the sea cheese, made from cow's milk and spread with sea salt and honey. Overall, this crate offers a nice blend of curated snacks and aesthetic appeal.
Best Sweet Gift Baskets
We love these massive cookies from New York's Leven Bakery. One cookie goes a long way, and if you pop it in the oven for a few minutes, it comes out with a lovely oozy, tender center. Each batch of cookies arrives thoughtfully wrapped with cellophane and ribbons and comes packaged in a beautiful blue box with a personal message. Get a four-pack for $29, an eight-pack for $49, or a 12-pack for $79.
Oregon-based Salt & Straw produces deliciously fresh ice cream using local and sustainable ingredients, and how CNET's David Watsky noted“it became something of a West Coast staple.” But wherever your gift recipient lives, they'll appreciate incredibly inventive flavors like honey lavender, blackberry tamales, and fried chicken with cinnamon and honey. You can buy curated packs or make your own selection and mix and match flavors. The minimum order is five pints for $75.
Our CNET office is dangerously close to the legendary Recchiuti chocolate shop, located in San Francisco's Ferry Building. That means, luckily for us, we've sampled plenty of the company's signature chocolates and creative flavors, including bergamot tea, caramel, and currant cognac. You can buy a mixed assortment of chocolates starting at $32, or the company also sells smaller packages of specialty products such as mints, fruit pâtés and candied orange peels.
This option will go especially well with children. There are four gift boxes filled with a variety of chocolate treats from the famous candy emporium Dylan's Candy Bar. Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Milk Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Rainbow Milk Chocolate and more will make their day.
Best Unique Gift Baskets
The flavors of the famous restaurant and culinary brand Momofuku are now available at home, and this gift box does not disappoint. Chef David Chang includes his favorites: five servings of soy and scallion noodles, chili and tamari sauce, plus seasoned seasoned salt. For advice: If you haven't tried the spicy-crunchy chili oil, you're missing out. It has a lovely crunch with just the right amount of heat. You can add it to any dish to elevate your meal, from ramen to grilled chicken to pretzels.
Think outside the box (gift) and give beans. Everyone (including O Magazine's Oprah) has been raving about Rancho Gordo beans, so this is a great gift option for cooks in the know. Six bags of the company's all-time favorite beans are included, including cooking instructions and tips.
The actual whiskey is not included in the Man Crates whiskey appraisal crate, but many other things are. Personalized decanter and glasses, for starters. Your lucky present will also find ice sphere molds, coasters, savory snacks and even a pocket whiskey tasting journal to record their notes on their favorite drams.
What makes the perfect gift basket?
The perfect gift basket depends on who you're shopping for, but there are a few general things to keep in mind. You'll want a gift basket that has a good variety of high-quality products, rather than a few attractive items and a bunch of filler items that no one really wants. You'll also want to make sure you're getting a good value. Of course, you may pay a bit of a premium for the company to prepare and assemble a gift basket or box for you, but make sure the value of the items included is not drastically below the cost of the final basket. You don't want to spend $150 on a gift basket that's only worth $50.
Where can I buy the best gift basket?
There are two main categories of places to shop for the best gift baskets. First up are national retailers including Williams Sonoma, Golden belly and Harry and Davidwhich offer a lot of variety at different prices and ship almost anywhere in the US.