The food gifts most worth giving this Christmas are the ones you can price and picture before you pay: a proper hamper from Fortnum & Mason or M&S, one of the big cookbooks of 2026, or a smaller edible treat that arrives ready to open. Below are 15 food gifts on sale in the UK now, grouped by budget, with each price taken from the seller’s own page.
Prices checked 12 November 2026. Christmas prices and stock move quickly, so check the product page before you order. We have not tasted these products ourselves; where a taste test is mentioned, it is credited and linked.
What are the best food gifts and hampers for Christmas 2026?
Here is the full list at a glance. Each gift is explained in more detail in its budget section below.
| Gift | Retailer | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morrisons The Best Classic Panettone, 750g | Morrisons | £8.50 | Hosts and Boxing Day breakfast |
| Cookies Luxe, Christmas Edition | Hotel Chocolat | £13.95 | Stockings and Secret Santa |
| The Christmas Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift | M&S | £20 | Sending to someone far away |
| Christmas Winter Puddings Chocolate Box, 18 pieces | Hotel Chocolat | £24 | Chocolate lovers |
| The Great British Bake Off: Sugar and Spice | Hachette (publisher’s price) | £25 | Home bakers |
| Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO | Penguin (publisher’s price) | £30 | Keen everyday cooks |
| Jamie Oliver, 20 Minute Meals | Penguin (publisher’s price) | £30 | Busy households |
| The Mulled Wine & Treats Hamper | M&S | £35 | A cosy night in |
| The Cosy Christmas Hamper | M&S | £35 | Families with children |
| The Chocolate Wreath Box | Hotel Chocolat | £49.95 | A table centrepiece |
| The Christmas Grazing Hamper | M&S | £55 | Drinks parties |
| The Taste of Fortnum’s Hamper | Fortnum & Mason | £75 | Tea lovers |
| The Port & Stilton Hamper | Fortnum & Mason | £85 | Cheese and port fans |
| The Piccadilly Hamper | Fortnum & Mason | £120 | Biscuit tins and breakfast treats |
| The Festive Feast Hamper | M&S | £120 | A ready-made cheeseboard and buffet |
What are the best food gifts under £25?
Under £25 is where small, well-made treats beat a thin hamper padded with straw. These four are all ready to give as they are.
Morrisons The Best Classic Panettone, £8.50
This is the cheapest gift on the list and the one with the strongest independent backing. The Good Housekeeping Institute’s 2026 Christmas taste test gave the crown in its panettone category to Morrisons’ The Best Classic Panettone, with a score of 88/100.
Morrisons lists the 750g panettone at £8.50. It makes a good host gift if you are visiting someone over the holidays, and it will happily stretch to breakfast on Boxing Day.
Hotel Chocolat Cookies Luxe, Christmas Edition, £13.95
Hotel Chocolat describes this as four “exceptionally decadent chocolate biscuits”: a chunky cacao biscuit with cacao nibs and hazelnut, a thick coat of 40% milk chocolate, and a hazelnut praline filling inside a milk chocolate penguin topper.
The box weighs 156g and Hotel Chocolat pitches it at stockings and Secret Santa, which is exactly where it fits best.
M&S Christmas Afternoon Tea Letterbox Gift, £20
This is the easiest gift here to send to someone you will not see over Christmas. Inside are five iced fruit cake slices, 16 Luxury Gold tea bags, peppermint and chocolate wafer rolls, all butter mini shortbread trees and two gingerbread latte whips.
M&S offers free nominated day delivery on its food and drink gifts, though this excludes Northern Ireland.
Hotel Chocolat Christmas Winter Puddings Chocolate Box, 18 pieces, £24
Each chocolate is themed on a winter pudding, with flavours that include Blackcurrant Cheesecake, Cinnamon Bun and Maple Butter Pecan. The box weighs 240g.
Hotel Chocolat also sells a 9-piece version of the same box for £14 if you need a smaller gift.
What are the best food gifts and hampers from £25 to £75?
This middle band is where cookbooks and the smaller supermarket hampers sit. For most people, this is the sweet spot between a token gift and a big spend.
Which 2026 cookbooks make good food gifts?
Three of the year’s big new cookbooks fit this budget. The prices below are the publishers’ listed prices, so it is worth comparing bookshops before you buy.
| Book | Published | Publisher’s price | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Great British Bake Off: Sugar and Spice | 22 October 2026 | £25 | 60 favourite recipes from the Bake Off archive plus 15 new ones |
| Ottolenghi SIMPLE TOO | 3 September 2026 | £30 | 135 new recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert |
| Jamie Oliver, 20 Minute Meals | 10 September 2026 | £30 | Quick weeknight dinners |
Ottolenghi’s book is written with Verena Lochmuller. Jamie Oliver’s publisher sums his up as quick, tasty meals for every night of the week, which makes it a practical pick for a busy household rather than a coffee table book.
M&S The Mulled Wine & Treats Hamper, £35
This is a small, sensible hamper built for one cosy evening. It holds a 75cl bottle of red mulled wine, six all butter mince pies, The Happy Christmas Mini Selection, a classic mini panettone and Scottish shortbread petticoat tails.
M&S The Cosy Christmas Hamper, £35
If the gift is for a family with young children, this is the option without a bottle. It contains Jolly Jellies, two packs of golden coins, two hanging tree decorations, a gingerbread truck and The Happy Christmas Selection.
Hotel Chocolat The Chocolate Wreath Box, £49.95
Hotel Chocolat calls this “a head-turning Christmas centrepiece”. The 595g box holds 40 chocolates, two snowflakes and one festive wreath, with a mix of caramels, pralines and truffles.
It is designed to be displayed and then passed round after Christmas dinner, so it suits someone who is hosting.
M&S The Christmas Grazing Hamper, £55
This one is aimed at drinks parties rather than dessert. It pairs a bottle of Found Saperavi red wine with 85% dark chocolate coated dates, an apple wood smoked and roasted nut medley, a bar of 85% dark chocolate and Italian Nocellara olives.
Because it contains wine, M&S says you must be 18 or over to buy it.
Which luxury Christmas hampers are worth £75 or more?
At this level you are paying for the name, the basket and the presentation as much as the food. The four below at least tell you exactly what is inside, so you can judge whether the contents justify the price.
Fortnum & Mason The Taste of Fortnum’s Hamper, £75
This is Fortnum’s entry point and is built around tea. Inside the mini Huntsman wicker basket are Earl Grey shortbread rounds, a 40g box of Marc de Champagne truffles, tins of Royal Blend, Afternoon Blend and Piccadilly Blend tea, Burlington Breakfast marmalade and strawberry preserve.
Fortnum’s standard UK delivery is £5.95 and takes three to five working days, with faster options at a higher charge.
Fortnum & Mason The Port & Stilton Hamper, £85
This is the most focused hamper here: a half bottle of Late Bottled Vintage port, a jar of Traditional Stilton, a jar of Truffle & Honey Stilton and butter crackers, in a basket. You must be 18 or over to buy it.
If you are adding it to a wider spread, our guide to building the ultimate cheese board covers what to put alongside.
Fortnum & Mason The Piccadilly Hamper, £120
The Piccadilly is the one for someone with a sweet tooth. It includes the Musical Piccadilly Biscuit Selection Tin, pistachio and clotted cream biscuits, a milk, dark and white chocolate selection, Royal Blend tea bags, a tin of Piccadilly Blend ground coffee, marmalade and strawberry preserve.
Unlike the two cheaper Fortnum’s hampers above, this one can also be delivered internationally, which matters if the person you are buying for lives abroad.
M&S The Festive Feast Hamper, £120
This is essentially a Christmas buffet in a box. It includes a bottle of De Saint-Gall Champagne Brut, a 454g Cropwell Bishop Blue Stilton, a 3 year old Cornish Cruncher vintage Cheddar, a truffle filled Brie, a cranberry topped pork pie, roast ham, crackers, festive chutney, a sticky fig mustard and caramelised maple pecans.
With fresh cheese and charcuterie inside, plan delivery for a day when someone will be home, and see our advice on whether you can freeze cheese if there are leftovers in January.
How do you choose a food hamper that actually gets eaten?
The most common mistake is buying on the size of the basket rather than what is inside it. Our guide to choosing the right hamper for friends, family or clients goes into more detail, but four quick checks help.
- Read the contents list. Every hamper above publishes one. If you cannot see exactly what is inside, you cannot judge the price.
- Check for alcohol. Several hampers include wine, port or Champagne and need an adult to sign for them. The Cosy Christmas Hamper, the Taste of Fortnum’s and the Piccadilly do not include a bottle.
- Think about storage. Tea, biscuits and chocolate keep for weeks. Fresh cheese and pork pie do not.
- Look at delivery. M&S’s free nominated day delivery excludes Northern Ireland, and Fortnum’s charges for UK delivery on top of the hamper price.
It is also worth asking whether you need the basket at all. We have looked at why it may be time to rethink the wicker Christmas hamper, and if you would rather pick every item yourself, here is how to put together your own food hamper.
Is a cookbook a better gift than a hamper?
A cookbook lasts longer than a hamper and costs less than most of them. At £25 to £30, the three 2026 titles above sit at the same price as the cheaper supermarket hampers.
A hamper wins when the person you are buying for does not cook, or when you want the gift to be shared over Christmas itself. For more ideas beyond food, see our round-up of gift ideas for foodies, travellers and hospitality lovers.
When should you order Christmas food gifts?
Order early, especially for anything being posted. Next day delivery is offered by both M&S and Fortnum & Mason, but Christmas is the busiest time of the year for couriers and popular hampers can sell out.
If you are also planning your own Christmas food shop, our guide to booking Waitrose Christmas delivery slots for 2026 has the key dates.
How we chose these gifts
We picked gifts that are on sale in the UK now, that publish a full contents list or description, and that span a range of budgets. Every price was taken from the retailer’s or publisher’s own product or listing page on 12 November 2026. Book prices are the publishers’ listed prices.
No retailer paid to be included, and there are no affiliate links in this article. We have not tasted the products; the only taste-test claim above is credited to the Good Housekeeping Institute.
