Top 10 Handmade Pottery Gifts for Foodies

April 7, 2021

By Tamra Booth, Keeeps

When you’re buying for someone whose biggest love is food, and you’re more a eat-to-live kind of person, what do you buy for them? Foodies can be tricky to buy for and usually fall within the category of those people that already have everything. Cookbooks are usually a no-go because there’s a good chance they already have it, or are likely to be gifted it by somebody else, and whilst gadgets seem like a good idea, they usually end up at the bottom of the kitchen drawer.

Ceramic kitchenware and homeware are a great gift choice for foodies that love creating in the kitchen because of their practicality and durability. Handmade pottery gifts are also perfect for foodies as they love to share their love of food and culinary talents online and amongst friends. Pottery, like food, is a complete feast for the eyes, it is the ultimate pairing for a foodie.

Whether your foodie is an ambitious home chef always adding to their recipe collection, considers themselves the next Mary Berry, a coffee aficionado, food influencer or blogger who loves the aesthetics of food, we’ve got some handmade gift inspo for you.

We’re dishing out our top 10 handmade pottery gifts for foodies, to hopefully inspire and ensure that your foodie loved one receives a beautiful and unique pottery gift.

TOP 10 HOMEMADE POTTERY GIFT IDEAS FOR FOODIES

Handmade pottery bowls and plates
When creating content for a food blog or Instagram account, crockery is just as important as the food. With the average online attention span being shorter than a goldfish [1], every aspect of the photo must hook the audience immediately and gorgeous handmade pottery bowls and plates are guaranteed to grab attention. Worth noting too, that a very popular Insta foodie that I know always opts for pairs or trios of bowls or plates to appropriately showcase their fine food photography.
Coffee Dripper
The ultimate gift for a coffee lover, particularly if they like entertaining. This is a delightful way to serve filter coffee on a Sunday morning or after dinner, and so much more attractive than a plastic, glass or metal carafe. A handmade pottery coffee dripper is guaranteed to have the foodie’s guests ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhhing’ while savouring their caffeine fix.
Butter Dish
When the recipe says, “cream the butter”, don’t despair over a concrete block of butter just retrieved from the fridge – reach for the ceramic butter dish instead. It is a pretty dish that can be proudly displayed on the kitchen worktop and it is designed to keep your butter fresh and creamy (rather than rock ‘ard!).

More importantly, a butter dish means no more single-use plastic tub. And foodies hate waste! A paper wrapped packet can be purchased and stored in the butter dish for at least 2-3 weeks [2], a great gift for your eco-friendly foodie.
Tapas and dipping bowls
With outdoor gatherings now allowed and the arrival of spring (although, as I write it is currently snowing…) we are all looking forward to BBQs and picnics with our nearest and dearest.

One of the best parts about eating al fresco is the “picky bits” or snacks, or as a foodie prefers to call it, ‘tapas’! Foodies live for marinated olives, lovingly prepared dips, and homemade sourdough bread with their favourite olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Presented in a gorgeous set of dipping bowls, this is the foodie’s idea of heaven.
Salt Pig
We love salt pigs so much that we wrote a whole blog post on why you should buy a salt pig. A salt pig is a ceramic pot, which is curved in design (like the back of a pig) to allow your hand in to pinch the salt but prevents dust and dirt getting in. Some are shaped exactly like pigs (seriously, google it!) so if your foodie is also an animal lover, then no need to read the rest of the article, you’ve found the perfect gift, oink oink.
Spoon Rest
A spoon rest is a practical item that would benefit anyone that enjoys cooking. It will prevent food getting all over the counter especially if this present is for a messy cook. A pair of spoon rests are always welcome in a foodie's busy kitchen.

Best of all, they come in different shapes and lots of different designs. Most are handcrafted so we’d always recommend buying from a small, independent business, and support pottery handmade in the UK.
Ceramic Grater
Save your recipients fingers by gifting them a ceramic grater plate. Whilst traditionally used for ginger, garlic and nutmeg, it can also be used to zest a lemon or orange, or grate chocolate or hard cheese. It’s practical, multi-functional and they look so pretty. In fact, they look so good, they can double up as a dipping bowl for bread [3]. The Keeeps ginger grater, handcrafted by Victoria Johnston, is perfect for this. Just grate the garlic, add olive oil and you’ve got a delicious garlic dip for the table – serve with some fresh sourdough bread and you’re good to go. Perfectly versatile and unique for the foodie in your life.
Pestle and Mortar
“The mortar and pestle are ancient tools that no modern kitchen should be without”[4], and if the BBC says it, it must be true. If I walk into a friend’s house and see this culinary tool in a kitchen, I am instantly impressed and think “wow, they really know what they are doing!” You can’t beat a bit of bruising and bashing of herbs.

A foodie will know that ingredients which have been crushed, pound and ground in the mortar are much tastier than those blast in a machine, as it “releases the oils, flavours and fragrances”[5] much more effectively.

A lesser-known fact is that P&Ms are great for the eyes and the arms – they look gorgeous on the kitchen counter and they tone the arms through all the crushing, you just don’t get that with a blender!

Foodies often have more than one P&M, usually in different sizes, so don’t worry if they have one already. They can never have too many P&Ms. Plus, they are great for cocktail making too – freshly made mojitos taste best when muddled together by hand.
Cake Stand
Half the beauty of a baked showstopper is in the presentation. Even if you’ve cooked a Victoria Sponge to rival Mary Berry, if it’s plonked on an old plate, “its grandeur feels muted”[6].

A cake stand is a great gift for the avid baker in your life and is a thinly disguised excuse to persuade the recipient to bake you something homemade and delicious. So you can have your cake and eat it!
Serving Platters
Foodies love a platter – after all, sharing is caring. And they can whip up a storm with some fancy dishes from around the world and heap it up on a unique platter for their friends and family to coo over and dive in. For the foodie who loves to entertain, you just cannot go wrong with a ceramic platter, the bigger the better.
Gift Voucher
OK, we said Top 10, but we had to squeeze in one last idea for foodie gifts. A gift card always goes down well if you’re stuck but want to show you care. As a recipient, I love to receive a voucher to treat myself from a favourite, luxury or fashionable store. For a foodie, go for a shop that has great reviews, that sells fabulous kitchenware. We love the Conran Shop, Keeeps (obviously) and even Selfridges. For best impact, you need a statement voucher, none of these uninspiring e-vouchers.

Foodies by nature know what they love, so a voucher for kitchenware is the perfect gift for them to browse at their leisure and choose something functional that they will use and treasure for many years to come.

Hope we have given you some real food for thought with our tasty gift ideas for foodies. Or at least given you a good gut feel for it!