The Best At-Home Cooking Kits and Classes for Food Lovers in 2024

The Best At-Home Cooking Kits and Classes for Food Lovers in 2024 Looking for something special for the food lover in your life? Instead of going the typical route and buying them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant, give them the gift of a new skill with a cooking kit or interactive cooking class.

David WatskySenior Editor / Home and Kitchen David lives in Brooklyn where he's spent more than a decade covering all things edible, including meal kit services, food subscriptions, kitchen tools and cooking tips. David earned his BA from Northeastern and has toiled in nearly every aspect of the food business, including as a line cook in Rhode Island where he once made a steak sandwich for Lamar Odom. Right now he's likely somewhere stress-testing a blender or tinkering with a toaster. Anything with sesame is his all-time favorite food this week. Kitchen tools | Appliances | Food science | Subscriptions | Meal kits Deena Shinn Deena Shinn is a freelance writer and editor. When she's not writing or wrangling her two feisty daughters, you can find her experimenting with sourdough bread or exploring northern California. Deena has over a decade of experience writing and editing, covering everything from celebrity news to child development to wedding trends. Written by David Watsky Deena Shinn 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. Reviews ethics statement

Make a meal at home There's something incredibly satisfying about a home-cooked meal, especially when it doesn't require much planning or a long list of new ingredients. It's even better when you can share that satisfaction by gifting someone one of these cooking kits, all personally vetted by our CNET experts.

Verve Culture Indian samosa kit

Not only does this kit come with all the spices you need to make delicious samosas at home, it also includes a masher to help achieve that ideal smooth texture and mix of flavors in the filling. It also comes with a serving bowl to elevate the experience. Whether this is a gift for a loved one or a treat for yourself, it's sure to be a delicious hit. Plus, we love that items in this kit can be used over and over again.

Urban Cheesecraft Deluxe DIY Cheese Kit

If you know someone who loves cheese, this kit is sure to bring them joy - and plenty of cheese. All the cheese lover needs is basic kitchen equipment and their favorite milk to make portions of mozzarella, ricotta, burrata, string cheese, paneer, queso blanco, goat cheese and farmer's cheese. Are you already drooling at the thought? The cheeses can be further customized with their favorite herbs and add-ins, like honey or red pepper flakes. Yum.

The best part? Making cheese with this kit isn't overly complicated or time-consuming - it can be made in less than an hour. Quick, easy and delicious? Count us in.

Momofuku bestseller pack

Looking to boost your favorite foodie's pantry? Look no further than the Momofuku bestseller pack. It contains the brand's signature original Chili Crunch, of course, as well as 25 individual servings of the brand's noodle packs and sauces (five of each flavor), a soy sauce and seasoned salt. They'll think of you every time they need a quick and delicious meal - and when they put a scoop of Chili Crunch on their eggs, BBQ or pizza.

Paella Kit

I made my first paella this year and it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Having the right ingredients - like bomba rice and paella spices - along with a proper pan to cook and serve it in, makes all the difference. This kit from Williams Sonoma has much of what you need for under $60.

Learn from top-rated chefs If your giftee loves cooking and is always looking to expand their repertoire, there's no better gift than a professional chef guiding them step-by-step through a new skill or recipe. These are a few of our favorites.

Yotam Ottolenghi's Middle Eastern cooking MasterClass

Few chefs today have a better handle on cooking vegetables and legumes in creative ways than Yotam Ottolenghi. His MasterClass course explores plant-based spreads and dips, including labneh, muhammara and other tasty mezze that are perfect for the serial entertainer or host.

Explore all of MasterClass' food and drink lessons here . A subscription is $180 for one year and gives access to the full library of classes across dozens of categories and practices.

The Chef & the Dish private cooking class

Here is all the fun and know-how of a private cooking class from world-class chefs, but from the privacy of your home. The Chef & The Dish brings Michelin-level culinary masters into your kitchen via video chat, from places as far away as Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, New Orleans, Turkey and Thailand. Dinner is going to be awesome from now on. Classes for two start at $299, plus $50 for each additional person, making a four-person class as inexpensive as $100 each.

You can also purchase cooking class gift cards and let them choose the lesson themselves.

Rouxbe online culinary school

Rouxbe is flexible and comprehensive, offering courses for both professional certification and first-time cooks. It's great for helping people learn the fundamentals of cooking, since it offers everything from knife skills to how to make a salad dressing. You can even take courses with a more a plant-based focus.

DIY kits for bakers

Whether you're looking for a gift for an experienced baker, someone just starting out or a loved one who's eager to dive into a new genre (like sourdough), there's a baking kit out there for everyone. The following kits cover the full spectrum, and we can confirm that they churn out delicious treats.

Red Velvet NYC DIY French macarons baking kit

While French macarons may look simple enough, making them can be quite a challenge, even for seasoned bakers. That's where this Red Velvet NYC DIY kit comes in. The kit includes all the pre-measured ingredients the giftee will need to bake 20 delicious sandwich cookies, plus helpful accessories like parchment paper and a piping bag and piping tip. Of course, a step-by-step recipe card comes with it as well. In theory, their macarons should turn out picture perfect, but don't hold us to it.

Sourdough starter kit

For the aspiring bread baker, this hands-on kit includes everything needed to kickstart a sourdough starter. The bundle includes three packets of instant sourdough culture, artisan salt (16 ounces), muslin cloth, a proper dough scraper and dough whisk. Plus, there's a recipe book to whip up some tasty bakes.

Eat Bake Love monthly baking kit

Each month, the Eat Bake Love box includes pre-measured ingredients, a useful baking tool, and step-by-step instructions with video tutorials. Whether the giftee is an experienced baker or just starting out, they'll love trying a new, delicious recipe every time. You can't go wrong with a gingerbread cake roll with eggnog whipped cream, for example. Since each box makes around 12 to 20 servings of the dessert, maybe you'll even be lucky enough to get a sample.

You can opt to gift the Eat Bake Love subscription for one month ($49.49 per box), 3 months ($47.66 per box), 6 months ($46.75 per box) or 12 months ($45.65).

Flour Shop Mini Explosion Cake Kit

You've likely heard of the Flour Shop Rainbow Explosion cake that went viral. Well, the brand teamed up with Williams Sonoma so now you can make or gift a mini one. This set includes all the cake mix, coloring gels, frosting mix and sprinkles your giftee will need to whip up a small version of this Instagram-worthy dessert. Note that this kit does not include the baking pan, which can be purchased separately .

Cook with kiddos at home

Getting kids involved in the kitchen benefits everyone. They learn valuable life skills and their parents can reap the benefits of an enjoyable shared activity and the delicious outcome. Whether you're buying for your own kids or giving a gift, you can't go wrong with these tried-and-true kid-centric kits.

KiwiCo Science of Cooking Bundle

For better or worse, kids usually love getting involved - and messy - in the kitchen. And with these KiwiCo Science of Cooking kits (ice cream, bread & butter and mini cakes), they can help create something delicious and also learn the science behind yeast, weighing ingredients and more.

Note that these sets contain tools, not actual food ingredients. But most of the required ingredients are likely things you already have at home or can easily find at the grocery store. Each kit includes an illustrated instructional booklet that explores related science topics (like crystal formation in the ice cream kit). Because of this, they're recommended for kids aged 5 and up.

Duff Goldman DIY Baking Set for Kids by Baketivity

If you're hoping to see a kiddo in your life make it to the small screen on Kids Baking Championship, perhaps start with these tasty Duff Goldman DIY baking sets. This particular kit contains most everything they'll need to create delicious s'mores sandwich cookies. Need we say more? The ingredients look amazing even before they're assembled.

The Step Stool Chef double-layer pasta bake kit

Setting kids up for success in the kitchen is key to sparking their interest in cooking - and getting a delicious meal out of it, too. This Step Stool Chef cooking kit is easy to make, contains high quality ingredients and will give a child in your life a big confidence boost when they're able to whip up dinner on their own. Plus, a double-layer pasta bake sounds downright delicious. It's a win-win.

MasterChef Junior dumpling making set

Aspiring pint-sized chefs will love this MasterChef Junior dumpling kit that comes with all of the tools needed for the job: steam basket, dumpling press, measuring cups and steamer paper. It also comes with eight recipe ideas (geared towards all different levels of experience) and a blank card for writing down their own recipe iteration. How fun is that? It's one thing to teach a kid how to make a sandwich on their own - but learning to make dumplings will hopefully take their cooking interest and skills to the next level.

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