Under twenty pounds is a perfectly good budget for grandparents, as long as you stop shopping for objects. At that price an object is usually a token, but a make your own kit at the same price is a whole afternoon with something at the end of it: a bottle of gin, six bottles of country wine, five fresh cheeses or three takeaway style kebabs. Four of ours come in under twenty pounds and none of them feel like a stocking filler.
Prices below were checked in September 2026 (price checked September 2026). Everything is hand packed in Britain, and Royal Mail standard delivery is £2.99, or free on orders over £15, which is worth knowing if you are buying two.
Why does a kit go further than an object at this price?
Because you are not competing on materials. At twenty pounds an ornament is a small ornament and a bottle of something is a modest bottle, whereas a kit buys a project, and projects do not scale with price in the same way. The gin kit produces a bottle of gin they infused themselves, which is worth considerably more to tell people about than a bottle you bought.
It also avoids the storage problem. Grandparents with full cupboards do not want another object at any price, and everything here gets used up. If it goes well, most of our booklets include the recipes so they can carry on with their own ingredients rather than waiting for another box.
The Gin Making Kit, £9.99
The Gin Making Kit is the one we would pick first at this budget. Juniper with coriander, citrus peel, allspice and lemongrass steeps in a bottle of vodka and infuses in under a week, and they taste it with the pipette as the days pass, straining it through the sieve when it is right for their palate. There is nothing to distil and no equipment to buy.
It was named a top pick on ITV's How to Spend It Well at Christmas, where chef Matt Tebbutt tasted it, which is a useful thing to be able to say about a present under ten pounds. What to add: a 700ml bottle of inexpensive vodka. Supermarket own brand is genuinely right, since a premium vodka's subtleties vanish under the juniper, and buying it with the kit means they can start the same week. For adults aged 18 and over.
The Hedgerow Wine Making Kit, £9.99
The Hedgerow Wine Making Kit is the best value on this list if they have fruit in the garden, because it turns a glut of blackberries, apples, plums or rhubarb into a gallon of country wine, about four and a half litres or six bottles per batch, ready in eight to twelve weeks. In the box are wine yeast, yeast nutrient, pectolase, finings, citric acid, a stabiliser tablet and steriliser, with a recipe table covering everything from elderflower to parsnip.
Be honest about the extras, though, because this is the one kit here that needs equipment. What to add: a 5 litre food grade bucket with a lid for the first fermentation, a demijohn or a second bucket with an airlock for the second, a siphon tube, kitchen scales and some reused screw top bottles, plus their own fruit and ordinary white granulated sugar. If they already have a demijohn in the loft, this is an outstanding gift for ten pounds. If they do not, budget for the bucket. Wine is made for personal use at home and is for adults aged 18 and over.
The Cheese Making Kit for Beginners, £11.99
For the grandparent who wants something to eat this afternoon rather than in three months, the Cheese Making Kit for Beginners makes five fresh cheeses including mozzarella, ricotta and mascarpone, with vegetarian rennet, citric acid and cheese salt in the box. The first cheese is ready in about an hour.
Watching milk separate into curds and whey is a small piece of everyday magic even after fifty years of cooking, and ricotta, the easiest recipe, is warming milk, adding acid and draining the curds through the cloth. It is also the best of these to do with grandchildren, with an adult on the hot pan. What to add: fresh whole milk, never UHT or ultra pasteurised, which will not curdle, and a large stainless steel pan rather than aluminium or copper, which react with the acid.
The Kebab Making Kit, £12.99
The Kebab Making Kit is the one to choose for a grandparent who cooks for a crowd, or who has never quite got over the closure of a particular takeaway. It covers three: a classic doner, a spicy shish and a minted kofte, each recipe feeding two to three, with a seasoning of cumin, coriander, garlic, smoked paprika, chilli and salt, plus dried mint and a kebab casing.
The doner is the showpiece. The seasoning is mixed thoroughly into minced lamb, packed into a tight loaf, cooked through and then carved thin with a sharp knife, exactly like the real thing. What to add: 500g of lamb per recipe, minced for the doner and kofte, diced for the shish, ideally from a butcher. Plain yoghurt, a cucumber and some flatbreads finish the plate. Always cook lamb through. This kit carries a may contain statement for nuts, sesame, cereals containing gluten and soya from the supplier's facility. Every ingredient is listed on the pack, and if you have an allergy question, email hello@sandyleaffarm.com before ordering.
Which one should you actually buy?
Match the kit to how they spend a week rather than to the price. Someone with fruit going to waste and plenty of patience wants the wine. Someone who likes a result today wants the cheese. A host wants the gin, and a feeder wants the kebab kit.
Then buy the missing item at the same time: the vodka, the milk, the lamb, the bucket. And if they are not nearby, send it straight to them by entering their address as the delivery address at checkout.
Gifts for grandparents under 20 pounds FAQs
Which kit gives the most for the money?
The hedgerow wine kit makes about six bottles per batch for £9.99, but it needs a bucket, a demijohn or second vessel and an airlock, so factor that in if they do not already have them.
Which is the quickest to make?
The beginners cheese kit, with the first cheese ready in about an hour. The kebab kit is an evening meal, gin infuses in under a week, and wine takes eight to twelve weeks.
Do the kits include everything?
They include the measured ingredients, the tools listed for each kit and a printed booklet. You add one fresh item: vodka, milk, lamb, or fruit and sugar for the wine.
Is delivery included in the price?
Royal Mail standard delivery is £2.99 and is free on orders over £15, so a single kit under that line carries the standard charge and two kits usually do not.
Can I have them sent straight to my grandparents?
Yes. Enter their address as the delivery address at checkout and the kit goes directly to them rather than coming to you first.
Buying for several people at once? Browse the full range of gift kits and pick a project for each of them.
