The reliable vegan Christmas gift is one that does not need to announce it is vegan. A kimchi kit, a chilli sauce kit or a hedgerow wine kit is simply a good present that happens to involve no animal ingredients, and every one of them ends in something the recipient eats or drinks rather than stores. No hunting through labels, no faintly apologetic "vegan version of" a thing they used to like.
Below are the three we would put on a list, what is in each box, what the recipient has to buy, and the one chilli recipe worth steering them around. All three are made for beginners, so nobody needs prior experience.
Why do vegan gift guides end up so thin?
Because they usually start from the wrong place. They look for a product category, then find the plant-based version of it, which is how everyone ends up with the same three candles, the same chocolate and the same skincare set. The recipient can tell.
Starting from an activity works far better. Fermenting a cabbage, blending seven chilli sauces or filling a demijohn with blackberry wine are all things a person does, and they are naturally plant-based without anyone having to make a substitution. The gift is the project; the diet never comes up.
The kimchi kit, for the one who cooks with ambition
Most kimchi recipes, and almost all shop-bought kimchi, lean on fish sauce or shrimp paste for savoury depth. Our Kimchi Making Kit gets that depth from dried seaweed instead, which is why it suits a plant-based kitchen without any swapping about.
The box brings the specialist parts: gochugaru, the Korean dried red pepper, the dried seaweed, sweet rice flour for the porridge that binds the paste together, plus gloves and a fermentation bag. It makes two big batches. They add a Chinese leaf cabbage, salt, sugar, garlic, ginger, a quarter of an onion and a couple of spring onions, all of which any supermarket has in December.
The rhythm suits the season nicely. An afternoon of brining, mixing and packing, then five to seven days fermenting in the fridge with a taste every few days, so something started between Christmas and New Year is ready for the first week of January.
The chilli sauce kit, with one recipe to skip
The Chilli Sauce Making Kit is a generous gift by any measure: seven sauces from gentle to seriously hot, built on six dried chillies in the chipotle, cayenne, green, jalapeno, facing heaven, habanero and piri piri styles, with cider vinegar, a mini sieve, gloves, grip-seal bags, kraft labels and the recipe book included.
Being honest about the one caveat is more useful than pretending there isn't one. The fresh ingredients are bought recipe by recipe, and most of them are plant ingredients: onions, tomatoes, garlic, a mango, a red pepper, lemon, sugar and salt. The exception is the aji amarillo style sauce, which calls for mayonnaise and sour cream. A vegan cook will either skip that one or reach for plant-based versions of both, and the other six recipes are untouched by the question.
Tell them to wear the gloves. Chilli oils cling to skin and sting badly if they later touch their eyes, which is why the gloves are in the box rather than an afterthought.
The hedgerow wine kit, for a slower kind of present
Winemaking is where vegan gift buyers often get caught out, because some traditional finings are animal-derived. The finings in our Hedgerow Wine Making Kit are a very fine natural clay, bentonite, with nothing animal-derived in them, so a home winemaker can clear their wine without a workaround.
The kit makes a gallon of country wine per batch, about four and a half litres or six bottles, from whatever fruit they pick or buy. In the box are wine yeast, yeast nutrient, pectolase, the finings, citric acid, a stabiliser tablet and steriliser, and the recipes. They supply fruit, sugar and water, plus a bucket, a demijohn or second vessel with an airlock, and bottles. It takes eight to twelve weeks from start to glass, so a Christmas gift becomes a drinkable bottle in early spring.
Two notes worth passing on. The kit contains sulphur dioxide and sulphites, which are listed on the pack. And it is for adults aged 18 and over, for personal use at home.
What should you add so the gift is ready to start?
- Kimchi kit: a Chinese leaf cabbage if you are handing it over in person, or a note saying which vegetables to pick up.
- Chilli sauce kit: a few empty bottles or jars of 350ml or more, since most recipes yield around 250 to 350ml and every batch wants bottling.
- Wine kit: a food-grade bucket with a lid and a demijohn with an airlock, which are the two pieces of equipment the kit does not include, plus a bag of ordinary white granulated sugar.
If the recipient is not in the room on the day, any kit can go straight to them: enter their address as the delivery address at checkout. Ordering in October or November is perfectly safe too, because our kits carry an eighteen month shelf life from packing and leave us with at least twelve months still on the best before date.
Vegan gift kit FAQs
Is the kimchi kit vegan friendly?
Our recipe takes its savoury depth from dried seaweed rather than fish sauce, so it suits a plant-based kitchen. Every ingredient is listed on the pack, and the fresh items the recipient adds are vegetables, salt and sugar.
Are the wine kit finings animal-derived?
No. The finings are bentonite, a very fine natural clay that clears the wine, with nothing animal-derived in them.
Are all seven chilli sauce recipes plant-based?
Six of them are. The aji amarillo style recipe asks for mayonnaise and sour cream, so a vegan cook would either skip it or use plant-based alternatives.
How long does each kit take to produce a result?
Kimchi takes an afternoon plus five to seven days fermenting in the fridge. Chilli sauces are an afternoon each. Hedgerow wine takes eight to twelve weeks from start to glass.
Do the kits contain alcohol?
No. None of our kits contain alcohol. The wine kit contains the yeast, nutrient and additives needed to ferment fruit you supply, and it is for adults aged 18 and over.
Shopping for more than one person this year? Our gift kits are a good place to browse by what someone likes to eat.
