What’s more appetizing or festive than an edible holiday gift? Practical and fun, homemade food gifts in beautifully bundled Mason jars are guaranteed to delight family and friends. Make a few of these 12 festive gift jar recipes for the food-lovers on your list.
Sweet Treats
Sugar and spice, and everything nice in a jar! These sweet treats will give friends and family another reason to smile through the holidays.
Vegan Banana Pecan Pancake
A jazzed-up morning favourite, banana chips offer a sweet crunch to pancakes that pair nicely with the toasted pecans. Roll our 4 x 6 printable recipe card into a scroll, and fasten it to the lid with a white bow and fir sprig. For a special touch, accompany with a jar of Sensations by Compliments Pure Maple Syrup.
Vegan Banana Pecan Pancake Gift Jar recipe
Vegan Banana Pecan Pancake recipe
Soft Sugar Cookie
Everyone loves making Christmas cookies – and here’s an easy way to gift a homemade cookie mix in a jar. The cookies are delectably crispy on the outside with a chewy centre. For decorating cookies, sprinkles and/or coloured sugars are packaged in re-sealable bags in the jar too. Add a pretty bow to complete the gift.
Soft Sugar Cookie Gift Jar recipe
Cardamom Vanilla Sugar
Sweeten the holiday season with a flavoured sugar stash that will add spiced aromas to everything from baked goods to hot drinks. Loop a striped string around the lid and a matching oval-shaped label for handwritten messages.
Cardamom Vanilla Sugar Gift Jar recipe
Spicy Hot Chocolate
More of a dessert for grown-ups than a beverage, chocoholics will love this hot chocolate mix, best served with a dash of liqueur and a dollop of whipped cream. Decorate the jar with a cinnamon stick wrapped in a red ribbon, and tape our printable recipe card to the lid.
Spicy Hot Chocolate Gift Jar recipe
Saved by a Jar
With the holidays in full swing, you never know who might land on your doorstep. Follow these tips for making gift jars in bulk and always have lovely, last-minute gifts on hand!
- Organize an assembly station, laying out all required equipment (funnels, jars, spoons). Then, place ingredients in dishes and arrange according to the order in the recipe.
- Accompany each ingredient with a measuring tool to expedite the packing process.
- Stick some pretty patterned tape onto the jar’s bottom and jot down the ‘packaged on’ date.
- For longer storage, use a vacuum sealer to remove air from jars.
More Wrapping Ideas
For a festive flair, deck the jars with holiday fabrics and accents, or edible trimmings such as candy canes. Depending on the recipe, a little spoon or holiday cookie cutter attached to the jar’s side with lacy ribbon or colourful twine makes a fun and practical accessory.
Savoury Recipes
Thanks to layers of beautiful ingredients, these recipes-in-a-jar look as fabulous as they taste when they’re made.
Spicy Southwest Bean Soup
Layered beans topped with a spice pack in a small re-sealable plastic bag make this fiery favourite a cinch to make. After soaking the beans, combine them with vegetables, spices and stock, and cook. The spicy soup is ready in just 1-1.5 hours. Leftovers can be frozen.
Spicy Southwest Bean Soup Gift Jar recipe
Spicy Southwest Bean Soup recipe
Smoky White Bean Chili
Turkey, canned tomatoes and chicken broth are all that’s needed to complete the ingredients of this classic chili. The separate spice pack includes ancho chilies and a little smoked paprika, which balance beautifully with sweet sundried tomatoes. Great on its own, this chili makes fabulous leftovers too, served on nachos, chili-dogs, sloppy Joes or on baked potatoes.
Smoky White Bean Chili Gift Jar recipe
Herbed Mushroom & Barley Risotto Gift Jar
Who says a gourmet meal can’t come from a jar? Simmered in broth, this dry mix cooks into a creamy comfort classic with meaty mushrooms and a sweet-nutty flavour from the chewy barley. Add a personal message on a printable gift card, and attach alongside the recipe scroll that matches the checkered lid.
Herbed Mushroom & Barley Risotto Gift Jar recipe
Herbed Mushroom & Barley Risotto recipe
Layering Tips
- Use wide mouth jars. It’s easier for packing and layering the ingredients, as well as shaking them out later.
- Always layer according to the order listed in the recipe.
- To keep layers neat, add ingredients using a canning funnel (or a rolled up sheet of paper).
- Use a spoon or flat utensil to flatten each layer before adding the next. This will ensure everything fits into the jar!
Holiday Preserves
Holiday meals and dishes are extra special when served with homemade jam, chutney or preserves. This year, surprise friends and family with holiday preserves from your kitchen.
Indian-Style Mango Chutney
Spicy and fruity, this fragrant Indian-inspired jam makes a delicious marinade or sandwich filling. Add festive bling by fastening silver orbs to the lid with twine.
Indian-Style Mango Chutney Gift Jar recipe
Middle Eastern-Style Preserved Lemons
Talk about simple! This exquisite Middle Eastern garnish traditionally takes up to a month to make. But our recipe is an ingenious short-cut, and thin lemon slices are perfectly preserved in just 24 hours. The garnish adds a citrusy-tangy punch to everything from baked goodies to grilled chicken. Wrap the jar with a dazzling silver bow.
Middle Eastern-Style Preserved Lemons Gift Jar recipe
Dragon Fruit Compote
Sweet and tangy with fragrant warm spices, foodies will love receiving this chunky sauce that they can pair with desserts, waffles, and roasted meats. Using striped twine, pin festive ornaments, like a cranberry stem or mini ornament, onto the lid.
Dragon Fruit Compote Gift Jar recipe
Cranberry-Orange Jelly
A dollop of this pantry favourite adds sweet-citrusy tang to warm biscuits, pancakes, and crêpes. Attach a silver spoon with a stylish scarlet ribbon that matches the jelly. Accessorize with a spray of evergreen.
Cranberry-Orange Jelly Gift Jar recipe
Pairing Fruit Preserves
Include some of these helpful serving tips on gift recipe cards.
- Pick complementary flavours. Mingling tastes should balance, rather than overpower, each other.
- For cheese pairings, remember that fruit preserves play a supportive role. Lightly drizzle atop to highlight flavours.
- Think outside the box! Jams can sweeten savoury entrees, like stir-fries, curries, braised meats, and even sushi. Make a barbecue sauce, or sweet-savoury filling for crêpes and French toast.
- Smooth cream cheese onto whole grain crackers, and drizzle on a sweet preserve such as the Dragon Fruit Compote.
- Warm and gooey, serve a wheel of baked Brie alongside crackers and the Cranberry-Orange jelly.
- For a deli delicacy, top crackers with honey mustard, smoked turkey, and a dollop of the Indian-Style Mango Chutney Jam.
