There are some people who are difficult to shop for. If you’re shopping for a food blogger, check out these ideas that are on my Christmas list.
Since I started this blog almost two years ago, the items on my Amazon Wish List have changed. Yes, I’ve always loved getting kitchen items since I’ve always loved to cook. But since I started blogging about it my wants and needs have changed.
So what exactly does a food blogger need? Isn’t it just a bunch of cooking and taking photos of the food, then posting the recipes later? Well, yes, it is. But it’s also so much more than that.
The following is my list of what a food blogger wants for Christmas (hint hint to any of my family who may be reading this!).
You can see how I use a lot of the items in a post I made about Food Photography on a Budget.

Originally Published On: December 12, 2017
Last Updated On: April 22, 2020
Kitchen Equipment
The more recipes I try, the more equipment I want. I feel like this is the most obvious thing that a food blogger would wish for. New gadgets to try. New appliances to work with. And new tools for our cooking arsenal.
If you don’t know what they need, ask! Every food blogger will have a list that they could quickly repeat the moment they are asked. As for me, a few things I don’t have are an instant pot, an air fryer, a toaster oven, icing spatulas, and a double boiler. Just remember, everyone has different equipment already, and various things they will want.
Photo/Video Equipment
It’s not just about the cooking, but also taking the pictures and/or videos that you all enjoy when checking out a new recipe. Those photos aren’t as easy as they look, and I am still working on my food photo skills.
The most significant bit of advice is to use natural lighting, but that isn’t always possible. I don’t have a great location to get good photos with natural light, especially since a lot of my recipes are made in the evening when the sun is already going down. So I have a homemade lightbox that stays in my closet (yes, I bring my food into my closet to take photos!).
Besides the actual camera, one of the most essential pieces of equipment is the lighting. I have an old studio light that I’ve had for years, but it’s due for an upgrade. I love this umbrella studio light for many reasons, including the ability to put out a lot of light that’s diffused with the umbrella.
You can also purchase a lightbox which would probably be more convenient than my homemade one. I just added this 30″ lightbox to my Christmas List since it’s more portable so could be moved to different areas looking for that perfect lighting, and it’s a big enough size that you could fit almost any dish or meal in there.
Of course, if you know what kind of camera is being used, you can get a few accessories such as a camera strap or a memory card or a memory card holder.
Dishes/Props
I’ve been hitting up the dollar store near me lately to find some cheap dishes and props, but they haven’t gotten anything new in recently. It helps to have a variety of colors, sizes, and shapes to be able to accent the food being photographed really. Sometimes that dish you see at the thrift store that may not be the most eye-pleasing would be great for a food photograph.
And it’s not only dishes but other props as well. I like to use some dish towels in my photos, or sometimes a wooden spoon to add a pop of interest to the picture. Maybe it’s a cute mug or a wooden carving board. Whatever it is, food bloggers love to have all sorts of different props to add to their photos.
Lately, I’ve seen a lot of photos with brass/copper props, such as these copper mugs or these copper measuring spoons. No matter what you decide to get, chances are any food blogger would be happy to receive new dishes or props to use in their photography.
Backgrounds
In addition to the items in the photo, a food blogger needs a place to take those photos. Yes, a lightbox often comes with at least a white backdrop and maybe some colors, but having a variety means the images won’t all look the same. There are many ways to get a different background on the photos, and it will depend slightly on how the photographer works.
My homemade lightbox has a piece of white poster board taped to the back of it, and a bit of scrap wood from other home projects on the bottom. This gives the appearance of a wooden table, and a plain white background. Which I will admit, is a little boring.
My goal, in the next year, is to invest in a few new backdrops and surfaces. I’ve found a few self-adhesive contact paper ideas online, and I want to try that. I already have the wooden surface with the piece of wood, but I’ve thought about buying a grey granite contact paper to put on the other side. Then I can flip it over if I decide I want a different look.

Cookbooks
A food blogger is always looking for inspiration for the next recipe. And what better place to get the recipes (besides Pinterest) than from a cookbook? My personal favorites are 100 Days of Real Food and 100 Days of Real Food: Fast and Fabulous. But you can customize this gift to the individual. If your food blogger giftee enjoys baking, then look for a cookbook with baking ideas. If they are a vegan blogger, try to find a vegan cookbook.
And if you aren’t sure what kind of cookbook to look for, you can also get a one-year subscription to a cooking magazine. Right now, I have a subscription to both Cooking Light and Southern Living magazine, both of which give me some great recipe inspirations.

Bonus: Cooking Apron
You can’t go wrong with a cute cooking apron. We are in the kitchen enough that it’s great to have a lovely apron to keep our clothes from getting dirty. I’m terrible when I am baking about getting flour everywhere, so I’m hoping to get an apron for Christmas this year.

Related Holiday Posts
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- Holiday Gift Guide for a No Waste Kitchen
- How to Easily Holiday-Proof the Kitchen
- The Ultimate Food Blogger’s Christmas List
- How to Survive Hosting your First Holiday Dinner
- 30 Ways to Cook Healthier in the New Year
- 12 Stocking Stuffers for the Cook in Your Life
I just had my birthday last month and I bought so many dishes and props as a present with my dad haha. It just makes all the difference to your photos and you tend to get addicted to accumulating perfect pieces!
I look every time we go to the store! I picked out a few for my husband to put in my stocking!!
You read my mind! I want everything on here. One can never have enough plates and bowls and cookbooks and backgrounds 🙂
So true! Just need a place to store it all!!
For christmas I am getting a backdrop setting. It’s gonna be expensive but so worth it. It’s definitely something I’ll get a ton of use out of. So many awesome ideas for photos on here and supplies for those photos.
Awesome! I picked a few dishes for my husband to put in my stocking!
This is so true! I literally have separate dishes for each occasion, even photoshoots. I’m glad you shared how much goes into this!!
I am working on my stock of dishes! I want to share a behind-the-scenes sometime with it all too.
This is a wonderful gift guide! Thanks for the ideas. My mom is getting into blogging about her recipes etc and I was wondering what I should get her for Christmas! Thanks!
Oh, how awesome! Hopefully, this gave you some great ideas!
I would love to get new dishes and props. All are great ideas for any foodie in your life.
I am slowly working on it. I look for the deals, some of the dishes are too expensive so I am building it up over time.
That’s a very good wish list for food bloggers! I’m not a food blogger but I feature recipes and food in my blog from time to time! I think this is pretty cool!
Some of these could definitely span other types of blogs as well, I’m sure!
I love this list, I really need to get my food props in order for the new year as well so this list is perfect
We just did an early Christmas here since we will be out of town and my boys got me a few new dishes to start using in the new year!
Many thanks for sharing this.. as a new blogger I keep looking for posts like these which help in creating posts for different occasions.
Happy to help! And the light box is something that almost any blogger can use since it just creates a controlled environment, it isn’t specific to just food bloggers!
I love cooking during the holidays and I so need to get myself everything on this list! Especially the camera!
The camera definitely helps! I just was given the lightbox as an early Christmas gift and I can’t wait to try it out!
My wife and I really loves cooking every Holiday! And she loves to film it while doing the cook.
How awesome! What a great way to spend time together.