A Christmas hamper is one of those gifts that can be as simple or extravagant as you like. Fill a basket with a few of someone’s favourite treats and you’ve got a thoughtful, personal present. Add wine, cheese, chocolates, Christmas pudding and plenty of festive extras and you can create something seriously impressive.
But what should you actually put in a Christmas hamper?
The best Christmas hampers usually contain a mixture of sweet and savoury treats, with a few traditional festive favourites thrown in. You can then add drinks, cheese or other extras depending on who you’re buying for.
If you’re planning to make your own, here’s what we’d recommend including.
- Christmas pudding – the traditional festive centrepiece
- Mince pies – another Christmas essential
- Luxury chocolates or truffles
- Shortbread or festive biscuits
- Fudge or caramels
- Cheese – mature Cheddar and/or Stilton
- Crackers – to accompany the cheese
- Chutney or relish
- Nuts – roasted, salted or chocolate-covered
- Savoury snacks – premium crisps, olives or breadsticks
- Wine – red or white depending on the food selection
- Something sparkling – Prosecco, Cava or Champagne for a more luxurious hamper
- Tea, coffee or hot chocolate – particularly useful for an alcohol-free or family hamper
- A wicker basket or quality gift box – with shredded paper, ribbon and a gift tag to finish it off
Start With Some Christmas Classics
First, add something that makes your hamper unmistakably Christmassy.
Mince pies and Christmas pudding are obvious choices, while Christmas cake, festive biscuits and other seasonal bakes work well too.
You certainly don’t need all of them. One or two traditional Christmas treats are normally enough to establish the theme before you start adding other goodies.
Some good options include:
- Mince pies
- Christmas pudding
- Christmas cake or fruit cake
- Festive biscuits
- Shortbread
- Ginger biscuits
Our Christmas Surprise, for example, combines traditional Christmas pudding and mince pies with biscuits, chocolates and other sweet treats to create a classic festive selection.
Add Plenty of Chocolate
It’s difficult to go wrong with chocolate at Christmas.
Rather than adding several versions of the same thing, try to include a little variety. You might choose a box of chocolates alongside truffles, chocolate-covered nuts or after-dinner mints.
Chocolate also works particularly well if you’re creating a hamper for someone whose food and drink preferences you don’t know particularly well.
At Hampergifts, you’ll find everything from Christmas hampers with a few carefully selected chocolates to entire Christmas chocolate hampers dedicated to sweet treats.
Our Christmas Treats Tower, for example, includes Belgian chocolate pralines, chocolate caramels, chocolate-covered Brazils, fudge and plenty of other treats alongside a traditional Christmas pudding and biscuits.
Include Biscuits, Fudge and Other Sweet Treats
One of the joys of receiving a hamper is discovering lots of different things inside, so don’t let chocolate do all the work.
Biscuits, fudge, flapjacks, caramels and other confectionery help create variety and give the recipient plenty to dip into over the Christmas period.
Think about different textures and flavours rather than simply buying as many items as possible. A combination of biscuits, fudge, chocolate and cake will usually feel much more interesting than a basket containing ten different chocolate bars.
Don’t Forget the Savoury Snacks
Unless you’re deliberately creating a sweet Christmas hamper, we’d recommend balancing all that chocolate with a few savoury treats.
Nuts are an easy addition, while crackers, breadsticks, crisps and olives can help turn a hamper into something the recipient can open up and enjoy with drinks over Christmas.
Popular savoury additions include:
- Crackers and flatbreads
- Crisps
- Nuts
- Olives
- Chutneys and pickles
- Pâté
A mixture of sweet and savoury products is particularly useful when you’re creating a larger hamper for a couple or family, as there’s likely to be something in there for everyone.
Add Cheese for a Proper Festive Feast
Cheese can take a Christmas hamper to another level, particularly if you’re buying for someone who prefers savoury food.
Cheddar and Stilton are Christmas favourites and can be combined with crackers, chutney and pâté to create a ready-made festive cheeseboard.
You can then add a bottle of wine or port if the recipient drinks alcohol.
Our Christmas cheese hampers use exactly this approach, pairing cheeses such as Cheddar and Stilton with carefully chosen accompaniments including crackers, chutneys and pâté.
Choose a Festive Drink
If you’re creating a Christmas hamper for an adult who drinks alcohol, a bottle can make a great centrepiece.
Wine is probably the most versatile choice. Red wine works particularly well alongside cheese, pâté and savoury foods, while white wine can be combined with lighter snacks and sweet treats.
For something a little more celebratory, add Prosecco, Cava or Champagne. Port is another Christmas classic, especially when paired with Stilton.
Other options include:
- Red or white wine
- Prosecco or Cava
- Champagne
- Port
- Beer or ale
- Spirits
Of course, there’s no reason a Christmas hamper has to contain alcohol. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and premium soft drinks can work just as well, particularly when you’re buying for a family.
Think About Who You’re Making the Hamper For
The easiest way to decide what to put in a Christmas hamper is to start with the person receiving it.
For a chocolate lover, concentrate on chocolates, truffles, biscuits and fudge. For someone who loves cheese, build the hamper around cheese, crackers, chutneys and perhaps a bottle of red wine or port.
If you’re creating a family Christmas hamper, variety becomes more important. Include plenty of shareable treats and a mixture of sweet and savoury foods so everyone has something to enjoy.
And if it’s a gift for a client, employee or colleague, sticking to broadly popular festive food and drink is usually safer than choosing anything too unusual.
How Many Items Should You Put in a Christmas Hamper?
There’s no magic number.
For a smaller gift, five or six good-quality products can be plenty. For a larger Christmas hamper, you might include ten, fifteen or even twenty items.
What’s more important is that the hamper feels balanced. A smaller collection of products that work well together will usually make a better gift than filling a huge basket with inexpensive items simply to make it look full.
You’ll also need to consider the size of your basket or box. Too few products in a large basket can look underwhelming, while squeezing too much into a small container can make the hamper difficult to present properly.
Remember the Hamper Itself
Once you’ve bought all the food and drink, you still need something to put it in.
A traditional wicker basket is hard to beat, but gift boxes, wooden boxes and reusable containers can all work well.
You’ll probably also need shredded paper or another filling material to hold everything in position, plus wrapping, ribbon and a gift tag.
Arrange taller products towards the back and smaller items towards the front so that as many of the products as possible are visible. Bottles and heavier items should be secured so they can’t move around, particularly if you’re posting the hamper.
Is It Cheaper to Make Your Own Christmas Hamper?
It can be – but not always.
Making your own Christmas hamper initially sounds like the cheaper option because you’re buying everything yourself. However, the costs can quickly mount up once you start buying individual premium products.
There’s the basket or gift box itself, packaging and ribbon before you’ve even added any food. Then you might need a bottle of wine, chocolates, biscuits, Christmas pudding, mince pies, nuts, cheese, crackers and several other treats.
If you’re sending the hamper rather than giving it in person, you’ll also need suitable outer packaging and potentially have to pay for tracked delivery.
The other problem is that buying lots of different products individually can leave you spending more than you expected simply to make the hamper look full.
Making your own can still be great fun when you want a highly personal gift. But if you’re primarily looking for a beautifully presented Christmas hamper packed with quality food and drink, buying one that’s already been carefully put together can make a lot more sense.
Or Let Us Build It for You
If you’ve reached this point and your Christmas shopping list now contains a basket, Christmas pudding, mince pies, chocolates, biscuits, nuts, cheese, crackers, wine, tissue paper and ribbon, there’s an easier option.
We’ve been creating gift hampers at Hampergifts since 2005, so we’ve already done the tricky bit.
Our Christmas hampers are carefully assembled with complementary food and drink and presented ready to give as a gift. There are options ranging from smaller festive hampers through to large luxury baskets packed with food, wine and award-winning treats.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ideas:
For a Classic Christmas Hamper: Christmas Surprise
Our Christmas Surprise is a great example of what we’d put into a traditional Christmas hamper. There’s Christmas pudding, mince pies, ginger biscuits, after-dinner mints, flapjack and Belgian chocolate pralines, all presented in a handmade woven basket.
It’s alcohol-free too, making it a versatile choice for friends, family, employees or colleagues.
For Wine Lovers: The Christmas Carol
If a Christmas hamper isn’t complete without a bottle of wine, take a look at The Christmas Carol.
It combines Merlot with Christmas pudding, Belgian chocolates, fudge, biscuits, crisps and smoked almonds, giving you that classic mixture of wine, sweet treats and savoury snacks without having to source everything individually.
For Someone With a Sweet Tooth: Christmas Treats Tower
For a hamper that’s all about the treats, our Christmas Treats Tower is packed with chocolates, fudge, biscuits, nuts, caramels, jam, flapjack and Christmas pudding.
Instead of a traditional basket, everything arrives inside reusable festive gift boxes stacked into an impressive tower.
For an Extra-Special Christmas Gift: The Gilded Christmas Hamper
If you’re looking to go considerably bigger, The Gilded Christmas Hamper brings together three bottles – Chenin Blanc, Shiraz and Cava – with 20 festive treats.
It’s the sort of hamper that’s difficult to recreate yourself without a very long shopping list, making it ideal when you want to send something particularly impressive.
Ready to Send a Christmas Hamper?
Making your own Christmas hamper can be a lovely way to create a personal gift. Start with a few festive favourites, add a mixture of sweet and savoury treats, include a drink if appropriate and finish everything with attractive Christmas packaging.
But you don’t have to spend an afternoon searching for the perfect combination of food, drink, basket and ribbon.
At Hampergifts, we’ve been creating and delivering beautifully presented hampers for more than 20 years. Explore our range of Christmas hampers to find everything from affordable festive gifts to spectacular luxury hampers, all carefully assembled and ready to send to someone special this Christmas.
