If you’re looking for vegan gift ideas, you’ve come to the right place! Shopping for a vegan can be easy since you already have some guidelines in place.
What kind of vegan are you shopping for?
First, it’s important to know whether the gift recipient wears their veganism on their sleeve or not. Just because someone is vegan doesn’t mean they want socks with avocados on them.
If your gift recipient is of the more subtle vegan variety, simply making sure your gift is vegan but doesn’t scream vegan, and appeals to some of their other interests, will be thoroughly appreciated.
Guidelines for Vegan Gift Ideas
Whether you buy something or make it yourself, avoid gifts that include ingredients or materials from living or killed animals, or anything from a company known for animal testing. Before we get to a list of specific vegan gift ideas, here are some things to keep in mind.
Clothing materials to avoid
The following materials come from captive or killed animals and should be avoided when looking for or making a gift for a vegan: silk, wool, leather, suede, cashmere, angora, alpaca, and feathers. Also, steer clear of pearl, mother of pearl, and seashells.
Vegan Clothing Materials and Brands
Vegan clothing materials include: cotton, linen, rayon, hemp, denim, tencel, pinatex, polyester, cotton sateen, nylon, acrylic, bamboo, ultrasuede, and synthetic leathers, among others. Check out our huge and diverse directory of vegan fashion brands for some ideas.
Vintage and Antique Gifts
Even if you buy something vintage or antique, it’s still best to avoid animal materials since many vegans would not feel comfortable with them.
Food and Beauty Gifts
When shopping for an edible vegan gift or a beauty product, it’s safest to go with something made by a vegan brand or a product that has been certified vegan by a reputable organization like Vegan Action. We’ve made some suggestions below and also have a directory of vegan beauty brands.
Besides avoiding obvious animal ingredients like meat, dairy, and eggs, there are many other ingredients from animals like gelatin, lard, collagen, and lanolin that you might not know about. Use our free ingredient search engine to check ingredients in any food or beauty product.
Fortunately, there are plenty of great gifts that are appropriate for vegans. Below is a variety of ideas for any occasion including birthdays, graduation, Christmas, Hanukkah, anything!
14 Vegan Gift Ideas
1. The gift of animal rescue
Sponsor an Animal at Farm Sanctuary
Farm Sanctuary is one of the nation’s largest farm animal rescue and advocacy organizations. You can sponsor an animal in someone else’s name by paying for a year of the animal’s care. The gift recipient receives a photo of the animal and has the opportunity to visit the sanctuary in either New York of California.
Donate to a no-kill animal shelter
You can donate to a no-kill animal shelter in the gift recipient’s name. Donations can also be made in memory of a deceased loved one including pets. Here’s a directory of no-kill shelters in the United States.
2. The Instant Pot with a Cookbook
The Instant Pot pressure cooker is hugely popular among vegans and makes an amazing gift. We use one to make healthy, filling dinners like lentil stew and vegan mac and cheese. We also use the Instant Pot for speeding up the process of cooking steel cut oats and dried bulk beans.
A testament to the Instant Pot’s popularity among vegans is the fact that the Facebook group “Instant Pot Vegan Recipes” has 95,000 members, and it’s not even the only vegan Instant Pot group on there.
Different models are available from $60 – $140 and many are on sale now for the holidays. We bought the popular 6 qt model and I’m already wishing I had the 8 qt to cook for more guests. I know some people who even keep two Instant Pots out on their counter at all times.
Our favorite vegan Instant Pot recipes come from Vegan Richa‘s website, but there are also many Instant Pot cookbooks. Here are two of the most popular vegan Instant Pot cookbooks:
Vegan Under Pressure by Jill Nussinow
The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook by Nisha Vora
3. A Vegan Cookbook
This is an obvious one. Personally, I would recommend picking a single cookbook that really suits the gift recipient’s tastes, skill level, or desire to cook, rather than throwing a bunch of random vegan cookbooks at the problem (of choosing a gift).
- Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz – I love this cookbook because the recipes are interesting takes on comfort food but most importantly they’re not too complicated and don’t take too long. The deviled potatoes and chocolate peanut butter cookies are always a hit.
- The Seitanic Spellbook by the Vegan Black Metal Chef – the perfect gift for a vegan or vegetarian metalhead!
- Crossroads by Tal Ronnen – This book of recipes from one of the top vegan restaurants in the world is for gourmands. These recipes are amazing but can take a whole evening to prepare. I made the homemade ravioli with my friend who had a pasta maker and it was so delicious.
- Afro-Vegan by Bryant Terry – vegan versions of classic dishes from the African diaspora by James Beard-award winning food justice activist.
- Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon – the best cookbook for health-conscious vegans.
- The Homemade Vegan Pantry by Miyoko Schinner – another book for serious cooks, this is written by one of the most prominent vegan cheesemakers.
4. Send Vegan Sweets and Treats!
Lagusta’s Luscious – a friend sent me a box of their vegan macarons once and it made my day! It’s since become my go-to for sending vegan sweets. Lagusta’s Luscious uses only ethically sourced cocoa, ingredients from small and local farmers, and their sustainable packaging includes compostable ribbons. For Hanukkah they have hand-dipped chocolate dreidels, gelt, and an entire Festival of Lights gift box.
Sweets that support Farm Sanctuary – send sweets while supporting a worthy cause by shopping from Farm Sanctuary’s Sweet Shoppe.
5. Vegan Leather Basics
Find a vegan gift they’ll use every day like a belt, wallet, or handbag.
- Check out our directories of 100% vegan brands for wallets, belts, and bags in a range of prices and materials.
- Or get a gift certificate for a fashionable vegan shop like Moo Shoes or Brave Gentleman.
Piñatex pouches from Hozen. Piñatex is a vegan leather made from waste from the pineapple industry:
6. For the Vegan Artist, Crafter, Photographer, Musician …
- Art Supplies – Art supplies often have hidden ingredients from slaughtered animals so it can be a pain to shop for them. Check out our list of vegan art supplies including papers, markers, paints, and more, to make it easy! Let your giftee know you double-checked that a watercolor set doesn’t use animal ingredients like ox-gall and carmine and they’ll really appreciate it.
- Knitting and Crafting – find some great supplies for the knitters and crafters in your life at Vegan Yarn and Things Human.
- Couch Vegan Guitar Straps – Couch is an all vegan brand that specializes in making guitar straps from deadstock automotive fabric. They have a lot of different cool designs. I play with the one made from fabric for the 1985 VW Golf GTI.
- Couch Vegan Camera Straps – and they also make camera straps!
7. Reusable insulated bottles and cups
Reusable bottles and cups are great for keeping beverages hot or cold, and saving money and plastic. I don’t go anywhere without my Hydroflask water bottle, and my husband takes his refillable cup to our corner shop for iced coffee on the way to work.
8. Beauty and personal care products
This migrator kit from Meow Meow Tweet is perfect for a vegan who travels, values sustainable packaging, or has sensitive skin. It comes with everything you need to cleanse, nourish, and moisturize your skin, and is available in citrus or lavender.
Someone whose recently gone vegan might be having trouble finding vegan replacements for their personal care regimen. A one-off sampler box or subscription to LoveGoodly is a great way to try out a variety of vegan brands and products.
Another option is try to find out your gift recipient’s favorite vegan brand and buy a gift card.
9. Fine Vegan Cheeses
For former dairy cheese lovers, create a vegan cheese basket! Look out for fine vegan cheeses at your local grocery or specialty store, or pick up a vegan cheese-making book.
- Mikoyo’s cheese – find these fine cheeses in your specialty grocery store or order them online.
- Artisan Vegan Cheese Cookbook by Miyoko Schinner – a guide to vegan cheesemaking from one of the pioneers in the field.
10. Fun Vegan T-Shirts
There are a lot of brands making vegan message shirts. My favorite is Compassion Co.
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Also, this T-shirt is so terrible that it makes me laugh. Maybe it’s perfect for someone you know who is into fitness.
For a list of brands making vegan message clothing, check out the bottom half of the page on our vegan clothing directory.
11. More Cooking Tools
Besides the Instant Pot, here are some other popular vegan cooking tools:
- Food Dehydrator – a food dehydrator is great gift for someone who already has the kitchen essentials and likes to make use of leftovers or is interested in raw cooking. With a dehydrator, you can make kale chips, dry your own herbs, flowers, and fruits, make fruit leather, and raw breads and desserts. Here’s the most popular cheaper hydrator, and the most popular high-end hydrator.
- Blender – a blender is a vegan kitchen essential, great for making smoothies, sauces, soups, and more. If money is no object, then consider the Cadillac of blenders, the Vitamix. Mid-priced Kitchen-Aid blenders come in a variety of really stylish colors. Ninja blenders are a popular cheaper option.
- Kitchen Accessories – Then there are themed cooking accessories like this cute “kiss the vegan chef” apron or this vegan witches apron.
12. Books Related to Veganism
- “Mercy for Animals: One Man’s Quest to Inspire Passion and Improve the Lives of Farm Animals” tells the inspiring story of how then teenage Milo Runkle founded one of the most effective worldwide animal advocacy organizations.
- “The Sexual Politics of Meat” by Carol J. Adams is a feminist classic that dissects patriarchal society’s obsession with meat.
- “Animal Liberation” by the well-known philosopher Peter Singer is a classic of the animal rights movement. Singer’s principle of equal consideration is hard to argue with and the sections on animal testing and factory farming come with boatloads of facts and references. Even if the reader already agrees with Singer, it’s useful to read how he articulates his positions so clearly with references to back them up.
13. Socks!
I know I said not every vegan wants socks with avocados on them, but some certainly do! Socks are somewhat of a traditional Hanukkah gift, and they also make great stocking stuffers. Use code DOUBLECHECKVEGAN for 20% off your purchase of novelty as well as plain socks and glitter socks from Kabak.
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For more sock options, check out our directory of vegan sock brands.
14. Shop from established animal charities.
These animal charities sell holiday gift baskets, housewares, T-shirts, ornaments, and more:
I hope you found this list of vegan gift ideas useful. Mom, if you’re reading this, I already have all the cookbooks.
What do you think?