White Elephant Gift Ideas for Adults That Get Stolen
A white elephant exchange is won by the gift that changes hands three times. The box people fight over is rarely the funniest one in the pile or the most expensive. It is the one everyone at the table can picture using by the weekend. Food is good at that. It can be shared, nobody has to find room for it in a closet, and a strange-sounding chocolate bar or a spicy tin gives the room something to talk about while it is being stolen.
This guide covers the rules in one paragraph, six gifts at $20, $25 and $50 from listed prices, the gag gift that also tastes good, and how to wrap a box so it gets picked.
White elephant rules in one paragraph
Everyone brings one wrapped gift at an agreed spending limit and adds it to a pile. Players draw numbers. The first player opens a gift from the pile. Each player after that either opens a new gift or steals one that has already been opened, and a player whose gift is stolen picks again. Two house rules are worth settling before the first number is drawn: a steal cap (after two or three steals, a gift is frozen with its current owner) and whether the first player gets one last swap at the end. White elephant differs from Secret Santa in the way that matters for shopping. A Secret Santa giver is assigned one named person; a white elephant giver has no idea who will take the gift home, so it has to work for anyone in the room.
What makes a white elephant gift get stolen
- Everyone can use it. Food and drink suit almost any adult, and they get used up.
- It has a story. A gift that makes someone say "wait, what is that" gets passed around and then stolen.
- It opens well. Several small things in one box look generous when the paper comes off.
- It respects the limit. Going far over the agreed amount makes the rest of the pile look small.
White elephant gifts around $20
The steak chocolate bar: the gag gift that tastes good
Chocolate Naive, the Lithuanian bean-to-bar maker founded by Domantas Uzpalis, makes a dark milk chocolate bar with dry-aged beef in it. The maker dry-ages grass-fed Black Angus sirloin and then dries it gently at low temperature in a vacuum before it goes into chocolate with a minimum of 62% cacao, along with lingonberries, sea salt and black pepper (shop the Naive dry-aged beef chocolate bar). It reads as a joke when it is unwrapped and then gets eaten. Add a Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar, peanut butter, pretzel, crispy rice and fleur de sel caramel layered with 66% dark chocolate, for a second bar that needs no explaining (shop the Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar). Together: $18.48.
Swedish candy and Icelandic toffee
BonBon's Sweet Wild Strawberry Fish are a vegan and gluten-free take on the Swedish fish shape, flavored with wild strawberry (shop BonBon Sweet Wild Strawberry Fish). Pair the bag with Omnom's Sea Salted Toffee, a toffee milk chocolate sprinkled with Icelandic sea salt from a chocolate factory in Reykjavík (shop Omnom Sea Salted Toffee). Together: $16.49. The Swedish candy guide covers the rest of the category.
White elephant gifts around $25
A three-tin flight
Three tins from José Gourmet, the Lisbon conservas brand launched in 2008, make a small tasting in one box. Spiced small sardines are petinga sardines with piri-piri and laurel, packed with pickles, cloves, carrots and pepper (shop José Gourmet spiced small sardines). Sardines with lemon and olive oil are the mild one (shop José Gourmet sardines with lemon). The spiced sardine pâté is seasoned with tomato, white pepper and piri-piri, for spreading on toast (shop José Gourmet spiced sardine pâté). Together: $23.47. The tinned fish collection has more, and the guide to serving sardines straight from the tin covers what to do once the box is stolen.
Hot honey
Bushwick Kitchen's Bees Knees Spicy Honey blends wildflower honeys from the USA and Argentina with habanero, and the Brooklyn maker has made it since 2014. The maker suggests it on pizza, in margaritas and on cheese plates (shop Bees Knees Spicy Honey). With a Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar tucked beside it: $23.49. The hot honey guide has more ways to use it.
White elephant gifts around $50
A Manhattan kit, minus the whiskey
Luxardo Original Maraschino Cherries are candied marasca cherries packed in marasca cherry syrup, with no thickeners or preservatives and a deep red color that comes from the fruit itself, from a family company established in 1821 (shop Luxardo Maraschino Cherries). Angostura aromatic bitters have been made to the same recipe since 1824 (shop Angostura aromatic bitters, 4 oz). A Cocktail Kingdom Japanese-style jigger measures 1 ounce on one side and 1.5 ounces on the other, with half- and three-quarter-ounce marks inside (shop the Japanese-style jigger). Together: $39.49. Whoever takes it home brings the whiskey.
A spicy tinned fish night
Ekone Oyster Co. grows Pacific oysters in Willapa Bay on the Washington coast, then steams, opens and brines them in small batches at its cannery in Bay Center; the habanero version brings the heat (shop Ekone habanero smoked oysters). Ramón Peña, the Galician conservas producer, adds a fried green padrón pepper to its Gold Line sardines (shop Ramón Peña sardines with padrón pepper). Add the Bees Knees hot honey for the crackers. Together: $45.98.
White elephant gifts by spending limit
| Limit | Gift | What goes in | Listed price |
|---|---|---|---|
| $20 | The steak chocolate bar | Naive dry-aged beef bar, Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar | $18.48 |
| $20 | Swedish candy and toffee | BonBon Sweet Wild Strawberry Fish, Omnom Sea Salted Toffee | $16.49 |
| $25 | A three-tin flight | José Gourmet spiced small sardines, sardines with lemon, spiced sardine pâté | $23.47 |
| $25 | Hot honey | Bees Knees Spicy Honey, Mayana Kitchen Sink mini bar | $23.49 |
| $50 | A Manhattan kit | Luxardo cherries, Angostura bitters 4 oz, Japanese-style jigger | $39.49 |
| $50 | A spicy tinned fish night | Ekone habanero smoked oysters, Ramón Peña sardines with padrón pepper, Bees Knees Spicy Honey | $45.98 |
Prices follow the listed price on each product page. Products ship across the continental U.S. from theambrosianpantry.com, so a box ordered for an office party can go straight to the host.
How to wrap a white elephant gift so it gets picked
- Hide the shape. A tin looks like a tin. Put small things in a larger box so nobody can guess from across the room.
- Make it one gift. Two or three items in a single box, tied once, read as one generous present rather than a handful of extras.
- Add weight. A heavy box gets picked early. Jars and tins do that on their own.
- Write a line inside. A small card that says what to eat it with ("open the tin, add crackers, pour the honey over the cheese") turns a gift into a plan.
The gift boxes and baskets collection has plain boxes that hold a few jars and tins.
Short answers
What is a good white elephant gift for adults? Something everyone at the table could use, with a story to it: a strange chocolate bar, a flight of tins, a jar of hot honey or a small cocktail kit.
How much should a white elephant gift cost? Whatever limit the group sets, and close to it. This guide has gifts at $20, $25 and $50.
What is the difference between white elephant and Secret Santa? In Secret Santa each giver shops for one named person. In white elephant the gifts go into a pile and can be stolen, so the giver shops for anyone.
Is food a good white elephant gift? Yes. It suits almost anyone, it gets used up, and a few jars and tins open well in front of a room.
The gift that ends the night with three steals on it is usually the one people want to eat on Sunday. For more small gifts, the stocking stuffers for adults guide works for the same budgets, and the fine food gifts by budget guide goes up to $100.
