Nigella Lawson reveals the £25 kitchen appliance she loves to give as a Christmas gift – she uses it herself 'thrice weekly'

Nigella Lawson has added another accolade to her many well-won titles. The TV chef, cookbook author and cooking extraordinaire can now add gift curator to the list, with her recent round-up on Instagram of a 'list of Christmas presents for the food focussed'.

Though all of the gift recommendations, which range from kimchi fermented hot sauce to speciality peppercorns, sound great, I think there’s a clear standout if you’re looking to shop like Nigella does this year. My favourite? Nigella's pick of one of the best rice cookers you can buy - which might not be what you were expecting.

Here’s why the Ideal Home team agree with Nigella that a rice cooker is the most practical gift that you can pick up right now and still have delivered in time for Christmas.

Nigella's perfect gift for foodies

Nigella's gift of the season, which she says in a post on her Instagram is 'supremely useful and reward-yielding' is a Judge Small Electric Rice Cooker, which is available right now for just £25.75 on Amazon.

The inspiration for this gift is straight from Nigella's kitchen. She says she uses her own version of this rice cooker sometimes 'thrice weekly' when she doesn't want to get her 'proper big rice cooker' out of storage.

She adds that while it's the perfect gift for those who live alone or in a couple, if you're cooking white rice then you can quite easily eke out 4 portions in this cooker.

In our search to test out top-rated rice cookers on the market, we tried another product from the same brand Judge, taking it's family-sized offering for a spin. Like Nigella, we were impressed finding that it had an 'unfussy design' and was a 'breeze to keep clean'.

Rice cookers are also a firm favourite of the Ideal Home team, with Deputy Digital Editor Rebecca Knight saying that one is 'classed as such an essential in my household that was I was given a mini Lakeland one (£39.99) as my first housewarming gift by my mum.'

Even years after receiving it, she is still impressed by the abilities of her own affordable rice cooker. 'It is a godsend for busy families or hosting friends for dinner, and after trying to cook rice in both a pan and this little rice cooker many times, the results and ease of the latter are always the best!'

So there you have it. Though you might not have expected it, it seems like a rice cooker is a well-deserved winner of the title of gift of the season. Will you be gifting one this year?