Baking and cooking hit a new high this year. But that doesn’t mean all of us have become great home cooks and bakers.

For those who need a little help or want to give the gift of DIY-with-assistance, or for those who feel apprehensive about dining out at the moment but want a sense of eventfulness and activity with their meals, here are a few meal-kit options from local culinaristas—with some international flair. 

Can’t vacation somewhere warm but want to recapture the flavour? Consider ¿Cómo? Taperia’s options for Spanish food at home. The Como en Casa Tapas for Two ($60) features Gildas (skewered peppers, anchovies, and olives), goat cheese–stuffed peppers, marinated olives, pan con tomate, Ramón Peña mussels in escabeche, a “bikini” sandwich, garlic shrimp, and creme “cata-flan”. Meanwhile, the Como en Casa Dinner Kit for Two ($90) offers Gildas, daily croquetas, octopus, beef cheek, garlic shrimp, pan con tomate, marinated olives, creme cata-flan, and a bottle of Bonaval Cava sparkling from Catalonia. ¡Que aproveche!

For fresh-baked pizza fun without the fuss or muss but with all the great aroma, Rocky Mountain Flatbread’s Frying Pan Pizza Kits have all the ingredients—including the already kneaded double-fermented organic dough—ready to go. There’s the Margherita Frying Pan Pizza Kit ($26), with two pizzas for two adults (who are kids at heart); the Kids Frying Pan Pizza Kit ($22), with warmable double-chocolate brownies and two smaller pizzas for young gobblers; and the delectable Cosmonaut Cocktail Kit ($26)—with housemade ginger syrup, ginger ale, and vodka—for two grownups. Vegan, gluten-free, and meat options are all available by request, too.

Here in Sushicouver, Orizumé, which specializes in high-end bento, is offering four prepared holiday boxes (from $110 to $450). But to get the hands-on experience, there’s the hand-roll kit ($250, serves four to five people) for temaki (cone-shaped sushi) that comes with eight kinds of seafood and vegetables (from red snapper and sockeye salmon to egg omelette and pickled radish), nori sheets, and sushi rice.

For more hand-rolling fun, bento-box specialists Takenaka over in East Vancouver also offer a family-sized Uni Lovers Home Temaki Kit ($70) that provides everything that diners need for creating their own five servings of uni (sea urchin) temaki. But for those interested in prepared meals, check out their other family-sized options.

For the main event, the Terminal City Club has several holiday meal kits with everything prepped to pop into the oven. The Holiday Turkey Meal Kit ($275), with oven-ready marinated raw turkey breast and confit turkey leg, accompanied with sides such as butternut-squash soup, apple-walnut stuffing, Asiago potato au gratin, and maple butter carrots. Want plant-based? There’s the Holiday Vegan Meal Kit ($100 for two to four people), with celeriac soup, apple-walnut–stuffed butternut squash, savoury cauliflower chickpea hot cakes, maple-caramelized yams, and plenty more. Meanwhile, the Holiday Prime Rib Kit ($295 for four to six people) features a 2.5-kilogram oven-ready prime-rib roast with butternut-squash soup, Brussels sprouts, and more, capped off with Yorkshire pudding.

In the sweet-tooth department, Edge Catering’s Festive Cookie Decorating Kits ($45) feature 12 assorted butter and gingerbread cookies in various shapes ready to be adorned with accompanying icing, sprinkles, and more. But if you’re too busy (or lazy) and want something already made, there’s the Festive Baking Favourites ($30)—a box of tarts, squares, shortbread, and Linzers—to devour at leisure.