20 of Ina Garten’s Best Recipes

Behold, our favorite recipes from pretty much everyone’s favorite cookbook author, Ina Garten. You’ll find an array of ways her talent has taken form over the years, from cocktails to roast chicken, breakfast scones to a cool summer salad. Quality food for quality time with your loved ones.

A saucepan filled with Ina Garten's mashed potatoes with lemon and black pepper and a whole lemon and zester next to it.
Cooking the potatoes in less water than usual and gradually mashing in bits of chilled butter are the details that make this recipe special.
Recipe
Ten Stilton and walnut crackers arranged in rows on a sheet of parchment.
I came across this very British cracker in London—a savory shortbread made with Stilton and walnuts. I make extra rolls of dough and freeze them unbaked so I can just defrost, slice, and bake the crackers before guests arrive. Everyone loves these and there are never any leftovers!
Recipe
Ina Garten Chicken breaded and cooked on a sheet pan.
: The View from Great Island Just look at the crunchy mustard-and-thyme crumb coating on this chicken. This is one of those recipes to make and memorize–it’s perfect for everyday meals, but also great for entertaining.
Recipe
A baking sheet with seven chocolate pecan scones.
Okay, I have a thing about scones. When they’re good, they’re light and flaky and full of flavor. Be sure to use really good chocolate that you dice by hand so there are puddles of melted chocolate when you bite into them. And trust me, four teaspoons of Diamond Crystal kosher salt may sound like a lot but it makes all the difference.
Recipe
A partially cut orange chocolate chunk cake on a round wire rack.
This orange chocolate chunk cake turns out a beautiful Bundt cake that's studded with chocolate chunks and topped, if desired, with ganache.
Recipe
Ina Garten's lemon chicken roasted on top of a bed of bread croutons and lemon wedges ina cast iron pan.
Ina Garten’s lemon chicken is “the best roast chicken I’ve ever made.” That’s what we hear time after time from everyone we know who makes this roast chicken from the Barefoot Contessa. Tasting is believing.
Recipe
Chipotle Parmesan Sweet Corn
: Quentin Bacon What’s not to love here? Corn, shallots, chipotle powder, lime, and Parm cheese. And it takes no time at all. To quote the Contessa herself, How easy is that?
Recipe
A bowl filled with Ina Garten's rosemary cashews with a sprig of rosemary on the side.
Ina Garten’s rosemary cashews are sweet and spicy and certain to start conversations. The inspired blend of cayenne, brown sugar, rosemary, and salt is perfectly spiced and just salty enough to be perfect with cocktails.
Recipe
A grilled cheese sandwich cut into cubes of grilled cheese croutons.
These are very easy to make if you have an electric panini grill but, of course, you can always make them the traditional way in a frying pan.
Recipe
Two flutes filled with French 75 cocktail on a wooden table with a notebook and a plate of lemon slices nearby.
Dear friends of ours who love great cocktails brought me Brian Van Flandern’s inspired first cocktail book, called Vintage Cocktails, and I’ve bought every book he’s written since. This very special Champagne cocktail from his book is both sweet and lemony, with the rich flavor of Cognac.
Recipe
Raspberry Rhubarb Crostata
: Quentin Bacon Nothing screams early summer like the tart flavor of rhubarb. Mix it with some sweet raspberry and a butter crust, and you’ve got summer on a plate.
Recipe
Three round casserole dishes filled with baked pasta with tomatoes and eggplant.
These are what you'd call "two-fers." No one loves reheating something they served for dinner a second day, but with two-fers, the leftovers become something totally different. This is one of those recipes: you make the tomato and eggplant soup for dinner one night and use the leftover soup as a pasta sauce the next.
Recipe
Ina Garten's lemon cake, a pound cake, on a cutting board, drizzled with a lemon glaze
This lemon cake is similar to a classic, old-fashioned pound cake but not quite so dense. It's magnificently buttery and exponentially lemony thanks to a tart soak in a lemon and sugar syrup and a drizzle of lemony confectioners' sugar glaze.
Recipe
A large pot of Ina Garten's easy tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich being cut into croutons beside it.
This tomato soup is spiced with saffron, which has enough flavor to stand up to the Gruyère in the croutons. And the whole thing is awfully easy to put together, beating out anything from a can, anyday.
Recipe
Asparagus and Prosciutto Bundles
: Quentin Bacon Elegant, easy, and eminently make-ahead-able, these Asparagus and Prosciutto Bundles are great for company, casual lunches on the patio, and Sunday suppers.
Recipe
Wood bowl of panzanella from Ina Garten with bread chunks, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, basil, and parsley
This panzanella, aka Tuscan bread salad, is simply croutons made from day-old bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, red and yellow bell peppers, onions, and a tangy vinaigrette. An Italian classic that is refreshing and takes no time to make. How easy is that!
Recipe
A skillet full of Ina Garten's caramelized shallots, garnished with parsley.
These caramelized shallots are made by roasting shallots low and slow in butter, sugar, and vinegar until softened and sweet and tangy. An exceptional and impressive side dish for any occasion.
Recipe
A sidecar cocktail, ice cubes and a dried cherry garnish, in a highball glass with a sugared rim.
This sidecar cocktail is just the right mix of lemon juice, Cognac, and Grand Marnier. I decided to tackle the recipe (I know, my job is grueling) and came up with my version, which I think hits all the right notes.
Recipe
A Barefoot Contessa baba au rhum on a white plate, topped with whipped cream.
This baba au rhum is a classic French cake studded with currants, soaked with a vanilla-rum sauce, and brushed with apricot glaze.
Recipe

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