Ina Garten is the queen of easy Thanksgiving. Here are 9 recipes we think should be on your menu this year.
Insider's food reporters Anneta Konstantinides and Rachel Askinasi love making Ina Garten's recipes.
They've made plenty of her appetizers, side dishes, and main courses for Thanksgiving.
From corn bread and mac and cheese to turkey and potato gratin, here are Garten's best holiday recipes.
Ina Garten is the queen of holiday hosting, and we think some of her recipes are worthy of a spot on your Thanksgiving table.
From one-pot chicken dishes to iconic chocolate cakes, Insider reporters Rachel Askinasi and Anneta Konstantinides have tested out dozens of Garten's recipes in their own kitchens.
But when it comes to which dishes to include in your holiday feast, they think these nine recipes should definitely make the cut.
Garten says her go-to homemade appetizer is a batch of chipotle cheddar crackers, and Askinasi agrees that they can be a hit.
When it comes to appetizers, the Barefoot Contessa says she likes to make one item and then buy the rest. She told Bon Appétit that her tried and true homemade dish for this purpose is a serving of chipotle cheddar crackers.
Garten says she keeps a log of the cracker dough in her freezer. This way, even if she has some surprise guests over for drinks, she can pull them out and bake off a few as she needs them.
Askinasi tried this recipe and said they tasted just like Cheez-It crackers, but with the consistency of a biscuit. She thinks these could be a pre-meal crowd-pleaser at your Thanksgiving gathering.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's chipotle cheddar crackers here.
Garten says this brown-butter skillet corn bread is the best she's ever made, and Konstantinides felt exactly the same.
Konstantinides first made Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread for Friendsgiving last year, and it was the biggest hit on the menu.
The corn bread — which serves 10 to 12 people — has a gorgeous golden-brown hue, making it the perfect centerpiece at the Thanksgiving table.
Garten's corn bread also tasted deliciously fluffy and moist, with a salty and crunchy crust and delightfully sweet filling. No one could resist getting seconds, and the leftovers still tasted just as fresh on the second and third day.
The recipe was also super easy, even for a novice baker like Konstantinides. It's no wonder the brown-butter skillet corn bread has won a permanent spot in her holiday cooking repertoire.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread here.
Garten's overnight mac and cheese is the perfect make-ahead dish.
Konstantinides loves making — and ranking — Garten's pasta recipes, and this overnight mac and cheese is among her favorites.
Garten calls this recipe the "creamiest, crustiest, most delicious mac and cheese" that she's ever made. It features cavatappi or elbow macaroni, heavy cream, Gruyère and sharp white cheddar cheeses, nutmeg, breadcrumbs, and plenty of butter.
Konstantinides made the dish the night before her Friendsgiving and just threw it in the oven when her party started. It was ready in less than 30 minutes and made a big day of cooking much less stressful.
And the mac and cheese was so delicious. The breadcrumb crust gave each bite a lovely crunch, and the creamy sauce was decadent without overpowering the dish. One of Konstantinides' friends said it felt like "a hug in your mouth."
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's overnight mac and cheese here.
And her easy turkey-breast recipe might save your meal at the last minute.
Whether you're looking to keep the main dish low-lift this year, or you find out you're in charge of cooking turkey the day before Thanksgiving, Askinasi says this recipe should be your go-to.
While Askinasi doesn't love turkey herself, she said this recipe made her rethink her stance a bit.
Askinasi said the dish was easy to pull together and didn't require the same amount of time and prep as cooking a full-size bird does, which makes it ideal for last-minute chefs.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's herb-roasted turkey breast here.
If you're not in need of a protein, Askinasi thinks this wet rub from Garten's turkey recipe is still worth making.
Askinasi said this quick marinade was her favorite part of the turkey-breast recipe — so much so, that she used it in other ways throughout her meal.
The home cook used the extra rub to season her green beans, sauce up her potatoes, and even served it as a general dipping sauce on her table.
Askinasi says that even if you're not making Garten's turkey breast, you should pull out this part of the recipe and add some bright, citrusy, fresh-herb flavors to your otherwise rich plate.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's lemony, herby turkey rub here.
Garten's parmesan smashed potatoes are a fun twist on a Thanksgiving classic.
Garten's parmesan smashed potatoes, which serve six to eight people, feature red potatoes, unsalted butter, half and half, sour cream, and freshly-grated parmesan cheese.
Mashed potatoes were never Konstantinides' favorite Thanksgiving dish (her family always opted for the boxed variety), but Garten's parmesan smashed potatoes blew her away. The potatoes were delightfully thick, deliciously creamy, and packed with tons of flavor thanks to the salty parmesan and subtly-sweet potatoes.
The parmesan smashed potatoes were also a huge hit at Konstantinides' Friendsgiving, with one friend calling them "the best mashed potatoes" they've ever had. And the recipe was incredibly easy and quick. After giving the potatoes some time to just sit on the stove, Konstantinides barely had to do five minutes of work. It's another great make-ahead dish from the queen of hosting.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's parmesan smashed potatoes here.
And Garten's roasted rosemary potatoes are the easiest Thanksgiving side dish.
If you're looking for something a little more classic, Konstantinides recommends trying Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes instead.
Garten's recipe takes less time — and has far fewer steps — than Emily Blunt's roast potatoes, which crashed the "Barefoot Contessa" website in 2020. But Konstantinides was surprised to find that they were just as impressive.
The recipe only requires a few basic ingredients: small red and white-skinned potatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh rosemary leaves. And the potatoes looked gorgeous when they came out of the oven.
Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes were also a major crowd-pleaser. They had a deliciously crispy exterior that gave way to a perfectly warm and creamy middle, and the rosemary added a burst of surprising flavor to the dish. With so many dishes to juggle on the menu, Garten's recipe is a great way to get delicious potatoes on the table with as little effort as possible.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes here.
But if you want to try Konstantinides' favorite "Barefoot Contessa" potato dish, you have to make her potato-fennel gratin.
Garten's potato-fennel gratin recipe appeared in her very first cookbook, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook." It was also one of the first dishes Konstantinides made when she began teaching herself how to cook, so she can attest that this dish is 100% foolproof.
The dish only requires a few main ingredients: russet potatoes, one small fennel bulb, yellow onion, Gruyère cheese, and heavy cream. And it's so comforting.
Garten's gratin is deliciously creamy and satisfying thanks to the Gruyère, and the potatoes are perfectly cooked. The fennel also adds a lovely mild sweetness that cuts through the saltiness of the cheese.
The potato-fennel gratin goes with just about anything, and Konstantinides now makes it for her family every holiday season. Better yet? You can even make it ahead. Garten says her gratin can be cooked the day before and reheated for 30 minutes — perfect if you want to save some time on Thanksgiving.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's potato-fennel gratin here.
When it comes to dessert, Askinasi thinks these massive chocolate-chip cookies are certainly impressive.
Garten said in an Instagram post that these cookies are "chocolatey, crisp, and a little salty." And after baking them in her own kitchen, our reporter agreed.
What makes these cookies special is that they're super thin and ripple out from the middle to the edges. This wrinkly effect is due to Garten's tip for banging the pan on a counter or stovetop several times throughout the baking process.
Askinasi said these cookies came out both sweet and salty, and the texture was a combination of crispy, flaky, crunchy, and gooey.
While she said it was annoying to have to tend to them every few minutes, the finished product was well worth the effort.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's giant crinkled chocolate-chip cookies here.
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