Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes couldn't be easier to make. All you need are small red and white-skinned potatoes, fresh rosemary leaves, garlic, and olive oil.

And after tossing all the ingredients together, you just need to throw the potatoes in the oven for an hour.

Just because they're in sixth place doesn't mean Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes aren't delicious — the competition is just that fierce when it comes to "Barefoot Contessa" potato dishes.

The potatoes develop a beautiful golden color in the oven, and the pop of rosemary makes for a lovely Instagram photo. Plus, this dish makes your kitchen smell incredible.

Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes are also deliciously crispy, with a soft and creamy middle. Both of my parents were huge fans of the dish and liked that it was a lighter alternative to mashed potatoes or a gratin.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes here.

Garten loves to give a new twist to a classic dish, and her Parmesan smashed potatoes are no different. Her recipe involves smashing the potatoes with an electric mixer, a great time-saving technique. It features unpeeled red potatoes, half-and-half, sour cream, butter, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

"The key to mashed potatoes is what you add to them to make them have great flavor," Garten told Al Roker while demonstrating this dish on his podcast, "Cooking Up a Storm with Al Roker," in November 2021. "Two things people really miss a lot, in almost every recipe, is the salt. It needs a lot of salt to give it flavor."

I love the texture of these thick and creamy potatoes, and the salty sharpness of the Parmesan pairs really well with the subtly sweet red potatoes. I made these for the first time at a Friendsgiving, and they were a huge hit with my boyfriend and friends.

"The smashed potatoes were deliciously salty and also not overcooked," my boyfriend said. "They still had a bit of texture to them — it wasn't just like a bowl of soup."

"The best mashed potatoes I've had!" our friend Kayla added. "So creamy and thick."

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's Parmesan smashed potatoes.

I know what you're thinking: How can store-bought mashed potatoes be so high on this list?

But if anyone can elevate something from the supermarket, it's the Barefoot Contessa.

Garten developed this recipe, a spin on her Parmesan smashed potatoes, for The New York Times in 2022 after declaring that she was burned out from cooking.

"Mashed potatoes are an essential Thanksgiving side dish but can be time-consuming," she wrote. "Instead of starting with raw potatoes, then peeling, cutting, and boiling them, start with these prepared potatoes, and no one will know you didn't make the dish from scratch."

Garten's recipe features a pack of refrigerated mashed potatoes, plus butter, sour cream, and freshly grated parmesan cheese. All you have to do is heat the refrigerated potatoes over a pan of simmering water and then throw in the extra ingredients.

Garten's elevated mashed potatoes were super creamy, with the Parmesan cheese infusing each bite with a lovely richness. I made these for my parents when I was home for Thanksgiving and they couldn't tell the mashed potatoes were store-bought.

What's really great about the recipe is how quick it is. You could easily whip up these mashed potatoes in less than 20 minutes and have a side dish everyone will love.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's elevated store-bought mashed potatoes here.

Garten uses diced instead of shredded potatoes for her hash browns, and Jeffrey — her husband of 56 years — is a huge fan.

"When my husband tasted them, he wanted to know if he could have them for dinner!" Garten writes. "Hey, why not? What makes him happy is just fine with me."

Garten's hash browns feature boiling potatoes, chopped yellow onions, butter, scallions, and fresh flat-leaf parsley.

Garten's hash browns were a huge hit when I whipped these up for brunch with my boyfriend and our friends.

The potatoes have a deliciously crispy exterior that gives way to the soft and creamy middle, and the parsley and scallions add so much extra flavor. One friend loved these so much they declared they could've eaten the whole pot.

I served the hash browns with Garten's sweet banana pancakes (also very delicious), but I think they'd also pair well with chicken, turkey, or any other holiday centerpiece.

Get the full recipe for Garten's hash browns here.

Emily Blunt's English roasted potatoes were such a hit that the "Barefoot Contessa" website temporarily crashed when Garten shared the recipe in May 2020.

Blunt taught Garten how to make her family's special recipe for roasted potatoes on a 2018 episode of "Barefoot Contessa." The simple dish only requires two main ingredients — Yukon Gold potatoes and parsley — and features some helpful cooking tips.

After parboiling the potatoes, Blunt shakes them in the pot to help roughen up the edges.

"If you rough up the edges, once you roast them, it just gives a really nice, sort of crispy, crunch," Blunt explained to Garten during the episode.

Blunt also lets the potatoes dry for 15 minutes before baking them, which she said creates "such a fantastic crust on the outside."

I will always love my dad's recipe for Greek roasted potatoes above all, but these English roasted potatoes are a close second.

Blunt's two quick tricks really pay off in terms of texture. There's such a satisfying crunch on the crust of the potatoes, which are deliciously soft and creamy in the middle.

These potatoes go great with just about everything, but you'll definitely have a lot of happy guests if you make them for the holidays.

Get the full recipe for Emily Blunt's English roasted potatoes here.

Garten's potato-fennel gratin is the first dish I cooked for my family's holiday menu. The recipe, which appears in "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," features russet potatoes, fennel, yellow onion, heavy cream, and Gruyère cheese.

"I love to make potato gratin and fennel gratin, so I decided to combine the two," Garten writes in the recipe description. "If you make this in an old French gratin dish, it looks wonderful and can go from the oven to the table with style."

Garten's potato-fennel gratin is just so creamy, comforting, and delicious. The potatoes always come out perfectly cooked, the combination of heavy cream and cheese is a dream, and the sautéed fennel cuts through with some lovely sweetness.

The dish couldn't be easier to assemble, especially if you want to hand off a holiday cooking task to a younger chef in the family (or that cousin whose most-used app is DoorDash).

I make Garten's potato-fennel gratin every holiday season, and it's always one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's potato-fennel gratin here.

Fieri's recipe had some ingredients that made his roasted fingerling potatoes stand out.

For one, it contained nearly as many mushrooms as it did potatoes. But I love mushrooms, so this wasn't a problem for me.

The recipe also said to include thyme and rosemary, but I subbed thyme for oregano because I really dislike thyme.

Fieri's recipe instructions were simple.

I tossed all of the ingredients together except the butter, spread the potato and mushroom mixture on a sheet pan, and then placed little cubes of butter all over.

Although I expected the little fingerling potatoes to cook fairly quickly, I was skeptical they'd be done in 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was right.

After 20 minutes in the oven, my potatoes couldn't be pierced by a fork at all. They needed closer to 40 minutes at this lower temperature.

These potatoes tasted good, but they needed to be paired with a mushroom in every bite for the full flavor effect. The mushrooms seemed to absorb most of the herbs.

Fieri's potatoes weren't crispy — like I usually prefer — thanks to the added moisture from the mushrooms and butter. But these were a tasty alternative to my usual side dish.

Garten's garlic-roasted potatoes sounded delicious to me.

Aside from garlic and potatoes, other ingredients included salt, pepper, olive oil, and some fresh parsley.

Garten called for small red or white potatoes. I like both, but I used white for this recipe.

Because I have a mincing tool for garlic, it took very little time to prep this recipe.

I just needed to mix all the ingredients (minus the parsley) in a single bowl and lay the potatoes in a flat layer on a sheet pan.

Once my oven preheated to 400 degrees, I baked the potatoes for about 45 minutes. I turned them a couple of times while cooking, which helped make sure they got crispy all around.

When they were done, I quickly tossed them with a bit of fresh parsley.

After 45 minutes, the potatoes were nice and crispy, just how I like them.

I loved the texture, and the parsley added some freshness. But I would have loved even more herbs, like rosemary, for a more vibrant flavor.

Ray is known for her 30-minute recipes, and this hearty side dish is no exception.

The prep time only took me about five minutes, and there were only five ingredients.

Ray said to mix the ingredients right on the sheet pan rather than dirtying an extra dish, which made the prep even easier.

Then I popped the potatoes in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Ray's potatoes turned out to be a good balance of crispy, salty, and herby.

I could taste the rosemary in every bite. I also liked that the exteriors were slightly crisped, but the insides were really soft.

These didn't get quite as crispy as Garten's, but I still enjoyed them — especially since they only took 20 minutes.

It was really difficult to choose a favorite because I loved each recipe for different reasons.

Garten's potatoes were extra crispy, which I loved. And the mushrooms and herbs in Fieri's potatoes made them very flavorful.

If I had to choose a favorite, I'd go with Ray's roasted baby potatoes with rosemary. They were flavorful, and I liked that they were a little crispy but still really soft inside. Plus, they were super quick and easy.

This story was originally published on December 23, 2023, and most recently updated on December 20, 2024.

The recipe lists potatoes, an egg, flour, salt, and pepper. I was surprised to find that the recipe called for frying the latkes in clarified butter instead of oil. Eating foods fried in oil is part of Hanukkah tradition, so I was a bit skeptical about this change.

I managed to cut myself almost immediately. Grate with caution.

The resulting batter had the consistency of oatmeal.

The recipe includes instructions for how to make clarified butter. You can also just buy ghee at a grocery store and skip this step.

It reminded me of skimming the fat off the top of chicken soup. It was easy, but took extra time waiting for the solids to settle.

Garten's recipe instructs using a tablespoon of the potato mixture for each latke.

I also loved that frying the latkes in butter didn't make my entire apartment and person smell like oil. It's a strong scent that tends to linger. These just smelled mildly like melted butter, which was amazing.

Because there weren't any other added ingredients to the batter, the potato flavor shone through and the buttery crust was delicious.

It didn't have the oily taste of a traditional latke, but I actually preferred the milder taste of butter.

Stewart's recipe involved twice the amount of potatoes and eggs that were in Garten's, as well as additions like grated onion and beer.

Stewart's recipe says to reserve this potato juice, let the milky starch sink to the bottom, and pour off the liquid — similar to the clarified butter I made for Garten's recipe.

Grated onions are standard in latke recipes — beer, not as much. I was curious to see how it would affect the flavor and texture.

The larger latkes took much longer to fry than Garten's, and they were a little more unruly to flip. I'm still trying to get a resulting oil splash out of my favorite jeans.

I could already tell that these latkes were going to be the more traditional of the two.

I couldn't taste the beer, but the grated onion and the crispy, oily goodness created a sharper flavor that screamed Hanukkah to me.

Even though they're not fried in oil — which is kind of the point of eating them on this holiday — I enjoyed Garten's latkes more because they were easier and faster to make, and they had a mild, buttery flavor that I loved. But Stewart's recipe is perfect for traditionalists.

I know Fieri loves spice, so I wasn't surprised to see smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper on his ingredient list, alongside granulated garlic and onion powder.

His recipe also called for ground pork, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.

To my surprise, it didn't require any sort of liquid, like milk or eggs, which raised suspicions that these meatballs would be rather dry.

I measured out the various spices and seasonings and added them to a mixing bowl with the ground pork, combining everything with a fork.

But I quickly realized the easiest way to ensure all the spices were distributed evenly throughout the meat would be to mix it by hand.

I recommend popping on some thin gloves as the paprika and cayenne pepper can stain bare skin.

I began pinching small amounts of the meat mixture and weighing them into 2-ounce portions. Then, I rolled them into balls and arranged them on a tray lined with baking paper.

While I did this, I turned on the oven to let it preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once all the meatballs were prepared, I popped them straight into the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Fieri's recipe recommended 10 to 15 minutes, so I decided on a middle ground.

The meatballs filled my kitchen with the pleasant aroma of spices.

Because there was so little fat in the recipe, there also wasn't a lot of grease. But that meant these meatballs were quite hard and dry.

I enjoyed the flavors of the spices, but I think they definitely need a sauce.

Drummond's recipe had just a few more ingredients than Fieri's, but it involved fewer spices.

The addition of oats to bind the mixture, milk for moisture, and minced onions for flavor made it feel more like a classic meatball recipe.

Drummond calls for ground beef, but my local butcher had ground chuck, which has a higher fat content than ground beef. I was aware that my meatballs might turn out slightly greasier than the chef's, but I didn't mind.

Her recipe also included flour and oil for dredging and frying later on, as well as more onions, ketchup, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and sugar for a sauce.

Drummond specifically called for "very finely minced onions," which I struggled to cut. I did my best to chop the onions up small.

Aside from measuring out all the other ingredients, mincing the onion was the only prep required. I put everything in a mixing bowl with the ground beef before realizing I was meant to mix the beef and oats before adding everything else.

I figured it would be fine as everything gets mixed together anyway, so I continued with the recipe.

After mixing all the ingredients, I noticed how much looser the mixture felt compared to Fieri's. But it didn't seem too wet to roll into tablespoon-sized balls.

Once they were rolled out and arranged on a baking sheet, I covered them and let them firm up in the fridge.

I heated some oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet and dredged three or four meatballs in the flour while waiting for it to heat up.

Once the oil was hot, I added the flour-coated meatballs and let them sizzle, turning them over until they were light brown all over.

While my oven preheated to 350 F, I removed the browned meatballs from the heat and arranged them on a rectangular baking dish.

Once all the meatballs were browned and in the baking dish, I turned to Drummond's sauce recipe.

I minced more onions and mixed them in a bowl with ketchup, white vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and a couple of dashes of hot sauce.

I poured the sauce mixture all over the top of the meatballs, ensuring they were covered, and placed them in the oven for 40 minutes. The chef recommended 45, but mine were done quicker.

When I first opened the oven to remove the meatballs, I was hit by the acidic smell of the white vinegar, which was slightly unappealing.

But this quickly dissipated, and the resulting dish was very tasty. I was impressed by how moist and tender the meatballs were, and I enjoyed the extra flavor that came from browning them first.

The tangy sauce was also a good complement to the meatballs.

Garten's recipe had the longest ingredient list, including three types of meat: ground pork, ground sirloin, and ground veal.

She also called for fresh Italian pecorino cheese, fresh Italian Parmesan, bread crumbs, minced garlic, fresh parsley, and pepper.

The wet ingredients in the recipe included water, two extra-large eggs (lightly beaten), and ¾ cups of dry red wine (I went with Rosso).

Garten's recipe required the most prep. I grated both cheeses, minced the garlic and parsley, and measured out the bread crumbs.

Then, I added all three ground meats into a large bowl and mixed them together before adding the dry ingredients.

Once everything was thoroughly mixed, I poured in the red wine, eggs, and ¾ cup of water.

After combining all the ingredients, I began rolling the mixture into 2-ounce portions.

I arranged the balls on baking sheets and brushed each with olive oil, as Garten instructed.

Once my oven was preheated to 400 degrees, I popped the meatballs in and baked them for 30 minutes. The recipe said between 25 to 30 minutes, but I chose the top end to ensure the different meats were cooked all the way through.

When I pulled the meatballs out, I noticed most of them were surrounded by pools of grease.

They also smelled very strongly of cheese, which I would normally enjoy. However, in this instance, it was slightly off-putting for some reason.

The meatballs were well-seasoned, thanks to all the salt in the cheeses, but I was surprised to find that they were kind of dry.

I was sure all the liquid from the eggs, wine, and water would make them moist. Maybe the liquid escaped from the meat with the grease during the cooking process.

Still, in a tomato sauce with spaghetti or polenta, I think these meatballs would be quite delicious.

Drummond's recipe was the most classic and produced really delicious meatballs with good textures and flavors.

I kept a few to try with a different sauce, and they worked just as well, so they're also quite versatile.

Garten's was a more adventurous recipe. But it included a lot of expensive ingredients and didn't yield results that have me dying to make it again.

Fieri's meatballs were very tasty, but they needed a sauce to help the texture. Given the short ingredient list, though, they were probably the easiest to make.

This story was originally published on December 16, 2023, and most recently updated on December 13, 2024.

Click to check out the other celebrity-chef recipes we've put head-to-head so far.

When it comes to appetizers, the Barefoot Contessa says she likes to make one item and then buy the rest. In October 2022, 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. 

We thought this recipe tasted just like Cheez-It crackers but with the consistency of a biscuit. These could be a pre-meal crowd-pleaser at your Thanksgiving gathering.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's chipotle cheddar crackers here.

We first made Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread for Friendsgiving, 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. It's no wonder the brown-butter skillet corn bread has earned a permanent spot in our holiday cooking repertoire. 

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread here.

We love making — and ranking — Garten's pasta recipes, and this overnight mac and cheese is among our 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. 

This mac and cheese is the perfect make-ahead dish. We first made it the night before Friendsgiving and just threw it in the oven when the party started. It was ready in less than 30 minutes and made a big day of cooking much less stressful. Plus, it's extremely delicious. 

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's overnight mac and cheese here.

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, we think this recipe should be your go-to. 

This dish was easy to put together and doesn't require the same amount of time and prep as cooking a full-size bird, which makes it ideal for last-minute chefs. 

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's herb-roasted turkey breast here.

This quick marinade was our favorite part of the turkey-breast recipe. You can use the extra rub to season green beans, sauce up potatoes, or even serve it as a general dipping sauce for the table. 

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, which serve six to eight people, feature red potatoes, unsalted butter, half and half, sour cream, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. 

This dish blew us away. The potatoes were delightfully thick, deliciously creamy, and packed with tons of flavor thanks to the salty Parmesan and subtly sweet potatoes. One friend even said it was the best mashed potatoes they've ever tasted. 

And the recipe is incredibly easy and quick. After giving the potatoes some time to just sit on the stove, we 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.

If you're looking for something a little more classic, we recommend trying Garten's rosemary roasted potatoes instead. 

The recipe only requires a few basic ingredients: small red and white-skinned potatoes, garlic, olive oil, and fresh rosemary leaves.

The potatoes looked gorgeous when they came out of the oven, and were an instant 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.

Garten's potato-fennel gratin recipe appeared in her very first cookbook, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook."  It 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.

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.

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. 

These cookies were both sweet and salty, and their texture was a combination of crispy, flaky, crunchy, and gooey. The finished product was well worth the effort. 

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's giant crinkled chocolate-chip cookies here. 

To make Garten's "grown up" mac and cheese for four, you'll need:

• 4 cups elbow macaroni or cavatappi
• 4 slices white sandwich bread
• 8 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
• 6 ounces extra-sharp cheddar, grated
• 4 ounces blue cheese, crumbed (Garten recommends Roquefort)
• 8 ounces thick-sliced bacon
• 3 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons freshly-chopped basil leaves
• ½ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• Pinch of nutmeg

I arranged my bacon on a sheet pan in one layer. Garten recommends placing a baking rack over the sheet pan, but I didn't have one, so I just lined mine with aluminum foil to avoid making a greasy mess.

I cooked my bacon for 15 minutes, until the strips turned crisp, then transferred them to a plate lined with a paper towel.

I sliced the crusts off my sandwich bread, cut each slice into smaller pieces, and roughly chopped my basil.

Then, I threw my pasta into a large pot of boiling salted water, letting it cook for around six minutes. I opted for cavatappi over elbow macaroni because I believe it's better at carrying the ooey gooey sauce of a great mac and cheese.

Once my noodles were al dente, I drained the pasta and set it aside.

If you're making this for Thanksgiving, just recruit some family members to help!

After a few pulses, my breadcrumbs were ready!

Garten kept her bacon pieces pretty chunky while demonstrating this recipe on an episode of "Barefoot Contessa," so I did the same.

I heated the milk in a small saucepan, making sure not to boil it.

I added the butter to a pot set over medium-low heat.

I stirred the butter and flour together over low heat for two minutes.

"This cooked butter and flour is going to act as a thickener for the sauce," Garten explained during the episode.

Garten says you should cook the sauce for about one or two more minutes, until it's thickened and looks smooth.

"It's not incredibly thick, but what it does is it just coats the spoon," she added.

Garten recommends adding one teaspoon of salt, some freshly-ground black pepper, and the nutmeg.

"It's a really classic spice that's used in gratins," Garten says in the episode. "You won't know it's there, but it'll make everything taste better."

I gave everything a good stir as a delicious cheesy scent filled my kitchen.

Garten used individual gratin dishes while making this on "Barefoot Contessa" since she was only making it for herself and Jeffrey. Since I doubled the recipe to make dinner for my family, I used a 12-inch casserole dish, which was the perfect size.

I didn't end up using all of the breadcrumbs because I had already fully covered the top, but my family later said they wished there had been more — so I recommend using every last crumb!

If you're planning to make Garten's "grown up" mac and cheese the day before, just throw your dish into the fridge overnight and bake it right before you want to serve it.

While reading reviews of Garten's recipe on the Food Network's website, I saw that many people said their mac and cheese had turned dry after baking it for the recommended amount of time. Many people recommended baking the pasta for 25 minutes or less.

I checked my mac and cheese at the 20-minute mark and saw the breadcrumbs were already starting to brown. At the 25-minute mark, they were beautifully golden, so I took my dish out of the oven.

The moral of the story? Not all ovens are made equal, so check your mac and cheese as you go.

The sound from the bubbling sauce was so satisfying I couldn't resist taking a few videos of it.

My family watched with excitement as I dug my spoon through the breadcrumbs and pulled up a scoop of ooey gooey noodles. Dinner couldn't come soon enough!

My parents and sister were huge fans of Garten's mac and cheese. The texture is velvety rather than cloying, and I loved the balance of flavor between the Gruyere, cheddar, and blue cheeses. The Roquefort adds a bit of tang, so if you're making this for someone who really dislikes blue cheese, maybe only do half so you're still getting the depth it adds. But, personally, I'm not a huge blue cheese fan, and I didn't find it overpowering.

I also loved how the smoky bacon cut through the cheesiness — I'd even recommend throwing in an extra slice or two. The crunchy breadcrumbs on top were also a huge hit, adding a lovely contrast to the creamy noodles underneath (definitely don't skimp on them).

I think the flavors of Garten's mac and cheese are perfect for a holiday side and would pair well with turkey. We also enjoyed eating it as a main course for dinner.

If you're looking for a great traditional Thanksgiving dish with a twist, Garten's "grown up" mac and cheese is a great pick.

Fresh green beans, elbow macaroni, and goat cheese were on the ingredient list, which felt fresh, simple, and easy to acquire.

Still, since I was following recipes from a pro, I thought I'd probably have to go to five different stores to gather up all of the ingredients.

To my surprise, I found all the groceries I needed at Walmart in only one trip. 

Garten's deep-dish apple pie was to be our dessert, so I made it a day in advance to save time on the big day.

The recipe called for a lot of citrus zest, but it was simple to get the amount I needed from oranges and lemons using my microplane grater.

I am pretty die-hard about following recipes, but I cheated a little on this one by using a store-bought pie crust rather than making my own. I was glad I did, as the meal was still plenty of work.

I prepped Garten's make-ahead cranberry sauce the day before, too.

I've made cranberry sauce from scratch before, but I prefer the canned variety, so I was curious how Garten's would stack up.

The recipe called for tart Granny Smith apples and lots of citrus zest, which required a lot of grating and chopping.

Garten's sausage-and-herb stuffing was next on my to-do list. I prepped this a day ahead of time as well.

It was easy to brown sausage, cook down ingredients such as apples and onions, and mix everything in a pan with toasted bread pieces. Using the straightforward, simple recipe, the stuffing came together easily and was a breeze to make.

Day one of cooking also involved making Garten's goat-cheese mashed potatoes.

Since the mashed-potato recipe was full of creamy butter and milk, adding goat cheese seemed odd to me, but who am I to argue with Ina?

I prepped the entire recipe in advance, whipping my potatoes with a hand mixer. Then, I loaded the cheesy mixture into a baking pan and topped it with butter and Parmesan cheese.

My kids would riot if mac and cheese was not part of our Thanksgiving meal, so I chose a recipe that involved a fresh tomato topping to mix up our normal side.

In addition to topping the Gruyere-and-cheddar-based mac and cheese with fresh tomatoes, the recipe also called for a fresh breadcrumb topping.

I'd never made fresh breadcrumbs before, but I quickly learned it's easy. I just put slices of bread into a food processor and pulsed. 

One of my favorite ways to keep things organized while cooking a big dinner such as Thanksgiving is to cover each pre-assembled dish with aluminum foil and write the cooking time and temperature on top with a permanent marker.

That way, when it's time to cook, I can easily see what needs to go into the oven at which time and I won't be searching for the recipes again to find the information.

Garten's green-beans gremolata recipe is a big jump from my normal casserole, but I was excited to try a fresher, less creamy approach to the vegetable side. 

Like a lot of Garten's Thanksgiving recipes, the gremolata required lots of citrus zest, along with pine nuts, fresh herbs, and Parmesan.

After blanching the green beans and tossing them into an ice bath, I set them aside for when they'd be sautéed and tossed with the gremolata before serving.

In recent years, my husband and I have spatchcocked our turkey, a technique where you open the bird up, remove the backbone, and lay it flat for cooking.

We were a bit hesitant to try Garten's oven-roast turkey, as it was a way more traditional approach. After prepping the bird and stuffing it with garlic, herbs, onion, and lemon, we popped it into our oven and hoped for the best.

Although Garten's Thanksgiving dinner didn't look like my normal one, it was stunning when everything came out of the oven and was laid out on my kitchen island.

Everything looked delicious and elegant. I immediately thought it was one of the most beautiful meals I'd made in my life.

I spent about 10 hours in the kitchen in total prepping our Thanksgiving menu, and when I saw everything put together, I knew the time was well worth it.

Garten's oven-roast turkey was beautiful and looked like something out of a Thanksgiving movie.

Still, I find the spatchcocking method allows for better planning when it comes to cooking time. With the bird laid flat, I think it's easier to predict how long it'll take to reach the correct internal temperature.

I'm a canned cranberry sauce girl through and through.

Garten's recipe was the most involved cranberry sauce I've ever made from scratch with its citrus zest and chopped apples. It took a lot of work and I don't feel it was worth it. 

It was a bit tart, and in the future, I'd stick with canned cranberry sauce.

I'm a big fan of traditional green-bean casserole made with cream-of-mushroom soup and crispy onions.

Garten's green-beans gremolata was a different dish entirely — fresh and citrusy instead of creamy and full of umami. Still, it was delicious. 

I'd definitely make the side again, just not on Thanksgiving.

I wasn't sure about topping mac and cheese with fresh tomatoes, but it worked.

The homemade breadcrumbs and elbow macaroni provided enough carbs that, when combined with cheese and tomato, it gave everyone at my dinner table grilled-cheese-and-tomato-soup vibes. 

 I loved Garten's mashed potatoes, but adding an ingredient as creamy and tangy as goat cheese definitely changed the flavor profile.

These were not your classic mashed potatoes. Instead, they were a more creamy mash with pungent notes from the goat cheese.

Although they didn't scream "Thanksgiving" to me, I would make them again as a side dish for a different meal.

I've never been into stuffing, as it's always seemed to lack flavor and take up valuable real estate in my stomach — which I'd rather fill with the aforementioned green-bean casserole.

Garten's stuffing recipe, however, made me a convert.

The savoriness of the sausage and herbs combined with the tartness of the apples was perfection and I loved the freshly-made toasted cubes of bread we'd prepped the day before.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed Garten's deep-dish apple pie, so much so that it was the only menu item we didn't have leftovers of.

Made with tart Granny Smith apples, the pie was the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, combined with a crispy crust. We served each slice with a scoop of vanilla-bean ice cream, the perfect accompaniment.

Going on a 10-hour adventure through some of Garten's most iconic recipes was a lot of fun. Looking back, I'm still proud of my hard work and the beautiful menu I served my guests as a result.

I spent $132.77 on ingredients, which felt like a solid deal considering I was able to feed a dozen people, with leftovers. My usual Thanksgiving meals typically cost me more to prepare.

It was a lot of work,  but there are some great recipes I plan to make again throughout the year or for our next holiday feast. 

This story was originally published on November 9, 2023, and most recently updated on November 25, 2024.

I found the corn-bread recipe while leafing through the republished version of "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," which originally came out in 1999. I knew it'd be perfect for Friendsgiving. 

In the description of the dish, Garten says she was inspired by The New York Times' Melissa Clark's corn bread with brown butter. 

"Since I can't pass up any recipe for corn bread, I decided to test mine with brown butter too," Garten writes. "Best corn bread I've ever made! 

That was all I needed to hear — time to get baking! 

To make Garten's corn bread, which serves 10 to 12 people, you'll need: 

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk 
• 1 cup fine cornmeal (Garten says this makes moister corn bread than medium grind)
• 1 cup sugar 
• ½ pound unsalted butter 
• 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten 
• 2 tablespoons baking powder 

I continued to heat the butter until it became browned but not burned, listening to Garten's advice to "watch it very carefully!" 

I whisked the milk into the butter, according to Garten's recipe. 

I have to admit, I forgot to lightly beat the eggs together before throwing them into the mixture — but it didn't seem to affect the corn bread in any way. 

I also threw in the baking powder and some kosher salt. 

Barely five minutes had passed, and my batter was almost ready. 

Per Garten's instructions, I stirred everything together with a rubber spatula until it was just combined. The "Barefoot Contessa" star notes that it's OK if the batter looks a little lumpy. 

Garten's recipe calls for the batter to sit for 15 minutes. She said this step is essential to getting the best corn bread possible, so don't try to skip it.

Make sure you don't wipe out your cast-iron skillet after melting the butter. Just throw the batter right in. 

Garten's recipe says to bake the corn bread for 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After 35 minutes, I stuck a knife in the middle and it came out clean, so I knew it was ready. 

One thing to note: If you're using an 11 ½-inch skillet, Garten recommends baking your corn bread for only 25 to 30 minutes. 

Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread definitely makes for a gorgeous centerpiece at the Thanksgiving table (we all know no one really cares about the turkey). 

But would it taste as good as it looked? 

I could write an essay on how much I love this corn bread. It was so moist and fluffy, with the sweet and savory elements working together in perfect harmony. We were all stuffed, but everyone at the table couldn't resist getting seconds of the bread. 

"The salt really brought out all the flavors," my friend Oliver said. "10/10, would recommend." 

"So delicious," my fellow taste tester Kayla added. "The outside had a nice salty and crunchy texture, while the inside was moist and sweet." 

There's no doubt in my mind that Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread was the star of Friendsgiving. It was perfectly baked and still tasted just as moist when we ate leftovers on the second and third days.

And for a novice cook like me who never bakes, I couldn't believe how easy and foolproof it was to make. Seeing that corn bread come out of the oven, so beautiful and golden, made me feel as if I was about to get a Paul Hollywood handshake.   

Garten's recipe has won a permanent spot in my holiday cooking repertoire. 

The recipe has just six ingredients: Yukon Gold potatoes, unsalted butter, whole milk, salt, pepper, and lemon zest.

It serves four to six people, so I cut all the measurements in half for my household of two.

I was interested in Garten's choice of potato for this recipe. Some mashed potatoes call for russet, others call for Yukon Gold, and others still include a combination of both.

Russet potatoes have a higher starch content, which makes for lighter, fluffier potatoes. Yukon Golds have a medium starch content, which makes for denser, creamier potatoes with a natural buttery flavor. 

I figured with all of the butter in this recipe, plus the creamy Yukon Gold potatoes, the lemon zest would be pretty handy in balancing the richer flavors.

The cooking directions were straightforward and similar to many other recipes I've made.

I started by peeling and cutting the potatoes into about 1 ½-inch chunks.

I placed them in a pot and covered them with cold water and salt before bringing everything to a boil. Once boiling, I cooked them for 20 minutes until they were soft enough to pierce easily with a fork.

Garten calls for a food mill to puree the potatoes. I don't have one, so I used my trusty ricer for that step. 

Just before the potatoes were done cooking, I put ½ cup of whole milk in a small pot to simmer on the stove.

By using warm milk instead of cold, the potatoes can absorb the liquid better, which evidently keeps them from becoming too gummy.

While the potatoes were cooking, I cut a full stick of butter into ½-inch pieces and kept them in the fridge.

Unlike the milk, the butter was meant to be whisked into the potatoes while it was still very cold and fresh from the fridge.

Had I warmed up the butter like the milk, it might have separated.

After ricing the potatoes, I started whisking in a little bit of butter at a time.

It was impressive to watch how quickly the potatoes became silky and creamy even before I started pouring in the warm milk.

Once the full stick of butter was incorporated, the instructions said to pour in just enough milk to make the potatoes "creamy but still thick." 

Ultimately, I only needed about ¼ of the milk to reach my desired consistency before stirring in the salt and pepper. 

Once the salt and pepper were thoroughly mixed into the potatoes, I whisked in the zest of one lemon.

Unsurprisingly, the full stick of butter and warm milk turned the potatoes into a silky-smooth, buttery-soft pile of fluff on my plate.

They were ultra-creamy without being soupy, and they were still able to hold their shape and form peaks when I spooned them into a dish.

These potatoes had an amazing texture that was both light and decadent at the same time.

Including salt, fat, acid, and heat in a recipe has become a common adage, so I couldn't believe I'd never thought to add lemon to my mashed potatoes before.

Mashed potatoes always include plenty of salt and fat from the butter or heavy cream, and there's a hint of heat when you add black pepper. 

But the lemon zest adds just enough acidity to cut through all of the rich textures and flavors, adding a nice brightness and freshness to help balance out the heavier ingredients.

I loved the taste and texture of Garten's mashed potatoes. They were somehow both rich and creamy and light and vibrant.

Although I loved the addition of lemon, I'd cut back slightly and use the zest of about ½ to ¾ of a lemon for a slightly more subtle brightness. I also think some fresh herbs, like chives or parsley, would complement the lemon and make the potatoes even better.

Overall, thanks to Garten's recipe, I'll keep a lemon handy anytime I want to make mashed potatoes.

This story was originally published on November 15, 2022, and most recently updated on November 25, 2024. 

I've followed a few Garten pie recipes before, and I remember liking her easy-to-make crust. That memory held true.

I needed to make four crusts: a bottom and top for the apple pie and one crust each for the pumpkin and pecan pies. It only took me about 10 to 15 minutes.

Garten uses a food processor for her "perfect pie crust," which makes it easy to prep. I divided the dough into two batches, and I could already tell from the look and feel that the crusts would be buttery and delicious.

With all of the dough resting in the fridge, I was ready to start tackling the individual pies.

Garten's maple pecan pie has just 10 ingredients, excluding the crust.

I was excited to taste the combination of maple syrup and bourbon with the pecans. And I liked that she included some fresh orange zest to cut through the richer ingredients, like corn syrup and honey.

To make the pie, all I had to do was whisk the filling ingredients — minus the pecans — together.

Then I simply added the nuts and gave it a final stir before pouring the filling into the prepared pie crust.

To ensure I got an evenly cooked crust, I turned the pie halfway through the bake.

The process was easy, and I loved the enticing smells coming from the oven while it was baking.

The flavors of the pecan pie reminded me of an old-fashioned cocktail, thanks to the bourbon and orange.

But the pecans ended up a little chewier than I would've liked. If I make this pie again, I'd probably toast the nuts first for a better texture.

Despite letting the pecan pie fully cool before slicing into it, the pieces fell apart on me.

Next time, I think I'd let it chill in the fridge before serving so the filling can firm up more.

I moved on to making Garten's pumpkin pie.

I was intrigued by some of the ingredients in the filling, like orange zest and rum, but I was very excited to make the accompanying rum whipped cream.

It sounded like a delicious and indulgent addition to the homemade pie, with ingredients like cream, crème fraîche, and rum.

I rolled out my crust and filled a pie tin.

Unlike the other two recipes, this one required me to blind-bake the crust before adding the filling. I found some dried lentils and rice to use as pie weights to ensure it didn't puff up too much.

The first bake helped prep the crust for the liquidy filling, but it also meant it got a little darker by the end than I'd hoped.

The pumpkin filling was easy to make just by whisking all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

But I had way more than I needed for the pie crust, so I put it aside to find another use for it. My partner had a fun idea to make pumpkin-pie custards in ramekins.

Despite the slightly overdone crust, the pumpkin pie turned out great in terms of both taste and texture.

The filling was sweet but not too sweet, and the little hint of orange helped balance the richness of the custard filling.

The crust was buttery but still strong enough to support the weight of the pumpkin filling. Each slice came out of the tin without crumbling.

The rum whipped cream was a unique companion to the pumpkin pie, and I liked it much better than regular whipped cream.

I saved the most intimidating pie for last.

I've made apple pies many times before, but I was still worried about whether the top crust would turn out right and if the filling would soften enough by the time the crust was done baking.

Garten's recipe called for Granny Smith apples, which tend to be more sour and tart than sweet. The filling also called for both lemon and orange juices and zest, plus plenty of spices.

I was worried the pie may not be sweet enough.

The crust was so easy to roll out and transfer to the tin thanks to the butter and vegetable shortening in the dough. It made easy work of assembling the pie.

The filling was also easy to make — at least once I finished peeling and chopping what felt like 100 apples.

I let the pie bake for about an hour.

Afterward, the top crust was a deep, golden color, and it looked and smelled incredible.

Garten's apple pie was pretty good, but the crust was by far the best part.

The extra sugar sprinkling on top gave it a sweet flavor and crunchy texture. It was so good I could eat it on its own.

The filling had just a little bit too much citrus for me.

I was glad the apples softened well without becoming mushy, but I think I'd precook them a little bit more next time. That would hopefully help concentrate the apple flavor and keep the filling from shrinking so far away from the top crust.

I also might sub some of the sour apples for a sweeter variety, because the combination of the green apples and citrus made for a pretty tart pie.

Garten's pies all turned out pretty good, and they were easy enough to make in one day without breaking a sweat.

I like that she adds fresh flavors to each one of these pies. The rum whipped cream that went with the pumpkin pie was also delicious, and I think it would taste great with the maple pecan pie, too.

But my favorite part of all three recipes, by far, was the pie crust.

It was super quick and easy to make, and it worked well with all the different fillings. I'll be using this crust for all my pies moving forward.

This story was originally published on November 19, 2023, and most recently updated on November 25, 2024.

The recipe calls for all the typical ingredients, including onions, celery, sage, and two loaves of stale white bread. However, Martha Stewart also recommends adding optional ingredients like toasted pecans and dried cherries to elevate the stuffing.

For her recipe, Ina Garten recommends toasting your bread first before moving on to sautéing the onions, celery, apples, parsley, salt, and pepper. After sautéing the sausage in the same pan, mix all the ingredients together with chicken stock and the dried cranberries before baking it in the oven.

The chef's Thanksgiving favorite recipe uses mild fresh Italian sausage, diced onion, diced celery, garlic, apples, chestnuts, fresh goat cheese, and a beaten egg before it's baked or stuffed inside the turkey.

The recipe is pretty traditional, except for the inclusion of McIntosh or Empire apples. The stuffing is baked in the oven and calls for seasoned cubed stuffing rather than homemade bread cubes, which many celebrity chefs recommend.

The recipe calls for sliced pepperoni, yellow onions, red bell pepper, pepperoncini peppers, and sun-dried tomatoes. To amp up this Italian-inspired recipe, Fieri also opts to use dried-out focaccia bread rather than white bread.

When Business Insider's Chelsea Davis made the stuffing for her Thanksgiving dinner, she said it "tasted like a loaded pizza."

The recipe doesn't include meat, although it does use chicken broth and poultry seasoning to give it more flavor. Gaines also adds interesting ingredients like heavy cream and mushrooms to her stuffing.

Drummond's dressing recipe — yes, it's technically called dressing if it's not in the bird — uses cornbread, an Italian bread like a ciabatta loaf, and French bread. The recipe doesn't use sausage, although it does include other classic ingredients like celery, parsley, and onions.

The recipe also uses unsalted butter, red onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and fresh sage to add a lot of flavor. Despite Flay mostly being known for his burgers, the recipe has received mostly positive reviews on the Food Network's website, with one user calling it "a staple every year" at their Thanksgiving dinner.

To make Deen's Southern cornbread stuffing recipe, you'll need a stick of butter, chopped celery, chopped onion, chicken stock, plus the ingredients needed to make the cornbread. The recipe also calls for saltine crackers, which Business Insider's Paige Bennett thought was a miss. 

"When I took a bite, I noted the interior was far too soggy — there was definitely too much broth, and the crackers turned mushy after absorbing the liquid," she wrote.

In her cookbook "Go-To Dinners," Garten said her overnight mac and cheese is the "creamiest, crustiest, most delicious mac and cheese."  

And believe me, she's not exaggerating.

To make Garten's dish for four, you'll need:

• 8 ounces cavatappi or elbow macaroni
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups Gruyère cheese, grated
• 1 ½ cups fine fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 cup sharp white cheddar, grated
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Garten's mac and cheese couldn't be easier to assemble — you don't even need to make a roux. Plus, it requires less than 30 minutes in the oven, so it's an easy dish to bake right before Thanksgiving dinner.

More importantly, Garten's overnight mac and cheese is extremely delicious. I love the crunchy breadcrumbs on top, and the sauce is decadent without being too rich. When I made this dish for the first time at Friendsgiving, my boyfriend praised it for being "exceptionally creamy" while a friend said it tasted "like a hug in your mouth."

It's my favorite "Barefoot Contessa" mac and cheese recipe, although Garten's "grown up" mac and cheese is definitely a close second.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's overnight mac and cheese here.

I wasn't much of a cook before the pandemic, unless you count warming up frozen food from Trader Joe's. But when I wanted to contribute something to my family's holiday menu, this recipe seemed like a good place to start.

Garten's potato-fennel gratin, which appears in her first cookbook, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," is 100% foolproof.

Plus, it tastes amazing.

"I love to make potato gratin and fennel gratin, so I decided to combine the two," Garten writes in the recipe's description. "If you make this in an old French gratin dish, it looks wonderful and can go from the oven to the table with style."

To make Garten's gratin for four, you'll need:

• 1 pound russet potatoes (2 large ones)
• 1 small fennel bulb
• ½ yellow onion
• 1½ cups Gruyère cheese
• 1½ cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream

If you're trying to make the dish for a larger party, Garten also has a recipe that serves 10.

Garten's potato-fennel gratin is such a creamy and satisfying dish, with perfectly cooked potatoes and a deliciously cheesy cream thanks to the Gruyère. The sautéed fennel also adds a lovely mild sweetness to each bite.

This is easily one of my favorite holiday side dishes, and it's so much better than mashed potatoes.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's potato-fennel gratin here.

Garten included this corn-bread recipe in the republished version of "The Barefoot Contessa" cookbook, calling it the "best corn bread I've ever made!"

I decided to try the recipe for the first time before a Friendsgiving party a few years ago, and it was a huge hit.

To make Garten's corn bread, which serves 10 to 12 people, you'll need:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup fine cornmeal (Garten says this makes moister corn bread than medium grind)
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ pound unsalted butter
• 2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons baking powder

Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread is one of my favorite "Barefoot Contessa" recipes of all time. It's perfectly baked and delectably moist, which is evident the minute you cut the first slice.

The warm, golden hue makes for a stunning centerpiece, and the corn bread just tastes so deliciously fluffy. It's the perfect blend of sweet and savory, and I can never resist getting seconds — no matter how stuffed I am.

Get the full recipe for Ina Garten's brown-butter skillet corn bread here.