Key Points
Ina Garten’s fridge staples include French butter, milk, eggs, honey and mayonnaise.
Garten’s favorite kitchen tool is a microplane, perfect for adding citrus zest to enhance flavors.
Her summer activities include cooking, gardening and embracing fun, with advice to follow your passions.
It’s always a delight to watch Ina Garten on TV. Nestled into her gorgeous East Hampton kitchen, Garten shares delicious recipes like her Perfect Roast Chicken (a favorite of Amy Poehler) and Roasted Shrimp and Orzo (a must-make for Jen Garner). But we can’t help but wonder, what is the rest of Garten’s home like?
Enter Cultured, an art and design magazine that was recently treated to a full tour of Garten’s beautiful home. Cultured shared a video on Instagram of the tour, which shows Garten’s kitchen and garden, as well as her library, where she likes to “collect cookbooks and white cake plates.” In short, it’s as idyllic a space as we dreamed it would be.
But it’s Garten’s answer to the question of what five things she always keeps in her refrigerator that’s bringing us the most joy. As she walks around the gorgeous kitchen and opens her fridge for all to see, Garten lists her must-haves, and every single one of them sounds delicious.
First up is “good French butter” with flaked sea salt. Garten prefers beurre de baratte, a variety of artisanal French butter made using wooden butter churns. She also says she “always has milk, of course” because “everybody does.”
In addition to her go-to dairy products, Garten rounds out her list with “honey for tea, lots of eggs and Hellman’s mayonnaise.”
Feeling nervous about the idea of splurging on fancy butter? Chefs tell EatingWell it’s totally worth it. And, if you prefer to save your higher-priced butter for special uses, the chefs we spoke with suggest breaking it out as a spread for freshly-baked bread or using it in laminated baked goods like flaky croissants or butter-finished sauces like beurre blanc. You can often find beurre de baratte at major retailers like Whole Foods, but your local gourmet food store or cheese shop is another good place to look.
The good news is, the rest of Garten’s must-haves can be picked up anywhere, from the grocery store to the farmers’ market, as can another of her favorite ingredients, citrus for zesting. When asked what her favorite kitchen tool is, Garten shares that it’s a rasp—commonly known as a microplane. “I find lemon zest and orange zest add so much flavor to things and it kind of brings out the intrinsic flavor of whatever you’re cooking,” Garten says.
Cultured also asks Garten what she’s up to in the summer months, and her answer is absolute summer goals. “Lots of cooking, lots of gardening and generally having fun,” she answers.
Also of note, a bit of life advice from the Barefoot Contessa herself: “Don’t worry about what you think you’re gonna be when you grow up,” she says in the Instagram clip. “Just do what you think is really fun and do it really well.”
If you, like us, think trying Ina Garten recipes is “really fun,” we have more suggestions for you, straight from the barn in East Hampton. Among our current favorite recipes from Garten? Garten herself typically recommends her Lobster Cobb Salad and deconstructed Strawberry Shortcakes for summer dining—two recipes we can’t wait to dig into. Here are a few more of our own summer favorites to consider:
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Dining and Cooking