2025-11-10T14:18:01Z
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We love making Ina Garten’s recipes, especially when it comes to the holidays.
And we’ve tested many appetizers, side dishes, and mains that would be perfect for Thanksgiving.
Here are Garten’s best holiday recipes, from corn bread and mac and cheese to turkey and potato gratin.
Holiday hosting can be a stressful thing, which is why we’ve always loved Ina Garten’s recipes.
The Barefoot Contessa’s delicious and foolproof dishes are essential for planning a Thanksgiving menu that’s stress-free and lets you spend more time with friends and family.
We’ve made dozens of Garten’s recipes over the years, exploring everything from her comforting pastas to her mouth-watering desserts.
So you can trust us to pick Garten’s best dishes for your Thanksgiving table.
Garten says her go-to homemade appetizer is a batch of chipotle cheddar crackers, and we agree they can be a hit.
Ina Garten’s chipotle cheddar crackers.
Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider
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.
Garten says this brown-butter skillet corn bread is the best she’s ever made, and we feel exactly the same.
Ina Garten’s brown-butter skillet corn bread.
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
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 was easy to whip up and 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.
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.
Garten’s overnight mac and cheese is the perfect make-ahead dish.
Ina Garten’s overnight mac and cheese.
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
We love making Garten’s pasta recipes, and this overnight mac and cheese is among our favorites.
Garten calls this dish 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 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.
And her easy turkey-breast recipe might save your meal at the last minute.
Ina Garten’s herb-roasted turkey breast.
Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider
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 is 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 wet rub from Garten’s turkey recipe is worth making, even if you’re not cooking the main dish.
A lemon and oil-based wet rub for Ina Garten’s herb-roasted turkey breast.
Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider
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 are a fun twist on a Thanksgiving classic.
Ina Garten’s Parmesan smashed potatoes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
Garten’s Parmesan smashed potatoes 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.
And Garten’s roasted rosemary potatoes are the easiest Thanksgiving side dish.
Ina Garten’s rosemary roasted potatoes.
Anneta Konstantinides/Business Insider
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.
When it comes to dessert, we think these massive chocolate-chip cookies are certainly impressive.
Ina Garten’s giant crinkled chocolate-chip cookies.
Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider
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.
Dining and Cooking