This year’s descent into fall has been more of a crawl, but I think we’re all ready for some cozy weather.
And what better accompaniment to a classic rom-com and your favorite sweater than a dish by Ina Garten?
The “Barefoot Contessa” star has built a whole career on recipes that are easy and comforting. I’ve made dozens of Garten’s dishes, so I decided to look back and find a few that I think are perfect for this busy season.
From a Bolognese that’s ready in 30 minutes to a cake packed with the flavors of autumn, these are Garten’s best fall dishes.
Ina Garten’s breakfast sandwiches will energize you for chaotic fall mornings.
The start of fall is so hectic. Work ramps back up, school is back in session, and the prep and stress of the holidays begin to creep in.
Travel-friendly and loaded with protein, a breakfast sandwich is just what you need. And Garten’s version only requires five ingredients: English muffins, whole milk, avocado, bacon, cheddar cheese, and eggs that you can cook in the microwave.
The microwave eggs are surprisingly creamy, and the sandwich is deliciously filling.
Everything in Garten’s breakfast sandwich works so well together. She recommends using thick-cut applewood-smoked bacon, which provides a crispy contrast to the soft eggs. Spreading the avocado on the bottom adds both flavor and nutrients, and I love the tanginess of the sharp white cheddar.
If you’re making this sandwich for more than two people, I recommend cooking the eggs on the stove rather than in the microwave to save time. But this is a great recipe to teach your kids so they can make breakfast on their own. And if you’re a college student, you could easily whip this up in a dorm.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s bacon, egg, and cheddar sandwich here.
Making a huge batch of Garten’s homemade chicken stock has been my fall tradition for years.
I began testing Garten’s soup recipes in 2023 and knew something was missing after I kept using boxed stock. “Store-bought is fine!” might be Garten’s most famous catchphrase, but she believes homemade chicken stock is akin to “liquid gold.”
“Nothing available on the market has the depth of flavor or richness of stock you’ve made yourself,” she wrote in “Go-To Dinners,” her October 2022 cookbook. “It contributes such great body and aroma to so many dishes. Plus, having a big pot of chicken stock simmering away on my stove just makes me feel good.”
Garten’s stock is packed with flavor because it involves simmering three roasting chickens for hours alongside carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, garlic, and plenty of herbs.
There’s no flavor left in the chicken once the stock is ready. If you’d rather save the meat for meals, you can always take the chicken out once it’s cooked through and continue to simmer the aromatics. I also recommend freezing chicken bones so you always have some on hand for more stock.
The recipe makes enough stock to last through the winter, and it provides the base for so many delicious soups.
Garten’s recipe provides nearly nine quarts of stock, and you can store it in the freezer for up to six months.
My absolute favorite Barefoot Contessa soup to make with the stock is Garten’s chicken pot pie soup, which I whip up anytime my fiancé and I are craving a bowl of comfort. Her ravioli en brodo is a delicious twist on chicken noodle, while her Italian wedding soup is light and bright.
If you want to switch things up from soup, you can also use the stock to make Garten’s one-pot chicken and orzo — another delicious meal for chilly nights.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s homemade chicken stock here.
Garten’s chicken chili is a lighter twist on the traditionally hearty dish.
Garten served traditional chili for two decades at the specialty food store she ran in the Hamptons before becoming a cookbook author and Food Network star.
When Garten decided to switch up the chili and use chicken instead of beef, it became even more popular than the original recipe.
The dish also features red and yellow bell peppers, fresh basil, and a variety of seasonings, including chili powder, ground cumin, and red pepper flakes.
Garten serves the chili topped with green onions, cheddar cheese, corn chips, and sour cream.
When I first made Garten’s chicken chili for some friends, they said it made them feel “so warm and cozy.”
The tomatoes and spices build a rich broth, and each bite of chicken is so tender and juicy.
It’s also a great dish for hosting because you can lay out the toppings in individual dishes, allowing everyone to personalize their bowl to their own preference.
Plus, who doesn’t love a bowl of chili on football Sunday?
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s chicken chili here.
Garten’s weeknight Bolognese is ready in 30 minutes.
My pasta cravings always hit when temperatures start to dip. And during this busy season, Garten’s weeknight Bolognese is a perfect fit.
The recipe includes ground sirloin, crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil, but it’s designed to be adaptable and pantry-friendly.
Garten says you could easily swap the sirloin for any ground meat and skip the cream and basil if you need. And while she recommends using orecchiette, any dried pasta will work with this recipe.
My family couldn’t get enough of Garten’s speedy Bolognese.
It’s pretty incredible how much flavor Garten manages to create in a dish that traditionally simmers for hours on end. The rich sauce bursts through every bite of the small pasta shells, which I personally loved for this dish, and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top makes it feel extra comforting and indulgent.
“It’s a very meaty, very hearty pasta,” my dad said before declaring that the dish was “perfect.”
We loved the dish so much that it earned the second spot in my ongoing ranking of Barefoot Contessa pasta dishes.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s weeknight Bolognese here.
If you’re searching for a cheesy pasta with little clean-up, Garten’s one-pot dish is the perfect fit.
The rigatoni pasta is paired with sausage and fennel, plus some onion, garlic, heavy cream, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and a few additional ingredients.
It all comes together in a big pot or Dutch oven, and you’ll have dinner on the table in an hour.
Garten says this pasta is one of her “all-time go-to dinners.”
“You can make the whole thing in one big pot, bring it to the table, and everyone loves it,” Garten told her viewers in a 2017 episode of “Barefoot Contessa.”
With its beautiful golden hue and rich, meaty sauce, Garten’s one-pot pasta is the kind of dish that lifts your spirits. There’s also lovely depth to the flavor, thanks to the sweet sausage, salty Parm, and the bite from the fennel.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s rigatoni with sausage and fennel here.
As with her chicken chili, Garten developed the recipe for her apple spice cake at the Barefoot Contessa store.
“We used to have all kinds of cakes like this out on the bakery counter, and you could come buy a whole cake, but you could also buy a piece,” Garten said in an early episode of her Food Network show. “It’s not fancy, just really delicious and earthy, and you always want to come back for more.”
The recipe includes Granny Smith apples, rum, raisins, pecans, and plenty of sugar and spice.
The cake is packed with autumn flavors.
Soaking the golden raisins in rum gave them a flavor that almost reminded me of caramel, and their sweetness helped temper the Granny Smith apples’ sourness. All the spices infused the moist cake with a warm nuttiness, while the pecans added some delicious crunch.
I followed Garten’s advice and tried the cake with some ice cream and caramel, which were delicious additions. But the cake isn’t super sweet, so you could also enjoy it on its own with some tea or coffee for breakfast.
Now it’s really starting to feel like fall.
Get the full recipe for Ina Garten’s apple spice cake here.
Is there a dish you love making in the fall season? Share it with us in the comments. And check out more easy recipes here.
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