16 Brands Ina Garten Loves

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Between her long-running television show and 13 cookbooks, celebrity chef and author Ina Garten is one of the most trusted voices in the home cooking and lifestyle spaces. Known for her warm personality and down-to-earth approach to homemaking and cooking, the Barefoot Contessa is many people's go-to source for trusted information on what to use in the kitchen and the home.

In her quest to help viewers and readers learn new recipes, host fabulous parties, and curate their dream homes, Ina has always strived to be as open and transparent as possible. There's no gatekeeping when it comes to the Barefoot Contessa: from interviews, to cookbooks, to the "Ask Ina" section of her website, Ina always shares her preferred and trusted brands and products. If you want to follow in the footsteps of the Barefoot Contessa and emulate her style, these are the brands she swears by, for both in the kitchen and around the house.

From her decadent Beatty's chocolate cake to creamy chocolate mousse, many of our favorite Ina Garten desserts call for chocolate ... and lots of it. While she uses different brands and types of chocolate for different purposes (her iconic chocolate cake calls for Valrhona cocoa powder), one brand is especially near and dear to her heart: Swiss chocolate company Lindt.

On numerous occasions, Ina has named Lindt as her favorite brand of chocolate, pointing to its flavor and affordability. In a 2020 interview with New York Times editor Sam Sifton (via Business Insider), Ina said she's been using Lindt chocolate for so long, she couldn't remember why she initially started favoring the gourmet chocolatier's offerings. But a blind taste test against seven other chocolate brands confirmed that Lindt is still her preferred choice.

Garten primarily uses Lindt Bittersweet Chocolate, favored for its balanced flavors, richness, and higher ratio of cocoa to sugar (generally 70% cocoa). Other chefs and bakers concur with Ina as well: bittersweet chocolate is the best choice for baking, developing deep, rich flavor without being overly sweet. In the case of Ina's beloved Lindt chocolate, it also comes in big, segmented bars, making it easy to chop or break up for cooking (or break off a square or two to snack on while baking).

Ina has plenty of recipes for delicious, homemade cookies — like her giant, crinkly chocolate chip cookies sprinkled with sea salt. But when she wants something simple and straightforward that she doesn't have to bake herself, she turns to a classic store-bought brand, Tate's.

Packaged in eye-catching, emerald-green bags, Tate's Bake Shop cookies instantly stand out on supermarket shelves. While the brand hails from the Hamptons, with the original Southampton Bake Shop location now serving as a pilgrimage destination for sweet treat-seekers, Tate's cookies can be found in stores nationwide. But it's more than just their branding that has made them so popular. Cookie fans love their thin, snap-able consistency and scrumptious, buttery flavor, which creates the perfect balance of taste and texture.

Ina, famously, calls the Hamptons home, which could be one reason for her fondness for this local brand. But as she also champions accessibility and affordability in cooking and life, Tate's is a natural match for her ethos. The brand is easy to find and inexpensive — a 7-ounce pack of Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies costs just $6.29 on Amazon – while still being tasty and high-quality. Ina even uses Tate's in her own cooking, layering the brand's chocolate chip cookies with whipped mocha cream in her mocha chocolate icebox cake. So if you're after simple, store-bought cookies, Tate's has the Ina stamp of approval.

A KitchenAid stand mixer is one of the most coveted appliances one can have in their kitchen, and Ina is not immune. For someone who cooks and bakes as much as she does, a stand mixer is essential. The appliance takes care of all the heavy mixing, saving your arms and upper body the strain of constant movement. Using different speeds, you can accomplish different tasks, from mixing bread dough to blending icing. KitchenAid add-on attachments that shred cheese or grind meat make your cooking prep even more efficient. Not to mention, they make less of a mess, allowing for easier, faster clean-up.

Ina knows it takes time, energy, and space to put a meal on the table, factors which are sometimes in short supply in busy households. Ina also appreciates the importance of looks and style, especially in the kitchen. So naturally, a KitchenAid stand mixer, with its sleek appearance and seemingly endless functions, is her preferred brand. They're sturdy, reliable, and can accomplish a great number of tasks to streamline the cooking process.

On her "Ask Ina" page, she specifically recommends the brand's Artisan Model No. KSM150PSWH tilt-head stand mixer with a 4.5-quart bowl. Ina opts for white, but of course, you can choose the color that best suits your home.

A good knife is one of the most essential items in a chef's toolkit, be they restaurant professionals or at-home enthusiasts. On several occasions on her "Ask Ina" page, Ina has sung the praises of her favorite knife brand, Wusthof.

Founded in 1814 in Solingen, Germany, Wusthof has a stellar reputation for high-quality, durable, and sturdy knives. Forged with a signature blend of chrome, vanadium, molybdenum, and stainless steel, they have increased strength, resist rust and corrosion, and maintain sharpness and hardness. They're the favored brand of many top chefs besides Ina, including Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver.

Always one for tradition, Ina loves Wusthof's Classic series, which has practically every type of knife a chef could need, including the classic 8-inch chef's knife. Available at major retailers like Sur La Table and Williams Sonoma, these knives are also an easy find. Due to their excellent quality, Wusthof knives are more on the expensive side (the Wusthof Classic 8-Inch Chef's Knife costs $170 on Amazon). But they're worth the investment, as a high-quality kitchen knife will last you forever.

If you're going to invest in high-quality knives, you need to keep them in good shape and maintain them for long-term usage. So what better way to look after your Wusthof knives than by using Ina's favorite brand of knife sharpener, Chef's Choice?

Sharpening knives, especially chef's knives, can be intimidating. They're extremely sharp and it's natural to be nervous about accidentally cutting yourself. Ina recommends an electric sharpener from Chef's Choice, specifically the Flexhone/Strop Pro Knife Sharpener. Useable for both serrated and straight-edged blades, it uses a two-step process to sharpen, strop, and polish your blades. Thanks to its electric functions, all you need to do is place your knives in the slots and the machine takes care of the rest. Retailing at around $100, it's also an investment piece. But it'll help keep your knives in great shape for a long time, and thanks to its compact size, it's easy to store out of the way.

Made with aluminum-bonded stainless steel, All-Clad is one of the gold-standard brands of stainless steel cookware. Providing an evenly-heated cooking surface, hardy enough to resist high temperatures and damage, easily cleaned, and versatile enough for all sorts of foods, this cookware is a favorite among home chefs and professional cooks. Not only that, but All-Clad is also the preferred brand of Ina Garten, which is the ultimate stamp of approval.

In answer to a question on her "Ask Ina" page about her favorite pots and pans, Ina highlights All-Clad, writing "They are expensive but if you take care of them, they will last a lifetime." She also gave the brand a shout-out in an interview with Williams Sonoma, recommending the 10-Piece D5 Stainless Steel Set. "I can't think of anything that's not great paired with All-Clad ... It cooks evenly. It keeps the heat. It's easy to clean. I mean, I've had my All-Clad cookware, most of it for 40 years, and you would not know that it's not brand-new," Ina said. 

The cost for a 10-piece set starts at $700. But if it's Ina-approved, you can be sure you're getting a top-quality product that will last a long time.

From spaghetti aglio e olio to roast chicken, many of Ina's recipes call for a "good olive oil." But what exactly does that mean? Extra-virgin olive oil is generally regarded as the best type of olive oil for its rich flavor, health benefits like natural antioxidants and vitamins, and low levels of processing. For Ina, "good olive oil" means "the best oil that your budget allows," she wrote in response to an "Ask Ina" question. For her, that's Olio Santo, also featured in "Shop" section of her website.

This extra-virgin olive oil comes from California's Napa area, and has been around since 1997. Ina likes the brand, which she's been using for 20 years, because it's "flavorful, fruity, and not too heavy," she wrote. Using the same brand of olive oil for two decades? That's commitment, so you know you're getting some of the best money can buy. You can pick up your own bottle of Olio Santo Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Amazon for about $24. 

For many home chefs and foodies, Rao's is among the best brands of store-bought marinara sauce. Renowned for its commitment to high-quality ingredients and creating an easy, convenient, and shelf-stable marinara sauce that's as close to authentic Italian as possible, the brand practically has a cult following. If you're a disciple of Rao's, you'll be pleased to hear you're in good company. The Barefoot Contessa herself is also a fan.

Ina frequently champions using good store-bought ingredients to make cooking easier without sacrificing quality. If it's been a long day and you're craving pasta but don't want to make marinara sauce from scratch, take a page from Ina's book and reach for the Rao's. When asked on her "Ask Ina" page what her favorite jarred marinara sauce is, her enthusiastic, unequivocal answer is a glowing endorsement: "That's easy! Rao's Marinara Sauce." (If you do want to make marinara or other tomato-based sauces from scratch, you can use Ina's favorite brand of canned tomatoes, San Marzano.)

As Nora Ephron wrote in her film "Julie and Julia," "You can never have too much butter." We'd wager that Ina definitely agrees, as butter pops up frequently in many of the Barefoot Contessa's creations. While Ina is always on a quest to make cooking easier for her viewers and followers, she also advocates for using high-quality ingredients.

When it comes to butter, Ina has several favored brands. You may have heard her mention enjoying her morning toast with the salty, savory French butter brand Beurre de Baratte. But for cooking and baking, Ina prefers to use unsalted butter from Cabot (a Vermont-based cheese and dairy company), she says on her "Ask Ina" page. No matter which brand of butter you use, though, Ina urges using unsalted so "you are able to control the amount of salt in the recipe."

Every serious home cook should have a high-quality Dutch oven in their collection. These hardy and versatile pieces of cookware can be used for everything from baking bread to simmering stews, and with proper care, they can last practically a lifetime. One Dutch oven brand, in particular, has achieved cult status thanks to its great quality and lovely look: Le Creuset.

If you're one of this brand's many fans, you're not alone. Ina Garten also loves a good Le Creuset. Advocating their use for braising, stews, and soups, Ina noted on her website's Q&A section that she uses a #26 Dutch oven for most of her cooking. The #26 Signature Round Dutch Oven holds up to 5.5 quarts of food and can feed up to six people, so it's ideal for hosting gatherings, or for couples and families looking to make big meals with leftovers. At about $420, this is another investment item but worth the splurge.

After cooking up giant pots of Ina's Tuscan white bean soup or following her recipe for making a big vat of homemade chicken stock, you'll need a place to store all the leftovers. You can simply do as Ina does and store the leftovers in her favorite restaurant-style clear plastic containers from Cassandra's Kitchen, a kitchen and home goods site. Founded by a Barefoot Contessa fan who used to work in Ina's specialty food store, Cassandra's Kitchen is a great place to find many of Ina's favorite cooking and kitchen-related items, all in one place.

Made from BPA-free polypropylene and polyethylene plastic, the store's handy plastic containers come with fitted lids that snugly snap on to prevent leaks. Capable of withstanding temperatures up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit, you don't need to wait forever for the soup or stock to cool down before storing it. The containers are also dishwasher-safe and easily stacked for storage. A set of five costs less than $5, so you can feel like Ina in the kitchen even if you're on a budget.

Whether she's hosting parties or eating casual dinners with Jeffrey, Ina can often be seen using a particular brand of glassware: La Rochere. Located in France, La Rochere is the oldest continuously-operated glass factory in the whole of Europe, creating lovely mouth-blown and handmade glassware for the home since 1475. It's an iconic French brand, and Ina is an ardent fan of their wine glasses.

Ina's La Rochere collection pops up frequently, such as in a People magazine spread about Ina and Jeffrey's 48th anniversary. While very chic, these glasses are also extremely practical for everyday use, as Ina explained to a fan on her Q&A page. They're dishwasher-friendly (as long as you're careful) and look great on table spreads. They're not too terribly expensive either: a six-piece set of the brand's signature Napoleon Bee Stemmed Wine Glasses costs just under $70.

If you want to elevate your hosting game and curate beautiful spreads to wow and impress your guests, Ina has the tableware for you. Founded in 1818, the French porcelain brand Pillivuyt crafts sleek, elegant pieces for cooking, baking, table-setting, and more.

In the "Shop" section of her website, Ina specifically highlights the brand's Narrow Platter. With its ivory tones and slender design, it makes for a lovely serving platter to display cookies, snacks, and more. It's microwave-, dishwasher-, oven-, and even broiler-safe, so it can also stand up to the needs of the modern cook. On her "Ask Ina" page, Ina also says she uses other Pillivuyt dishes as well. Eagle-eyed watchers can probably spy the brand's immaculate white dishes in many a TV episode or web video, so you know it's an Ina favorite.

From blending sauces to making fresh drinks like lemonade in the summer, a high-quality blender is a key part of any home cook's arsenal. Ina concurs, and when queried about what blender she uses on her "Ask Ina" page, she responded that her go-to blender is a Waring Pro.

Not only can the Waring Pro handle all kinds of blending tasks with its two-speed motor and stainless steel cutting blades, but it's also nice to look at, with a chrome-plated base and stylish glass container. As a home and lifestyle personality, Ina encourages finding functional items that look nice and work well, and the Waring Pro blender definitely fits the bill. Cost-wise, it's a bit on the expensive side at around $250. But as we know, investing in high-quality appliances and items pays off in the long run, so we trust Ina's judgment.

Ina is always using the term "good" to describe what kind of ingredients you should buy.  Subjective, yes, but Ina is on hand to point us in the right direction for what she considers good (and where the Barefoot Contessa leads, we follow).

When it comes to "good" store-bought mayonnaise to use in recipes like potato salad or her pan-fried onion dip, Ina is a fan of Hellman's Mayonnaise. Made using cage-free eggs and quality ingredients, Hellman's is up there with Heinz as one of America's favorite condiment brands. And Ina isn't alone. Other renowned chefs and lifestyle gurus have sung Hellman's praises, including Julia Child and Joanna Gaines. If you can't find Hellman's at your local store for some reason, Ina also recommends Duke's, which is another mayo brand favored by many chefs.

No list of Ina Garten's favorite things would be complete without mentioning her signature look: the denim button-down. Comfortable yet stylish — the perfect combo for at-home cooking, and easy to throw in the wash at the end of the day — the denim button-down has become Ina's version of a uniform, as she told HuffPost in a 2018 interview.

And for that uniform, one of Ina's favorite brands for button-downs is Talbots. Chatting with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on the comedian's podcast "Wiser Than Me," Ina told the story of how she first fell in love with the fashion company's shirts, saying "I got a shirt from Talbots that I just loved. And I asked if they could make it for me in different fabrics. And they said, sure." 

With different versions of her signature shirt in fabrics like denim and corduroy, Ina has a Talbots shirt for all seasons. "I know I can put it on and feel comfortable and feel like it looks put together," she added in the podcast interview.