The Canned Foods You'll Never Find In Ina Garten's Pantry

The Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten famously embraces the slogan-slash-personal affirmation, "store-bought is fine." The beloved culinary personality also walks the walk, as she's expressed her love for Rao's pasta sauce in the past. Garten's down-to-earth philosophy of ingredients has likely endeared her to less accomplished chefs seeking to improve their cooking skills. However, there's a certain category of canned food that she avoids.

During an appearance on Today, the Barefoot Contessa expressed a preference for homemade chicken stock but said that if you must buy it, you should go for the low-sodium kind. She also acknowledged that it's possible to find good store-bought soup. However, when quizzed on whether she would ever purchase canned soup, the chef said, "No." The exchange was humorously characterized by a YouTube commenter, who said, "I love when [Ina Garten] begins to laugh at the peasant interviewing her." While one could construe Garten's answer as haughtiness, the truth is that many soups are quite easy to prepare from scratch. For instance, this homemade tomato soup recipe calls for a handful of ingredients and can be whipped up in just 15 minutes.

It's our opinion that certain canned foods deserve a place in your pantry, and soup is definitely one of them (along with fish, tomato paste, and chickpeas). However, there are also potential advantages if you share Ina Garten's preference for homemade soup. While there are many healthy canned soup options out there, many brands feature an abundance of sodium, along with significant portions of saturated fat depending on which variety you eat. With homemade recipes, you have the final say over ingredients, which can result in a more nutritious meal. In the same token, homemade soups often taste better because they use fresher ingredients, which can be flavored with your favorite herbs, spices, and seasoning.

In the interest of culinary diplomacy, we recommend saving homemade recipes for when you're inspired and relying on spruced up canned soups for busy nights (hopefully The Barefoot Contessa can forgive us). One method involves adding a bit of oil and seasonings to the saucepan prior to heating up the soup. Warming the oil and seasonings together will unleash some powerful flavors, which will be infused into the soup as it's heated. When it comes to bland canned soups, incorporating an acidic ingredient can work wonders. In this case, you can squeeze in some fresh lemon juice once the soup is ready to serve or add your favorite type of vinegar while heating on the stove. Tossing in some homemade croutons can also have an amazing impact on texture.