The One Dish Ina Garten Can't Live Without
If you've watched enough episodes of Ina Garten's cooking shows, you can probably guess what her favorite dish is — and possibly even why. It's not a secret that Garten loves to cook chicken in many different ways, so naturally, her favorite dish involves chicken. As it turns out, Garten couldn't live without roast chicken. Chances are, you'll likely find a chicken stocked in her refrigerator or freezer at any given time (via Food & Wine).
Garten loves to share the dishes her husband Jeffery loves, according to Delish. While he likes Brussel sprouts, lamb, and Parmesan zucchini, he wasn't a big fan of a fish stew his wife made once. But, above all else, he loves her roasted chicken, and claims it to be one of his favorite recipes.
Garten has even joked in episodes of her show that he will magically appear anytime she makes a roasted chicken. While we think that's probably part of the reason behind her love of the dish, she says she loves it for other reasons too.
Garten told Food & Wine that she loves the meal because it is a classic, comforting homemade recipe that is very simple to make. She prefers seasoning her roast chicken with lemon and thyme and finishing off the one-dish meal with roasted carrots, onions, and potatoes nestled under the chicken.
Why Ina Garten thinks this dish is magic
If there's one celebrity chef that knows a thing or two about love and relationships, it's Ina Garten. She and Jeffery have been married for 52 years — quite a feat. While roasted chicken might play a part in a happy marriage as one of the Gartens' favorite dishes, the dish is also a perfect recipe before the altar, too (via Town & Country).
In fact, her recipe for a perfect roasted chicken has earned something of a reputation among her loyal followers. It's even garnered a nickname — "engagement chicken." While plenty of followers and fans have made Garten's roasted chicken recipe and reported back with a ring, one couple, in particular, stood out (via Brides).
Rumor has it that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got engaged either over or shortly after having made Garten's roasted chicken. Markle has said before that she enjoys making Garten's roasted chicken, and some say Markle made it for Prince Harry leading up to their engagement, according to Today.
According to Brides, Garten thinks the roasted chicken is magic just because it is a nourishing meal that a couple can make together. The story even quotes Garten as saying Prince Harry popped the question over a simple home-cooked meal of roasted chicken, which she believes is what everyone would want.
If you love a roasted chicken that much or just love Ina Garten, it's a recipe worth trying — whether there's a ring in play or not.
Garten's other chicken recipes
Ina Garten is someone who is clearly drawn to classics, but she has developed tons of other wonderful chicken recipes apart from her famous, perfect roasted chicken recipe. There are enough recipes from the Barefoot Contessa that The Kitchn actually wrote a top-10 list of their favorite chicken recipes by Garten. Their top choice is her Chicken Marbella, which is chicken in a saucepan with prunes, olives, and garlic, so its own sauce develops too. It's a delectable and beautiful dish that's a classic from the '80s that seems to always please a crowd.
Other chicken dishes from Garten include oven-fried chicken, chicken pot pie, and Coq Au Vin which is chicken cooked in good red wine or brandy. These classics are all about comfort, and they are perfect for long nights of cooking on the weekend. Though these recipes tend to take more time, but that's also the beauty of the recipes too. As Garten explained to Brides, she clearly loves slow food that can be made with loved ones. Indulging in a bottle of wine while dinner is on probably makes it better, too.
For quick weeknight dishes that are still delicious and flavorful, The Kitchn recommends Garten's lemon chicken, Parmesan chicken, and chicken salad Veronique. These dishes come together in less than an hour, and The Kitchn even claims that Ina loves the Parmesan chicken as one of her favorites too. Garten's chicken salad obviously makes good use of a roasted chicken.
Chicken cooked with sides
One of the best things about Garten's chicken recipes is that many of them are cooked right alongside the sides. One of the best examples of this comes from The Kitchn's top-10 list, too. Garten's crispy mustard chicken and frisée cooks up all on one sheet pan. On one half of the pan, the chicken is breaded and coated in thyme, lemon, garlic, salt, pepper, butter, olive oil, wine, mustard, and panko crumbs for a flavorful crust. The other half of the sheet pan is filled with little fingerling potatoes (via Barefoot Contessa).
As the dish bakes in the oven, everything gets crisp and crunchy. After the meal is over, clean up is a cinch with since the entire entrée and side cooked on one baking sheet.
That's probably another reason why Garten loves her perfect roasted chicken recipe. The entire chicken roasts on top of sides, like carrots and potatoes, as it really makes clean up easy. The roasted chicken sides might be even better, though, thanks to the drippings from the seasoned chicken that enhance the flavor of the vegetables.