Giada De Laurentiis' Go-To Cooking Tips For Everyday Meals

Over the years, Food Network has showcased numerous likable chefs and food personalities who have grown into household names. Giada De Laurentiis is one of these stars, joining the likes of Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, and Ina Garten as a familiar face who Americans are used to seeing regularly pop up on television screens.

That's why fans were so shocked when she announced an amicable split with the network in 2023 after just over two decades of working together. As it turns out, Giada De Laurentiis left Food Network for a super relatable reason: she wants to focus on other projects. So, we could all release a huge sigh of relief that our beloved Italian food queen wouldn't permanently leave the spotlight.

Whether you're revisiting old episodes of "Everyday Italian" or browsing her lifestyle website Giadzy, you can count on De Laurentiis to help you make simple yet nourishing meals inspired by Italian flavors. If you feel like your meals have been a bit lackluster lately, read on to soak up some of De Laurentiis' go-to cooking tips that can breathe new life into your daily meals.

When you dive into what Giada De Laurentiis really eats, you'll soon discover that her love for pasta isn't a performance. If you aspire to eat De Laurentiis-worthy pasta, then you'll need to be sure to cook yours properly.

A common mistake De Laurentiis has noticed is that folks don't always use the right pot. When cooking long pasta like spaghetti, De Laurentiis begs home cooks to dig out a big, tall pot. The reason why this matters is that you never want to snap your spaghetti in half. Once your water is boiling, gently nestle the bundle of spaghetti into the pot. Soon enough, the pasta will soften and slide into the pot until everything is submerged. If you're cooking shorter pasta shapes, such as rigatoni or fusilli, you can get away with a smaller pot.

Of course, she always adds a generous amount of salt to her boiling water before adding her pasta. Her advice is to add 1 tablespoon for every 3 quarts of water. She also warns home cooks to avoid adding oil to the boiling pot, since this can interfere with the pasta's ability to absorb sauce after it's cooked.

The best grilled chicken recipes have one thing in common: They combine only a handful of ingredients that light up your taste buds. De Laurentiis' favorite chicken marinade consists of olive oil, lots of lemon juice, kosher salt, and a blend of Italian herbs. She has developed her own Tuscan herb blend, but you can achieve similar results by combining garlic, rosemary, thyme, fennel, sage, and basil. The lemon juice tenderizes the meat and evokes summertime, while the herb blend is earthy, savory, and slightly sweet.

Unlike many other traditional marinades that soak into the meat overnight, De Laurentiis' marinade only needs between two and six hours to work its magic. This is perfect for folks who need to throw something together as soon as they get home from work and take care of a couple of other chores before they eat. De Laurentiis loves throwing her chicken breasts on the grill, but this recipe would also work beautifully for baking, broiling, pan-frying, and more.

The options for side dishes are endless. A simple baked potato, pasta salad, corn on the cob, and an easy rice pilaf are just some options that would complement this chicken. De Laurentiis also enjoys chilling it and chopping it up for a hearty salad.

Giada De Laurentiis doesn't shy away from a big, juicy steak. When she's preparing thick cuts like ribeyes, she heats a large cast-iron pan so the meat starts sizzling as soon as it hits the surface. In her experience, cast-iron pans can create flavors and textures similar to those of a grill, just with less fuss. The real reason grilled food tastes so good is that the Maillard reaction is in full swing, helping meat develop that phenomenal, tasty crust you know and love. De Laurentiis lets her steaks sit untouched for three to five minutes on each side to let that magic happen.

Best of all, you can effortlessly move your cast-iron pan from stovetop to oven for a gentler finish that helps the steak stay juicy. Her pro tip is to let thick cuts of steak sit out on the counter to let it reach room temperature before cooking if you like medium or medium-well steak. For medium-rare, throw it into the cast-iron pan immediately.

De Laurentiis lets the steak's natural flavors shine and doesn't rely on fancy marinades or spice blends. Instead, all she does is coat both sides of her steak with plenty of kosher salt and a dash of olive oil. Delicious.

Nowadays, we're so accustomed to seeing neatly packaged, clean items. The more something resembles a whole animal, the ickier it can feel to cook. Many people who claim to hate anchovies often picture the slimy, stinky fish staring them down when they peel open the tin. Yet they have no problem chowing down on a Caesar salad, which blends anchovies into the dressing. If you're among this crowd, your aversion might lie more with presentation than actual flavor.

The truth is, anchovies can be a powerful ingredient that cranks up a dish's umami flavor. If you can get over your initial squeamishness or seek out more processed anchovy products — such as anchovy paste and fillets — your meals can greatly improve. Giada De Laurentiis is a big fan of incorporating anchovies into all kinds of dishes. While she notes that anchovy paste loses some of the flavor's potency, those who are anchovy-curious can definitely still get their toes wet by starting with a more innocent-looking tube of paste. Squeeze a dollop into your sauce, blitz up some homemade Caesar salad dressing, or make a soup.

Giada De Laurentiis made her fans' jaws drop when she posted a Reel on Instagram showing off some crispy, flavorful-looking roasted potatoes. She spaced her potatoes out on a bed of her buttery Parmesan blend so that each spud would be embedded in a massive chunk of crispy cheese.

While she sadly didn't share the exact recipe at the time, the video is fairly easy to follow. For a similar side dish, you'll need to combine freshly grated Parmesan, olive oil, and melted butter with lemon zest, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and freshly chopped rosemary and sage. Sliced baby potatoes are then placed cut-side down on the Parmesan mixture and baked until the potato tops are slightly wrinkled and the Parmesan is nicely browned and crunchy.

De Laurentiis picks up these potatoes with her hands and eats them almost like chips. If you've ever experienced the bliss of biting into Parmesan cheese that has browned in the oven, then you already know that these potatoes likely taste heavenly.

Who doesn't love tucking into a comforting plate of pasta Bolognese? Giada De Laurentiis has sweet memories of preparing it with her family every Sunday at her grandfather's house. One of the many wonderful things about the dish is that it's easy to bulk up with extra ingredients — including veggies, which give the pasta a more nutritious edge.

A traditional Bolognese only contains onions, carrots, and sometimes celery. De Laurentiis' healthier take on this dish packs extra vegetables into the sauce. As the veggies cook, they soften and soak up the amazing flavors of the tomato sauce and meat. While the additional veggies incorporate extra vitamins and minerals, she says that you can barely even detect them in the dish. In her recipe, she starts with the standard carrot, onion, and celery base, then adds zucchini and mushrooms.

Store-bought salad dressings are filled with flavor and often have a dreamy texture that's hard to replicate at home. However, many undesirable ingredients could be hiding in your favorite product. Refined seed oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and high levels of sodium are all commonplace, as are certain food dyes and additives. Fortunately, it's easy to whip up your own alternative.

Giada De Laurentiis relies on a simple mason jar vinaigrette. She dumps all the ingredients into the jar, gives it a shake to emulsify the vinaigrette, then keeps the leftovers in her fridge. Her staple vinaigrette includes white wine or apple cider vinegar, olive oil (bonus points if it's garlic-infused), Dijon mustard, honey, and salt. It hits the salty, sweet, and tangy notes using healthy, wholesome ingredients — and you can whip it up in only a couple of minutes.

Her vinaigrette recipe is highly acidic, which means it will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. It's perfect on salads, but you can also drizzle it over meat, rice, and even roasted veggies for some extra pizzazz.

How many times have you opened a can or bag of premade pizza dough, marinara sauce, and shredded mozzarella to make pizza? We call this the homemade version, yet all we're doing is layering those ingredients and popping them into the oven. Your pizza nights can become much more epic if you learn how to make quick no-knead pizza dough.

Giada De Laurentiis proves that homemade pizza can be mind-blowing without jumping through tons of hoops. She brushes olive oil on the dough as a base, which helps prevent it from getting soggy from all the wet ingredients. Plus, the crust develops a magnificent crunch and rich taste. Her tomato sauce is simple. She purées a can of tomatoes with some salt and fresh basil. She spreads a generous layer of it on the pizza. She then dumps cooked sausage crumbles and partially tender broccoli on top, which finishes caramelizing in the oven.

As for cheese, De Laurentiis loves working with fresh mozzarella. If you're a fan of Margherita pizzas that have big globs of cheese, tearing bits of fresh mozzarella onto your pizzas will create the same effect. Of course, she also adds some Parmesan for an extra dose of savoriness. That's it! You can customize your pizzas to include your favorite veggies and meats. You won't feel as sluggish after eating several slices because the ingredients are wholesome without being bland.

Who says that salmon has to be an extravagant or finicky dish to prepare? Giada De Laurentiis keeps her weeknight salmon quick and satisfying, all while tasting fancy. The trick is to let rich fats and fresh herbs do all the heavy lifting.

Combining butter and olive oil is always a good idea when you're searing meat and fish. Olive oil has a fairly high smoke point, so it can help you develop a crisp exterior when you start cooking. Once you've flipped the meat or fish over, you can add your butter, which is a bit more delicate. After it melts, you can use a spoon to continually baste the protein so it soaks up the luxurious fats. De Laurentiis tosses a few sprigs of fresh oregano in with the butter, which infuses the fat and, in turn, the fish. Since cooking several salmon filets only takes 10 minutes or less, you owe it to yourself to enjoy affordable, indulgent home-cooked meals as often as possible.

Risotto intimidates many home cooks, but this type of rice works beautifully in so many other Italian dishes. In fact, you can use it to prepare a foolproof one-pot meal when you don't feel like fussing. You may have heard of arborio rice, but Giada De Laurentiis' preferred creamy rice is actually carnaroli.

Toasting your uncooked rice in oil or melted butter before adding any liquid is a simple step that has a major impact on the flavor. It brings out a lovely nuttiness and can even help prevent the grains from clumping. Toasted carnaroli can be the base of countless one-pot meals. If you need inspiration, De Laurentiis enjoys adding canned cherry tomatoes, spinach, seasoned shrimp, and vegetable broth to hers. You get to put the lid on, walk away, and enjoy an unbelievably creamy dish without the painstaking labor of a traditional risotto.

Minestrone soup is loaded with veggies and satiating pasta, so it's the perfect meal for when you need some comfort or feel under the weather. Giada De Laurentiis has proven that she's not the type of person who will lecture you about tweaking a tried-and-true Italian recipe, with her own take featuring a creative combination of potatoes, cannellini beans, and pancetta.

Feel free to get creative with your own combination. If you have some potatoes that are starting to grow eyes or get soft, throw them into your minestrone instead of pasta. Those vegetables that you bought with the best of intentions at the farmer's market are wilting? Save them by simmering them in a flavorful broth. Even if your soup doesn't seem that glamorous, you can get excited about digging in if you grate lots of fresh Parmesan on top and serve it with a rustic hunk of bread. That's De Laurentiis' favorite way to eat her minestrone.

Have you ever stopped to read the nutrition labels on the backs of jarred marinara sauces? They may seem like they contain a handful of wholesome ingredients, but some brands add an astonishing amount of sugar, salt, and refined oils. Take a look at our review of the unhealthiest store-bought marinara sauces to learn more.

Time is a luxury for many these days. We can't all spend an entire Sunday simmering a gourmet tomato sauce with fresh, peeled tomatoes. However, Giada De Laurentiis says home cooks can whip up a sauce tastier than the jarred stuff in just a matter of minutes. Her secret ingredient is passata, which is 100% puréed tomatoes. Pour olive oil into a pan, toast some sliced garlic to release its aromatics, then add the passata and season with salt and garlic powder. For more freshness, you could rip some fresh basil leaves and mix them in right before serving.

We already know that Giada De Laurentiis is the queen of pasta, but she has also let her fans in on some cool food science. If you're trying to be mindful of stabilizing your blood sugar, eating refrigerated pasta is an effortless hack. Pasta salad lovers can now rejoice.

Cooling cooked pasta changes the structure of its starches in a way that makes it harder for the body to break down and absorb. With fewer usable materials to transform into energy, your body may not need to release as much insulin, which can help keep your blood sugar levels steadier. It also contains slightly fewer calories than freshly cooked pasta.

It makes sense that De Laurentiis is the bearer of this incredible pasta news, but it doesn't end there. Potatoes and rice are also high in starch, so the same rule applies to them. If you're not a fan of chilled dishes, reheating them won't undo the magic. Cooking any of these high-starch foods, refrigerating them for a day, then reheating them is a cheeky way to enjoy your hot carbs with fewer unappealing effects.

Basil pesto always seems to hit the spot. It's creamy and indulgent without being over the top. Traditional recipes blend pine nuts, fresh basil, olive oil, Parmesan, garlic, salt, pepper, and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice for some acidity. All in all, these are already quite wholesome ingredients.

Giada De Laurentiis thinks we can make pesto even more nutritious by incorporating superfoods. Unless you're a pesto purist, any type of nut, oil, and greens can be included. De Laurentiis shared a video on social media describing her nutritionally enhanced pesto that she's been making lately. It's made with walnuts, kale, basil, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, and Parmesan.

Swapping pine nuts for walnuts increases your intake of brain-enriching omega-3s, while kale packs a powerful antioxidant punch. Research suggests that apple cider vinegar might help balance blood sugar, which is why some folks take a shot of it before eating a big meal. De Laurentiis' method is much more palatable, of course.