These are the pots, pans and everyday tools Ina Garten keeps in rotation—and why each one has earned its place in her kitchen.
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Long before kitchen trends had hashtags, Ina Garten was showing us what timeless really looks like in an approach to cooking that has never needed updating. For decades, she has shown us how to cook with calm confidence and unfailing grace. Her recipes feel like inherited wisdom, the sort you scribble on an index card and keep forever. And just as comforting as her food and demeanor is the knowledge that Ina is deeply loyal to the tools of her trade. She doesn’t chase trends; she builds a kitchen the way she builds a menu—intentionally, beautifully and for the long haul.
Tucked into the Barefoot Contessa website is a kind of treasure trove: a curated list of the equipment and cookware Ina actually uses. It’s the roadmap to a kitchen that works as hard as you do, whether you’re making a Tuesday-night chicken casserole or a grand Christmas feast.
So if you’re feeling the urge to refresh your kitchen for the new year, consider this your Ina-approved shortcut: 15 of her most useful, versatile and time-tested kitchen favorites.
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All-Clad Stainless Steel Cookware
Ina has long praised All-Clad cookware for its reliability, and it shows up again and again in her cooking. These are the pans you reach for without thinking. They’re steady for sauces, fearless under high heat, and built to endure years of daily use. They embody Ina’s belief that good tools should work with the cook to make cooking feel steady and assured.
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Dutch Oven
Few things feel more “Ina” than a Dutch oven gently bubbling away on the stove. Especially one from Le Creuset, which makes enameled cast iron that has long been considered a gold standard in kitchens around the world. This one carries soups, stews, braises and slow Sunday roasts with equal grace. It’s the vessel for comfort food in its truest form, the kind that simmers patiently while the house fills with delicious smells.
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Lodge Cast-Iron Skillets
Classic cast-iron skillets, like these from Lodge, are Ina’s choice for decisive cooking: a good sear, steady heat and dishes finished in the oven without hesitation. They move smoothly from stovetop to broiler to tabletop, and only improve with time. In many ways, a great cast iron skillet mirrors Ina’s own cooking style: classic, unfussy and deeply dependable.
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Half Sheet Pans
If there’s an unsung hero of Ina’s kitchen, it might just be the humble half sheet pan. Vegetables roast here, cookies bake here, and entire dinners take shape in a single layer. It’s where weeknight efficiency meets the kind of generous, unfussy cooking Ina is famous for.
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On Sale
Large Stockpot
This is the pot to use when you’re cooking for tonight, for tomorrow and for the freezer, too. A stockpot shows up for everything, whether it’s stocks, soups or big batches of pasta for a crowd. It’s a piece of cookware that assumes generosity.
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White Baking Dishes
Ina’s food usually arrives at the table with beautiful simplicity, and these baking dishes follow suit. They can handle bubbling gratins, baked pastas, fruit crisps and cozy casseroles without drawing attention from what matters: the food itself.
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Box Grater
This is one of those subtly essential tools that never strays far from the counter. From grated cheese for pasta to curls of chocolate for dessert, a box grater does the steady, unglamorous work and does it well. It’s a reminder that even Ina’s kitchen depends on the most basic, well-made tools to keep things moving.
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Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls
These are the bowls that live on the counter when the real cooking is taking place—when there’s diced onion on the cutting board, a dish towel slung over your shoulder, and a sink that’s already filling up with dirty dishes. These bowls are lightweight, resilient and always ready when the next step in the recipe happens faster than expected.
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Microplane Zester
Often cited as one of Ina’s favorite kitchen tools, this little powerhouse proves itself immediately. A good rasp grater handles citrus zest, hard cheeses, garlic, ginger and spices with precision and ease, letting you add the kinds of finishing touches Ina’s recipes rely on. It’s small, efficient and constantly in Ina’s rotation.
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Vegetable Peeler
A good peeler is quietly indispensable, and keeps prep moving without interruption. Whether you’re peeling potatoes, carrots, or apples for a tart, it’s the first step in countless recipes, and one you only notice when the tool isn’t right. Ina prefers this affordable vegetable peeler to keep the rhythm of her cooking intact.
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KitchenAid Stand Mixer
A KitchenAid stand mixer is the muscle behind many of Ina’s most beloved baked goods, from afternoon cakes to holiday breads. It kneads, whips, blends and folds so you can focus on the rest of the meal. It’s fast and steady, and offers the luxury of letting a trusted machine do one job very well.
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White Dish Towels
Few items move through Ina’s kitchen as constantly as a stack of crisp white dish towels. They can be used to dry produce, line baskets of bread, cradle hot pan handles and wipe down counters between steps. Utterly unpretentious and endlessly useful, they’re a hardworking staple every cook relies on—often more than they realize.
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Parchment Paper
Parchment is one of those modern kitchen essentials Ina relies on for easier baking and roasting. It prevents sticking, simplifies cleanup and helps cookies and vegetables cook more evenly on the pan. Once it becomes part of your routine, it’s hard to imagine working without it.
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Anti-Fatigue Kitchen Mat
Cooking, when done properly, takes time. Ina prefers these GelPro mats underfoot to cushion her hours spent chopping, stirring, tasting and cleaning. It’s a small kindness to the cook—especially on the long, slow days that unfold into memorable dinners.
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Food Processor
When time is short but the prep still needs to be done right, this food processor does the heavy lifting so you can stay focused on the rhythm of the meal. It’s efficiency that feels very Ina—practical, confident and never rushed.
