Ina Garten's Cooking Style Vs Martha Stewart's: Everything You Need To Know

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A generation of home cooks have grown up learning to make delicious food from the culinary prowess of both Ina Garten and Martha Stewart. Dominating the culinary industry today, the two are often pegged against each other but most people don't know the truth about their friendship, as they have more in common than you think. For starters, both Stewart and Garten were living in the Hamptons at the same time (in the '90s). Garten was working out of her specialty food store, the Barefoot Contessa; Ina told podcast host Michael Ian Black in 2017 that she and Martha became friends when Martha visited her store. Later Martha encouraged Ina to publish her first cookbook, for which she penned the foreword.

In the podcast, Ina also addressed the distinction between her style and Martha's, saying that Stewart took home arts to a whole new level and made it something people became proud to do in a time when it wasn't valued. Ina contributed to the field by taking it in her own direction and making cooking simple and relatively easy for home cooks with no professional experience to dabble in.

Aside from their specific approaches to cooking, Martha and Ina differ on many fronts, such as ingredient selection, recipe complexity, aesthetic preference, and even preferred cuisine choices. Wondering whose culinary path you should follow? We've analyzed their recipes and cooking styles side by side to give you a full comparison according to your skill level.

For Ina Garten, simplicity takes center stage, whether it's in her recipes or ingredient selection. Ina uses easily available ingredients in her cooking, defined down to the exact brand, and recommends her followers to do the same. She believes that simple ingredients that are high-quality, such as Dutch processed cocoa powder, can really elevate the dish and bring out the flavor. In her famous Beatty's chocolate cake recipe, she recommends using ”good cocoa powder” for the batter such as Pernigotti or Valrhona , and fine quality chocolate like Callebaut or Valrhona in the frosting.

Her belief extends to the elements she uses in her recipes as well. Garten tells Food & Wine she doesn't bother making complicated elements like Bouillabaisse or a demi-glace in her recipes, as they require too much time and expertise, and the final product is consumed far more quickly than the time it took to prepare. She instead recommends using fresh seasonal ingredients which are generally less expensive and taste much better than alternatives. In the same interview, she says, ”In the spring, when asparagus is coming in, all you have to do is roast it on a sheet pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper, put it in the oven, and maybe in the last 60 seconds add some Parmesan, and you've got a fabulous side dish.” With Ina's approach, cooks of all levels can master making simple meals with ease.

If you're a fan of Ina Garten's cooking or have come across her show "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Network, you'll see her mostly prepping a classic American recipe or a French dish, be it pie, a pot roast, a tea cake, or a sandwich. That's because Garten tends to stick to food that her audience is already familiar with while adding her touch of elevated home cookery. This is due to Garten's background in catering, where she prepared deliciously simple meals for her Hampton's specialty food store, which had customers hooked to her chicken salads, scones, and baguettes, among other scrumptious fare.

On the other hand, Martha Stewart has kept her fingers in every pot, dabbling in global cuisines whenever she can and delivering excellent recipes for the curious cook to try. Martha tends to concentrate on American, Asian, French, and Italian fare, whether it's her famous one-pan pasta, a spicy pot of slow-cooker Tom Kha Gai, Italian-braised pork, or a Persian lamb stew — Martha's version of these beloved recipes is testament to her expertise and comfort in working with multiple cuisines. When asked where she gets the inspiration for her dishes, she credits her travels, particularly those to Russia, which make her feel close to her Polish heritage. There Martha was served baked potatoes loaded with caviar that later became the inspiration for a similar dish on her restaurant's menu.

The internet's favorite activity is making Martha and Ina's recipes side by side to determine recipe complexity, ingredient differences, and preferred cooking methods. Take the two culinary queens' BLT recipes to start: Ina makes an exact recipe using baked bacon strips, avocado, tomato, lettuce, and "good mayo," while Martha's requires making homemade mayonnaise, plus using thick-cut bacon and fresh basil in addition to tomatoes and lettuce. Although both recipes are delicious, it's easy to see which version can make a meal gourmet and which one can make you crave the BLT you grew up with.

Another favorite recipe comparison is between their adult grilled cheese sandwiches. Ina's version is called the Ultimate Grilled Cheese, which specifies brands for the ingredients (such as Cabot sharp cheddar cheese), plus gruyère, bacon strips, and a cheesy mustard spread. Whereas Martha's tendency to improvise as you go divides her Grown-Up Grilled Cheese recipe into multiple versions which can be made with any combination of ingredients like bacon, oil-packed sardines, red onion, avocado, jalapeño, Peppadew peppers, or pears, according to your palate. This lends her recipe a complexity of flavors previously not associated with grilled cheese and pairs it with a sweet touch from optional fruit preserves like fig jam. To sum up, whether you make Martha's take on a recipe or Ina's, you're sure to end up with an indulgent dish that's pleasing.

Now that we've addressed some major points that make these cooking queens distinct, let's focus on which one you should follow according to your skill level. If you have the basics down after cooking for a few years and want to upgrade your skills, Martha's the chef for you. Her recipes help you perfect classics like chocolate chip cookies and mac and cheese, experiment with dishes like basic pierogi, and even delve into the art of slow cooking. Her cookbook "Martha Stewart's Slow Cooker" is a great place to start trying out her recipes without being too hands-on, and appreciating the indulgent flavor slow cooking brings to meats and sweets.

Martha also lends her expert advice every step of the way to streamline cooking. She recommends practicing the art of mise en place while cooking (measuring out the exact ingredients before you start), cooking in batches (and freezing the rest for later), and pairing the right wine with your food to maximize its taste. Finally, if you want to cook like Martha Stewart and know what she really eats, start by nailing the recipes she thinks everyone should learn how to make (via Business Insider), including apple pie, lemon meringue pie, her mother's pierogies, her simple salad vinaigrette, and her morning green juice.

Despite their many differences, both Ina Garten and Martha Stewart steer clear of certain ingredients in their recipes and in their food preferences. For Ina Garten, it's the controversial herb cilantro, which the chef claims she can't stand. With more than 1,000 recipes in her cookbooks and on her TV show, this is the one ingredient you'll never find in the Barefoot Contessa's dishes. Garten says that although people can add it to whichever dish they like, she hates it and finds it tastes like soap, which overpowers every other flavor in the meal for her. Ina isn't alone in her dislike, as a study by Cornell University found that a genetic variation influences the taste of cilantro for people.

However, for Martha Stewart, it's more than just one food she can't stand. The lifestyle guru shared that she would never consume truffle oil or use it in her recipes as it's a synthetic oil that contains no real truffles, having studies done that show the oil's harm. Although Martha has a point with her hate for truffle oil, her other aversions aren't as easily avoidable. Martha says she would never make a salad with grilled chicken, opting for a fresh vegetable and seafood version instead, as grilled chicken isn't her style. Moreover, in an interview with Anthony Bourdain, Martha dissed pumpkin spice, agreeing it is a seasoning for basic b****** — but that's enough shockers for today!