Every Single Thing You've Ever Wanted to Know About Ina Garten

From her down-to-earth demeanor and expert cooking tips to her reservoir of tasty chicken recipes (have you tried her engagement chicken?!), it's easy to see why Ina Garten has become one of the most famous names in the culinary industry. She showed millions of foodies (us included) that it's possible to cook well and have fun doing it, thanks to her popular Food Network program Barefoot Contessa. And of course, we can't forget about her best-selling cookbooks, from Modern Comfort Food to Go-To Dinners.

While discussing the success of her Emmy-winning cooking series, Garten told Inc.com, "I think people feel like they're just hanging out with me and I'm cooking for them...It's never about looking at me. I'm like, don't look at me. I'm just the opposite. It's funny, I have a friend who said, 'Everybody else is like, look at me, look at me, pay attention to me.' I'm like, 'Well, this is what I do. You can do whatever you want to do and I'm just having fun here.'"

Aside from teaching viewers the do's and don'ts of cooking, Garten has also shared her personal story and dished out a bit of wisdom in her recent memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. The New York Times best-seller has garnered praise from several critics, and PureWow's own VP of Editorial Content, Candace Davison, noted that it's packed with valuable life lessons.

Keep reading for details on our favorite cook.

• Hometown: Stamford, Connecticut
• Birthday: February 2, 1948
• Spouse: Jeffrey Garten
• Star Sign: Aquarius

Early Life & Rise to Fame

Ina Garten (born Ina Rosenberg) was born to Charles H. Rosenberg and Florence Rosenberg in Brooklyn, New York. She and her older brother, Ken, were raised in Stamford, Connecticut, and she became quite skilled at science from a young age. Garten has opened up about her mother encouraging her to focus on her studies, rather than helping out in the kitchen, which explains why, after high school, she went on to study economics at Syracuse University. After this, she attended the George Washington University School of Business.

"I think it's the reason why I'm a cook, because I was never allowed in the kitchen. That was my mother's purview. And she used to say, 'It's my job to cook, and it's your job to study.'"

Ina Garten

As for Garten's romantic life, she first crossed paths with her future husband, Jeffrey Garten, at 15 years old, when she traveled to Dartmouth College to visit her brother. At 20, she tied the knot with the economist—who you may have spotted on her show on a few occasions—and relocated to North Carolina. While chatting with CBS News in 2015, Garten described him as "really sweet, kind, funny, smart, supportive, just everything you could ever dream of."

Now, if you're wondering how the TV personality shifted to a career in food, it all began when she and her husband went on a four-month vacation in Europe. While in France, she developed a passion for French cuisine and began to work on her own culinary skills by studying the cookbooks of Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child.

Soon after their return to the U.S., Garten and her husband relocated to Washington, D.C., where she landed a White House job in nuclear energy policy for the Carter administration. During that time, she would also host weekly dinner parties, which allowed her to brush up on her home entertaining skills. It was then that she seriously considered switching to a career in food. And fortunately for her, she found the perfect opportunity to do just that.

In 1978, she left her bureaucratic job to purchase her first store, Barefoot Contessa, even though she had no formal cooking training. She successfully ran the business for nearly 20 years before selling it and pursuing a cookbook writing career.

On the store's 46th anniversary, she wrote on Instagram, “The original owner, Diana Stratta, and I worked 22-hour days the entire holiday. I remember telling Jeffrey this may be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, but it was also so exhilarating. (I guess it turned out okay?)”

Cookbooks & Best Recipes

At 51 years old, Garten turned her attention to cookbook writing and published her debut title, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, in 1999. To her surprise, the book became a huge hit and sold over 100,000 copies in the first year alone. The success of her first book led to a follow-up called Barefoot Contessa Parties!, and both books earned nominations for the James Beard Award in the Entertaining & Special Occasion Cookbooks category.

The self-taught cook went on to publish several more cookbooks that also did incredibly well, and they feature recipes for many of her popular dishes, like Perfect Roast Chicken, Coq Au Vin, Shortbread Cookies and Beatty's Chocolate Cake. While she’s best known for French cuisine, she also experiments with American, Asian, British and Italian dishes.

To date, Garten has released a total of 14 books:

• The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999)
• Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes For Easy Parties That Are Really Fun (2001)
• Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family (2002)
• Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home (2004)
• Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again (2006)
• Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients (2008)
• Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? (2010)
• Barefoot Contessa: Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust (2012)
• Make It Ahead: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2014)
• Cooking for Jeffrey: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2016)
• Cook Like a Pro: Recipes and Tips for Home Cooks (2018)
• Modern Comfort Food: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2020)
• Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (2022)
• Be Ready When the Luck Happens (2024)

In addition, she has three magazine columns, including "Entertaining is Fun!" for Martha Stewart Living (1999–present), "Entertaining" for O, The Oprah Magazine (2003–present) and "Ask the Barefoot Contessa" for House Beautiful (2006–present).

Barefoot Contessa on Food Network

Thanks to the success of her cookbooks, Garten went on to make several appearances on Martha Stewart's show. In 2000, Stewart's production company tried to work with Garten on her own show, but it ultimately didn't work out due to the strict guidelines and structured environment. Fortunately, Food Network approached Garten and offered a more intimate and casual setup, and Garten agreed.

The cooking show aired in 2002 and ran for 29 seasons until 2021. In each episode, Garten walks viewers through how to prepare a variety of multi-course meals for different occasions, from intimate date nights to dinner parties with friends.

I do TV because it's an important part of the business, but it's the cookbooks I love writing.

Ina Garten

If you've tuned in to the show, then you may have spotted her husband, Jeffrey, whether he's passing by or taste-testing her brilliant creations. But aside from prepping meals, Garten also offers hosting and home decorating tips.

Currently, Garten hosts the Food Network series Be My Guest, where she invites friends to dine and chat with her at her East Hamptons home. Her most famous guests include Emily Blunt, Faith Hill, Jennifer Garner, Stanley Tucci, Laura Linney and Nathan Lane.

Personal Life

Garten and her husband are basically couple goals, but did you know that they once went through a rough patch? Just a few years after they tied the knot, Garten seriously considered getting a divorce because of her husband's traditional approach to marriage. However, she ultimately decided to get a separation.

In her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, she wrote, "It was the hardest thing I ever did. I told him that I needed to be on my own. I didn’t say whether it was for now...or forever. In true Jeffrey form, he said, 'If you feel like you need to be on your own, you need to do it.' He packed his bag and went home to Washington with no plan to come back. I buried my emotions and threw myself into my work."

She added, "I just couldn’t live with him in a traditional 'man and wife' relationship. Jeffrey hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just doing what every man before him had done. But we were living in a new era, and that behavior wasn’t okay with me anymore."

Fortunately, it didn't take long for Jeffrey to figure out what the issue was. After he sought therapy, the couple was back on the right track.

Gaten wrote, "One hour, that's all Jeffrey needed. He went once for an hour and totally got it. Jeffrey’s willingness to see the therapist was as significant as anything that might happen during their session. He was that determined to convince me he was serious about making our marriage work."

Net Worth

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Garten has an estimated net worth of $60 million. Her wealth comes from many sources, including her best-selling cookbooks, her grocery line (Barefoot Contessa Pantry), her television shows and her real estate.

Without any consciousness about it, she is the model of an innovator.

Jeffrey Garten

As it turns out, Garten started to build her wealth before she rose to fame. While in Washington, she purchased and renovated old homes, which gave her enough money to buy the Barefoot Contessa shop. Then, after she sold the store, she retained ownership of the building. To this day, she earns income from new tenants. Oh, and did we mention that she lives in a 40,000-square-foot home that's worth $10 million?

While speaking with Parade about her overall success, her husband Jeffrey revealed, “She is extremely centered—so she knows what she wants, and is very centered on the consumer. If you can innovate, if you are constantly experimenting so that you are on the cutting edge, and you also know your customer really well, so that you are very centered and know what you want, that’s what leadership is all about."

Career Achievements & Awards

In 2021, Garten was included on the Forbes 50 Over 50 list, joining several influential entrepreneurs, entertainers and creators over 50, like Shonda Rhimes, Arianna Huffington and Catherine O'Hara. In addition, Garten won four Emmy Awards for her work on Barefoot Contessa and Be My Guest. The former earned her four Emmy wins for Outstanding Culinary Host, while Be My Guest scored a trophy for Outstanding Culinary Series in 2024.