I Use Ina Garten’s Store-Bought Shortcut To Make the Easiest Holiday Side

Ina Garten has taught us so many great tips, tricks, and recipes over the years. But if we had to pick just one thing we’ve learned from the Barefoot Contessa, the piece of advice we’d always choose is a no-brainer: Store-bought is fine!

Garten has been saying it for years, but besides a jar of marinara sauce here and a melted ice cream crème anglaise there, we could never really picture our Hamptons-living, giant Cosmo-drinking celebrity chef popping a Trader Joe’s dessert on the table. That was until she told us that’s quite literally what she did last holiday season.

So, after Garten sold that French Apple Tart out of basically every TJ’s in America, we knew her store-bought mentality was fair game for every holiday get-together. Because, let’s be honest, if it’s good enough for Ina Garten, it’s certainly good enough for us.

Ina Garten’s Store-Bought Mashed Potato Secret

Since you’ve already got a store-bought dessert in your back pocket, this year, Garten shared the side dish she doesn’t make from scratch. During the rush of holiday cooking, Garten doesn’t spend time boiling, peeling, and mashing spuds for homemade mashed potatoes. Instead, she buys refrigerated, ready-made mashed potatoes and passes them off as homemade. 

How Ina Garten Dresses Up Store-Bought Mashed Potatoes to Taste Homemade

Garten takes the premade mashed potatoes you’ll find in the grocery store’s deli section and zhuzhes them up a little bit before serving.

“[I take mashed potatoes] that I’ve bought from the grocery store [and] make Parmesan-sour cream mashed potatoes,” Garten said on “Today.” “I add sour cream, I add Parmesan cheese and butter, and salt and pepper.”

She actually shared her official mashed potato recipe with “NYT Cooking.” For dressed-up store-bought mashed potatoes, Garten uses one package of Bob Evans mashed potatoes (she says these are the best on the market), 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

In her “Today” demonstration, Garten adds the ingredients to the mashed potatoes in a glass bowl on a double boiler on the stove. That way, it keeps the potatoes warm while you stir in the add-ins without having to put them in the crowded oven—or dirty another pot.

However, I will tell you that I used Garten’s trick for mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving, and I didn’t bother with the double boiler. Instead, I microwaved the mashed potatoes in the plastic container according to the package instructions and added the sour cream, Parmesan cheese, butter, salt, and pepper directly to the container. Then, I transferred the potatoes to a new bowl to serve.

“It is so delicious, and nobody will know that they were prepared mashed potatoes,” Garten said. 

I can confirm. Everyone loved the mashed potatoes—and were none the wiser. I’ll be pulling out this trick again to serve alongside my mac and cheese this cozy season.

Yes, there are dozens of mashed potato hacks out there—like peeling potatoes without a vegetable peeler or using a cooling rack to mash the potatoes quickly. But none are as simple or will save you more time than taking a page out of Ina Garten’s book and swapping in store-bought mashed potatoes instead.