Celebrity

Popular Ina Garten soups include classics such as chicken noodle, French onion, and pea but none of them made the cookbook author's list of her favorites.

Published on March 30, 2023

2 min read

Ina Garten’s most-loved soups for lunch don’t include some of her beloved classics. What Barefoot Contessa soups made the cookbook author’s list of lunchtime favorites and others she skipped. 

“I love soup for lunch because you can make a big batch and freeze it in quart containers,” Garten said in a Jan. 23 Instagram post. “It’s nutritious, comforting, and best of all, you can reheat it in a few minutes before lunch.” 

Garten continued, sharing Italian Wedding Soup as the first of her five “favorite soups.” Meanwhile, another hearty Barefoot Contessa dish, her top-rated Rich Beef Barley Soup, didn’t get a shoutout (via Food Network). 

2. Barefoot Contessa soup: Ina Garten loves tomato soup for lunch, skips French onion

Garten’s list of her most-loved soups for lunch continues with tomato soup. But not just any version. The Go-To Dinners author chose her Easy Tomato Soup for reasons she explained in a Jan. 24 Instagram post. 

“My favorite old-fashioned lunch is tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich,” Garten wrote in the caption. “So I decided to combine the two in my Easy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons!

As for what fan-favorite soup Garten didn’t feature on her list, she made no mention of French onion, another one of her popular Barefoot Contessa dishes

3. Barefoot Contessa soup: Ina Garten loves Chicken Ramen-Noodle Soup for lunch, skips chicken noodle


She might include chicken stock in every cookbook but her highly-rated chicken noodle soup isn’t one of Garten’s lunch soup picks. That’s right, it didn’t make her list of lunchtime soups. 

Rather, Garten selected Chicken Ramen-Noodle Soup, calling it a “quick” version of the classic in a Jan. 25 Instagram post. 

4. Barefoot Contessa soup: Ina Garten loves Winter Minestrone for lunch, skips pea soup


For all the fans of Parker’s Split Pea Soup out there (this writer included), the fact that it didn’t make Garten’s list of lunchtime soup picks might sting a bit. The love for this Barefoot Contessa dish runs deep.

Garten’s split pea soup averages 4.5 stars, with reviewers praising it for being both light and flavorful (via Food Network). 

So what Barefoot Contessa soup did make Garten’s list of lunchtime soups? Her Winter Minestrone, which she described in a Jan. 26 Instagram post as “so delicious – and good for you, too!!”

5. Barefoot Contessa soup: Ina Garten loves Creamy Potato Fennel Soup for lunch, not potato leek

Fans of Garten’s Roasted Potato Leek Soup may be surprised to learn the dish didn’t make her soups-for-lunch list. After all, it boasts nearly a perfect score with an average of 4.5 stars (via Food Network). 

Plus, reviewers have called it everything from “absolutely delicious!” and “definitely a keeper” to a “sophisticated potato soup that always gets rave reviews.” 

Instead, what did make the cut is another creamy Barefoot Contessa soup. Garten opted for her Creamy Potato Fennel soup. It’s “full of flavor,” she captioned a Jan. 27 Instagram post before adding how she makes it less “boring” with cheese, croutons, and a drizzle of olive oil.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLTEmqusoJWawW%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGS2r62MoJirrJWjerS0wKucnWVlYrmwwsSdZKynpaXAbrjUp5qhZaOgtrG8xJ1kn5meYrOiws6roK2do2O1tbnLaA%3D%3D