4 Last-Minute Ina Garten Dishes for Any New Year’s Party, Big or Small
Whether it’s shortly before the ball drops or dinnertime on New Year’s Day, Ina Garten has last-minute dishes to ring in 2023. There are Barefoot Contessa dips that come together in seconds, lightning-fast pasta, and store-bought desserts.
1. Last-minute Ina Garten dishes for New Year’s: ‘Very simple’ Herb Dip
OK, dip might not seem like an obvious choice for New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, but it’s a perfect last-minute dish. It comes together as quickly as the ingredients can be blended together. Plus, it works for watching festivities on TV before the ball drops or cheering on football teams.
When asked for “quick” hors d’oeuvres suggestions, the Food Network star recommended Herb Dip.
“I always make just one thing for hors d’oeuvres and it’s something very simple,” Garten said. “Lately I’ve been making this green herb dip recipe (so easy) and serving it with fresh vegetables and yellow corn chips.”
She added: “This was one of the most popular things we ever made at Barefoot Contessa and my friends love it,” she added.
So grab cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions, parsley, dill, salt, and pepper, and put them in a food processor. Seconds later, the Herb Dip is done. Serve it with veggies or chips like Garten, or even crackers.
2. Last-minute Ina Garten dishes for New Year’s: ‘Fast’ Lemon Capellini with Caviar
For something more substantial, turn to Garten’s go-to dish for New Year’s Eve, Lemon Capellini with Caviar.
It’s a “really simple” pasta dish Garten’s called her “classic New Year’s Eve dinner” for when she’s in Paris, France, with friends.
“I have to make dinner like in five minutes because everybody — you know, it’s 11:30, and everybody expects dinner at that point,” she once told Katie Couric.
“So I make the sauce, which is like 60 pounds of butter and lemon juice, and you put it in a pan. And then you cook capellini, which takes like three minutes to cook … you toss it around, you serve it with a dollop of caviar on it, and it’s New Year’s Eve. It’s just great.”
Once again, this is a versatile Barefoot Contessa dish that can be substituted based on what’s in the kitchen. No capellini? Use angel hair. No caviar? Skip it. Another option is to toss in any leftover chicken, beef, or seafood that might be leftover from the holidays.
3. Last-minute Ina Garten dishes for New Year’s: Country Dessert Platter
Skip homemade desserts and go straight for storebought with Garten’s Country Dessert Platter if time’s limited on New Year’s. There’s no cooking or baking involved, only arranging. Put a selection of bakery treats on a platter and that’s it. An easy dessert for New Year’s in no time.
Don’t stop with desserts. Garten’s applied the same idea to create all types of food boards, from breakfast-for-dinner to salad.
4. Last-minute Ina Garten dishes for New Year’s: Brownie Pudding
For those times when there’s a little more time on the clock, try making Garten’s Brownie Pudding. The beauty of it, beyond that it’s a gooey, chocolate brownie-pudding combo, is that it can be adapted for dietary restrictions and what’s on-hand.
Essentially, if there are eggs, butter, flour, and cocoa powder in the kitchen, then this Barefoot Contessa dish is possible.
