Giada De Laurentiis: The 1 Ingredient You ‘Will Never Find’ in Any of Her Recipes
Flip through any cookbooks by celebrity chef, Giada De Laurentiis — a perfunctory internet search revealed she has published nine — and one thing will become clear: one ingredient is absent from all of her recipes. Learn which green food found in a grocery store’s produce section the 49-year-old won’t cook with ahead.
Although fans of De Laurentiis watch her taste all types of dishes on her own Food Network cooking shows — taking a bite is one of the quintessential parts — and the programs she makes guest appearances on, there’s one food the Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef won’t touch inside or outside of the kitchen.
Hint: It’s not coconut
De Laurentiis has already made her feelings about coconut perfectly clear. She told The Feast in July 2017 she won’t go near coconut no matter what form it takes. That means De Laurentiis has never sipped a piña colada at happy hour on a beach somewhere.
“I don’t eat coconut. I don’t like anything with coconut. Not [coconut] water. Just no coconut—at all. In anything,” she said.
So, count De Laurentiis out for any entrée, appetizer, dessert, or snack that calls for coconut in the recipe. No hard feelings, the celebrity chef just doesn’t like the taste of coconut.
While the mother of one — De Laurentiis and her ex-husband, Todd Thompson, have a daughter, Jade, together– gives coconut a wide berth when she’s brainstorming recipes, there’s another food she won’t eat.
De Laurentiis won’t eat green peppers
Green peppers will never, ever be on De Laurentiis’s grocery list or in any of her recipes. It’s not because she has to steer clear as a result of a food allergy but rather a preference. What does it boil down to for pasta-loving De Laurentiis? Unsurprisingly, taste.
“I don’t like the flavor or the look,” she told People in May 2017. Her feelings are so strong about green peppers, she won’t cook with them, period. “No green peppers will ever be found in any of my recipes.”
No green peppers here.
Or here.
So, green pepper (and coconut) lovers everywhere, remember before making any dish created by De Laurentiis, there’s a 100% chance the recipe won’t call for either of those ingredients. But, hey, one of her favorite meals from her childhood she still eats “once in a blue moon” is spaghetti with melted chocolate. Yes, really.
Another celebrity chef doesn’t like green peppers either
De Laurentiis is not the only celebrity chef who eschews from green peppers. Turns out, Aaron Sanchez, who starred in Iron Chef America, doesn’t like them either. He revealed to Food Network he’s not a fan. Why? Because the crispy, crunchy food doesn’t pack much flavor at all. Instead, when he cooks with peppers, he reaches for other variations.
“I like red bell peppers and yellow peppers, but green bell peppers just don’t taste like much of anything,” Sanchez said.
We get it, we do. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop munching on green peppers. We still love them dipped in hummus … and on sandwiches … and in meatloaf.
