Ina Garten Is Planning a ‘Different’ Thanksgiving for 2020 — With Recipes Anyone Can Make

For everyone who is downsizing their Thanksgiving this year, Barefoot Contessa star Ina Garten has got you covered. Just like many of us across the country, Garten is planning a very “different” Thanksgiving in 2020. And she’s sharing exactly how she’s going about it.

Ina Garten is having a Thanksgiving-for-two with husband Jeffrey

In a new video from The New York Times, “Ina’s Favorite Things,” Garten gives viewers a tour of her barn kitchen at her home in the Hamptons. It’s where she’s shot her Food Network show since 2002, and it’s quite stunning.

The lofty kitchen features two dishwashers, 25 feet of limestone counter space, and a sunlit reading room full of couches and cookbooks. The barn kitchen is where Garten hosts a large Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family every year. But this year, the Food Network star is celebrating the holiday with her husband, Jeffrey.

“I’ll probably make a very small turkey, and I think we’re going to have a very good time,” Garten revealed.

She says she will stick to her no-stuffing policy and make bread pudding instead. But, she doesn’t think everyone should follow her lead. Garten hopes that “people will give themselves permission to do whatever they want this year.”

The Food Network star shared her recipes for a ‘Micro Thanksgiving’

Since the pandemic hit in March, Garten has gained over one million followers on Instagram. Thanks to her amazing recipes for giant cocktails and recipes from her new Modern Comfort Food cookbook, Garten’s Instagram page has become a go-to for many during quarantine.

With that in mind, Garten has shared her best recipes for what she has dubbed a “Micro Thanksgiving” for fans who are skipping out on large gatherings this year.

“It may be a different Thanksgiving this year but it will still be celebratory and delicious!!” Garten said.

“I’m doing the classics but with a modern twist — balancing dishes that are crunchy, creamy, savory, and sweet to go with my favorite (small!) roast turkey recipe,” she said on her first post of Haricots Verts with Hazelnuts & Dill.

So far, Garten has also shared recipes for Make-Ahead Roast Turkey, Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes, Herb and Apple Bread Pudding, and Potato Fennel Gratin.

All of Ina Garten’s ‘Micro Thanksgiving’ recipes are for beginners

In her recipe for Make-Ahead Roast Turkey, she includes a recipe for turkey gravy with onions and sage. When it comes to the Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes, Garten skips the sugary marshmallow topping and adds a little kick with chipotle chiles and adobo sauce. To mellow out the dish, Garten’s recipe calls for two tablespoons of pure Grade A maple syrup.

When Garten shared her recipe for Herb and Apple Bread Pudding, she explained why she always makes that dish instead of stuffing.

“Instead of stuffing the turkey, which requires you to cook it for more time which can dry out a turkey, this savory bread pudding bakes separately but has all the flavor of traditional stuffing – creamy bread and vegetables on the bottom, with lots of crunchy, cheesy bits on top,” Garten explained. “That way, you’ll have the best ‘stuffing’ and a delicious moist turkey in less time!”

Garten also skips traditional mashed potatoes and replaces them with Potato Fennel Gratin. The Food Network star explained that the dish is “rich and creamy and infused with onions, fennel, and Gruyère cheese.”

She even noted that you can put the dish together in advance and then bake it just before dinner time.

Garten has promised that she will be posting more Micro Thanksgiving recipes on her Instagram in the days leading up to the holiday.