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TL; DR: 

  • Ina Garten’s bag marinade is part of her Barefoot Contessa version of Greek street food. 
  • The Food Network star puts pork, onion, garlic, bell pepper, lemon zest, olive oil, and herbs in a bag for 30 minutes.  
  • Ina Garten cooks the pork in a cast iron skillet and serves it with pita bread and radish tzatziki.

An Ina Garten bag marinade is just as easy to do as it sounds. So easy, in fact, it made a reviewer skeptical. Find out how the Barefoot Contessa marinades pork in a bag and turns it into something “good enough for company,” ahead.

Ina Garten bag marinade: ‘Put it right in the bag’

Garten’s bag marinade is part of her recipe for Pork Souvlaki with Radish Tzatziki. “It’s kind of classic greek street food, but I’ve made a few twists to make it good enough for company,” she explained on Barefoot Contessa: Cook Like a Pro. 

As Garten demonstrated from the “barn” at her East Hampton home where Barefoot Contessa’s filmed, she puts the marinade ingredients in a bag with the pork.

“First I have one red onion. It just goes right in the bag,” she said. The Modern Comfort Food author does the same with the rest of the ingredients. “Put it right in the bag,” she said as she tossed in strips of yellow bell pepper. 

Garten continued the process with fresh herbs from her sprawling garden, lemon zest, lemon juice, “good” olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. 

“Now what I’m going to do is take all of the air out of this bag and seal it and just roll it around a little bit,” she said. That way, “all of those flavors get in there,” she explained. Finally, she sets the bag aside for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Ina Garten cooks the marinaded pork in a large cast iron skillet

After Garten’s bag marinade comes the cooking. “What I’ve done is preheated a 14-inch cast iron skillet. It’s really hot,” she said. 

“If you don’t have a 14-inch cast iron skillet, you can use two smaller ones, like two nine-inch ones, but you want the pork in one layer so it cooks evenly,” she added. 

“Look how easy this is,” she said as she poured the contents of the bag into the skillet. “Spread it out in one layer and cook it without moving it at all for three minutes.” 

Meanwhile, she warms up pita bread in the oven. Then she returns to the skillet. “So I’m just going to stir it and cook it for seven minutes, stirring it occasionally so the pork cooks evenly and it starts to brown on all sides,” she said. 

While the pork continues cooking, Garten makes radish tzatziki with Greek yogurt, garlic, scallions, fresh mint, kosher salt, pepper, and, of course, radishes.

Finally, she assembles the pork souvlaki that started with a bag marinade. “I wish you could smell this. It’s amazing,” Garten said. “That’s pork souvlaki with radish tzatziki. It’s classic street food but so much better, and the herbs take it to a whole new level.”  

The Barefoot Contessa recipe has 5 stars

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Reviewers love Garten’s marinade in a bag and her pork souvlaki recipe. At the time of writing, the Barefoot Contessa dish averages five stars on Food Network’s website. 

“This was absolutely delicious! The flavors in the marinade mash perfectly with radish tzatziki,” one reviewer wrote, adding Garten makes them “look like a rock star in the kitchen.” 

Some followed the recipe exactly as Garten’s known to do herself. Others made a few changes. A handful of reviewers shared they went beyond the 30-minute marinade time, leaving the pork to sit for a few hours or even an entire day in the fridge. 

Either way, reviewers love the dish. “This recipe was absolutely delicious,” one person wrote. “I love Ina’s recipes, but I was a little skeptical on this one because it seemed too easy. I should know not to question her; it was delicious!” added another. 

Get instructions on Garten’s pork souvlaki and the details on her bag marinade on Food Network. 

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