I Always Keep This Ina-Approved Shortcut in My Freezer—Here's Why

It’s no secret that Ina Garten is the queen of entertaining. However, even though I cooked professionally for nearly a decade and currently write about food and develop recipes for a living, I’m still always a bit anxious about cooking for a big group in my home. 

Part of the stress of entertaining is usually the pressure we put on ourselves. I’m sure my friends would be just as happy if I ordered pizza instead of serving them a three-course meal. But I love cooking and trying new, showstopping recipes, so I tend to push myself to reach for the stars when friends come over. 

Beyond dinner and drinks, I like to have something snacky and delectable out when guests first arrive; something more than just chips and dip but nothing that will upstage the main course or take a lot of extra effort. For ideas, I always turn to the authority on dinner parties, Ina Garten, and her vast catalog of recipes. 

Thumbing through her many cookbooks that sit on my shelf and perusing the hundreds more recipes she has online, I noticed something. Ina has dozens of recipes that call for puff pastry—even one for puff pastry-wrapped hot dogs! But one of her most famous ones is her tomato and goat cheese tart with caramelized onions from her Back to Basics cookbook. She often touts that she doesn’t make puff pastry from scratch. And who could blame her? Puff pastry is notoriously difficult, and my pastry skills are less than stellar; I know it would be tough to execute a perfect puff pastry from scratch, especially for a dinner party with multiple dishes to prepare. 

I had also shied away from the store-bought stuff. I have nothing against it in principle, I just always sort of assumed that homemade was better. But seeing Ina use store-bought puff pastry, I figured, why not? If Ina says store-bought is fine, then it absolutely is. I decided to try it for my next dinner party.

I was amazed! It was delicious and so easy, plus my guests raved about it. How had I waited this long to try it? Now, I always keep at least one box of puff pastry in my freezer. It’s my secret weapon for big, planned dinner parties and unexpected guests alike. Everybody loves puff pastry, and it packs a huge payoff with very little work. 

Throwing together a simple tart with store-bought puff pastry also frees up a lot of time while entertaining. It can be served at room temperature, which means I can make it ahead of time and spend more time socializing. It works for dessert, too—a pack of puff pastry plus whatever fruit is in season and a scoop of vanilla ice cream is as easy as it is delicious. Even when I’m not entertaining, I turn to my trusty, Ina-approved shortcut for easy weeknight dinners and snacky appetizers. Now, whenever I’m walking through the freezer aisle at the grocery store, I hear Ina Garten’s voice in my head saying, “store-bought is fine,” and I grab a few boxes of puff pastry, just in case.