Ina Garten Revealed Her Favorite Olive Oil, Butter, and Mayo Brands

Ina Garten: cook, author, icon, and a hug personified all rolled into one queen of hosting. Oh, Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard? Cute. Ina ditched her White House budget analyst job to buy a specialty food store in the Hamptons without any food business experience. Checkmate, Zuck. 

Ina has managed to build a loyal fan base, compile an impressive repertoire of recipes, remove the immediate reaction to shuddering upon hearing “barefoot,” and pretty much co-opt the word “contessa,” so it’s no wonder that we hold her opinions in high regard. In Ina we trust, so when she makes suggestions, we listen.

She’s known for referring to “the good vanilla,” (homemade or Nielsen-Massey, though we wager she’d also file Jeffrey under that category) so what other recommendations does the Contessa stand by? Specifically, how does Ina lube up? For her favorite extra-virgin olive oil, butter, and mayo, we take to Ask Ina, the section of her website on which she answers reader questions.

Ina Garten’s Favorite Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Christine Benoit of Clinton Township Michigan asks, “I am looking for a high-quality olive oil. What brand do you suggest?”

Ina responds, “I use Olio Santo extra-virgin olive oil and highly recommend it. It’s available at Williams-Sonoma.” “Olio santo” is Italian for “holy oil” so it makes perfect sense that the goddess Ina backs the product. We know it’s classy because Williams-Sonoma sells things to people who have their lives together, aka people who would buy extra virgin olive oil without chuckling at “extra-virgin.” But if $44 a bottle is too rich for your blood, we have some suggestions for excellent, cheaper olive oils.

Ina Garten’s Favorite Butter

Mike Taylor of Enterprise, Alabama asks, “When you cook with butter, what brand do you use?”

Mike Taylor representing the South with the question about butter! Ina responds, “I often use Cabot unsalted butter, but there are many good brands of butters available. What’s most important is to make sure you use unsalted butter, so you are able to control the amount of salt in the recipe. Salted butters can vary significantly in the amount of salt they contain.” Ina gives us an answer, then accessible alternatives and an explanation? She’s both giving us a fish and teaching us to fish at the same time! But with butter! 

Ina Garten’s Favorite Mayonnaise

Nancy from Massachusetts asks, “For your onion dip recipe, you say to use ‘good mayonnaise.’ Does that mean homemade or a specific brand?”

Well, Nancy, Ina’s generosity will help you tie up that recipe with her answer: “By ‘good mayonnaise’ I mean a good-quality store-bought brand, such as Hellman’s or Duke’s.” For what it’s worth, we agree that both Duke’s and Hellman’s are top-notch.