Ina Garten Reveals the Only Store Bought Foods That Are Actually Worth Buying

Store-bought is fine. Store-bought is fine. Store-bought…is fine. It’s a mantra that I repeat to myself whenever I’m making a dish that I know would benefit from making one of the central components from scratch (let’s say, marinara sauce or chicken stock), but simply don’t have the time or wherewithal to do it. 

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And I learned that mantra, like so many other people, from Ina Garten. The Barefoot Contessa’s famous catchphrase has been drilled into my psyche from years of watching her either use store-bought items or, more commonly, make something absolutely delicious from scratch with the finest components, before pronouncing that I didn’t have to. Now, in a recent appearance on The Late Show With Steven Colbert, she revealed which items she thinks are really fine when store-bought, and which aren’t. We were all ears.

When Store-Bought Is Fine

In the rapid-fire round of questions from Colbert, during which he assessed which items Ina would be happy to use store-bought versions of, she revealed that most things are fine when store-bought. However, these items came with a few conditions. Let’s start with the most unequivocally “store-bought is fine” item of them all: sourdough bread. For Garten, there’s no problem grabbing a fresh loaf from your local store, instead of toiling over your dough for days. Thank god. 

Others were a bit more contingent on quality, though. The aforementioned marinara sauce is “just fine, as long as it’s good marinara sauce,” says Ina. Chicken stock, meanwhile? Store-bought is fine “if you have to.” As for birthday cake, Garten said that “I wouldn’t get one at the 7-Eleven, but you can go to a really good bakery,” before discussing one of her own recipes, where you buy a bakery-made cheesecake, and then make fresh raspberry sauce with fresh raspberries. Which, obviously, sounds delicious. And on the store-bought stuffing front, well, that’s just fine too: Ina even makes bread pudding with it. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering, she doesn’t shy away from buying things like mayo, butter, olive oil, and vanilla extract. If anyone thought she was out here toiling over a butter churn, you’d be mistaken.

When Store-Bought Isn’t Fine

Turns out, there was one item in Colbert’s list that really wasn’t okay to buy from a store, and that was lime juice. This prompted an immediate “fresh lime juice only” from Garten, which we completely get. Bottled lime juice does not compare in the slightest to the fresh stuff: It has a dull, metallic taste, and none of that intense zinginess.

So, there we are. Follow Ina’s rules for store-bought items, and you’ll never go wrong again. And while you’re at it, eat breakfast like her, roast a chicken like her, and basically, model everything on her, and you likely won’t go wrong.