Ina Garten Shares Her “Micro” Thanksgiving Menu for This Year

Naomi Tomky
Naomi Tomky
Seattle-based writer Naomi Tomky uses her unrelenting enthusiasm for eating everything to propel herself around the world as an award-winning food and travel writer.
updated Feb 24, 2021
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Ina’s Instagram always provides us with tips, tricks, and recipes in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, and this year is no different. Except, well, everything is different this year, so instead of her usual suggestions for a big feast, she’s showing everyone how to make all their favorite holiday dishes in a much smaller format as we all stay home and stay safe. Much like the focus of the recent New York Times piece on her, it’s all about adapting to the current circumstances and making the best of what we have. 

“I’m cooking a week of sides for a “Micro Thanksgiving” she announced last Monday, kicking off with haricots verts with hazelnuts and dill. She explains that she’s looking for how to do the classics, “but with a modern twist — balancing dishes that are crunchy, creamy, savory, and sweet,” to go with her turkey. A turkey, she adds, that will be small. Each recipe is also posted on her website, making it easy to grab and add to your upcoming holiday menu — the green beans are a half-recipe from her 2018 book Cook Like a Pro.

On Tuesday, she posted her selected sweet potato dish — chipotle smashed, with a maple twist. “These are like the ones we made last year, Ina, right?” asked her famous friend, Jennifer Garner — which Ina confirmed was correct. This half-recipe comes from the original in Cooking for Jeffrey, from 2016.

From the same book on Wednesday, she gave us an herb and apple bread pudding instead of her usual stuffing, which is a brilliant way around trying to stuff a small bird. “Creamy bread and vegetables on the bottom, with lots of crunchy cheesy bits on top,” she describes.

Thursday’s recipe comes from her original Barefoot Contessa book, from 1999 — a half portion of her potato fennel gratin. “It’s rich and creamy and infused with onions, fennel, and Gruyère cheese.”

Finally on Friday, she showed us how she’ll be cooking her bird — a small, eight-pound turkey — calling it the easiest and most delicious turkey ever. “It may be a different Thanksgiving,” says Ina, “but it will still be celebratory and delicious.”