Ina Garten’s Tips for Making Salad Are Life-Changing

Whipping up a salad might seem like an easy endeavor, but to make one worthy of serving to a celebrity chef like Ina Garten (or to your loved ones), sourcing a few pro tips from the Barefoot Contessa herself is a must.

That’s why I scoured Ina’s website and cookbooks—including her most recent, Go-To Dinners: A Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and a few oldies but goodies. From shopping and prep to serving and storing, below you’ll find Ina’s best tips for making better salads.

Tip 1: Buy in Season

Modern market practices make buying even ripe strawberries and fresh green beans possible all year round. But because out-of-season produce often travels a great distance before it gets to you, it’s usually not as fresh as locally sourced, seasonal produce.

And Ina agrees. In a recent Instagram post, she shared some of her favorite spring dishes, noting that “everything tastes better when it’s in season.” She also pointed out another reason for choosing in-season ingredients … they’re cheaper!

Tip 2: Stack to Save Time

Jeffrey Garten is one lucky guy. Not only does he get to enjoy Ina’s delicious food every day (or so I assume), but she even dedicated an entire cookbook to feeding him, titled Cooking for Jeffrey. In introducing the book, Ina said, “I have no greater pleasure than cooking for the people I love—and particularly for my husband, Jeffrey.” And it’s in this very book that you’ll find a salad-making tip that will save you some serious prep time. When making her Kale Salad with Pancetta & Pecorino, Ina says to stack and slice the kale leaves—a method that works well for prepping almost any leafy green. You can use this method in any of our kale salads that call for chopping kale, such as our Kale & Quinoa Salad with Lemon Dressing.

Tip 3: Take Those Greens for a Spin

This next nugget of Ina wisdom is found in several of her salad recipes and simply makes sense, yet is often overlooked. After you bring those perfectly picked greens home, give them a thorough wash (all your fruits and veggies, really) to help rinse away germs, debris and little bugs that love to hide in all the nooks and crannies. 

Once your greens are clean, take them for a ride in a salad spinner to get them as dry as possible. This step helps prevent premature wilting (aka soggy salads) and allows dressings to stick to the leaves instead of slipping right off to the bottom of the bowl. You can also soak your greens right in the spinner to avoid dirtying more dishes.

If you don’t own a salad spinner, Ina says you can place the greens in a large dishcloth and give the whole thing a whirl.

Tip 4: Use a Sharp Knife

While browsing Ina’s salad recipes, I noticed this repeated piece of advice: Use a very sharp chef’s knife for cutting greens and herbs. A sharp blade ensures a clean cut and prevents crushing, bruising or damaging leaves. This makes for an overall better-tasting and better-looking salad.

Tip 5: Less Is More

I admit to dousing my salad in homemade ranch dressing whenever the opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, I try to go light when dressing salads. Apparently, when holding back, I’m doing just what Ina would do. In her Arugula with Parmesan recipe, she explains, “Pour enough dressing on the arugula to moisten.” This helps keep the ingredients from becoming mushy and enhances their flavors, instead of masking them.

Tip 6: Let It Sit for a Bit

While this tip isn’t for all salads, letting those with hearty ingredients marinate is key to maximizing flavor. Think pasta and potato salads and those containing grains like Ina’s Chicken with Tabbouleh salad. Appearing in her third cookbook, Barefoot Contessa Family Style, this recipe, Ina notes, can be refrigerated to enjoy later as “the flavors will improve as it sits.” Although this salad does contain parsley, it’s an herb that can withstand a bit of soaking, as opposed to more delicate herbs and tender greens like basil and Bibb lettuce. Our Tabbouleh with Pan-Seared Chicken would benefit from this technique too.

Tip 7: Room Temp Is Best

As long as you’re not letting chicken and dairy sit out on a hot summer day, bringing your salad ingredients to room temperature (or at least serving them at room temp) will allow you to enjoy their natural flavors and textures that cold temperatures can negatively affect.

In fact, Ina suggests serving several of her salad recipes at room temperature, including her Tomato & Avocado Salad and Israeli Vegetable Salad. She doesn’t specify why but I’m sure her culinary mind is quite aware that—like many fruits and vegetables—tomatoes aren’t a fan of cold temperatures.

Tip 8: Store Herbs & Greens Carefully

To avoid food waste, follow this tip found in Ina’s Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil recipe (also known as caprese salad): Wash and spin the herbs dry, and then place them in a plastic bag along with a dry paper towel to keep them fresh for several days. This technique works well for almost any type of green. To store larger quantities, place greens in a paper-towel–lined reusable food storage container. This also helps cut back on single-use plastic waste. If you’re a fan of caprese salads, try our Hasselback Tomato Caprese Salad and our Caprese Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes & Burrata.