This 20-Minute Ina Garten Recipe Is My New Go-To Dinner

One dish to cook that has always intimidated me is fish–especially salmon. While it is one of my favorite foods to order, making it at home seems more difficult than it actually is.

A couple of years ago, chef and social media influencer Emily Mariko made cooking a delicious fish dish easy with her viral salmon bowl. The recipe blew up on TikTok for a good reason: It made preparing salmon accessible but still flavorful.

But 2021 isn’t the first time a chef has made a foolproof salmon recipe. Far from it. Another classic fish dish comes from one of our faves—none other than the Barefoot Contessa herself.

Ina Garten’s Simple Salmon and Melting Cherry Tomatoes

In her cookbook, “Barefoot Contessa Foolproof,” Ina Garten shares one of her best main meal recipes—her simple salmon with melting cherry tomatoes.

Because it only takes a few minutes to put together but yields a gorgeous result, it could easily be the star of a last-minute dinner party. At the same time, it is low enough on ingredients, so it could also be a nice way to upgrade your weeknight routine. Due to its classic simplicity, this dish looks impressive without requiring a lot of work. Turns out restaurant-quality salmon isn’t as hard as I thought.

I first stumbled upon this recipe while searching for easy recipes to make for myself on a busy weeknight. As a college student who cooks only for herself most of the time, I immediately saved this recipe when it popped up on my TikTok feed because it is easy to customize the amount you prepare.

In the video, the creator who makes this recipe says this is the “only way to eat salmon.” As it is so easy to make, I can see why. All it takes is six ingredients and a few minutes to prepare.

How to Make Ina Garten's 6-Ingredient Salmon Recipe

If following the recipe for Garten’s classic salmon recipe seems a little intimidating, the dish was featured on her television show a few years back. You can still easily watch Garten teach you how to turn six ingredients into a show-stopping meal.

For the sauce, she sautés some chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper, and butter in a pan before adding her sliced cherry tomatoes. To this mixture, she adds fresh basil and balsamic vinegar. 

For the fish, she coats her salmon in olive oil and seasons it with salt and pepper. She sears it on the stove in a cast iron skillet for around 5 minutes and then finishes it off in the oven for several minutes. Once it is ready, she spoons the sauce on top and serves it up. 

To upgrade this dish, I recommend adding pasta or serving it with rice. You could also make this recipe even more simple by cooking your salmon in foil packets instead. While I’m mostly cooking for one right now, this dish feels like the perfect excuse to invite a group of friends over for dinner. 

Or, I could always prepare salmon ahead of time and rotate this dish with the viral TikTok salmon bowl. Mariko’s dish would be the perfect use of leftover salmon from this meal, and with salmon prices these days, I don’t want to let any of this precious fish go to waste.

With these two dishes, it looks like I’ll never be intimidated to make fish again. Now, you don’t have to be, either.