How Ina Garten Makes an Easy One-Ingredient Appetizer

There’s an art to hosting a dinner party, preparing the entire meal, and making sure your guests have plenty of small bites to snack on during the cocktail hour beforehand. You need to find the right balance between offering tasty appetizers without spending so much time on them that it takes away from your efforts on the main course.

To easily manage my time when hosting, I often stick to serving simple bites like olives, roasted nuts, or bread with olive oil and vinegar. Thanks to cookbook author, entertaining expert, and food icon Ina Garten, I now have two more one-ingredient appetizer ideas in my back pocket, both featuring one of my favorite cheeses.

In a throwback clip from her iconic show, Barefoot Contessa, Garten reveals that she also prefers to keep it simple when pairing snacks with drinks before a meal. Two of her go-to options call for an ingredient you might already have in your fridge: Parmesan.

Serve a bowl of Parmesan shards

When you’re short on time or money to put together a full cheese and charcuterie spread, opt for Ina Garten’s cheese snack of choice: simple chunks of plain Parmesan. The Barefoot Contessa says that “there’s nothing simpler or chicer than Parmesan shards.”

To create appropriately sized bites, she recommends using the tip of a sharp paring knife to carve out small chunks from a wedge of the aged Italian cheese. She notes that “it’s the rough edges that taste really good. I have no idea why, but it really does make a difference,” so don’t feel compelled to slice off perfectly even pieces.

Garten serves the cheese in a stemmed, silver bowl, but a small ceramic bowl, platter, or wooden cutting board would look elegant too. Just make sure you use real Parmigiano Reggiano — which will have “Parmigiano Reggiano” stamped in dotted letters on its rind — because this appetizer is all about the depth of flavor in the cheese.

Make a batch of Parmesan crisps

If you’re searching for a quick appetizer idea that feels like you invested more effort into it, a batch of Parmesan crisps might be the answer. Garten places tablespoon-sized mounds of grated Parmesan cheese on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bakes them at 350°F. 

After just six minutes in the oven, the cheese melts into lacy rounds that become shatteringly crisp after cooling. They’re easy to pick up, satisfyingly crunchy, and, of course, packed with the nutty flavor of Parmesan.

Because Parmigiano Reggiano is so versatile, it pairs well with a wide range of drinks. Try serving a fruity red wine, like a Chianti, or a dry, sparkling option, such as Prosecco, for your guests. Negronis, martinis, espresso martinis, and most classic cocktails all complement the Parmesan bites.

If cheese on its own sounds too plain for your party, Garten has another easy appetizer that still stars Parmigiano Reggiano: the Barefoot Contessa pops a bag of microwave popcorn, then tosses it with melted butter, chipotle chili powder, and grated Parmesan. Whether you opt for popcorn or a chic shard of cheese, we’re confident your guests will be happy.