Two chefs, one mission

Ina Garten and Ree Drummond both specialize in approachable, comforting dishes that don't demand hours in the kitchen. Their easy pasta recipes promised minimal effort for busy weeknights.

Testing Garten's pasta

I made one of Ina Garten's simplest pasta recipes to see if it lived up to the hype of being genuinely quick and easy to prepare.

Testing Drummond's pasta

I also prepared one of Ree Drummond's straightforward pasta dishes to compare how two different chefs approach the same goal of weeknight simplicity.

Different dishes, same ease

Although the two recipes used different ingredients and created very different final dishes, both came together with minimal effort, simple ingredients, and required very little cleanup.

“both came together with minimal effort, simple ingredients, and required very little cleanup”

The winner

One recipe earned a permanent spot in my dinner rotation, proving that not all easy pasta dishes are created equal, even when both deliver on speed and simplicity.