Ina Garten Gives Deviled Eggs a Fancy Barefoot Contessa Upgrade

Ina Garten has a way of taking ordinary classics and giving them a new twist. The Barefoot Contessa star shared her fancy upgrade for deviled eggs and it’s such an easy and impressive appetizer.

Ina Garten gives deviled eggs a fancy twist

A fan asked Garten on her Barefoot Contessa website if she had “a fancier recipe” for deviled eggs — and you can guess her answer. “I do! My recipe for smoked salmon deviled eggs is a delicious way to dress up traditional deviled eggs for a party,” Garten responded.

She demonstrated how to make her deviled eggs recipe on an episode of Barefoot Contessa. “One of the things that always surprised me when I was a caterer is that the appetizers that were the most popular were the old-fashioned ones, like deviled eggs,” she said.

Garten added, “But I thought, I can make them better than just plain deviled eggs so I’m making smoked salmon deviled eggs. They’re so delicious.”

Ina Garten has a trick for perfect hard boiled eggs

The first step in the recipe is to make hard boiled eggs and Garten has just the trick for perfect results.

“One of the things I get asked over and over again is how to cook an egg without that dark circle around the yolk,” she said. “I’ve said it before but it’s really worth repeating.”

She put eggs in a pan and covered them with cold water, then placed them on the heat. When the water came to a boil, Garten turned the heat off and allowed the eggs to stand for five minutes. The Food Network host drained the eggs and put them in cold water so they could cool for an additional two minutes.

“When the eggs are still warm, roll them on a board and the shell will come off really easily,” she said.

To make the filling, Garten put the egg yolks in a mixer bowl. She added sour cream, room temperature cream cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, salt, pepper, and smoked salmon. Then she mixed everything together.

“It’s got the richness of the sour cream and a little onion hit from the chives, a little acid from the lemon — it’s a great balance of flavors,” she explained.

Garten shared there are two ways to fill the eggs. “You can either do it with a little spoon, which is certainly fine, or you can do it really fast with a pastry bag and a tip. You want a really big tip so the salmon doesn’t get caught in it.”

She piped the yolk mixture into each egg half. “If you make a mistake, you can always put it back in the bag and start all over again,” Garten said.

The ‘Barefoot Contessa’ star adds a fancy finishing touch

Garten wasn’t done just yet, however. She added a fancy finishing touch to her deviled eggs to take them to the next leve.

“I’m going to garnish it with something that actually adds flavor and makes it look gorgeous,” she explained. “Otherwise, you have a lot of white on a plate. So I thought, salmon roe, which is like caviar but it’s from salmon and much less expensive.”

“It’s a little salty and it has a little salmon flavor and it looks so great on it,” Garten said as she placed a dollop on each deviled egg. “I always want to garnish things with flavors that are in the dish so you know exactly what to expect.

She added a sprinkle of salt and pepper to finish the appetizer. “See how nice it is when the garnish actually gets on the plate too?” the Barefoot Contessa star asked. “This went from a plate of white eggs with white filling to something I think that really pops.”

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.