Who Really Has A Bigger Net Worth: Ree Drummond Or Ina Garten?
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
It's no secret that both Ree Drummond and Ina Garten have each racked up an enormous net worth. Garten's career began with writing a single cookbook back in 1999. Now, she has built herself a net worth of $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Drummond, who began by blogging, isn't all that far behind with a net worth of $50 million. Though there's a $10 million dollar difference between these two wealthy women — which we wouldn't be surprised to see grow smaller someday soon — it's a massive amount of money for two chefs who have had no formal culinary training.
Yet, ever since they first appeared on our small screens, their faces have appeared everywhere else, too. From frozen meals to memoirs to TV, these two chefs certainly have their plates full. "After having had several careers first — as a nuclear energy policy wonk and running a specialty food store — this is as good as it gets," Garten told Epicurious. Even Drummond agrees. In fact, "I've loved her since she started her show," the Pioneer Woman admitted to Fox News.
Though these two got started on the Food Network nearly a decade apart, their success stories are pretty similar. Read on to see how these stars' net worths stack up against each other.
Their cookbooks contribute to much of their success
Every successful chef has their own cookbook or two (or twelve). In 1999, before Garten had ever stepped foot on television, she wrote her first cookbook, "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook." With a foreword written by her good friend, Martha Stewart (you've heard of her, right?) to a step-by-step guide for the delicious comfort food, Garten's cookbook was the recipe to success. Even the famous chef herself couldn't believe how fast it was flew off the shelves. "I was shocked," she admitted to IndieBound. Garten has since written 11 more best-selling cookbooks. She even admitted to the Food Network that she doesn't use any other cookbooks when making meals in her own kitchen — but with thousands of recipes of your own, why would you need any others?
Exactly a decade later, Drummond's first cookbook called "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl" hit store shelves. Though she had yet to appear on our small screens either, Drummond had a passion for photography and sharing recipes with the world. Yet, when it came to creating her own cookbook, "I had no idea what I was doing," she later admitted to Design & Living Magazine, though her fans obviously loved it. According to Publishers Weekly, it was the #1 preordered book on Amazon the week of its release before becoming a New York Times Best Seller. The Pioneer Woman has since written five more cookbooks.
Both of their popular TV shows have received Emmy recognition
Funny enough, neither Ree Drummond nor Ina Garten was ever interested in being on television.
Garten was busy writing her third cookbook when the Food Network called. "They wanted me to do a cooking show and I said, 'Absolutely not,'" Garten told the Chicago Tribune – but they kept calling. "Every couple of months they'd come back and make me a better offer," she said, and one day, they made her an offer she couldn't refuse. In 2002, "Barefoot Contessa" premiered. Garten has since won four Emmys, and each episode averages about 1 million viewers, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Yet, Garten still isn't super impressed with show business. "I do the TV because it's an important part of the business," she told Forbes. "But it's the cookbooks I love writing," which she's also super successful with.
While Barefoot Contessa was recognized by her books, Drummond was discovered online by the Food Network. "I was a food blogger," she told Delish. She had no intentions of that changing either — until she was told she could do her show from home. When Drummond realized she wouldn't have to travel, she decided to "give it a try," she said. "The Pioneer Woman" debuted in 2011, and its viewership has grown every year. In fact, the show and its star have won a total of four Emmys.
They've both invested in spaces to shoot their show
When you think of working on a TV show, you may think of fancy sets, blinding lights, and "On Air" signs. However, you'd probably be surprised to know that both Ree Drummond and Ina Garten shoot their television shows in their own homes.
Yet, when Garten first invited cameras into her kitchen, it turned into a big fiasco. "We were filming for eight weeks straight, twice a year, and during that time, the crew took over the entire house," she explained to Oprah Daily. "I knew that either Jeffrey was going to divorce me or I was going to have to find some other place to film." To solve their problem, they purchased the property next door to their home in East Hampton, New York. There, they built a 2,000 square-foot barn fully equipped with its own custom-built kitchen and cookbook library. Yes, you read that right — an entire library dedicated solely to cookbooks.
When Drummond found herself on television, she already had the perfect place to do it: her guest house lovingly called The Lodge. "The Lodge holds a lot of people, and working there also allows me to 'go home' at the end of the day and plop on the sofa!" she wrote on her blog. Fans can even see it for themselves if they pay for a tour.
Their successful blogs keep them both busy
When Ree Drummond and Ina Garten aren't on television, they're online. In fact, that's how the Pioneer Woman herself was originally discovered by the Food Network.
In 2006, Drummond found herself with a rare day where she had nothing to do. As she brainstormed a way to keep in touch with her mother in Tennessee, Drummond decided "to start one of those blog things," she told The New Yorker, though she had no idea what she was doing — at least, at first. After sharing her first recipe for a steak online, she quickly found herself with a large following, and her fans immediately wanted more. Within a year, she had made $1 million off of it, and, today, her award-winning blog has more than 20 million hits each and every month, according to the Food Network. There's even been talks of turning her blog into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon!
Garten, on the other hand, began blogging much later in her cooking career. In 2012, her online presence began as a way to share recipes with fans on her Facebook page — and they kept wanting more. Within three weeks, she found herself with 100,000 followers, according to The New York Times.
Today, both women use their websites to share recipes, tell their life stories, and even to sell their own merchandise. After all, "cooking is a sharing thing," Garten told the Food Network. "It's not about the cooking itself."
Their homes are huge
TV stars are known for their huge houses, and these two from the Food Network are no different.
The host of Barefoot Contessa has made herself at home in three separate houses around the world. When she's not busy shooting her show on the property of her East Hampton, New York, home, she's splitting her time not too far away — inside her apartment just across the city in Manhattan. According to Forbes, Ina Garten spent $4.65 million on the small space that was previously owned by the editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure. Oh, and speaking of travel, the Food Network star has a third home in Paris of all places. "Back when Jeffrey and I were dating, he wrote me a letter (which I still have!). He said he wanted to take me to Paris," she explained on Instagram. Little did she know they would eventually purchase their very own place there.
The Pioneer Woman, on the other hand, likes to stay close to her roots. Though she only owns a single home, the Daily Mail has reported that she's the 23rd largest landowner in the entire country. Her ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, sits on 433,000 acres of land. There, Ree Drummond's family raises all sorts of animals and brings in nearly $2.5 million every year for doing so. Now, it all makes sense why she was nicknamed the Pioneer Woman!
These celebrity chefs know how to run successful specialty stores
You can't create an empire without being a successful businesswoman first. Luckily, Ree Drummond and Ina Garten are just that.
All the way back in 1978, Garten grew tired of her job at the White House and searched for something more fulfilling. After seeing an ad for a specialty food store for sale, a spark of inspiration hit. "I had no idea at the time how to run a business or how to buy food wholesale, but I knew this was for me," she told IndieBound. It was then that Barefoot Contessa was born. Over the course of nearly 20 years, she grew the business from a 400 square-foot space to a 3,000 square-foot restaurant and specialty store with more than 40 employees. By 1996, "I decided that it was time for a new challenge so I sold the store to the manager and the chef," she explained on her website.
Drummond also dreamed of owning a business. In 2016, she opened up her own 25,000 square-foot specialty store called The Pioneer Woman Mercantile. There, the TV star has her own restaurant, bakery, and store that serve over 6,000 customers each day, according to Sprudge — which is double the town's population. Along with her hotel, which opened in 2018, she's made her hometown a tourist hot spot. Yet, she still doesn't attribute her success to herself. "It's the chicken fried steak, it's not me," Drummond told CBS Sunday Morning.
These two have different approaches to their own product lines
If you want to be an incredible chef like Ree Drummond or Ina Garten, you have to have the right tools. Over the last few years, both of these wealthy women have attached their names to successful lines of products — in much different ways.
It may surprise Food Network fans to hear that Garten has never had her own line of cookware. While Barefoot Contessa herself may benefit from having one, she has an alternate approach when it comes to getting people the best kitchen products. Instead of attaching her name to her own line, she endorses the exact equipment she uses on her website. When it comes to attaching her name to it, she's just not interested. "I've been asked to do everything from dining tables to clothing — who would want me to do their clothing? — to soy sauce," she told the Food Network. Honestly, she's much too busy making money in other ways to ever have time to create her own cookware line.
The Pioneer Woman, on the other hand, has certainly made a name for herself on store shelves. Drummond has developed an array of products for her partnership with Walmart — from cookware to home decor to a clothing line. She's in charge of designing every single item, too. "I am involved in every single dot and flower that appears on a cup," she told CBS Sunday Morning.
You can spend your money on their frozen meals
Fans of Ree Drummond and Ina Garten can enjoy their signature comfort foods in the comfort of their own homes — without even having to know how to cook. They just have to take a stroll down the frozen food section.
In 2013, Garten proved that store bought really is fine. That year, she released her own set of ready-made meals in grocery stores across the country, because "sometimes even the Barefoot Contessa doesn't have time to cook," she stated in a press release. They're a step up from any TV meal you've ever tried before, too. Included in her line were things like shrimp scampi and even pasta carbonara with pancetta. All pre-cooked packages were $8.99 and made for two, making it an easy meal to heat up on the stovetop for date night. Unfortunately, Garten ended the line once her distributor was bought out, according to The Cut.
Luckily, the Pioneer Woman now has you covered. In 2018, she launched her own line of frozen food products "for those times you're rushed or just don't have time to prep and cook food from scratch," she said in a press release, per Simple Most — and also, you know, for those times you have no idea how to make your own meatloaf. (We aren't all world-famous chefs, after all!) Drummond's line, as of this writing, is available at Walmart.
They both make money from magazines
You've surely seen Ree Drummond and Ina Garten's faces on magazine covers. Yet, you may not know that both of them have been even more involved in the magazines themselves.
Over the course of her career, Barefoot Contessa has been a contributing writer for major magazines such as Oprah Magazine, House Beautiful, and Martha Stewart Living. While it's been a few years since her work has appeared inside those pages, "I currently write a monthly column for Food Network magazine," she said on her website — and it's a big job, too. Food Network Magazine is the second fastest-selling magazine on store shelves with 13.4 million readers each and every month.
Drummond understands the impact of the magazine business as well. In 2017, she officially released her own, appropriately called "The Pioneer Woman Magazine," where she shares design advice, recipes, and even personal stories. It has been wildly popular, too. Within just days of releasing her first issue, Drummond had completely sold out of them. According to Ad Week, the Pioneer Woman and her team had to print hundreds of thousands more copies to keep up with the demand. Needless to say, it's still pretty popular now, too. Today, a new issue is released every season.
Their speaking engagements generate big bucks
If you were hoping to have Ree Drummond or Ina Garten speak (or even cook) for a crowd, it's going to cost you quite a bit.
According to the Celebrity Speakers Bureau, it costs between $50,000 and $100,000 to book Barefoot Contessa for a special event. For a big fan club, it may be worth it. Yet, surprisingly, Garten herself will never think so. She won't even watch her own television show. "I couldn't possibly. If I watched a show, I don't think I'd ever do it again," she admitted to the Food Network. "Filming is still the most frightening thing I've done. It's just sheer terror." So, obviously, it will cost a lot to make her come.
Crazy enough, the same goes for the Pioneer Woman. "I'm a pretty outgoing person, but I get stage fright, especially if I have a speaking engagement," she told Delish. "I get panicky." In order to get her out of her comfort zone just for a day, it will cost more than most people's entire salary — anywhere between $100,000 and a massive $1 million, according to the Celebrity Speakers Bureau.
Their husbands are worth a pretty penny, too
While these wealthy women can certainly stand on their own, both of their husbands bring a boatload of money home, too — or a tractorload, in Ree Drummond's case.
The Pioneer Woman's husband, Ladd, known as the Marlboro Man on her blog, spends his time working on their family ranch. With his brother as his business partner, he runs Drummond Land & Cattle Co. It may seem like a simple job, but, according to Celebrity Net Worth, he's built himself a net worth of around $200 million. Like his wife, he's pretty humble about it, too. "He won't take credit for anything ever," the Pioneer Woman said during a speech at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. "But I always tell Ladd that I've gotten all my good ideas from him." He's truly her most supportive partner, as fans have often seen on her Food Network show.
Ina Garten's husband, Jeffrey, has made a name for himself off-screen, too. As a finance specialist and professor at Yale University, he's built himself a net worth of somewhere around $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Though he's built a successful career, he's never been too busy to be there for his wife. It was Jeffrey who encouraged her to buy the specialty store Barefoot Contessa in the first place. "Cooking for him is what created my career," she later told the Chicago Tribune. "I love cooking and he encouraged it."
Their recognizable names have landed them both big roles
Though their popular Food Network series have made Ree Drummond and Ina Garten household names, those aren't the only shows you've seen them on.
After years of establishing herself as a chef, Barefoot Contessa was able to add actor to her long list of accomplishments in 2011. As someone who even Liz Lemon from "30 Rock" is obsessed with, fans were freaking out, too, when Garten appeared on Season 5. During one of Lemon's daydreams, the iconic chef plays the character she knows best — herself. "I'm not an actress, so I don't try to be anything else," she later told "Today." Though Garten only has one line, seeing her on a sitcom made the star seem accessible to anyone anywhere.
Drummond is no different. In December 2021, she will appear in her very first film called "Candy Coated Christmas." However, the Pioneer Woman wants everyone to know that "I am not an actor, I am the host of a cooking show," she explained to Entertainment Tonight. "But when Food Network asked if I wanted to participate in their first Christmas movie, I think I said yes in like point two seconds." According to her blog, it will be a small supporting role, but one that made this television professional incredibly nervous. "I will not be holding my breath for any acting accolades or awards," she wrote. "But the good news is that I didn't fall down while filming."
Everybody wants to read their memoirs
There's no doubt that Ree Drummond and Ina Garten have lived pretty incredible lives (as millionaires). Lucky for us, we even have the chance to read all about it, because both of these ladies have written memoirs.
In addition to her multiple children's books, the Pioneer Woman has written many about her own life. In 2012, she released a book about her love story with husband Ladd called "The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels." Unsurprisingly, it quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. Then, at the end of 2020, she wrote a book all about her life called "Frontier Follies: Adventures in Marriage and Motherhood in the Middle of Nowhere," which also topped the list of best-selling books — and, it turns out, it's one of her husband's favorites to read. "Of course, I paid him to say that," Drummond jokingly wrote on her blog.
While Garten hasn't released her memoir yet, she does have one in the works. According to The Hollywood Reporter, her life story is set to hit shelves in 2023 — and we're sure it will quickly become a bestseller, too. As a Food Network star who's never had any formal culinary training, Garten has always been an inspiration to all. "To say I'm lucky is an understatement," she told Epicurious.