How to Make Cacio e Pepe Scrambled Eggs, According to Jennifer Garner And Ina Garten

Name two iconic culinary duos you probably didn't expect to see together—what about scrambled eggs and cacio e pepe and Jennifer Garner and Ina Garten? The celebrity cooks (one a professional, one an actor and enthusiastic home chef) joined forces in the most recent episode of Garner's Instagram series “Pretend Cooking Show" to create this exciting and easy breakfast mashup.

The recipe was developed by Garten (aka Garner's self-proclaimed "queen.") To start the dish, she cracks her eggs on the table, reminding viewers not to crack them on the side of the bowl to avoid any shells getting in.

After whisking them with a quarter cup of milk, Garner goes to turn the stove up to high heat. Immediately, another hand pops in, and Garten steps in to turn it back down. "Excuse me—nice and low. We want to cook scrambled eggs really low. Okay, you’re on your own.”

The rest of the video goes like this: Garten coaches Garner from the sidelines to help her achieve the perfect scrambled egg consistency.

“My own personal cooking fairy just showed up," Garner jokes as she began melting butter in the pan. "My cooking fairy likes butter. I’m gonna see if I can summon her back."

After slowly melting a tablespoon of butter in her pan, the pair seasons the eggs together. Garten advises against adding too much salt because the Pecorino cheese (which goes in at the end) is quite salty itself.

“Let it kind of get creamy and custardy,” Garten says as the eggs cook. “If you cook it at a hot temperature, it gets tough.” She turns the heat off right before they finish and continues stirring once they set a bit. This method (which requires some patience) results in "fluffy clouds" of scrambled eggs.

“I think a lot of people let it cook fully, and then what happens is you walk away to get the plates, and it’s overcooked,” Garten explains.

While they're still in the pan, the duo adds in the fresh, grated Pecorino and black pepper for that cacio e pepe taste. They each take a bite: Garner deems it "delicious," while Garten decides, "Not bad. Needs a little salt."

In her caption, Garner wished the beloved chef a heartfelt happy birthday.

"Making a Pretend Cooking Show with the Contessa who inspired it was 🤯 meta for my brain," she wrote. "I always love meeting up with you, Ina, especially for our very special, to-be-seen-in-2024 get together in your beautiful barn."

The post has over 161,000 likes—so we know we're not alone in hoping for many more Garner x Garten collaborations in 2024. As one comment reads, "I love this duo. Also, where are the steps for how I summon her as my kitchen fairy?? 👩🏻‍🍳"

Although you could of course make this for a weekday breakfast, you can find the full recipe in Garten's cookbook Go-To Dinners (and also on the Instagram post).