She hosted and produced Food Network cooking series Patricia Heaton Parties (2015–16), winning a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program.

[4][5] Heaton has three sisters, Sharon (now a Dominican nun, and presently assistant registrar at Aquinas College in Nashville), Alice, and Frances, and one brother, Michael, who died in September 2022 at the age of 66 and was the "Minister of Culture" columnist for The Plain Dealer and a writer for the paper's Friday Magazine.

[7] Heaton made her first Broadway appearance in the chorus of Don't Get God Started (1987), after which fellow students and she created Stage Three, an off-Broadway acting troupe.

[9] When Stage Three brought one of its productions to Los Angeles, Heaton caught the eye of a casting director for the ABC drama series Thirtysomething.

[10] Other guest appearances include Alien Nation (1989) and Matlock (1990) and supporting role in the made-for-television movie Shattered Dreams (1990).

In 1992, Heaton made her big screen debut appearing in a supporting role in the comedy-drama film Memoirs of an Invisible Man directed by John Carpenter.

In 1996, Heaton landed the role of Debra Barone in the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond opposite Ray Romano.

[18] In 2003, Heaton appeared in a series of television and radio commercials as spokesperson for the various incarnations of the grocery chain Albertsons, such as Acme, Jewel and Shaw's.

[19] Heaton was the producer for the 2005 documentary The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania, which was directed by her husband, David Hunt.

In 2006, Heaton played United States Ambassador Barbara Bodine in the controversial miniseries The Path to 9/11 about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York City and the events leading up to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Heaton wrote a book called Your Second Act: Inspiring Stories of Transformation with a release date of July 21, 2020.

[37] Two years later it was announced that Heaton will star as the host of an upscale lifestyle show, sent to prison for embezzlement and tax evasion.

[38] In 2022, Heaton starred opposite Brian Cox in a drama film, Mending the Line, directed by Joshua Caldwell.

[43] In 2024 she starred opposite Al Pacino in the horror film The Ritual set for 2025 release, and was cast for a recurring role during the second season of Paramount+ series Frasier.

[48][49] Heaton has been open about having plastic surgery, citing having a tummy-tuck and a breast reduction after undergoing four Caesarean sections.

[55] After the January 6 United States Capitol attack,[56] Heaton condemned the event,[57][58] and announced that she would leave the Republican Party and become an independent voter.

[60] Heaton is a committed pro-life activist and is vocally supportive of groups and causes opposing abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.

[61] In addition, Heaton is honorary chair of Feminists for Life, an organization which opposes abortion and embryonic stem cell research and supports other pro-life causes on the basis of feminism.

[5] On February 29, 2012, Heaton criticized Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke, who advocated in favor of a contraceptive mandate for health insurance plans.

[62] In August 2006, Heaton's name was in an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times that condemned Hamas and Hezbollah and supported Israel in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

[64] In October 2006, Heaton appeared in a commercial opposing a Missouri state constitutional amendment concerning embryonic stem cell research, which subsequently passed.