Olive Garden Nutrition Facts and Healthy Menu OptionsOlive Garden is one of the largest restaurants chains in the U.S., with over 750 locations. You won't find the words "Olive Garden" and "nutrition" used together in a sentence too often. According to their website, "no matter your dietary needs, we have a variety of delicious options, substitutions, and suggestions." Hmm, sounds like standard marketing speak from your typical unhealthy restaurant chain. However, Olive Garden has made some progress and now offers a handful of healthier options. The bad news: their menu is still jam-packed with calorie-, carb-, and sodium-filled dishes. Let's start by breaking down the bad. Appetizers: Olive Garden has some really horrendous appetizers. The Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta has 940 calories, 48 grams of fat, 28 grams of saturated fat, 1940 mg of sodium, and 72 grams of carbs. But that's not as bad as the Lasagna Fritta, which will set you back 1040 calories, 63 grams of fat, 21 grams of saturated fat, 1590 mg of sodium, and 82 grams of carbs. And the worst-of-the-worst on the apps menu: the Calamari with Parmesan-Peppercorn Sauce, which has a whopping 1190 calories, 84 grams of fat, and 2680 mg of sodium—more than an entire day's worth! Entrees: As a general rule, stay away from most of the entrees on Olive Garden's lunch and dinner menu. Opt for something from the kid's menu, or one of the healthier choices we outline below. Let's look at some of the worst. The Tour of Italy on the both the lunch and dinner menu is one of the worst restaurant meals you'll find anywhere, with 1450 calories, 74 grams of fat, 33 grams of saturated fat, 3380 mg of sodium, and 97 grams of carbs. If you insist on getting it, make sure you have at least 2 others to split it with. How about the Spaghetti & Italian Sausage … that sounds somewhat decent, right? Try 1270 calories, 67 grams of fat, 24 grams of saturated fat, 3090 mg of sodium, and 97 grams of carbs. The Steak Gorgonzola-Alfredo weighs in at 1310 calories, 73 grams of fat, 41 grams of saturated fat, 2190 mg of sodium, and 82 grams of carbs. And last but certainly not least, there's the Chicken Alfredo, with 1440 calories, 82 grams of fat, 48 grams of saturated fat, 2070 mg of sodium, and 103 grams of carbs. Ouch. The fun doesn't end there though. Dessert: We've said it before, but if you're going to get a dessert, share it with the table. Or even better, get one of Olive Garden's "mini desserts." Here are the ones to stay away from: 1.The White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, which has 890 calories, 62 grams of fat, 36 grams of saturated fat, 490 mg of sodium, and 70 grams of carbs So now let’s look at the Olive Garden nutrition facts for their healthier menu items. Olive Garden's "Garden Fare Nutrition Guide" offers several tips for eating healthier at their restaurants: 1. Look for the "olive branch" next to low fat menu items. Our take: don't rely on this because many of these low fat menu options are still high in calories and carbs. 2. Savor one of our grilled entrées with fresh vegetables in place of potatoes. Our take: this is pretty good advice in general, be you still need to be mindful of the amount of fat and sodium. 3. Choose whole wheat linguine with your pasta selection for a good source of fiber. Our take: good advice, just remember Olive Garden's portion sizes are usually enough for 2 meals, so ask your server to immediately box half you meal up before it comes out … it's a great way to prevent overeating. Once it's in front of you, this is a lot harder to do. So here are some of our favorite healthier menu options at Olive Garden along with their nutrition facts (our top choices are highlighted in bold): Lunch: • Penne Rigate Pomodoro: 370 calories, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1130 mg sodium, 73 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 6 g protein • Penne Rigate with Chicken and Marinara: 470 calories, 9 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 1470 mg sodium, 72 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 26 g protein • Linguine alla Marinara: 310 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 670 mg sodium, 55 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 12 g protein • Linguine alla Marinara: 310 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 670 mg sodium, 55 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 12 g protein • Apricot Chicken: 290 calories, 4.5 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 1010 mg sodium, 34 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 29 g protein Dinner: • Penne Rigate Pomodoro: 490 calories, 8 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 1510 mg sodium, 97 g carbs, 8 g fiber, 9 g protein • Penne Rigate with Shrimp and Marinara: 620 calories, 12 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 2030 mg sodium, 99 g carbs, 9 g fiber, 15 g protein • Steak Toscano: 500 calories, 21 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 1030 mg sodium, 41 g carbs, 9 g fiber, 37 g protein • Herb-Grilled Salmon: 510 calories, 26 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 1030 mg sodium, 41 g carbs, 9 g fiber, 37 g protein • Mixed Grill (all chicken): 640 calories, 19 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 1260 mg sodium, 27 g carbs, 7 g fiber, 89 g protein • Apricot Chicken: 400 calories, 7 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 1290 mg sodium, 34 g carbs, 6 g fiber, 51 g protein Bottom Line: Olive Garden does offer some relatively healthy options, considering some of the caloric bombs on their menu. The two biggest things to watch out for at Olive Garden is the excessive amount of carbs and sodium, even in most of their "healthier" dishes. Olive Garden still has a long way to go, but compared to some of their competitors, as least they're making progress and starting to offer some more nutritious options. View or download Olive Nutrition facts here.
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