Is Olive Garden Food Healthy?

Olive Garden is an Italian-inspired American casual dining restaurant chain that is owned by Darden Restaurants. Olive Garden is known for its family-style Italian cuisine and pasta dishes, as well as its unlimited salad and breadsticks. But is Olive Garden food healthy?

Olive Garden does offer some healthier options on its menu, including grilled salmon, grilled chicken, whole grain pasta dishes, and salads. The restaurant also offers a “Lighter Italian Fare” section with healthier meal options such as the Chicken Margherita, Shrimp Scampi, and Grilled Vegetable-Ricotta Ravioli. These meals are lower in calories, fat, and sodium than other dishes on the menu.

However, many of the dishes at Olive Garden are still high in calories and saturated fat. For example, the popular Chicken Parmigiana has over 1,000 calories per serving and more than 40 grams of fat. Other entrees such as Fettuccine Alfredo have over 800 calories per serving and nearly 40 grams of fat.

In addition to the higher calorie counts in many of the entrees at Olive Garden, the restaurant’s salad dressings are also high in calories and fat. The Creamy Parmesan dressing has 170 calories per serving and 15 grams of fat. The Creamy Caesar dressing has 140 calories per serving and 14 grams of fat.

Conclusion:

Overall, while Olive Garden does offer some healthier options on their menu such as salads and grilled proteins, many dishes are high in calories and saturated fat. Therefore it is important to be mindful when ordering from their menu if you are looking for a healthier meal option.