The One Olive Garden Soup We Think You Should Skip Ordering

Here at Tasting Table, we're all about restaurant menu hacks, and today's Olive Garden menu hack is "skip the chicken and gnocchi soup." In our ranking of Olive Garden soups, the chain's chicken and gnocchi soup came in last place of all the steamy varieties. Don't get us wrong, the soup is a genius offering on paper. Gnocchi is the dream soup ingredient for pasta lovers. Who doesn't love toothy potato dumplings bobbing in a lush, creamy broth, loaded with savory flavor and tender veggies? This is what the Olive Garden website describes, but unfortunately, this is not what you get from Olive Garden's execution.

The key word here is "lacking." Thick, rich broth gives the visual impression of a filling soup — deceptive upon realizing the gnocchi are few and the chicken pieces are sparse. This weak concentration of solids per bowlful is especially a bummer considering there are only two star ingredients here and they're literally the soup's entire title (we miss you, alleged "chicken and gnocchi").

The shredded carrots and wilted spinach do a lot of the heavy-lifting regarding appeal with their pops of color. In terms of quality, the gnocchi are plump and soft, but some of that softness comes from the fact that they appear to veer on the undercooked side. The seemingly-undercooked theme is also true of the chicken, which is more off-putting considering it's meat (yikes). The minimal chicken pieces appear totally unseasoned, simply parboiled and tossed into the pot still pink.

We aren't alone in our soupy disappointment. A year ago, the official r/OliveGarden subreddit posted a poll asking foodies their favorite soup, and the chicken and gnocchi won with 46% of the vote. However, that didn't stop discerning foodies from taking to the comments section to dispute the outcome. "Chicken & gnocchi might be #1 if they actually used good pieces of chicken, but the chicken is usually nasty," wrote one commenter. Another similarly unimpressed foodie added that, with the chicken and gnocchi soup, "you are lucky if you get any chicken at all."

Still, Olive Garden as an overall chain can't be dismissed for its quality in relation to its portion sizes, promotions, and lower prices for an Italian chain restaurant. As another Reddit commenter aptly puts it, "Unlimited soup salad and breadsticks is clearly the correct thing to order. Soup is okay but the salad and breadsticks are great."

If this weren't the blueprint for a knockout soup (conceptually), then it wouldn't have inspired the trove of copycat fan recipes that flood the internet after a quick search of "Olive Garden chicken and gnocchi soup." Ultimately, foodies are better off making a copycat version of the restaurant's soup at home. Even a bad dupe would be better than the original, and it'll cost less per bowl, to boot. Or, just order the zuppa toscana instead next time you hit the Garden.