The Ultra-Creamy And Rich Pasta Dish You Should Always Order At Olive Garden

When foodies catch a jonesing for elevated comfort food, no place has the cure for what ails quite like Olive Garden. The casual Italian-American dining chain's pasta menu is stacked with satisfying offerings blanketed in creamy sauce. But, not all of its players hit quite the same. In Tasting Table's ranking of six popular Olive Garden pastas, the chain's chicken tortelloni Alfredo took first place.

The official Olive Garden website describes the dish as "Asiago cheese-filled tortelloni baked in Alfredo with a blend of Italian cheeses and toasted breadcrumbs, topped with sliced grilled chicken." That sharp, nutty asiago gives the dish savory depth that was missing from other parmesan-centric pasta we sampled. The chicken tortelloni Alfredo is anything but bland on the palate, and also hits the mark texturally — praise which couldn't be said of every pasta dish we taste-tested for this ranking.

The chicken tortelloni comes topped with the same cheesy sauce used in Olive Garden's iconic chicken Alfredo pasta (which ranked fourth on our list). In execution with the tortelloni, however, that same Alfredo sauce arrived thicker, richer, and creamier. We're chalking up the notable textural difference to the fact that the chicken tortelloni Alfredo gets oven-baked and also includes breadcrumbs (two thickening agents). That tenure in the oven gives this dish visible browning that stokes the appetite and lends to its savory dimensionality. 

According to an AMA (ask me anything) Reddit thread from an apparent four-year Olive Garden line cook, "All the chicken, steak, fish, is made to order. Our Alfredo sauce is made fresh in house every few hours." We appreciate the chicken and the Alfredo, but the tortelloni's unique chew really drives O.G.'s standout pasta offering home. Tortelloni (not to be confused with tortellini) is a larger, toothier version of its similarly-named counterpart. As we mentioned in our review, "The noodles were cooked to perfection and stuffed with herbaceous, cheesy filling that didn't water down the sauce when I cut into them. A heavy-handed sprinkle of fresh herbs complemented the herbs inside the tortelloni, balancing out the decadent, rich sauce with a little bright earthiness."

At an Olive Garden location in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, the chicken tortelloni Alfredo costs $24.49, which comes with breadsticks and a choice of soup or salad. Foodies won't leave hungry, which results in points for both taste and value. If you're feeling luxurious, wash it down with a spiked strawberry lemonade or an amaretto sour — the top two cocktails in our ranking of every cocktail on the Olive Garden menu. Or, for a simpler accouterment, O.G.'s chicken tortelloni Alfredo would also pair well with a dry, crisp chardonnay or a mild pinot noir. Hungry for more? We've also rounded up the 18 absolute best dishes to order at Olive Garden, branching out beyond pasta territory.