Why Olive Garden's Salad Tastes So Good

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Between never-ending bowls of pasta and unbeatable breadsticks, Olive Garden has a lot of food to satisfy hungry customers. You can expect consistency from this chain restaurant among its variety of offerings, which includes a famous house salad that stands out lightyears beyond those of other chains. The reason is fairly simple, though it involves a few different elements. Most importantly, it comes down to temperature and freshness.

Olive Garden knows it's best to chill the plates when serving fresh salad to maintain the integrity of the lettuce, vegetables, and other ingredients. If you've ever dug into an Olive Garden salad, you'll know the delight of the extra cold plate on which the also-chilled salads are served that keeps the taste and texture tip-top. Though there is some debate about whether or not its pasta dishes and proteins are fresh or frozen, the produce for its salad is said to be fresh.

Keeping the lettuce cold prior to preparing it for the house salad and using chilled plates both create an elevated dining experience. In fact, it's enough inspiration to make your own version of the Olive Garden salad at home.

Having a mix of fresh iceberg and romaine lettuce is crucial to replicating the Olive Garden house salad as is keeping this base ingredient properly chilled. Rinse the lettuce leaves and use a salad spinner for added crispness. If possible, chill your salad bowl prior to assembling your ingredients and chill the plates on which you intend to serve your salad.

For the vegetables, a copycat of Olive Garden's house salad should include whole black olives and pepperoncini, sliced red onion, and slices of medium-sized Roma tomatoes. You can mix up your own version of the Italian dressing at home, or, for added convenience, grab a bundle of Olive Garden Signature Italian Salad Dressing and Seasoned Croutons from Amazon. This will help you toss everything together with the authentic flavors you enjoy so much.

Top all of this off with a generous portion of freshly grated parmesan cheese, using as much or as little as you like — this is a step that elevates nearly every salad in our opinion. The real cheese deal is vastly preferable to any packaged versions with regard to taste and texture, and will give an even more Olive Garden-style experience. You could even use a rotary parmesan cheese grater similar to the ones from the restaurant for the full effect. And if you're looking for more inspiration from the chain, read up on a few more things you should know about Olive Garden.