Are Olive Garden Soups Fresh Or Frozen?

Olive Garden gets a lot of heat for its American spin on Italian cuisine, but for those who frequent the restaurant, the large pasta portions and the soft breadsticks are exactly the right kind of comfort food. The restaurant is known for affordable prices, which sometimes brings into question the freshness of the dishes. While some meals may indeed be made from frozen, one of the facts you should know about Olive Garden is that its soups are made fresh every single day.

At Olive Garden, all soups on the menu are made from scratch first thing in the morning. According to a TikTok from a former employee, the soups are made in large batches in the prep kitchen and then get divided into smaller, gallon-sized plastic bags that are easier to work with during the service. The soup is chilled and then reheated from the bags throughout the day as orders come in. That's also when the final touches are put on the soup, such as adding the delicate leafy greens and the pasta.

One former Olive Garden cook did share on Reddit, however, that the only frozen ingredient used in the soups is the meat. Now, using frozen ingredients is not uncommon for the restaurant industry, but the notion of eating something that's fresh goes a long way with the customers. As for the soup that's leftover at the end of the day, Olive Garden does freeze that — but instead of being served to guests the next day, it reportedly gets donated to the food bank.

Olive Garden has four signature soups on the menu. When ordered individually, the soups cost around $10 and come with two complimentary breadsticks. If you order an entrée, the soup comes included in the price, and it actually comes with unlimited refills. You can switch the type of soup between the refills, not needing to stick with your first choice. Finally, if you're after a lighter meal, you can get just the soup and a salad (with breadsticks, of course) for around $13 during the weekday lunch hours. Just remember that prices do vary by location.

Olive Garden has four meat-based soups and one vegan one. Minestrone soup is the sole vegan option, made with tomato broth, fresh vegetables, pasta, and beans. For the meat-loving crowd, Pasta e Fagioli features ground beef, tomatoes, and small tubetti pasta. Chicken & Gnocchi has roasted chicken, gnocchi, and spinach, but personally we think that's the one Olive Garden soup you should skip ordering. It doesn't really impress, and the other options are simply superior. In our ranking of every Olive Garden soup, it was Zuppa Toscana that came out on top. It's made with spicy Italian sausage, kale, and potatoes. It's also the only soup on the menu made entirely with gluten-free ingredients.