8 Retired Olive Garden Pastas That Deserve A Comeback

Olive Garden has been around for decades. The fan-favorite Italian-inspired chain's first location got its start all the way back in 1982, and since then, it's debuted its fair share of pasta dishes, trying to appeal to patrons with varied palates. And in that time, it's also removed a lot of its pastas from the menu to make room for new arrivals. As much as we love seeing new options on the menu, that doesn't mean we don't miss our old favorites that are no longer available at Olive Garden.

We're taking a walk down Olive Garden memory lane to revisit some of the chain's best now-defunct pastas. Whether you like rich, beefy dishes or veggie-focused varieties that taste light, but still satisfying, there's probably a pasta dish on this menu you wish you could go back and eat for the first time. Maybe you'll even remember one of your old favorites that you haven't eaten in ages. Of course, we can hope that these dishes all make a comeback, or we can always scour the internet for copycat recipes to help us recreate those flavors at home. But whether we'll ever get to enjoy them again in the warm glow of a busy Olive Garden remains to be seen.

Perhaps one of the most beloved (and meatiest) Olive Garden pastas of all time is the braised beef tortelloni, which was made with roasted mushrooms, slow-braised beef, and tortelloni filled with asiago, all dressed in a rich and creamy mushroom marsala sauce. It's not totally clear when this item was nixed from the menu, but one customer said it was around 2018 that it disappeared. Since then, it had reportedly come back onto the menu and was removed once again, leading to Olive Garden fans writing change.org petitions to try to get it back. It turns out their pleas were not in vain, because Olive Garden revived the braised beef tortelloni in late 2025 for a limited time. The pasta made its reappearance in December, and it was on the menu again until March of 2026. At the time of writing, though, the braised beef tortelloni is, in fact, retired.

We don't hold out a lot of hope for many of the pastas on this list — Olive Garden likely won't choose to bring them back. However, because of this pasta's popularity (and the fact that it was brought back before), we're really crossing our fingers that it has another comeback in the future.

In 2017, Olive Garden was trying to lean into lighter, fresher flavors on its menu. Instead of only offering customers heavy, creamy, and rich pastas, the chain restaurant rolled out its chicken giardino. It was made with pappardelle pasta and grilled chicken for a less fatty protein source. To add flavor and color to the dish, the pasta was served with fresh vegetables, all dressed in a lemon herb sauce. At under 600 calories a serving, it was definitely one of the lighter options on the Olive Garden menu.

However, it seems to have been removed from the menu not long after its debut, with some reports claiming it disappeared in 2018. Others think it left the menu during COVID. Regardless, it looks like there are plenty of diners who miss it. One Redditor questioned where they could find a copycat recipe, and a commenter agreed the dish was "the bomb." In a world of exceptionally heavy restaurant dishes, it's nice to find an option that feels slightly less indulgent, but still delivers the restaurant-quality flavor you're looking for.

If you're someone who prefers sausage to meatballs, then Olive Garden's grilled sausage and peppers rustica was probably right up your alley. The dish was made with penne pasta, bell peppers, and Italian sausage, all in a marinara sauce to bring it together. You got the freshness from plenty of vegetables and heartiness from the sausage, while the pasta itself soaked up all of those delicious flavors. It's a combination that sounds simple, but that made for an especially filling, satisfying meal.

These days, the grilled sausage and peppers rustica is discontinued, but it's not entirely clear when it made its exit from the menu. One customer complained about its absence all the way back in 2007, but we also found a blog about the dish from 2013. Even though we might not know exactly when Olive Garden decided to stop serving this dish, we know that there are plenty who still miss it. After all, how else could you explain a copycat recipe of the dish from 2026? At least the dish looks pretty easy to recreate — at least, until Olive Garden decides that this pasta deserves a comeback.

The braised beef tortelloni apparently isn't the only discontinued dish that Olive Garden decided needed a comeback in 2025. Alongside this previously mentioned pasta appeared the chain's ravioli di portobello, which also made a reappearance after being off the menu for quite some time. It's a simple pasta, but one that sounds absolutely delicious. The ravioli are filled with — you guessed it — portobello mushrooms, and the whole dish is drenched in a creamy sundried tomato sauce.

According to one change.org petition about the ravioli, it appears that it made its exit from the menu sometime around 2023. But avid fans took to the platform to try to explain what the pasta meant to them. One even wrote that it was a pasta they had grown up eating. They begged Olive Garden to bring it back, and in late 2025, the chain obliged, despite the petition's limited signatures. By March of the following year, it was again discontinued, and maybe that's for the best, considering that some fans said it didn't taste the same anymore.

We love a good savory pie, but when it's carb-based to boot, it sounds extra delicious. That's exactly what you got when you ordered the spaghetti pie from Olive Garden. The dish was literally shaped like a slice of pie, but was constructed with pasta. There were actually two versions of this dish. One was more of an Alfredo number, and it came with chicken, seven types of cheese, bacon, and a creamy Alfredo sauce. The other one, called the meatball deep dish pie, had the same structure but instead featured meatballs and a red meat sauce. It made its debut back in 2016, but what happened to Olive Garden's spaghetti pie since? Unfortunately, it's been discontinued.

But there are still those out there who miss the dish and wish it would come back. YouTubers tried recreating the classic and wondered whether the chain should put it on the menu again. Sure, maybe not everyone wants to eat their pasta in the shape of a pie slice. But for those who are looking for something a little less expected than the most conventional of Olive Garden's pasta dishes, this was an undeniably fun menu option.

For Olive Garden diners who like creamy sauces, the chicken fettuccine florentine was once one of the best pasta dishes on the entire menu. It was also quite a simple selection, although that simplicity and reliability is sometimes what diners are looking for, especially when it comes to a chain restaurant meal. Basically, it was just a plate of standard chicken fettuccine alfredo, complete with those wide, flattish noodles and the white, creamy sauce that tastes even better when it's sprinkled with tons of cracked black pepper. But this take on the dish added some spinach to the mix, making for a fresher, more veggie-forward finish. That little bit of added freshness can go a long way when it comes to a dish that's otherwise so rich and decadent.

Apparently, though, according to one source, you can still ask for spinach to be added to your chicken fettuccine Alfredo via the chain's secret menu. Of course, we can't guarantee that the staff at your local Olive Garden can fulfill that request, but it may be worth an ask. Maybe someday, though, they'll put this spinach-filled dish back on the actual menu to give us a slightly more nutritious option.

This wasn't your average homemade chicken and broccoli dish. Rather, it's Olive Garden's now-discontinued garlic herb chicken con broccoli, and it's an old favorite that we hope makes a reappearance sometime soon. It started with a base of orecchiette pasta, adorned with chicken and broccoli (of course), along with a rich and creamy Alfredo sauce. It should be obvious how beloved this dish was based on all of the copycat recipes you can find for it online. In some cases, the creators of these recipes have complained about the fact that you can no longer find this menu item at Olive Garden.

They're not alone. One Reddit user asked a forum whether someone had a recipe for the chain's garlic herb chicken con broccoli, saying that their daughter used to love it when it was still on the menu. Another mentioned it in a thread of discontinued Olive Garden dishes customers miss. Yet another Redditor called it out in a totally different thread, writing, "I miss those orre[c]chie[t]tes," proving how many still love this dish. Who knows? Maybe Olive Garden corporate will someday hear all of these calls to bring the dish back. Or perhaps we'll just have to satisfy our orecchiette cravings all on our own, like with this one-pan orecchiette with sausage recipe.

If you like your pasta larger than life, then Olive Garden's giant stuffed shells were probably just what you were looking for back in the day. The dish came out as part of a promotion in 2019 that features larger-than-life pasta shapes. Obviously, these giant shells fell right into place. They were stuffed with a blend of four different cheeses, then smothered with both marinara and alfredo sauces for an extra-saucy experience. Finishing everything off with toasted bread crumbs added a necessary touch of crunch that would take everything to a whole new level. Unfortunately, though, this dish didn't stay around forever, and it's gone the way of so many others on this list.

A Redditor took to the forum, clearly distressed after they were informed that the giant stuffed shells were no longer on the menu. In another thread where users discussed which Olive Garden menu items they miss, several people mentioned the stuffed shells, so it's clear that more than a few people out there long for the dish. Until Olive Garden finally comes to its senses and puts this pasta back on the menu, you'll have to settle for making a different baked stuff shells recipe instead.