Olive Garden-what to order for lunch that has low calories

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WrenLynn
WrenLynn Posts: 213
in Food and Nutrition
Help. Anyone know what I should order for lunch at Olive Garden? Meeting a friend and don't want to get blind sided. Thought I would just do soup and salad but not sure if that is the best choice or not.

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  • emtink
    emtink Posts: 387 Member
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    i would do minestrone soup and salad, but that's what i usually get lol! i am boring! here's some nutritional info to help you decide:

    http://www.thedailyplate.com/nutrition-calories/food/olive-garden

    soup, salad, and one breadstick would be about 550 calories. yummy!
  • sherrievil
    sherrievil Posts: 9
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    Olive Garden has nutritional info on there website www.olivegarden.com. Minestrone soup is probably the best for you! The salad dressing is pretty high in fat if I remember right. But If I were you I would check out the website♥
  • BassBoneBabe
    BassBoneBabe Posts: 226 Member
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    Get the Venetian Apricot Chicken, Salad (no dressing or on the side) and limit the bread sticks! One bread stick is 150 cals. Enjoy lunch!
  • Bretto
    Bretto Posts: 196 Member
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    order your salad with the dressing on the side. You will save a ton of calories this way.
  • Yurippe
    Yurippe Posts: 850 Member
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    You're sitting at a computer. Go to their website and look up the nutritional info! LOL

    If you are pressed for time you can ask for it at the table and they will bring you a print out.
  • hill242
    hill242 Posts: 412 Member
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    We went a couple weekends ago. I eyed a few items that I suspected were the lowest calorie options and used my iPhone MFP app to look up nutrition (this is quicker than browsing the Olive Garden website for the same info). I ended up choosing a soup for lunch, and had a bowl of salad and 1 breadstick. Nothing else came close to the amount of calories I wanted to ingest for lunch that day.
  • WrenLynn
    WrenLynn Posts: 213
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    Thanks a bunch. Soup, salad and a breadstick it is! Have a great day!
  • GingerSnark
    GingerSnark Posts: 153
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    Get the Venetian Apricot Chicken

    I got this when it first came out. I've never been disappointed with anything at the Olive Garden but this was disgusting. I couldn't even choke it back. I actually sent it back & got soup instead.

    They have a new Garden Fare menu that's for people watching what they eat: http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/nutrition_alternatives.asp

    I'd personally opt for the Capellini Pomodoro w/ the minestrone soup.

    Otherwise their normal menu is here: http://www.olivegarden.com/menus/garden_fare/nutrition_information.asp
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Type in "Olive Garden" in the MFP food database. This is how I decided! I went with the Seafood Portofino, which was 400 calories for half. It's a pasta with mussels, scallops & shrimp and a light garlic/butter sauce. Super yummy and it was very filling. You could eat less if you really need/want to and if those breadsticks tempt you like they do me. :tongue:
  • DeeDeeLHF
    DeeDeeLHF Posts: 2,301 Member
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    Something I didn't know before but you can ask for the salad to have their light dressing. I seriously cannot tell the difference in taste and the calories are much lower.

    I agree with the others about the Minestrone soup. Order the "all you can eat" soup and salad. With the light dressing and the 100 calorie soup you will be full fast without alot of calories.

    If your really want something with substance I have found that a sirloin steak dinner is often times lower in calories than the chicken or pasta ones. No sauces! Sauces are a killer.

    Enjoy! OG is one of my favorites!
  • DeeDeeLHF
    DeeDeeLHF Posts: 2,301 Member
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    Something I didn't know before but you can ask for the salad to have their light dressing. I seriously cannot tell the difference in taste and the calories are much lower.

    I agree with the others about the Minestrone soup. Order the "all you can eat" soup and salad. With the light dressing and the 100 calorie soup you will be full fast without alot of calories.

    If your really want something with substance I have found that a sirloin steak dinner is often times lower in calories than the chicken or pasta ones. No sauces! Sauces are a killer.

    Enjoy! OG is one of my favorites!

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