Olive Garden

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joshperson195
joshperson195 Posts: 819 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm going to Olive Garden with a friend this weekend and have NO idea what to order as everything is pretty unhealthy. What are some healthy menu options that won't totally throw off my diet?
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  • DisneyDude85
    DisneyDude85 Posts: 428 Member
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    Order what you want and only eat half (ask for a box when they bring your plate so you can box it up as soon as you get it). Their pasta portions are 2-3 servings. Ask for the salad with the dressing on the side so you can control how much you put on it. All of this should make it fairly easy to track your cals too!

    Most importantly, enjoy the meal. Eat slow and have interesting conversation and the company of your friend!
  • Lauran845
    Lauran845 Posts: 71 Member
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    I love their Zuppa Tuscana. I am pretty sure it ranged somewhere between 200-300 calories a bowl. If you look at their menu online you can get the estimated figures. Skip the breadsticks though, they are the devil! I think their apricot chicken was pretty low too and the mushroom ravioli. Just know before you go.
  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
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    Their nutritional information is HERE
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    They have lunch sized portions. Get one of those?

    The nutritional info is posted above, find something that fits your calories/macros that you'll enjoy.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Do they offer unlimited bread sticks? Yeah, avoid them. And do all the tips above.
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    When I know I am going out I log the meal in advance. It makes me look at a menu and think about what will fit in my daily food, plus since it's already logged I feel more obligated to actually order that and not get distracted by the other offerings.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    As an aside, I made the Olive Garden chicken Alfredo at home this past week.

    https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361132463849643545/

    Except I used real crushed garlic instead of garlic powder. And I added a chopped onion and fresh oregano from my window sill. And I used black pepper because I wasn't going to go buy white for one recipe. I used half the butter. I grated Asiago instead of Parmesan because that's what I had. I used low-fat Philadelphia cream cheese, about half what the recipe calls for, because that's all I had.

    So it was almost the same. It tasted wonderful.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    You can order lunch portions of most things at dinner, so that's your first stop (other than avoiding the breadsticks, which are close to 200 calories each depending on how much butter gets brushed all over them.) Most OG meals are in the MFP database already, so pick one that fits your calorie allowance. Obviously cream sauces are going to be worse than tomato ones, etc., too.
  • joanl9
    joanl9 Posts: 107 Member
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    I had the Garlic Rosemary Chicken last time I was there, but only ate half of it at the restaurant and took the rest home. It has a good amount of protein and is low in carbs relative to the other entree items. You can fill up on the salad, with dressing on the side. Coffee, unsweetened ice tea or water are good beverage options.
  • 1calady
    1calady Posts: 2 Member
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    Order off the Lighter Fare menu. The Garlic Rosemary Chicken is so yummy! You can skip the mashed potatoes if you want to save some calories. Also, if you order the salad, they have a light dressing you can order and get it on the side.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    catscats222 wrote: »
    keep in mind that pastas at restaurants are loaded with cheese, butter, and cream -- calorie bombs. and not really healthy

    As routinely prepared, they may be. But we have the ability to request that a chef prepare them without cheese, butter, or cream if we prefer. And many places have pasta items on their menu that will fit into the goals of various people. As far as "health," that will depend on the rest of the diet and a person's overall plan.

  • bluestarlight19
    bluestarlight19 Posts: 419 Member
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    Last time I went (which was years ago) they had an Apricot Chicken that was my favorite and was one of the lower calorie items served with veggies instead of pasta. Don't know if its still there.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    catscats222 wrote: »
    keep in mind that pastas at restaurants are loaded with cheese, butter, and cream -- calorie bombs. and not really healthy

    As routinely prepared, they may be. But we have the ability to request that a chef prepare them without cheese, butter, or cream if we prefer. And many places have pasta items on their menu that will fit into the goals of various people. As far as "health," that will depend on the rest of the diet and a person's overall plan.

    You'd think. But the chain restaurants these days , even the big ones, don't cook from scratch. The menu items are pre-packaged and there's very little flexibility.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    catscats222 wrote: »
    keep in mind that pastas at restaurants are loaded with cheese, butter, and cream -- calorie bombs. and not really healthy

    As routinely prepared, they may be. But we have the ability to request that a chef prepare them without cheese, butter, or cream if we prefer. And many places have pasta items on their menu that will fit into the goals of various people. As far as "health," that will depend on the rest of the diet and a person's overall plan.

    You'd think. But the chain restaurants these days , even the big ones, don't cook from scratch. The menu items are pre-packaged and there's very little flexibility.

    We always have the ability to request. The request may be turned down, but there is no reason to assume that pasta should be avoided in every single restaurant. I'm vegan and I've found that 99% of the places I go are willing to work with me in some way to help me get a meal that meets my needs, even the chains (which are often some of the only places available when I'm travelling for work).

    It never hurts to ask -- that's my point.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    Queenmunchy wrote: »
    Their nutritional information is HERE

    This.

    Ask for dressing on the side for the salad too.
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
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    Good luck, I love that place and could easily blow a week's worth of calories there x.x
    Determine how many calories you want to spend, and then plan from there. Luckily they have a wide range of offerings to choose from.
    For 500 calories I generally get two bowls of Chicken & Gnocchi soup and it usually fills me, but those darn breadsticks stare at me the entire time. The soup is endless so I'll get an extra one to go (lunch the next day heck yeah) and in addition to being less calories, it's significantly less expensive!
  • jenmsu83
    jenmsu83 Posts: 185 Member
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    I went the other day for lunch and got the soup, salad and breadsticks. I had one bowl of chicken gnocchi soup (very yummy), one breadstick and about 1.5 servings of salad and it set me back almost 600 calories. I thought it was totally worth it. I easily could have had another bowl of soup and breadstick, but I managed to have some self control, lol.
  • brb2008
    brb2008 Posts: 406 Member
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    I always order the herb salmon with broccoli when I eat at that restaurant.
  • peter56765
    peter56765 Posts: 352 Member
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    Francl27 wrote: »
    Queenmunchy wrote: »
    Their nutritional information is HERE

    This.

    Ask for dressing on the side for the salad too.

    Double this. Olive Garden drowns their salads in dressing if you don't get the dressing on the side. There's more calories in one serving of their overdressed salad as there is in a bowl of the minestrone soup.

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