olive garden

omid990
omid990 Posts: 785 Member
edited September 29 in Food and Nutrition
i'm meeting a friend for lunch at olive garden tomorrow so i was looking at the menu to see what i could get that would be healthier.

the chicken gnocchi soup, which looks the most appealing, is listed as having 250 calories per bowl. yet when i look at the ingredients, it doesn't seem like the calorie count is high enough.

Chicken & Gnocchi
A creamy soup made with roasted chicken, traditional Italian dumplings and spinach.
http://www.olivegarden.com/menu/lunch/Chicken-Gnocchi/401028-1575/

Item Calories Total Fat (g) Sat. Fat (g) Sodium Carb. (g) Fiber (g)
Chicken & Gnocchi Soup 250 8 3 1180 29 2

the serving size isn't actually listed but i assume its just one bowl. Thoughts?

Replies

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    Look at the Venetian Apricot Chicken. I checked it for someone else and the lunch portion was under 300 calories.
  • kellicarter11
    kellicarter11 Posts: 178 Member
    go to their nutrition page its easy google it don't rely on MFP
  • SusanMcAvoy
    SusanMcAvoy Posts: 445 Member
    If you have the soup be careful with the sodium. Whatever you eat I'm sure you'll make good choices. Enjoy your lunch, maybe even splurge a little. Just work out a little extra. You'll be fine. You have a great attitudeand I'm sure you'll be successful :wink:
  • omid990
    omid990 Posts: 785 Member
    go to their nutrition page its easy google it don't rely on MFP

    i have the nutrition information. it just didn't make sense to me that such a heavy soup would only be 250 calories a bowl and wanted to see if anyone had any insight.
  • hozik
    hozik Posts: 369 Member
    agree-venetian apricot chicken is a good choice, also minestrone soup is about 100 cals and the mussels appetizer is low cal, too. olive garden calorie count is online and also at the tables. I think the gnocci soup cals sound about right, the soup isn't super creamy. The amount of gnocci in it should be about 100 cals and the chicken and cream must make up the difference.
  • Soup is mostly water, so even though it's a fairly decadent soup, it doesn't have all that many calories. Most soups don't unless they are pure cream. That soup at Olive Garden isn't creamy like a clam chowder, it's just slightly creamy.
  • omid990
    omid990 Posts: 785 Member
    thanks for the help! i felt like i had to be super cautious with olive garden since serving sizes weren't listed and the restaurant is known for having some outrageously unhealthy foods.

    it would be luck to pick a 500 calorie food only to find that it had 4 serving sizes:laugh:
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