When trying to eat healthy at a restaurant like Olive Garden, one of the best options is to choose a low-calorie soup as either an appetizer or entree. Olive Garden’s soup menu features a variety of tasty Italian classics that can satisfy without derailing your diet.
How Many Calories Are in Olive Garden’s Soups?
Olive Garden offers both minestrone and pasta e fagioli soups that contain less than 300 calories per serving. These soups provide plenty of vegetables, beans, and pasta in a broth, while limiting high-fat and high-calorie ingredients like cream and oil.
Some examples of lower-calorie soups at Olive Garden and their nutrition information:
- Minestrone Soup: 130 calories per serving
- Pasta e Fagioli Soup: 250 calories per serving
- Chicken & Gnocchi Soup: 280 calories per serving
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup: 360 calories per serving
On the other end of the spectrum, Olive Garden’s creamed soups contain over 700 calories per serving. For example, the Lobster Bisque has 760 calories while the Baked Potato Soup has 730 calories. With almost half of the recommended daily calorie intake in one bowl, those creamy soups should be avoided if you’re watching your waistline.
What Makes Minestrone and Pasta e Fagioli the Healthiest Choices?
Olive Garden’s Minestrone and Pasta e Fagioli soups have the lowest calorie counts on the menu because they are tomato-broth based versus cream-broth based. They are also packed with fiber and nutrients from vegetables like carrots, celery, onions, tomatoes, spinach, beans, and zucchini.
Both soups provide a good source of fiber, coming in at 5g and 6g per serving respectively. Fiber helps you feel full and promotes healthy digestion. These soups also contain vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium for additional nutritional benefits.
While Olive Garden’s cream-based soups like Baked Potato Soup and Lobster Bisque contain some milk and cheeses for calcium, they are also loaded with butter, cream, and sodium, which drives up both the calorie and fat content.
Tips for Making Your Minestrone or Pasta e Fagioli Healthier
When ordering Olive Garden’s Minestrone or Pasta e Fagioli soup, there are a few tweaks you can request to make it even healthier:
- Ask for no oyster crackers – these starchy crackers add carbs and calories.
- Request light olive oil – Olive Garden drizzles each soup with olive oil, which is healthy but can quickly drive up fat and calories.
- Load up on vegetable toppings – get extra spinach, tomatoes, or onions on top to boost nutrition.
- Say no to cheese – Parmesan cheese adds a whopping 50 calories per tablespoon.
- Choose whole grain bread – if enjoying soup with breadsticks, ask for 100% whole wheat bread instead of white.
- Pair it with a salad – get Olive Garden’s light Italian dressing and pick healthy add-ins like grilled chicken, beans, or veggies.
Watch Portion Sizes of Add-Ons
While starting with a lower calorie soup is smart, watch out for turning your healthy soup into a diet disaster based on what you add to it. Olive Garden serves their soups in bottomless bowls and offers garlic bread sticks and foccacia for dipping, which can cause your calorie count to skyrocket.
Here are some tips for keeping portions in check:
- Stick to one bowl of soup – about 1 1/2 cups is a proper serving size.
- Limit bread to 1 or 2 breadsticks – ask your server to remove the bread basket from the table if needed.
- Dip bread rather than dunking – dunking saturates the bread, absorbing much more oil.
- Drizzle dressing around salad instead of pouring it on top – you’ll use a lot less.
- Share salad or bread as an appetizer – or take leftovers home immediately.
Best Healthy Salad to Pair with Soup
Enjoying Olive Garden’s soup with a salad is one of the simplest ways to add nutrition and satisfaction to your meal. Olive Garden has an array of salad options, but your healthiest choice is to build your own salad and control the ingredients:
- Start with mixed greens as your base instead of heavy pasta salads.
- Load up on veggies like tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, artichokes, and onions.
- Pick grilled chicken breast or salmon for lean protein.
- Add healthy fats like avocado, nuts, or seeds.
- Drizzle lightly with balsamic instead of creamy dressings.
By pairing Olive Garden’s Minestrone or Pasta e Fagioli soup with a clean, vegetable-packed salad, you can create a balanced, nutritious light meal.
Healthier Alternatives to Breadsticks
If you want to resist the unlimited warm breadsticks and dipping oil while enjoying soup at Olive Garden, there are healthier alternatives you can request:
- Whole grain crackers – higher fiber, less carbs/calories than bread
- Steamed broccoli – ask for it plain or with a spritz of lemon
- Side salad – start your meal with it before the soup
- Roasted zucchini – ask for zucchini slices roasted plain or with garlic and olive oil
- Hummus & veggies – pair fiber-rich hummus with raw broccoli, celery, carrots etc.
Choosing any of these options over Olive Garden’s signature breadsticks can slash carbs, calories, and fat to make your soup meal healthier.
Healthiest Soup + Salad Combinations
Building the perfect soup and salad duo at Olive Garden means choosing a lower calorie soup along with vegetable-based salad. Here are some of the healthiest soup and salad meal combos to enjoy:
| Soup | Salad |
|---|---|
| Minestrone Soup | Garden Salad with Grilled Chicken |
| Pasta e Fagioli | Rustic Italian Salad with Light Italian Dressing |
| Chicken & Gnocchi | Caprese Salad with Balsamic Glaze |
| Roasted Red Pepper | Caesar Salad with Avocado |
Pairing any of Olive Garden’s low-calorie soups like minestrone or pasta e fagioli with a vegetable and lean protein focused salad provides a satisfying Italian-style meal under 500 calories. Just go easy on breadsticks, cheese, and creamy dressings!
Tips for Ordering Healthy Takeout Soup
If you want to enjoy Olive Garden’s soup at home, ordering takeout can be an easy option. But it also presents some challenges for eating healthy. Here are some tips to order healthier takeout soup from Olive Garden:
- Choose minestrone or pasta e fagioli soup to limit calories.
- Request dressing and croutons on the side for salads.
- Ask for grilled chicken or shrimp instead of fried meats on salads or pastas.
- Order a side salad instead of breadsticks – share breadsticks if needed.
- Request red sauce instead of creamy alfredo sauce on pasta dishes.
- Dip breadsticks lightly instead of dunking to limit excess oil and calories.
Being mindful when ordering takeout and enjoying proper portions will help keep Olive Garden’s delicious Italian fare from derailing your healthy eating.
Healthy Swaps for Olive Garden Favorites
If you want to enjoy classic Olive Garden dishes like pasta and risotto but make them healthier, there are some simple swaps you can request:
- Whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta
- Steamed veggies instead of pasta as your side
- Shrimp or chicken instead of sausage or meatballs
- Red sauce instead of alfredo or creamy sauce
- Olive oil instead of butter
- Sub a salad for breadsticks or foccacia
Small tweaks like using lean proteins, reducing butter and cream, and increasing vegetables and fiber can make a dramatic difference in the nutritionals of Olive Garden menu items. You can still enjoy the flavors without all the excess fat, carbs, and calories.
Conclusion
When dining at Olive Garden, Minestrone and Pasta e Fagioli soups are the healthiest choices, providing lots of nourishing veggies and beans in a broth instead of heavy cream. Pair your soup with a clean vegetable salad while limiting bread and creamy dressings. With smart swaps and proper portions, you can find balance at this family-friendly Italian restaurant chain.
