Is Olive Garden's Pasta Made From Frozen Or Fresh?

They say when you're at Olive Garden, you're family. But many families love the convenience of frozen foods. So, does this include items on Olive Garden's menu? Pasta is one of the most common items found among store-bought frozen meals, and it's tough to keep fresh for days on end, so it wouldn't exactly be a surprise if high-volume restaurants like Olive Garden used frozen versions for efficiency. Of course, if you're like many customers, you may not feel like spending your money at a place that serves the same kind of stuff you could find for cheap at your local grocery store. But you may not have to worry about this at Olive Garden. Despite the chain not saying anything about the freshness of its pastas on its official website, there is no shortage of information from former and current staff members on social media.

One Olive Garden server explained that the kitchen staff pre-cooks the pasta every morning, then cools in an ice bath to keep it al dente (learn why that matters when it comes to pasta). Portions are then taken out and reheated in boiling water throughout the day as orders come in. Another former Olive Garden employee verified this, and said the pasta is boiled every morning. However, this practice may not extend to all of the restaurant's pastas. According to yet another employee, the stuffed pastas arrive to the restaurant frozen and are thawed before use.

Along with its assorted pasta dishes, Olive Garden is known for its endless soup, salad, and breadsticks. But if you're looking for truly fresh, it all depends on what you order. Furthermore, there appears to be some conflicting information. For example, Olive Garden states on its website that the breadsticks are freshly baked, "straight out of the oven and ready to enjoy," but employees online say the breadsticks are pre-baked elsewhere and then finished on-premise for a few minutes in the oven. This, however, somewhat conflicts with other reports stating that the breadsticks they served at their Olive Garden jobs arrived frozen. Nevertheless, another Olive Garden worker said everything, with the exception of desserts, is cooked fresh with quality ingredients. As for soups, the restaurant states that these are made from scratch daily, and this has been confirmed in various social media posts.

While it is possible that practices vary somewhat between staff at individual locations, Olive Garden is a chain restaurant, not a franchise — there shouldn't be much variation. If you're really unsure about how a particular item is prepared, just ask your server the next time you're dining at an Olive Garden restaurant. They may not be able to divulge the exact details of how it's made, but they should be able to share the basic necessities. Even so, you may want to consider trying other restaurants for more unique Italian foods that are never frozen.