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When you think of big, national restaurant franchises, fresh, scratch-made food probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind. For the sake of efficiency and consistency, it's no secret that many big name restaurant chains rely heavily on pre-made food that arrives at each location frozen and is merely microwaved to order. It wouldn't be unreasonable to guess that Olive Garden, the massive Italian-American restaurant chain with over 900 locations, follows a similar process. But by most accounts, the majority of items on Olive Garden's menu are made in-house, from scratch, on a daily basis — including its signature soups.
Many of us are pretty accustomed to eating soup that comes from a can, and would probably agree that canned soup doesn't have quite the same ick factor as, say, an entire chicken fajita meal defrosted in the microwave and dumped onto a plate. But despite the fact that restaurants might be better able to pass off premade soup as fresh than some other dishes, soup is evidently not an area where Olive Garden is slacking.
According to numerous Olive Garden marketing materials, the soups (as well as the sauces) are made fresh in-house each day — and the testimony of several purported Olive Garden employees on social media backs this up. So, if you're suddenly craving a bowl of pasta e fa*gioli, we don't blame you.
On itsmenus, Olive Garden describes the soups as "homemade" and regularly claims that its many soups and sauces are made "the Italian way" — by hand, in house, on a daily basis. The brand has posted videos of the inner workings of an OG kitchen, where viewers can clearly see chefs cooking with fresh ingredients. Being the frequent butt of jokes for itsless-than-traditional take on Tuscan fare, it's debatable if Olive Garden is actually cooking anything "the Italian way," per se. But there's decent evidence that its soups, authentic or not, are indeed made fresh daily.
It's been reported, based on the testimony of an anonymous representative of the brand who spoke to PopSugar, that all soups "are made by hand and from scratch every morning using fresh, whole ingredients such as kale, peppers, and squash."Additionally, alleged Olive Garden employees have shared detailed descriptions online of how things work in the kitchens and how the soups, in particular, are made. According to one self-identified server on Quora, "a large vat of each flavor is started very early in the morning, then vacuum sealed in large bags and kept in a warmer until needed. This keeps it warm and fresh without burning/overcooking."
The Real Deal...probably
One Redditor, supposedly a former Olive Garden general manager, affirmed that the soups are made in house, and offered some additional insight: Individual ingredients, like the sausage that goes in the Zuppa Toscana, may arrive frozen or, in the case of vegetables, pre-chopped, but the actual cooking happens onsite. (Of course, it's always worth taking anonymous social media posts with a grain of salt, but this particular poster's credibility is bolstered by the fact that they were able to share specific recipes for numerous Olive Garden dishes.) Other supposed Olive Garden employees have gone on Reddit to say similar things, vouching that the majority of dishes, including the signature salad and soups, are made in-house, with the one universally agreed upon exception being the desserts, which arrive frozen.
Regardless of how you personally rate the quality of Olive Garden's soups, you can't deny that the Italian-inspired chain hits the mark in terms of quantity, thanks to its famous Never Ending Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks deal. Next time you sit down for a bowl (or two, or seven) of minestrone (which happens to be vegan, by the way), rest assured that it was most likely made fresh that same day.
Our soup and sauce masters create dishes by hand and from scratch, every day. With fresh, whole ingredients like kale, peppers and squash. Because they know cooking that way – the Italian way- everything tastes better. to everything they make.
It wouldn't be unreasonable to guess that Olive Garden, the massive Italian-American restaurant chain with over 900 locations, follows a similar process. But by most accounts, the majority of items on Olive Garden's menu are made in-house, from scratch, on a daily basis — including its signature soups.
The restaurant only uses microwaves for heating dipping sauces and warming desserts. Otherwise, everything is pan fried, deep fried, or grilled. Find out why you need to cook your pasta in red wine.
Our food recipes do not use added MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) and, based on information from our suppliers, MSG is not added to any of the ingredients we use. However, certain foods and ingredients naturally contain glutamate or glutamic acid (such as tomatoes, milk, cheese, mushrooms and certain yeasts and proteins).
Olive Garden has a few choices for its unlimited soups and its minestrone is one of the healthiest. This vegan version of the traditional Italian vegetable soup has tomato-based broth, beans, fresh veggies, and small, shell-shaped pasta.
Zuppa Toscana is Olive Garden's most popular soup. This one-pot, homemade Zuppa Toscana recipe is hearty and loaded with Italian sausage, kale, bacon and potatoes. Some of our most popular recipes are restaurant copycat recipes like Creamy Shrimp Pasta and of course Chicken Madeira!
Then, when done, the noodles are served with a ladle of sauce that also had been cooked that morning. So, although Olive Garden's pasta isn't entirely made fresh to order, it is cooked fresh that day and it never sees the inside of a freezer or microwave. The restaurant uses the same process for its sauces and soups.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The president of the Olive Garden restaurant chain has apologized to a Kansas City police officer after a restaurant employee asked him to leave because he was armed.
Unlike other companies, hosts didn't get a share of the tips made, so you were expected to do a lot for minimum wage. They also make it very hard to work up the ranks.
Consider that Olive Garden's dinner-sized lasagna classico clocks in at 940 calories, while the lunch portion of the same dish is just 500 calories. That means that the lunch item is almost 50% smaller than the dinner option, which is a pretty notable size difference.
Olive Garden's healthiest meals come from their Lighter Italian Fare menu. Olive Garden claims that their Lighter Italian Fare menu items are inspired by Italy's Mediterranean Coast where the diet is primarily vegetables, whole grains, herbs and spices, and olive oil.
Many of the homestyle restaurant's appetizers are fried, which leads customers to wonder just what type of oil is used during the cooking process. Olive Garden is considerate enough to share this information on its website, which states that the chain uses highly refined canola and soy oils when frying up menu items.
We use highly refined canola oil or highly refined soy oil in our fryers. Based on information from our suppliers, these oils are highly refined and do not include any soy protein.
"It's a little tricky at Olive Garden," she said. "There are several items that are generally healthy, but their sodium content puts them in an unhealthy range. For example, the Pasta e fa*gioli soup has just 150 calories, not enough for a meal, but still has 710mg of sodium.
Pasta e fa*gioli - White and red beans, ground beef, fresh tomatoes and tubetti pasta in a savory broth. Minestrone (V) - Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth - a vegan classic.
On his interactions with the "chef": "The only time we saw the "chef" was when she made a bolognese sauce while taking pictures with each of us to send to our local newspapers." On how much Olive Garden paid for, and what they got in return: "Basically, yes, they send people to Italy every year.
While the bread may be a staple of eating at Olive Garden, they actually aren't made from scratch in-house. Instead, Darden Restaurants, Inc. — the parent company of Olive Garden — outsources the bread from Turano Baking Company.
It is so easy to make Olive Garden's classic Zuppa Toscana Soup at home! This incredible copycat recipe is even better than the restaurant version and can be made on the stove top or in the crock pot!
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