Olive Garden Gluten Free Menu Items (Restaurant Guide)

If you’re in the mood for a cozy Italian meal but need to keep gluten in check, Olive Garden is the place to be. They offer a gluten-sensitive menu with a variety of dishes, so you can enjoy your meal and eat it too. Their website contains a gluten sensitive menudetailed information about cross contamination practicesand a Allergen Guideso you can feel confident about your food choices when you eat out.

I really appreciate Olive Garden’s transparency regarding gluten labeling. Olive Garden did not perform the required chemical analyzes to confirm the FDA’s gluten-free standard. Therefore, their food is not labeled gluten-free, and instead they use the term ‘gluten sensitive’.

As with many restaurants, there is always a risk of gluten cross-contamination through shared work spaces, utensils, preparation methods or accidental exposure. If you have celiac disease or another health condition that requires a strict gluten-free diet, it may be best to exercise caution when eating at Olive Garden.

Check out my complete guide to gluten-sensitive dining at Olive Garden below!

You can do all that gluten-sensitive menu items on the Olive Garden website. Below are my top ten options to choose from, including:

• Tuscan soup
• Famous house salad, without croutons
• Grilled Chicken Parmigiana
• Herb Roasted Salmon
• 6 our loins
• Rotini Pasta with Marinara
• Rotini Pasta with meat sauce
• Roast Chicken with Rotini Pasta with Marinara (kids)
• Rotini with Marinara (kids)
• Rotini with meat sauce (children)

Wit these items are on the Gluten sensitive menuis it still important to take precautions such as: asking the kitchen staff to be extra careful about cross-contamination, informing your server of your gluten-free needs, or calling ahead to ensure they have gluten-sensitive menu items available when you arrive.

Gluten Sensitive Pasta By Olive Garden

The only gluten-free pasta available at Olive Garden is the gluten-free rotini, made primarily from brown rice flour. According to the Olive Garden website, their gluten-free pasta is cooked and stored separately until ordered. When a customer requests gluten-free pasta, it is immediately transferred to a sauté pan to prevent cross-contamination with other gluten-containing pastas or pasta water.

If you’re not too strict about gluten exposure and can handle a small amount, ask your server if they can swap regular pasta for gluten-free rotini. Just remember, some sauces or ingredients in the dish may contain gluten. If you have celiac disease or strictly avoid gluten, your safest bet is to stick to the gluten-free rotini options from the gluten-sensitive menu.

Cross contamination at Olive Garden

Olive Garden takes measures to prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen to make your dining experience worry-free and enjoyable. Inform your server of your gluten-free needs so they can note them on your order. When the kitchen staff see this warning, they will change gloves and utensils to ensure your food is prepared safely.

We appreciate that Olive Garden managers have completed a food safety course that covers basic information about food allergies and safe food handling practices. However, it is important to note that despite these measures, Olive Garden is not an allergen-free facility and cannot guarantee that food is free of contamination. Additionally, items cooked on the grill or in the fryer are particularly susceptible to cross-contamination.

Olive Garden Allergen Guide

The Olive Garden Allergen Guide indicate whether a menu item contains wheat based on information from their suppliers. However, just because an item is wheat-free does not mean it is gluten-free, as there are other ingredients besides wheat that contain gluten. Keeping that in mind, here are Olive Garden menu items that are wheat-free:

• Tuscan soup
• Gluten Free Rotini
• Marinara
• Meat Gravy
• Tomato sauce
• Grilled Chicken
• Italian sausage
• Fried Prawns
• Broccoli
• Herb-roasted salmon
• Pepperoni
• Parmesan Garlic Broccoli
• French Frisian
• Grapes
• Chocolate Sauce
• Raspberry sauce
• Mint Candy

Olive Garden Gluten Free Official Statement

We appreciate Olive Garden’s commitment to transparency regarding allergen information, efforts to prevent cross-contamination, and the distinction between gluten-free and gluten-sensitive labeling. Olive Garden’s official statement on gluten states:

“The menu items that we call “gluten sensitive” are our menu items that are made without gluten-containing ingredients. We do not claim that these items are “gluten-free” because we have not chemically analyzed them to confirm whether they meet the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) definition of “gluten-free” (20 parts per million of gluten) Although we do have processes and procedures in place to minimize cross-contact with other gluten-containing foods, these items may not be suitable for our guests who are highly sensitive to gluten is not Please know that our “gluten-free” pasta meets the FDA’s formal definition of gluten-free.

Their Allergen Guide also mentions:

“Our menu items are prepared fresh in our kitchens, which are not gluten-free. Cross contact with other food items containing gluten is possible. Although we endeavor to accommodate the dietary needs of our guests, we cannot ensure that these items meet the definition of “gluten free”. Please let your server know that you avoid gluten.”

While Olive Garden is upfront about allergen information and gluten labeling, they do not provide specific ingredient lists for each item. When contacting Olive Garden customer service, they mentioned that customers can only request ingredient information for up to three menu items. This can be disappointing for guests, whether they have gluten sensitivities or other dietary restrictions, as clear ingredient information is essential to making informed dining choices.

Special Requests

To reduce the risk of cross-contamination, you can ask Olive Garden kitchen staff to clean appliances, utensils and preparation spaces before preparing your order. There’s no guarantee they’ll comply or prevent cross-contamination, but the worst they can do is say no—so it’s always worth asking!

What to avoid at Olive Garden

To avoid gluten and wheat at Olive Garden, be sure to select items exclusively from the gluten-sensitive menu. Be careful with sauces, dressings and other additions, as ingredient information is not readily available.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Olive Garden Italian Dressing Gluten Free?

The dressing does not have gluten ingredients, but it is made in a facility that also processes gluten. When you order a salad, be sure to ask your server to leave out the croutons.

Does Olive Garden provide information on allergens other than wheat?

The Allergen Guide provides information on: dairy, egg, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, gluten, soy, sesame and sulphites.

Yes, there are vegetarian and vegan options on the menu.

We’re on a mission to analyze all the popular restaurants near you for what’s gluten-free and what’s not. If you have a restaurant you’d like us to visit, please let us know! You can contact us or send a DM on Instagram. Here are other guides we’ve written so far:

Photos: Julianne Tripp Hillian