Food & Drink

I Tried Every Olive Garden Soup and Ranked Them Worst To Best

By Chrissy Callahan Parade - Food and Drink Stories

Updated June 20, 2026 2:24 PM

Soup is often considered a cold-weather staple, but I've always enjoyed eating it all year long. As someone who loves the summer heat, I'm not easily fazed by hot dishes on a sweltering day, so I often find myself eating soup during a heat wave. Needless to say, I was all-in when Parade asked me to do a taste test of Olive Garden's four soup varieties.

Olive Garden is known for serving authentic Italian dishes like chicken parmigiana, lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. The restaurant chain's Soup, Salad and Breadsticks menu item has also gained a loyal following of diners who prefer a lighter meal when they dine out. If you like the best of both worlds, many entrées also come with a choice of soup or salad to kick off your meal.

I don't often eat soup when I go out to eat, probably because I eat it so often at home (tomato soup is my go-to). But I was excited to switch things up a bit. Many years ago, I tried Olive Garden's Chicken & Gnocchi soup, and was pretty fond of it. But I hadn't tested the other three yet, so I was ready to see how the rest of them measured up.

How I Tested the Olive Garden Soups

Since I'm a bit of a picky eater, I grabbed my friend Julie, who is much more adventurous, to offer two different perspectives on the soups. We headed to our nearest Olive Garden and tried all four soups, paired with the restaurant's famous garlic breadsticks.

We tried the soups in the following order:

Chicken & Gnocchi
Zuppa Toscana
Pasta e Fagioli
Minestrone

After tasting each soup, we compared notes and ranked them from our favorite to least favorite.

What Kind of Soup Does Olive Garden Have?

Olive Garden offers four homemade soup varieties on its menu:

Pasta e Fagioli: "White and red beans, ground beef, fresh tomatoes and tubetti pasta in a savory broth."
Zuppa Toscana: "Spicy Italian sausage, kale and potatoes in a creamy broth. Made without gluten-containing ingredients."
Minestrone: "Fresh vegetables, beans and pasta in a light tomato broth."
Chicken & Gnocchi: "A creamy soup made with roasted chicken, Italian dumplings and spinach."

Customers can enjoy a bowl of soup or salad with many entrées. If you only want to have soup for lunch, you can also order the unlimited Soup and Salad and Breadsticks ($11.49) menu item between 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or, you can order the Soup and Salad and Breadsticks ($13.99) menu item any day of the week at other times.

When ordering these two menu items, customers can enjoy multiple varieties of soup. For instance, you can try all four soups in a row.

Can You Really Buy a Gallon of Soup from Olive Garden?

Yes! Whether you want enough soup to last you several days or you're hosting a party, Olive Garden sells its soups by the gallon. Each item serves 12 people and retails for $33.49.

Every Olive Garden Soup, Ranked Worst To Best

Here's our official ranking based on our taste-test of all four soup options at Olive Garden.

4. Minestrone Soup

My review of the soup: Out of the four soups Julie and I tested, the minestrone soup was our least favorite. We were both clear to note that it wasn't bad; it simply had some stiff competition.

The minestrone soup is a great option for vegetarians or if you're in the mood for something light and packed with veggies. The broth is a tad salty and watery compared to the thicker soup varieties, but the veggies are nice and soft and the pasta is tasty and tender.

3. Zuppa Toscana Soup

How Olive Garden describes the soup: "Spicy Italian sausage, kale and potatoes in a creamy broth. Made without gluten-containing ingredients."

My review of the soup: I'm not usually a fan of sausage but it gave the soup's broth a little spicy kick that wasn't overpowering. The base of the soup isn't as creamy as the Chicken & Gnocchi soup, but it's slightly creamier than a typical broth.

My favorite part of the soup was the extra soft potatoes. I don't normally eat kale, but when submerged in the broth, it was soft and I could see myself eating it in soup form in the future.

2. Pasta e Fagioli Soup

How Olive Garden describes the soup: "White and red beans, ground beef, fresh tomatoes and tubetti pasta in a savory broth."

My review of the soup: As soon as we started eating the Pasta e Fagioli soup, Julie wisely declared that it was "perfect for a cold winter day" since it's nice and hearty. My mom makes a mean chop suey with tomato soup and ground beef and this reminded me a bit of that flavor, except with a small kick to it.

I enjoyed the beef and tubetti pasta, both of which were cooked to perfection, and even found myself liking the beans (a surprise for a picky eater like me). I've never been a fan of tomatoes, but it was easy to skip around them.

1. Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

How Olive Garden describes the soup: "A creamy soup made with roasted chicken, Italian dumplings and spinach."

My review of the soup: Julie and I began our tasting with the Chicken & Gnocchi soup. Going into this experience, I'd previously tried this particular soup in years past, so I already had an idea of what it tasted like, but this was my first time eating it in many years.

Both of us were instantly fans of the smooth, creamy base, and I enjoyed dipping the garlic breadsticks in it. The gnocchi was incredibly soft and pillowy (just the way I like it), and the chicken was nice and tender.

I'm not normally a huge fan of spinach, but it added a touch of subtle flavor. I'm also not a big veggie gal, but the celery and carrots were ultra soft and made me think that I should really try hiding veggies in my soups at home to increase my veggie intake.

I enjoyed the gnocchi so much that I wished there were a few more pieces in the soup. Honestly, the gnocchi was so good that I'm surprised Olive Garden hasn't made it one of their pasta dishes!

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This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 1:18 PM.