Olive Garden Gluten Free Menu Items and Options in 2024

Olive Garden is a family-friendly restaurant chain featuring Italian standards such as pastas & salads. It’s a subsidiary company of Darden Restaurants which owns other popular chains Yard House, Seasons 52, LongHorn Steakhouse, and more.

What is gluten free at Olive Garden?

In this article and guide, we’ll highlight all the gluten free menu items, sides, and other gf options available at Olive Garden. Want to learn more nutrition facts about Olive Garden’s foods? Check out their Nutrition and Allergens page. More specifically Olive Garden has this page for a ‘Gluten Sensitive Diet‘.

This is the statement Olive Garden shares in their allergen guide:

At Olive Garden, we’re committed to making the dining experience for every guest, including our guests with food allergies, an exceptional one. That’s why we are proud to offer this information to help you make an informed food selection.

Here are a few key points to know when reviewing this guide:

1. The information inside details which menu items contain the most common allergens and intolerances, based on the information provided by our suppliers. We work to keep this information as up-to-date as possible, and suggest you check our allergen information each time you dine with us. Please also note that this information does not indicate which items may have been made in a facility with an allergen.

2. Because of the handcrafted nature of our menu items, the shared cooking and preparation areas in our kitchens and our reliance on our suppliers for accurate information, we cannot completely eliminate the risk of cross-contact or guarantee that any item is free of any allergen. Items cooked on our grill or in our fryer present a special risk for cross-contamination, so we’ve clearly identified those for you. In addition, our pastas with egg and without egg are cooked in the same pasta cooker.

3. Note on Gluten… Our menu items are freshly prepared in our kitchens, which are not free of gluten. Cross-contact with other food items that contain gluten is possible. While we aim 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 you are avoiding gluten.

4. Note on Soy… According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, highly refined soybean oil is not considered major food allergen and therefore is not listed here.

5. If you have questions about this information, please ask to speak to a restaurant manager. Please know that due to limited ingredient information available in our kitchen, we may not be able to answer all of your questions. In these cases, please contact us online at www.olivegarden.com/contact-us or by phone at 1- 800-331-2729 (Monday – Friday between the hours of 10am – 4pm Eastern.) Please know that depending on your questions, we may need from several days to up to two weeks to investigate.

Olive Garden Gluten Free Menu

These are all the gluten free options we could find at Olive Garden. Note all items listed below do not contain wheat or gluten, based on the Olive Garden Allergen Guide. These items still have the potential for cross contamination and other traces of gluten, so please keep that in mind.

Notice anything missing or incorrect? Leave a comment below. This article was last updated: December 8, 2021

Soups

These are all of the soup options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat/gluten ingredients.

Zuppa Toscana

Salad

These are all of the salad options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat/gluten ingredients.

Famous House Salad Without Croutons

Entrées

These are all of the main entrée options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat/gluten ingredients.

Grilled Chicken Parmigiana
Herb Grilled Salmon
6 Oz Sirloin

Pasta

These are all of the main entrée options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat/gluten ingredients. Olive Garden shares that: ‘The gluten-free pasta now uses brown rice flour as the primary ingredient, giving it an even better pasta texture.’

Rotini Pasta with Marinara
Rotini Pasta with Meat Sauce

Sauces and Add-Ons

Marinara
Meat Sauce
Tomato Sauce
Grilled Chicken
Italian Sausage
Sautéed Shrimp

Kid’s Meals

These are all of the kids menu options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat/gluten ingredients.

Grilled Chicken With Rotini Pasta & Marinara
Rotini With Marinara
Rotini With Meat Sauce

Desserts

There are no gluten free desserts available at Olive Garden.

Beverages

These are all of the beverage options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat or gluten ingredients.

Coke
Diet Coke
Coke Zero Sugar
Sprite
Dr Pepper
Raspberry Lemonade*
Classic Lemonade*
Mango Strawberry Iced Tea*
Bellini Peach-Raspberry Iced Tea*
Fresh Brewed Sweet Iced Tea*
Fresh Brewed Iced Tea*
Cappuccino*
Lavazza Espresso*

* indicates no ingredients listed, but still most likely free from wheat/gluten.

Wine & Beer

These are all of the alcoholic beverage options at Olive Garden that do not contain wheat or gluten ingredients that we could find. Other options may be available without gluten/wheat, ask your server.

Red Wine

Sweet Red Roscato Rosso Dolce
Pinot Noir Meiomi
Merlot Beringer
Red Blend Porta Vita
Chianti Classico Rocca Delle Macie
Cabernet Robert Mondavi Private Collection
Cabernet Dreaming Tree
Cabernet Coppola Diamond Collection
Red Blend Apothic
Tuscan Red Blend Head to Head
Pinot Noir Prophecy

White Wine

Moscato Primo Amore
Moscato Castello Del Poggio
Pink Moscato Blend Confetti
Rose Head to Head
White Zinfandel Sutter Home
Riesling Chateau Ste. Michelle
Pinot Grigio Cavit
Sauvignon Blanc Starborough
Chardonnay Chateau Ste. Michelle
Pinot Grigiot Kris
Chardonnay La Crema

Photo: Olive Garden Facebook page

Items to Avoid at Olive Garden

These items all contain gluten or have a very high risk for gluten contamination:

All pasta contains gluten except the Rotini, so make sure that is the only type you get!
All salads, soups, and sides contain gluten except for the Famous House Salad (without croutons) and the Zuppa Toscana.
The Meatballs and all fried items contain gluten. So does the Crispy Chicken Fritta.

Summary of Gluten Free Menu Options at Olive Garden

Pro tips and a quick summary of everything gluten free at Olive Garden

When you order at the restaurant or on the app for delivery/pickup, tell them you have an allergy or Celiac Disease so they take precautions with your food.
You can get the Gluten Free Rotini Pasta with a bunch of add-ons like Italian Sausage, Grilled Chicken, or even Sautéed Shrimp.
Olive Garden has 340+ reviews on the Find Me Gluten Free app. They have an average of 2.5 stars indicating a pretty average experience. The majority of reviews mention problems with servers/staff understanding gluten allergies, lots of cross contamination, and including breadsticks with gluten free orders.
Personal experiences here are average. I went once before the pandemic for the first time and the gluten free pasta was ok, but it wasn’t something I would seek out. There were limited other options.