The Olive Garden Hack For Creamy Minestrone Soup

There are various insider tricks that can level up your Olive Garden experience, from hacks to try with the restaurant's leftovers to the simple way you can buy an Olive Garden cheese grater to use at home. When it comes to favorite soups from the chain, not only can you order Olive Garden's soups by the half-gallon, but you can also request a delicious mashup that combines two of your faves into one satisfying bowl.

Next time you visit the popular Italian dining spot, ask your server to bring you creamy minestrone soup, which is simply half a bowl of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana and half a bowl of minestrone combined into one dish. The combo blends the light, tomato-based minestrone, filled with fresh veggies, beans, and pasta, with the creamy decadence of the sausage-rich Zuppa Toscana for an out-of-the-park bite that's both zesty and rich.

Just a heads-up: This combination will nullify the gluten-free properties of the standalone Zuppa Toscana, due to the pasta content of the minestrone, and the vegan classification of the minestrone, because of the spicy Italian sausage and dairy content in the Zuppa. As long as you're neither vegan nor following a gluten-free diet, though, you're good to go with this delicious soup hack!

There are other ways to achieve a creamy version of minestrone soup at Olive Garden, one of which keeps it vegetarian, though not vegan or gluten-free. Simply ask your server to combine your bowl of minestrone with some of the chain's creamy mushroom sauce from the create-your-own-pasta menu. While the kitchen normally uses the mushroom sauce as a pasta topping, it's easy for them to ladle some into your soup bowl. This addition will give your minestrone both a thicker texture and the savory creaminess you crave.

You can also experiment with other creamy add-ins to level up your Olive Garden minestrone — and it doesn't hurt to let your server know that a generous tip is in it for them if they indulge your creativity. With your endless soup refills flowing freely, consider trying a half-and-half mashup of the Chicken & Gnocchi, another creamy soup option, with the minestrone.

A healthy scoop of the restaurant's Alfredo sauce, typically served as a dipping option for Olive Garden's iconic breadsticks or poured over its Alfredo dishes, can also lend a tasty creaminess to the tomato-based soup. If, again, your server seems tolerant and amiable, you might even ask them for suggestions. Other dishes, like the Ravioli Carbonara, feature cream-based sauces, and a different topping not offered as a dipping condiment or create-your-own-pasta sauce might turn out to be a delicious addition to your minestrone.