Minestrone

Olive Garden's Minestrone is a classic Italian vegetable soup loaded with fresh tomatoes, kidney beans, shell pasta, zucchini, carrots, celery, and Italian herbs. A lighter, vegetable-forward option that is naturally lower in calories and fat than the cream-based soups.

Minestrone is the one soup on this menu that leaves you room for the rest of the meal. Tomato broth with beans, pasta and garden vegetables, at 110 calories a bowl it is a fraction of what the cream soups carry, and it is the only option here that broadly suits a vegetarian diet.

It is also the most useful strategic order on the menu. If your main is Chicken Alfredo or anything else built on cream, taking Minestrone as your first course means you arrive at the entree still hungry and with a clean palate. Take Zuppa Toscana instead and you have effectively eaten two rich courses in a row.

The trade-off is that it is not a thrilling bowl of soup. It is well-made and generously vegetabled, but nothing in it demands attention the way the sausage and pepper in Zuppa Toscana do. That is precisely the point of it.

What does Minestrone taste like?

Light, tomato-forward and herbal, with soft beans and small pasta giving it body without weight. The vegetables stay distinct rather than dissolving into the broth. It finishes clean and slightly acidic, which is why it works so well before something rich.

Who should order Minestrone?

Vegetarians, anyone ordering a heavy main, and anyone trying to keep the meal lighter overall. It is also the sensible choice if you plan to have more than one bowl.

Is Minestrone worth $8.79?

Free and unlimited with a dine-in entree. Within the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks deal it is the least filling of the four, so if you are treating that deal as your whole meal one of the heartier soups goes further.

How to order Minestrone at Olive Garden

• Unlimited with a dine-in entree or the Soup, Salad and Breadsticks deal.
• This is the soup to order if you actually intend to finish your main.
• It reheats better than the cream soups, so it is a reasonable takeaway option.
• Ask for parmesan on the side rather than assuming it comes cheesed.

Olive Garden Minestrone price in 2026

The Minestrone is listed at $8.79 on the Olive Garden menu we track. Prices can differ between restaurants, and airport or stadium locations usually sit higher, so the menu board and the official app are the final word for the restaurant you are visiting. See the full Olive Garden menu for the rest of the prices we hold.