Olive Garden under 1,000 calories: 25 plates, ranked

Of the 43 dishes we track at Olive Garden, 25 come to 1,000 calories or less with the sides and choices they come with — 58%. The most protein in one plate under 1,000 is the Grilled Chicken Margherita, with chicken & gnocchi soup, 76 g for 880 calories, and it is the most filling of them by protein and fiber per calorie too. 18 dishes do not fit under 1,000.

Source: Olive Garden nutrition guide (official), August 31, 2026 edition · Data refreshed September 16, 2026

• 25 plates under 1,000
• 76g most protein in one plate
• 82g protein in a full meal
• 18 dishes over 1,000

As of October 2026, 25 of the 43 Olive Garden dishes we track come to 1,000 calories or less with the choices they come with, and the most protein in a complete Olive Garden meal under 1,000 is 82 g (A Grilled Chicken Margherita, with pasta fagioli soup, and a Cappuccino).

Three complete Olive Garden meals under 1,000 calories

Under 1,000, the most-protein meal is built on the Grilled Chicken Margherita (650 cal for the dish alone), which leaves 350 calories for the sides it comes with and a drink. One plate — a dish with a valid pick for each choice it comes with, never the same row twice — and at most one drink: the MinMax app's meal and the best under the cap, drink included. The lightest meal is unchanged from under 800; the others use the extra 200 calories.

Build your own Olive Garden plate under 1,000 calories → Swap a side or a sauce, add a dish, share the link.

Every Olive Garden plate under 1,000 calories, ranked by protein

One row per dish, counted once with the best choices that still fit under 1,000 — by grams of protein, then calories. The median plate under 1,000 is 940 calories. Figures as Olive Garden published them, rounded to whole numbers (how we check them).

What 1,000 calories buys at Olive Garden

Going from 800 to 1,000 calories adds 6 plates: Fettuccine Alfredo (Lighter Portion) (920), Lasagna Classico (940), Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce (970), 6 oz. Sirloin (980), Creamy Mushroom Ravioli (980) and Spicy Alfredo Fettuccine (Lighter Portion) (1,000). The extra room also changes what 14 plates are counted with: Grilled Chicken Margherita takes chicken & gnocchi soup instead of pasta fagioli soup, Spaghetti (Create Your Own Pasta) takes meat sauce and sautéed shrimp, with pasta fagioli soup instead of marinara and sautéed shrimp, with minestrone soup and Angel Hair (Create Your Own Pasta) takes meat sauce and sautéed shrimp, with pasta fagioli soup instead of marinara and sautéed shrimp, with minestrone soup, and 11 more. Across the 25 plates on this page, the choices a dish comes with add as much as 620 calories. The heaviest plate that still fits is the Gluten-Free Rotini (Create Your Own Pasta) with meat sauce and sautéed shrimp, with pasta fagioli soup at 1,000 calories, exactly at the cap.

What doesn't fit under 1,000

18 of 43 Olive Garden dishes are over 1,000 calories even with their lightest choices; the lightest of them, the Chicken Parmigiana, misses by 20 calories at 1,020. With more room, see Olive Garden under 1,200. Tighter budget: Olive Garden under 800. Closest misses: Chicken Parmigiana (from 1,020), Calabrian Shrimp Bucatini (from 1,040), Chicken Scampi (from 1,050), Eggplant Parmigiana (from 1,070) and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce & Sausage (2) (from 1,110).

More at Olive Garden

• Olive Garden calories & nutrition (167 items listed)
• Olive Garden under 600 calories (10 plates)
• Olive Garden under 800 calories (19 plates)
• Olive Garden under 1,200 calories (35 plates)
• High-protein Olive Garden plates (12 dishes)
• Olive Garden calorie calculator (build a plate under your cap)

Under 1,000 calories at other chains

The same cap at 3 other sit-down chains, where a dish is also counted with its sides. The counter chains are ranked on fast food under 500 calories.

• Outback Steakhouse under 1,000
• Red Lobster under 1,000
• TGI Fridays under 1,000