Olive Garden Breadstick Hacks You'll Wish You Tried Sooner

The best thing about going to Olive Garden might very well be getting fresh breadsticks, and it turns out that there are tons of hacks that can help you enjoy them even more. Any time you order an entrée at Olive Garden, it comes with never-ending breadsticks. Because of this, customers have not only learned to take advantage of this situation, but to take their breadsticks to the next level.

Garlicky bread is central to the Italian restaurant experience, but there are several ways to improve upon the concept. While some of the hacks for using Olive Garden breadsticks are alterations to enjoy while dining inside the restaurant, others are upgrades you can make once you've brought your leftovers home. There are also a couple of ways to get Olive Garden breadsticks without even going to Olive Garden in the first place. So, if you're ready to take your Olive Garden breadsticks to the next level, you'll want to read on and learn about all the hacks customers have discovered.

The first Olive Garden breadstick hacks we want to introduce you to are ones that you can enjoy with your meal in the restaurant. One we think you'll particularly enjoy is stuffing your breadsticks with Alfredo sauce. This hack unleashes your inner child a bit, as it involves playing with your food.

To do the Olive Garden breadstick stuffing hack you'll need to request a ramekin of Alfredo sauce. Once you've acquired the necessary Alfredo sauce, start by standing the breadstick up vertically. Then, remove the top either by biting or cutting off the top. Then, you can use your knife or the handle of your fork to make a nice little hollow all the way from the top through the center of your breadstick down to the bottom. Just be sure not to break through the bottom, because you're making your breadstick into a container. Once you've hollowed out the breadstick, it's time to pour your Alfredo sauce inside, while holding it over a plate to contain possible spillage. The result is so much more satisfying than just dipping your breadsticks in the sauce.

If you want to do this with leftover breadsticks at home, there's a way to stuff them a little more gracefully (if you have a Lbaixjj Cupcake Filler Tool or something similar). Just fill your pastry bag with Alfredo sauce, use the nozzle to hollow out space in the breadstick, and then inject the sauce. Easy peasy.

There's not a lot that lemon doesn't taste good with. Just a little squeeze, and you can upgrade everything on your plate from seafood to pasta. So, you'll probably not be surprised to learn that a little squeeze of lemon tastes good on breadsticks, as well.

This is easy to try if you order water with lemon or tea with lemon at Olive Garden. Just save a squeeze for your breadsticks. Even if your drink doesn't come with lemon, you can still ask for lemon slices on the side. 

All you have to do for the Olive Garden lemon breadstick hack is to squeeze a little bit of juice from the lemon slice over the surface of your buttery, garlicky breadsticks and enjoy. If you're a lemon pepper fan, you might also try adding a sprinkling of pepper over the top to make lemon pepper breadsticks. Every extra layer of flavor you add will make it that much more enjoyable.

When the server comes around to your table wanting to know if you want some grated Romano cheese over your entrée, salad, or soup, make sure to get some for your breadsticks as well. Cheesy garlic breadsticks? Yes, please.

There are three different options for the Olive Garden cheesy breadstick hack. First, you could simply ask your server to grate cheese directly on top of your breadsticks. If your breadsticks are hot enough, it might get a little melty with this method. The other option is to have your server grate extra cheese onto a plate, so you can apply the cheese as you like, which is a good choice when you're sharing with others at the table who may not want extra cheese on top of the community bread. Then, if you order a side of Alfredo sauce, or have some from your entrée, you can also indulge in the third option. The third option is to dip your breadstick in Alfredo sauce and then into pre-grated cheese. The sauce will help the cheese to stick — and make your cheesy bread that much tastier.

Many Italian restaurants offer an oil-based or oil-and-vinegar-based dipping sauce for your bread. While Olive Garden doesn't have one, it doesn't mean that you can't create your own oil-and-vinegar-based dip. While there aren't any Italian herbs to swirl around in it, there are still options.

First of all, you need to know that the Italian Dressing that comes with the Famous House Salad isn't the only option available; it's also possible to get Oil and Vinegar. For the Olive Garden oil and vinegar hack, you'll want to order Oil and Vinegar on the side when you order the Famous House Salad. Then, pour it into your saucer for bread dipping. Even though there are no spices for the dip, there's still a way to flavor the Oil and Vinegar. Ask your server to grate some Romano cheese over the top of your plate of Oil and Vinegar. With the garlic butter that's already on the breadsticks, this dipping sauce will make the flavors even more intense.

There are also a few hacks to turn your Olive Garden breadsticks into desserts. Since your breadsticks tend to come before you get your main meal, most of us have a tendency to reimagine them with savory ingredients. However, you can also turn your breadsticks into a dessert by ordering dessert sauces for dipping.

The available dessert sauces depend on what's on the dessert menu at the moment. The ones you're likely to see topping desserts most often are chocolate and strawberry. However, there sometimes might be an extra one, like caramel, available on a seasonal dessert. Even if you don't order a dessert, you can order a side of the sauce.

Now, we know what you're thinking: the garlic salt that comes on the breadsticks isn't likely to taste good with sweet sauces. Luckily, you can order the garlic salt (and butter if you'd like) on the side, or simply order your breadsticks plain. Then, once you get a side of dessert sauce, you can either dip the breadsticks in the sauce, or stuff them with the sauce by hollowing the inside out with your knife first. There's a similar hack available at Outback, which involves dipping your bread in a mixture of raspberry melba sauce and whipped butter.

The next few hacks are ones you can use at the restaurant or save for home if you have breadstick leftovers. Besides dessert sauces, it turns out that there's one more way to turn your breadstick into dessert — by utilizing the Andes mints that you get with your check. To do this hack, you'll have to save a breadstick or two until the end of the meal to try the Olive Garden Andes mints breadstick hack.

The Andes mints hack is another one where ordering your breadsticks plain is a good idea. At the very least, you can order the last bread basket refill to be plain ones without garlic salt.

To make Andes mints breadsticks, simply cut open your breadstick longways and place the mints inside like you're making a sandwich. Most servers will give you extra mints if you ask. However, if they don't oblige, you can also buy a box of Andes Mints from the restaurant.

If your Olive Garden House Salad doesn't come with enough crunchy croutons for your liking, you can always turn your breadsticks into croutons. As they are, they certainly won't have the same crunch if you're using them as croutons while dining in the restaurant, but they're still going to give you the same garlicky, carby type of satisfaction.

Turning a breadstick into croutons is easy. All you have to do is cut or tear it into bite-sized pieces, add it to your salad, and boom: instant croutons. Easiest hack ever.

If you're at home, you can make even better croutons out of the breadsticks using your oven. Simply cut your bread into bite-sized pieces, put them in a baking pan, drizzle them with a mixture of olive oil and Italian seasoning, then bake them for five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. They're not going to taste exactly like the ones you get in your salad, because they're their own thing, but they'll still be yummy.

If you slice open your breadstick longways, it doesn't take much imagination to realize how well it would work as a bun. There are two options here. You can either take them home and use them as a bun for your next sandwich creation, or you can be strategic with your order, so that you can turn your breadsticks into a bun while at the restaurant.

One Olive Garden breadstick bun hack is to turn them into sandwich buns by slicing them longways down the middle. This is a hack you can even use in the restaurant. For example, if you get a Never-Ending Pasta Bowl with meatballs or Italian sausage, you can save back some of your meat from your pasta to put in your breadstick and make a sandwich. You can also order three meatballs or grilled chicken as a side item, with the express plan of turning them into a sandwich. While there aren't any condiments available (unless you bring your own), you can always ask for some extra sauce on the side to help complete your sandwich — like a meatball breadstick sandwich with marinara sauce and some grated cheese.

If you have breadstick leftovers and are trying to find a way to repurpose them, they work great as sandwich buns for anything you want or to hold hotdogs or sausages. Of course, the bun will be longer than the average hotdog, but we're betting you won't mind.

Something you may not have realized is that you can get large quantities of Olive Garden breadsticks to take home with you. Olive Garden has the best breadsticks of any chain restaurant. So, half a dozen is for novice bread eaters.

If you've got a lot of people to feed and it's your job to bring the bread, you'll want to take advantage of the option to get Olive Garden breadsticks by the case. There's an account on social media of someone ordering a case for $20 and getting about two dozen breadsticks along with dipping sauces. That's a pretty good deal since a large dipping sauce tends to cost around half as much on its own, and two dozen breadsticks generally cost around that price. So, it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask if your location has this deal available.

Some customers have reported getting surprise cases of breadsticks as well. One person on social media ordered two large containers of Alfredo sauce and was pleasantly pleased to find that the restaurant had sent a case of complementary breadsticks to go along with them. Another customer reported on social media that she got a complementary box from her server as an apology for spilling her drinks. So, you never know what might score you a bonus breadstick case. Apparently, some servers give them out willy-nilly.

Once you're out of the restaurant and at home with extra breadsticks, there are even more Olive Garden breadstick hacks for you to enjoy. The fried Olive Garden breadstick hack turns them into something kind of like donuts or sopapillas, and there are multiple ways to flavor them. However, since you're turning them into a dessert, it's a good idea to use plain breadsticks without the garlic salt for this hack.

To make fried breadsticks, all you need to do is cut the bread into bite-sized pieces and throw them in hot oil to fry them up until they're golden brown. There are a few different options once they're done frying. The first option is to add powdered sugar, as you would with donuts. If you plan ahead, you can ask for raspberry, chocolate, or caramel sauce to bring home with you to use as dipping sauces. Another option is to sprinkle the fried breadstick pieces with cinnamon sugar like a sopapilla. If making the sopapilla version, try dipping them in honey.

If you're the type of person who likes fresh-baked breadsticks, you're going to love this hack. Among the facts you should know about Olive Garden is that it's entirely possible to order Olive Garden breadsticks uncooked and bake them at home yourself when the mood strikes, in whatever quantity you want. 

You can order uncooked breadsticks to go or ask your server to add some to your order before you head out the door when dining in. They come in plastic bags ready to cook, and the restaurant will even send you home with some of the butter and garlic salt it uses. That way, you can add as little or as much as you'd like. The official baking instructions call for baking them for six to eight minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, with the butter and garlic salt to be added after baking. It's really that simple. However, since the butter that Olive Garden will send home with you is vegan (just like the breadsticks), you might want to consider using real butter instead.

Uncooked ones cost the same as baked ones and are a much better deal if you buy a dozen instead of half a dozen. There's a best-by date on the package that will let you know just how long they're good. Unopened, they're actually good for several months. So, you can plan ahead if you want to serve them for a special future meal, like Thanksgiving.

Another way to turn your breadsticks into a dessert once you get home involves baking instead of frying. The concept is similar to the frying version, only you're crisping them up in the oven.

Once you're ready to turn your leftovers into dessert, it's not that difficult. Simply reheat your Olive Garden breadsticks according to the instructions that come with them, using the bag they come in to keep them crisp and toasty. You can either cut them into bite-sized pieces before or after baking, depending on how crisp you want them. Then pour melted butter over the top, and sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Even better, take a cue from the Warm Italian Doughnuts on the dessert menu, and sprinkle them with vanilla sugar (Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar is a good choice).

We admit that they won't quite be like zeppole — the warm Italian donuts on the dessert menu that are similar to beignets. However, they'll be as close as you can get using breadsticks without frying them. Plus, if you remember to bring home some raspberry or chocolate sauce, they'll be even better.

You don't have to heat up your whole house or own an air fryer or some other fancy kitchen appliance to reheat your breadsticks. It turns out that there's a neat hack for reheating them in your toaster.

Yes, if you stick your leftover Olive Garden breadsticks straight into your toaster, they're going to be too tall and stick out over the edge. Luckily, all you have to do is tear or cut them in half to get them to fit perfectly. Granted, you'll need to make sure to put them in vertically rather than horizontally if you want to be able to get them out without enlisting a pair of kitchen tongs.

Since breadsticks are essentially bread, go ahead and try using your regular toast setting. Keep an eye on it the first time you try it and adjust the heat levels and timing next time to get the exact results you want.

The ultimate Olive Garden breadstick hack is getting the breadsticks without going near an Olive Garden. Since the restaurant outsources its breadstick-making, you can go straight to the source and bypass the restaurant altogether.

Where your local Olive Garden gets its breadsticks depends on where you live. In the Pacific Northwest, the supplier is Franz Bakery. They're half as cheap as the restaurant sells them, with two dozen costing about the same amount as one dozen costs from the restaurant. Granted, the one place we could find them online was only available for local pickup or delivery. Turano is another bakery that supplies some locations, such as ones in the Chicago area. It's actually easy to buy Turano Gourmet Breadsticks online, no matter where you live. And they tend to be cheaper per breadstick than the ones you get from the restaurant. However, they do come in large quantities — think 192 breadsticks per case. So, unless you're making them for a really large crowd, you might need to freeze them to keep them fresh until you have time to use them all up.

Of course, there's also the option to just make your own copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks. Granted, it takes two hours and 15 minutes to make them from scratch, including an hour of rising and 15 minutes of baking. So, it depends on how much time and experience you have when deciding whether or not to try them.