The Secret To Olive Garden's Five-Cheese Ziti Sauce

While some food secrets like the formula of Coca-Cola and the 11 herbs and spices in KFC's famous chicken may never be known, that's certainly not the case with the sauce in Olive Garden's famous five-cheese ziti. Officially known as Five Cheese Ziti al Forno on the menu, customers are offered "a baked blend of Italian cheeses, pasta and [its] signature five cheese marinara" when they order it.

With a name like five-cheese ziti, customers might expect a dish with a fancy name to have a fancy sauce to accompany it. But the ingredients are quite simple. As TikTok user Sarah Sterling notes per an Olive Garden chef, the famous sauce is simply marinara mixed with Alfredo sauce. In many restaurants, this combo is known as pink sauce because of the color made from mixing the two sauces. Customers love it because it offers the best of both worlds on one plate — the tang of tomato-based marinara and the creaminess of Alfredo without any of the flavors being overpowering — not to mention plenty of cheese.

The five-cheese ziti may be loaded with cheese and a not-so-secret sauce, but we don't recommend ordering it when sitting down to dinner at Olive Garden. The flavors are simple, but we found the dish — and the sauce — to be uninspiring, especially as a classic offering on Olive Garden's menu in the same company as lasagna and fettuccine Alfredo.

Customers in the mood for Italian food are better off sticking with other classics on Olive Garden's menu — and enjoying one sauce at a time. We found the chicken Alfredo, which features the white half of the famous ziti sauce, to be a pleasing mix of tender noodles, flavorful sauce, and perfectly grilled chicken. Likewise, the chicken parmigiana offers crispy chicken, melty cheese, and a vibrant marinara sauce that melds together well. While the baked ziti is likely to appeal to those who love copious amounts of cheese in their Italian food, we recommend leaving it on the menu and choosing something else.