The Store-Bought Salad Dressing That Brings A Taste Of Olive Garden To Your Home

Olive Garden enthusiasts already know the Tuscan-inspired American chain has much more to offer than its famous unlimited breadsticks policy alone. In fact, true fans will be the first to tell you that Olive Garden's house salad contains unexpected, flavorful depths. Full of leafy greens, tomatoes, black olives, pepperoncini, sliced red onions, and, most crucially, well-seasoned croutons, the house salad stands out from the generic side-salad crowd thanks to its creamy Italian dressing. The good news is that Olive Garden's signature Italian dressing is readily available at grocery stores across the states, allowing you to easily serve up that nostalgic restaurant taste at home. The better news? Discount grocery store chain Aldi has come up with a nearly identical dupe for half the cost. 

Most Italian salad dressings mimic the simple preparation you'll find on salads in the country of Italy itself: olive oil, vinegar, and a few spicy herbs. Olive Garden's signature creamy version incorporates dairy products like Romano cheese as well as eggs and other shelf-stabilizers to create that thick, creamy consistency that won't separate over time. Aldi's version features the same emulsified consistency and the same savory, herbaceous, slightly garlicky notes. Even the color and bottle size are nearly the same. 

Olive Garden originally began bottling and selling its Italian dressing in 2012. Thanks to ongoing demand, Olive Garden has never stopped production. But at around $5 a bottle, this dressing from the often-affordable, family-focused restaurant might be out of budget as a weeknight dinner staple. Aldi's Tuscan Garden restaurant style Italian salad dressing comes in at around $2 a bottle, making it a near-perfect dupe at a much more palatable cost.

The reason Olive Garden and Aldi can create a product so closely aligned that even taste testers can't tell the difference is because Italian dressing doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, even if the two bottled versions are lusciously creamy. In fact, you yourself can create a version of the signature store-bought dressing at home and tailor it more specifically to your liking. All you need is olive oil, white wine vinegar, lemon juice, mayonnaise, sugar to taste, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and grated Parmesan, and you're well on your way. Still, if you don't have the ingredients on hand and you're craving that crunchy and acidic iconic salad, Aldi's prices and commitment to the careful dupe can't be beaten. 

For dinner tonight, pair your favorite Italian dressing and salad with a homemade version of Olive Garden's Alfredo sauce. While you're at it, pick up the best Olive Garden breadstick copycat from Walmart and give yourself the full Olive Garden treatment at home.