Is Olive Garden's Raspberry Dipping Sauce Vegan Friendly?

Olive Garden, home to a five-cheese ziti al forno and the full lineup of "amazing alfredos,"isn't exactly known as a top destination for vegans — but there are a handful of options available to guests who eat plant-based. The famous breadsticks happen to be totally plant-based (nope, no butter), and the salad can be too if ordered without croutons and with oil and vinegar instead of the house dressing. There's also the minestrone soup, plus a plate of spaghetti marinara with a side of seasoned broccoli to make up a solid meal. But what about dessert?

There's exactly one vegan item listed in Olive Garden's dessert offerings, and sadly, it's not a baked good, it's a condiment. The raspberry dipping sauce, which usually accompanies an order of warm Italian doughnuts, is, by itself, vegan. Unfortunately, there aren't any vegan sweets available to pair it with. If you're a vegan or dairy-free diner with a sweet tooth, you might just have to stop somewhere else after dinner.

One of Olive Garden's dessert offerings is a plate of warm Italian doughnuts, the restaurant chain's take on a zeppole. The little pillows of fried dough, coated in powdered sugar, come with the choice of either chocolate or raspberry dipping sauce. According to the brand, the sweet, slightly tangy raspberry sauce is completely free of animal products.

Unfortunately, it's the only vegan item in the dessert section — the zeppoles themselves are made with dairy, as are all of the cake, cheesecake, and tiramisu options — so it's not clear how a vegan diner might make use of this information. (Although, since all of the desserts arrive frozen at individual Olive Garden locations, one might argue that you're not missing out on much.)

Vegan guests really don't have any options for things to eat the raspberry sauce with, unless you have some extra breadsticks and don't mind a garlicky dessert (ew). You could always eat the fruity dipping sauce straight with a spoon, we suppose, though you might get some funny looks from neighboring tables. But hey, if that's your thing, more power to you.

Olive Garden isn't the worst restaurant chain as far as vegetarians and vegans are concerned, but the plant-based options are pretty limited. Helpfully, the restaurant does offer a clear guide on its website as to what's vegetarian and vegan, so you can know for sure that you're ordering something safe.

Also to Olive Garden's credit, while there are only a handful of menu items that are vegan by default, their kitchens tend to be pretty amenable to substitutions and other customized orders. There's not much you can do when it comes to desserts, but you can always ask to switch up sauces or hold the cheese on savory dishes. Just don't throw a fit if your server tells you that for whatever reason, your off-menu order isn't possible.

If you can get your server to send you home with a to-go cup of the raspberry sauce, of course, you can get creative in your own kitchen by pouring it over non-dairy ice cream or any other vegan dessert you may have on hand. There may not be too many in-house uses for the raspberry sauce, but plant-based eaters can at least rest assured that it's definitely vegan.