Unraveling the Mystery: What Brand of Italian Sausage Does Olive Garden Use?

As an Italian food lover, I’ve always been curious about the secret ingredients restaurants use to make their dishes so delicious. Olive Garden’s hearty Italian sausage dishes have me especially intrigued What’s their sausage made of and where does it come from? Time to do some digging and get the inside scoop!

My Quest to Uncover Olive Garden’s Sausage Supplier

I embarked on a mission to uncover which brand provides the savory, garlicky sausage that gives Olive Garden’s pasta dishes their signature flavor. Through some clever internet sleuthing, I discovered that their mild Italian sausage likely comes from a Wisconsin-based company called Johnsonville.

Johnsonville is the largest sausage producer in the United States. They’ve been crafting quality sausages since 1945 using premium cuts of pork spices and a time-tested family recipe. Olive Garden trusts them to supply the Italian sausage that stars in so many of their customer favorites.

What Makes Johnsonville the Ideal Olive Garden Sausage?

As the biggest sausage maker in the country, Johnsonville has the capabilities and expertise to produce Italian sausage on the scale needed to supply a national chain like Olive Garden. But more importantly, their dedication to quality ingredients and traditional sausage-making techniques results in a product that meets Olive Garden’s discerning standards.

Johnsonville mild Italian sausage contains a special blend of spices like garlic, anise, and fennel to give it that authentic Italian zing. It’s crafted from pork sourced from family farms rather than factory farms. And since it’s raw and never pre-cooked, Olive Garden’s chefs can season and prepare it to perfection.

How Olive Garden Utilizes Johnsonville Italian Sausage

Olive Garden incorporates Johnsonville mild Italian sausage into many menu items It’s the key protein in their popular Sausage and Peppers Rustica – sautéed with onions and peppers then simmered with tomatoes and pasta It also makes appearances in specialty dishes like the Meat Lasagna Fritta and Italiano Chicken con Broccoli.

I love how they use the sausage to add hearty, savory flavor to classics like lasagna, chicken parm, zuppa toscana soup, and more. And while mild is their go-to, you can always sub in Johnsonville’s hot Italian sausage if you prefer an extra kick. Olive Garden’s culinary team maximizes the sausage’s versatility.

Other Notable Brands Supplying Restaurant Sausage

While Olive Garden lands squarely in the Johnsonville camp, other popular Italian sausage brands also supply restaurants nationwide.

Premio makes a mean sweet fennel sausage out of New Jersey that pizza shops tend to favor. Boar’s Head offers a restaurant line of sausages including a zesty Italian style. And DiRusso’s provides an authentic, Old World Italian sausage recipe that’s been passed down for generations.

Organic and preservative-free brands like Applegate Farms and Olli Salumeria are also gaining traction for health-minded menus. There are so many great sausage options for restaurants to choose from!

Quality You Can Taste in Every Bite

Olive Garden clearly knows quality when they see – and taste – it. The Johnsonville Italian sausage they select as the ideal protein for their pasta dishes lives up to their strict culinary standards. You can detect its fresh, flavorful essence in each bite.

As an Italian food aficionado, unraveling the mystery of Olive Garden’s sausage supplier felt like an important investigation. And I’m delighted to discover it comes from a brand with such an outstanding reputation for premium artisanal sausage.

The next time I dig into Olive Garden’s sausage and peppers, I’ll appreciate just how much care and culinary tradition goes into each savory bite. Now excuse me while I make a dinner reservation! I’m suddenly craving some pasta.