11 Tasty Hacks To Try With Olive Garden Leftovers

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and it's true. It applies to technology. It drives the medical and healthcare industries. And it even applies to food. Consider this: You just got back from your monthly pilgrimage to the local Olive Garden. There were a couple of you there, and you had a wonderful time. But now, thanks to that never-ending supply of soup, salad, and breadsticks, you've also come home with a mountain of leftovers. Sound familiar?

While you could eat lasagna or spaghetti and meat sauce for the next few days to use up this newfound bounty, the wonderful thing about necessity and innovation is that you don't have to. While leftovers are always great — especially when it's Italian food that gets better over time — possibly the very best thing about them is they're also incredible building blocks for all sorts of other dishes. 

Just as you might make a frittata with some eggs and steamed broccoli to use up the leftovers in your fridge, or turn a leftover casserole into the basis for a savory stir-fry, you can also turn leftover Italian fare into a plethora of creative and exciting new dishes. So grab those Olive Garden "to go" boxes and get ready to whip up some culinary magic. Your leftovers won't know what hit 'em!

Olive Garden's Seafood Alfredo is a delectable combination of ingredients, including parmesan, cream, garlic, and butter, all cooked into a creamy sauce and tossed with fettuccine, sautéed shrimp, and scallops. It's a rich and filling dish that comes in generous portions, so it's easy to wind up with leftovers. And that's great — it just means more delicious dishes you can make with those leftovers at home.

For instance, seafood Alfredo is ideal as a topping for a homemade pizza. Just grab a pre-cooked pizza crust from the fridge, spread your leftover Alfredo on top, add a hefty sprinkle of cheese — plus additional seafood or veggies if needed — and bake until golden brown. Seafood Alfredo also makes a wonderful filling for quesadillas. Spread the Alfredo on a large flour tortilla, add shredded cheese, fold everything in half, and cook your creation on a skillet until beautifully toasted on both sides. You can even use a similar technique to make a seafood Alfredo grilled cheese. Just butter two slices of bread, sandwich some of your leftovers in the middle, add a slice of cheese, and cook until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted.

For any of these delicious leftover hacks, just be careful not to overheat your shrimp or scallops. If you do, they can turn tough and chewy. To make sure that doesn't happen, stick with medium heat — not high — and stop cooking as soon as the seafood is heated through.

Olive Garden's chicken parm is some of the best around, especially when it comes to large chain restaurants. Those chicken breasts are coated in a flavorful parmesan breading and then lightly fried until crisp and golden. Topped with homemade marinara, melted Italian cheese, and a side of spaghetti, you've got one delightful old-school meal. And don't worry. If you end up with leftover chicken parm, there are a number of ways you can transform and enjoy it as other meals at home.

Chicken parmesan is custom-made to become a filling for a sandwich. Simply place the leftover cutlet between slices of bread or in a sub roll. Add additional marinara sauce or grated mozzarella, if needed, and toast or bake until the cheese is melted.

You can also follow a similar blueprint to turn your chicken parm into a tasty wrap. Just cut the leftover chicken cutlet into strips and place it into a large flour tortilla — spinach or sun-dried tomato-flavored wraps are especially great options. Top the chicken with fresh, diced lettuce and tomato and a drizzle of your favorite condiments (like mayo, mustard, or even more marina sauce) and roll tightly. The wraps are great cold but can also be warmed and toasted in a large nonstick skillet with a bit of oil before being served. Cook each side for one to two minutes over medium heat, then flip and toast the other side in the same way.

Leftover fettuccine Alfredo is also perfect as a filling for peppers or mushrooms or a topping for a delightful homemade pasta-topped pizza. But your options don't end there. You can use fettuccine Alfredo as the filling for stuffed shells. To make this fun and filling dish, first boil the shells according to the package directions. Once tender and al dente, fill each shell with a spoonful or two of the fettuccine, and then place in a casserole dish. Once the dish is full and you've used up all your leftovers, add some grated cheese and extra Alfredo sauce (if you'd like) and place the dish in the oven. Bake until the shell filling is warm and the cheese has just begun to bubble and turn a light brown.

Leftover fettuccine is also a fantastic base for quick and easy soup. Melt 1 to 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot, add garlic, and whisk in ¼ cup flour. Next, pour in 2 to 4 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup milk and let simmer until thickened (about 10 to 15 minutes). Finally, add your leftover pasta, some fresh herbs if desired, and a generous scoop of parmesan cheese. Continue simmering until everything is heated through.

Or, perhaps easiest of all, transform your fettuccine Alfredo into a Carbonara. Sauté bacon or pancetta, then toss it with the reheated fettuccine Alfredo. Add one to two beaten eggs and cook until the eggs are scrambled and the pasta is warm.

Eggplant Parm can be a tricky dish to revamp. Reheating eggplant — and finding new ways to use it — isn't always as obvious as reusing cooked chicken or pasta might be. But don't let eggplant's odd, alien-like appearance scare you off. There are plenty of hacks to turn it into a vibrant second meal.

Like leftover chicken parm, eggplant Parmigiana is delightful when used as a filling for a wrap or sandwich. It's also an incredible filling for quesadillas. But from there, the things you can do with leftovers turn even more exciting. For instance, you can create a play on eggplant Baba Ganoush and turn your eggplant parm into a dip. Just toss your leftovers into a food processor, add some cream cheese, and process until smooth and creamy. It's a perfect accouterment to crackers and sliced veggies.

Eggplant parm also makes a wonderful filling for plant-based tacos. Dice it up, warm it in a skillet, and then use a filling in corn or flour tortillas. Top the warm eggplant mixture with salsa, diced lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and maybe a small dollop of sour cream and dig in. 

Or, if you have time on a leisurely weekend morning, turn that eggplant parm into a succulent breakfast hash. Chop your leftover battered and fried eggplant into small cubes. Then, sauté those chunks with potatoes, onions, and bell peppers for a delicious and filling hash. You can even add eggs and cheese and turn the dish into a frittata.

Leftover pasta and protein aren't the only things you can leave your favorite Olive Garden with. You might also end up with a large take-out container of some type of salad. When this happens, count your blessings because there are dozens of ways to repurpose those greens into other tasty and creative meals.

Leftover salad is a given as a filling for wraps and sandwiches. Pile it between a couple of slices of bread or a large flour tortilla, add your protein of choice — chicken or turkey are excellent choices — and enjoy. But that's just the start. Leftover salad is also suitable for almost any stir-fry you can imagine. The greens will wilt, and the other salad ingredients will help to infuse the stir-fry with even more flavor. Those salad greens can also go into any bowl meal. Just fill the base of your bowl with the leftover salad, then top with cooked quinoa, rice, or couscous. Finally, add additional protein or roasted vegetables — any other leftovers you have in the fridge or anything you might be in the mood for will work perfectly.

You can also toss leftover salad into a frittata or quiche or spread it on any pizza you might be baking. And if all that still leaves you scratching your head looking for an idea, try turning your leftover salad into a pasta salad. Stir your greens and other veggies with cooked pasta plus toppings like cheese, nuts, and crumbled bacon. 

Even if you devour all your entrees and dessert, you'll inevitably come home from any Olive Garden excursion with some of their world-famous breadsticks in your doggie bag. They're just too good to pass up.

With a little TLC and care, it's easy to reheat Olive Garden's breadsticks to taste like they just came out of the oven. But there are other things you can do with those wondrous, savory slabs of dough as well. One of the most rewarding options is to turn those breadsticks into homemade croutons. Simply cut the leftover breadsticks into small cubes, season with herbs and spices, and then bake at 350 degrees F until crispy and lightly browned. You can then add these croutons to soups and salads or even snack on them on their own.

For something a bit more elevated, consider putting together a breadstick Panzanella salad. It sounds fancy, but you only need to cube and toast the breadsticks in the oven, just as if you were making croutons. Then, when they're done, toss them with freshly chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions. Top the salad off with some vinaigrette and dig in immediately while the bread is still crunchy and delicious. 

And if you don't get to your breadsticks as quickly as you'd like and they end up a bit crunchy, that's okay too. Grind them up and make homemade bread crumbs you can add to meatloaf or meatballs, and start that cycle of Italian goodness all over again!