In a viral TikTok, a group of Olive Garden customers ask about pink sauce. That’s when their server exposes the recipe of the chain’s five-cheese marinara sauce.
TikTok user Sarah Sterling (@sarahsterling_) recorded an outing with her friends for a meal at an Olive Garden where they appear to be regulars. In the clip, her friend asks the server if they could be served the “pink sauce,” which is actually a half and half combination of the chain’s red and Alfredo sauces.
@sarahsterling_ Spilling all of @Olive Garden ♬ original sound – Sarah Sterling
That’s when the server let them in on a little secret, which surprised some TikTokers in the comments section of her clip. Others, however, said that they were already privy to this bit of Olive Garden knowledge.
Sterling begins her video by stating, “We just found like a huge Olive Garden secret though. Mindy asked for pink sauce, which is normally what like a marinara mixed with Alfredo. She was like can you mix the sauces and he was like yes, but. She was like what? Is it bad? He was like no that’s just what the five-cheese marinara sauce is.”
She looks around the table stunned, as someone else seated next to her remarks with a laugh, “Incredible. We’re on another level right now.”
One commenter said that when they made this discovery, they were upset, but that it explained why the five-cheese marinara didn’t agree with their stomach. “omg the alfredo hurts my stomach so i switched to the cheese marinara, couldn’t figure out why it did the same! thank u, i feel less crazy,” the user wrote.
Another said that they were equally miffed about the five-cheese marinara sauce reveal. “I remember when they told me this I was so upset bc I hate Alfredo. Still my fav sauce though,” the user wrote.
However, it appears that this isn’t always the case at every Olive Garden. At least that’s according to this commenter who wrote, “This is only kinda true! My so makes the sauce! 5cheese is it’s own thing but in a pinch they will mix them.”
One person shared their hack for making your own pink sauce at home: Just purchase the chain’s Alfredo and marinara sauces to-go. “Order a to-go Alfredo. You get a huge side for less than dipping sauce price,” the user wrote.
And then another person who said they were a former employee of the chain mentioned that there are tons of Olive Garden secrets folks just aren’t aware of: “as a former og employee, there’s a LOT of things the public doesn’t know.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Olive Garden via email and Sterling via TikTok comment for further information.
