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Warm Italian Doughnuts

Olive Garden Warm Italian Doughnuts

$8.49 810 cal Desserts

Fried doughnuts tossed in vanilla sugar. Served with raspberry or chocolate sauce.
Olive Garden Menu View on OliveGarden.com

About This Dish

Warm Italian Doughnuts at Olive Garden are a dessert inspired by the Italian zeppole tradition, priced at $8.49 and delivering 810 calories per order. Light fried doughnuts are tossed in vanilla sugar and served with your choice of raspberry or chocolate dipping sauce. At 28 grams of fat and 510 milligrams of sodium, they fall in the middle of the dessert calorie range and represent the most shareable dessert format on the menu — a pile of warm, sugar-dusted rounds designed to be pulled apart and dipped.

Zeppole-style doughnuts are a traditional Italian street food, typically served at festivals and celebrations. The Olive Garden version keeps the format approachable for American diners by pairing them with familiar dipping sauces rather than the traditional Italian honey glaze. The vanilla sugar coating adds sweetness without the heaviness of chocolate glaze, and the warmth of the freshly fried dough against the cold dipping sauces provides a temperature contrast that makes them particularly satisfying as a shared table dessert.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving

810 Calories
28g Total Fat
510mg Sodium

* Nutritional values are approximate and may vary. Last updated March 2026.

How to Copycat Olive Garden Warm Italian Doughnuts at Home?

Prep: 15 min Cook: 15 min Total: 30 min Medium

Olive Garden's Warm Italian Doughnuts are based on the pate a choux technique — the same dough used in cream puffs and eclairs. The difference is that instead of baking, the dough is piped directly into hot oil, where the water inside the dough converts to steam and creates the hollow, crispy-airy texture that makes these doughnuts different from cake or yeasted varieties.

The key technical points are: the dough must be properly dried in the pot before the eggs are added (otherwise the eggs won't incorporate cleanly), and the oil must hold at 375F during frying. Too cool and the doughnuts absorb oil and become greasy; too hot and the exterior burns before the interior cooks through. The vanilla sugar toss happens immediately after frying while the surface is still hot and slightly tacky from the oil.

Ingredients

4 servings

Choux Dough

Vanilla Sugar

Dipping Sauces

Instructions

0 / 5

  1. Combine water, butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a rolling boil.

    4 min

  2. Add flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes over medium heat until the dough pulls away from the sides and a dry film forms on the bottom of the pan.

    3 min

    Cooking the dough in the pan drives off moisture. This step is what allows the eggs to incorporate without creating a wet, loose batter.

  3. Transfer dough to a bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time with a hand mixer until fully incorporated and smooth. Beat in vanilla.

    5 min

  4. Heat oil to 375F. Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe 1-inch portions directly into the oil, cutting the dough with scissors or a wet knife. Fry batches of 6 to 8 for 2 to 3 minutes until deep golden.

    12 min

  5. Drain briefly. Toss immediately in vanilla sugar and serve with warm dipping sauces.

    2 min

Pro Tips

  • Toss in vanilla sugar while the doughnuts are still hot. The surface oil helps the sugar adhere. Cooled doughnuts lose this tackiness and the sugar falls off.
  • Use scissors to cut the dough as it comes out of the piping bag. It is faster and more consistent than a knife.
  • Serve within 5 minutes of frying. Choux-based doughnuts soften quickly as they cool and lose their characteristic crispness.

Variations

Cinnamon Sugar Version

Replace the vanilla sugar with a cinnamon-sugar mixture (1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon) for a churro-adjacent flavor.

Filled Zeppole

After frying, poke a small hole and pipe pastry cream or Nutella into the center of each doughnut using a small piping tip.

Serving Ideas

  • Serve piled high on a plate with both sauces in separate ramekins
  • Dust with powdered sugar in addition to the vanilla sugar for extra visual appeal
  • Pairs well with a small glass of dessert wine or a double espresso
  • Best served immediately — make just before guests are ready for dessert

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Find Warm Italian Doughnuts Near You

Visit one of Olive Garden's 900+ locations to enjoy the Warm Italian Doughnuts at $8.49.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Warm Italian Doughnuts are priced at $8.49 per order. They come with your choice of raspberry sauce or chocolate sauce for dipping. They are best shared between two to three guests as a dessert.
The full order contains 810 calories with 28 grams of fat and 510 milligrams of sodium. Shared among two guests, each person consumes approximately 405 calories from the doughnuts before accounting for the dipping sauces.
The doughnuts are made from a light choux-style or yeasted dough, fried until golden and airy, then tossed in vanilla-scented sugar while still warm. They are similar to Italian zeppole or beignets, served fresh and warm rather than glazed and cooled like American doughnuts.
Make a choux pastry by boiling water and butter, stirring in flour until a dough forms, then beating in eggs one at a time. Pipe 1-inch rounds into 375F oil using a piping bag. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes until puffed and golden. Drain briefly, then toss in vanilla sugar while still warm. Serve with raspberry sauce and chocolate ganache for dipping.
They are closely related. Traditional Italian zeppole use a ricotta or choux dough, are fried, and may be filled or plain. The Olive Garden version follows the unfilled, plain-dough format dusted with flavored sugar, which is the simplest and most common zeppole presentation.