A simple Olive Garden pasta built around fresh tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, finished light, bright, and unmistakably Italian-inspired.
Photo by Olive Garden
Copycat Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro Recipe
Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro is a delicate pasta dish featuring angel hair tossed with fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and herbs for a clean, balanced flavor.
It’s lighter than most Olive Garden pastas and designed to let simple ingredients do the work.
You can make Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro at home with just a few fresh ingredients and minimal prep. This copycat recipe recreates the light sauce, tender pasta, and fresh tomato-forward flavor that made the dish a longtime menu favorite.
Straight-From-the-Restaurant
Way back in the simpler days of the internet, restaurants were kind enough to share recipes on their new websites so that fans could enjoy their favorite dishes at home. Alton has spent hours tracking down these recipes preserved in archived restaurant sources. We are proud that we can help the restaurants share these vintage recipes with a whole new generation of fans.
Olive Garden’s Capellini Pomodoro Recipe from 2008 is a Straight-From-the-Restaurant Recipe.
Quick Recipe Overview
- Best For: Light dinners, vegetarian meals, warm-weather cooking
- Flavor Profile: Fresh, garlicky, lightly acidic, herb-forward
- Skill Level: Easy
- What Makes It Like the Restaurant: Simple tomato sauce, restrained seasoning, and delicate angel hair pasta
Olive Garden
Olive Garden built its brand around approachable Italian-American food served in a casual, family-friendly setting. From the beginning, the restaurant focused on familiar flavors, generous portions, and dishes that felt comforting rather than formal.
While many Olive Garden menu items lean rich and creamy, the restaurant has always included lighter options rooted in traditional Italian cooking. Dishes like Capellini Pomodoro reflected that balance, offering guests a simpler pasta choice built on olive oil, garlic, and fresh ingredients.
Over the years, Olive Garden’s success has come from blending consistency with accessibility, allowing diners to enjoy Italian-inspired meals without needing specialized knowledge or adventurous tastes.
A Lighter Side of Olive Garden
Capellini Pomodoro is inspired by classic Italian pasta dishes that emphasize freshness over heaviness. Pomodoro sauces traditionally rely on ripe tomatoes, olive oil, and aromatics rather than cream or butter.
The use of angel hair pasta keeps the dish light and quick-cooking, making it ideal for sauces that coat rather than cling. This style of pasta is especially common in Southern Italian cooking, where simplicity allows ingredients to remain the focus.
In restaurant settings, dishes like Capellini Pomodoro provide a contrast to richer offerings, giving diners a cleaner, brighter option without sacrificing flavor.
Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro Recipe
Make our Olive Garden Capellini Pomodoro Recipe at home tonight for your family. With our Secret Restaurant Recipe your Capellini Pomodoro will taste just like Olive Garden’s.
Ingredients
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 pounds Plum Tomatoes seeded & diced
- 1 ounce fresh Basil Leaves minced
- 1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 ounces Parmesan Cheese
- 12 ounces dry Angel Hair Pasta cooked
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil.
- Add garlic. Cook until it turns white.
- Add tomatoes and pepper. Heat through, stirring constantly, about 2 - 3 minutes. Tomatoes should not lose their shape. Remove from heat.
- Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain.
- Transfer hot, cooked pasta to large bowl.
- Toss pasta gently with tomato mixture, basil and half of Parmesan cheese.
- Serve immediately and pass remaining Parmesan around.
Related Copycat Recipes
- Olive Garden Spaghetti Carbonara – Creamy pasta tossed with bacon, cheese, and rich, comforting sauce
- Olive Garden Salad and Dressing – Crisp greens tossed with that iconic tangy Italian dressing everyone knows
- Carrabba’s Italian Grill Spiedino Di Mare – Skewered seafood baked with breadcrumbs, lemon butter, and Italian flair
- Romano’s Macaroni Grill Tiramisu – Classic Italian dessert layered with espresso-soaked cake and creamy mascarpone
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Questions People Ask
Is this dish spicy?
No. Capellini Pomodoro is mild, though a pinch of red pepper flakes can be added if desired.
Can I add protein?
Yes. Grilled chicken or shrimp pair well without overpowering the sauce.
Should the tomatoes be fully cooked?
No. They should soften slightly while still tasting fresh and bright.
Is this dish served hot or warm?
It’s best served warm, right after tossing the pasta with the sauce.
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Photo of Capellini Pomodoro is by Olive Garden and is used by permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) License. Photo of “Olive Garden August 7, 2022” is by David Saddler and is used by permission under the Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons License. Read the Full License Here – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode.en. Thank you, Olive Garden & David. Great Pictures. Photos may be “representative” of the recipe and not the actual finished dish. All photo licenses listed were correct at the time of the posting of the page. Additional Information Courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission. Recipe from Olive Garden’s Website, circa 2006, “Recipes” Page by way of the Wayback Machine on the Internet Archive. From the Olive Garden’s Website Recipes Page – “At Olive Garden we are passionate about Italian cooking. We are pleased to share with you a collection of our Featured Recipes over the years that you can prepare at home—and share with your friends and family.”