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BY Karina PUBLISHED UPDATED | 32 Comments
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Soft, tender pillows of gnocchi enveloped in a full-flavoured cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, parmesan and fresh basil. All cooked in one pan!
THE ultimate comfort food! Even if you don’t particularly like creamy sauces, you will fall in love with thisone pan gnocchi recipe.Quick and easy to make, ready on the table in less than 15 minutes, you will even impress yourself!
GNOCCHI RECIPE
You’ve loved our Tuscan flavours on shrimp, salmonandchicken. NOW it’s time to let gnocchi SHINE. Leave people wondering if there is a hidden chef in your kitchen with this for dinner. An easy to make and filling meal!
But Tuscan? I know, this is NOT a traditional recipe form Tuscany… BUT itis a popular recipe from Olive Garden.
HOW TO COOK ONE PAN GNOCCHI
You’re going to:
FRY your gnocchi in garlic butter first. Use uncooked dry gnocchifound with the dry package pastas in your supermarket. Fresh or homemade gnocchi will not work and may turn to mush in the sauce.
ADD the sun dried tomatoes and let them release flavours.
POUR in chicken broth, cream and herbs. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan — browned bits equal flavour!
MIX everything together, reduce heat to medium and cover pan with lid
COOK for 5 minutes. The starch released from the gnocchi thickens the sauce while cooking.
WILTthe spinach leaves in the sauce.Stir through parmesan.
SIMMERuntil gnocchi is soft and the sauce has thickened.
Serve immediately.
*The sauce thickenes as it cools. If not serving immediately, add extra cream or chicken broth just before serving to thin it out a little*
WINE SELECTION
I choose a white wine to go with this. A light Chardonnay or Pinot Gris pairs really well. For a sweeter wine, choose a Riesling or a Sparkling Moscato.
SOME TIPS:
- Remember to use dry gnocchi and add it uncooked!
- Heavy cream, thickened cream or half and half work well in this recipe. is an American product, made from equal parts light cream and milk. Feel free to use half light cream and half 2% milk (or full fat if not worried about calories and fat counts), in place of half and half. Alternatively, use all light cream if you wish.
- I use sun dried tomato strips in oil. When draining them, reserve about 2 teaspoons of the jarred oil for added flavour when cooking.
MORE GNOCCHI RECIPES
Slow Cooker Gnocchi Sausage Kale Soup
Soft, tender pillows of gnocchi enveloped in a full-flavoured cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic and fresh basil. Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi is the ultimate comfort food all cooked in one pan!
PRINT SAVE
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 15 minutes mins
Total: 25 minutes mins
Serves: 4 serves
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter, (or olive oil)
- 1 brown shallot, chopped (or 1 small onion)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound (500 g) uncooked potato gnocchi, (the dry packaged gnocchi -- not fresh)
- 1/2 cup jarred sun dried tomato strips in oil, (reserve 2 teaspoons of the jarred oil for cooking)
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, (thickened cream or half andf half)
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 1/2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil, (or parsley)
Instructions
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and sauté shallots until transparent, about 2 minutes. Sauté garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the gnocchi and let sear in the butter for a minute. Add the sun dried tomatoes and reserved oil. Cook for a further minute to release flavours into the gnocchi.
Pour in the chicken broth, cream and Italian herbs. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together and reduce heat to medium. Cover pan with lid and let cook for 5 minutes.
Stir in the spinach leaves and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
Stir through parmesan cheese and chopped basil. Let simmer for a further minute or until gnocchi is soft, cooked through and the sauce has thickened to your liking.
Season with a little extra salt & pepper, if needed, to suit your taste.
Serve immediately.*
Notes
Add uncooked dry gnocchi as it cooks right in the sauce! The starch released from the gnocchi thickens the sauce perfectly while cooking.
*The sauce thickenes as it cools. If not serving immediately, add extra cream or chicken broth just before serving to thin it out a little.
Nutrition
Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 21g
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Shonda says
This dish is amazing!!! I make it as is or with chicken or shrimp. It’s wonderful!Reply
Allison says
This is such a wonderful delicious recipe! I love that it’s one pot. So much faster and easier than cooking gnocchi separately. My friends always request this for dinner parties. I usually change up the recipe by using pancetta instead of sun dried tomatoes and spinach, although those main ingredients sound great! Omit the salt if you use pancetta!Reply
Matt Smith says
I make this recipe often, the problem I usually have is in the 5 min cook stage, or reheating leftovers in the microwave, the cream sauce can break, causing it to be very greasy. To avoid this, juice a lemon, neutralize the acid with baking soda until it stops fizzing, and mix this neutralized lemon juice to the cream before adding it to the sauce. This acts as an emulsifier (sodium citrate) that prevents the cream sauce from breaking.
Reply
Ash says
Extremely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and let me tell you, I did NOT want to share. Will be a regular for dinner. Thank you! Try this, you won’t be disappointedReply
Tricia says
Absolutely delicious. So quick and easy. I typically tweak all my recipes but I didn’t need to change anything. The whole family loved it.Reply
Scoot says
Loved it, I would modify it some our tastes. Would add a little more broth and a little less cream. Also I would use a little less sun dried tomatoes but this is nit picky. Over all a great dish and very rich.Reply
E says
I love making this dish. I usually add sliced sausage or shredded rotisserie chicken to make it more of a hearty one dish meal.
Reply
Cajun Cook says
Very good recipe, thanks! My entire family enjoyed it, even the pickiest eater. I was short on time so added less cream and used a bit of bouillon for flavor instead of broth that would add more liquid and need to be reduced. We plan to make this again, quite rich so best to serve with a steamed vegetable or something else simple.Reply
Traci says
This was amazing next time I will add some prosciutto for added flavor. Thanks for another great recipe to add to my nightly rotation.Reply
MC says
Made some basic basic changes, added chicken strips I sautéed earlier. Complete meal!Reply
Cher says
This is soooo delish!!! We used a heaping tsp of basil pesto, since we didn’t have fresh basil (worked wonderfully). A hefty amount of fresh-ground black pepper gave it a nice pepperiness. Also, we cooked up some crisp bacon to add as a topping. On the side we had cucumber salad (made with chunks of cucumber, tomato, black olives, and home-mixed Italian dressing) — this was a refreshing accompaniment to have with the gnocchi. We’ll definitely make this again!Reply
Jennifer says
My family loved this. I will do a better job next time of draining the sun dried tomatoes and only using the 2 tsp. Ours was a little oily, but still delicious. I also added extra parmesan because we are cheese junkies. Have everything ready to add so you don’t overcook your gnocchi.Reply
Christie says
Loved this recipe. I actually made this twice in one week. It was that good!Reply
Michelle J says
This was excellent! Creamy,decadent, cheesy and elegant enough to impress company! I added some rotisserie chicken because I needed to use some up and it was wonderful. It would be equally great with shrimp or scallops( not that the recipe isn’t perfect as it is) Once again, Karina’s recipes for a win!! Thanks, Karina! You’ve helped me make many great meals and feed many grateful people!Reply
Meg says
We loved this! We’re a well traveled group and we ALL loved it. Thank you so much for sharing.Reply
Amy says
Jeeeeez, this was killer! And super simple. Even my two year old was dancing around while eating. No complaints or adjustments on my end!Reply
Katy says
Amazing recipe!! I don’t like sun-dried tomatoes, so I left them out, but it still tasted great. This recipe was super easy to make, and I will definitely make it again!Reply
Kelly K Hale says
This is THE dish my husband asks for on the regular! Last night I tossed in some diced bacon and his comment was, “this is my number 1 favorite dish you make”! Pretty great feedback. Thanks for making me look so good.Reply
Elley says
FANTASTIC recipe! So flavorful, comforting, and perfect. The flavor is truly perfect. I will definitely be making this again.Reply
Paula Baritot says
Absolutely Delicious !!!Reply
Teri says
I made this tonight. Delish!!! The only thing I added some smoked sausage. Definitely going to make this again.Reply
Kay says
Easy and SUPER tasty. I used frozen spinach and threw in some chilli flakes (also substituted the chicken broth with vegetable, to make it actually vegetarian), and it is so filling and delicious. This is definitely going to enter my regular dinner rotation!Reply
Linda says
I cut down the liquid a bit and made it with homemade gnocchi. So tasty and decadent! A great dinner for a cold, rainy night.Reply
Sue says
OMG this was SO good. Easy, inexpensive & I will make it again. I’d never had gnocchi before so didn’t know what to expect, especially from a package, but I needn’t have worried. I agree with Vic’s accompaniments of garlic bread & red wine. This is a meal you could serve to someone you want to impress! Thank you for another winner, Karina!Reply
Michelle says
This was excellent. Followed the directions and doubled everything with my big family. It came out great and everyone loved it.Reply
Katie says
Found this on Instagram. SO GOOD and so easy. I’m making it again this weekReply
Andrea Cover says
OMG what a sensational comfort dish. Love it!Reply
Theresa german says
This is an excellent dish. My family really enjoyed it tonight. I’m looking forward to making two other dishes that you have published. Thank you
Reply
Moe says
So easy and so fabulous! Definitely a recipe to impress somebody.Reply
Carl says
Easy to make and very delicious. Proof – serves 4 but 2 of us finished it off!Reply
vic rauter says
Great..tasty…and quick
Served with garlic toast…red wine..and it was the perfect special dinner
And it was very simple to make..
It really was a deliteReply
Camilla says
Brilliant! So creamy and flavors on point. I was hesitant to cook the gnocchi in the sauce but it works so beautifully. I used fresh gnocchi and just kept my eye on things and it still came out incredible! Thank you Karina! You’re the BESTReply
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