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Home » 30 Minute Meals » Easy Gnocchi With Butter Garlic and Parmesan

Easy Gnocchi With Butter Garlic and Parmesan

Created: March 20, 2020 Updated: June 4, 2020 by Lyuba Brooke 4 Comments

23.4K shares
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Soft, plump potato gnocchi is an easy and comforting meal. This easy dinner will come together in only 20 minutes if you already have some ready gnocchi in the pantry or the freezer. There are only 5 ingredients in this buttery, cheesy, heartwarming dish. Boiled gnocchi is sauteed in butter with garlic, thyme, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese until golden. 

You can use this recipe either with Homemade Gnocchi or pre-packed ones from the store. Either way, this is a simple dish that you will love. 

close up view of cooked gnocchi in the pan

EASY GNOCCHI RECIPE

If I had to choose between gnocchi and regular pasta, I think you know what my choice would be. It would be gnocchi, hands down. They taste like soft little pillows of fluffy pasta and they soak up all the wonderful flavors around them. 

Gnocchi is very versatile and go well with tomato based sauces, cream based sauces, pesto, or simply sauteed in butter with herbs and cheese. As far as the cooking method, gnocchi stands up to baking, boiling, and boiling/saute methods. 

My favorite way to make gnocchi is to cook it in boiling water first, of course, and then toss it onto a hot skillet to give it a nice sear. At this point, a variety of ingredients can go in the pan to give the dish a lot of flavor. I always stick to the basics first like butter, garlic, herbs, and Parmesan cheese. After those, I can make it spicy with some red pepper flakes, or add some sun-dried tomatoes and basil, or go with aromatic lemon zest and rosemary. 

Sky is the limit on flavor variations but, as my husband always remind me, “make it crispy, please.” 

gnocchi boiling in pot of water

WHAT IS GNOCCHI?

In case you’ve never had gnocchi before, I’ll tell you about it and hope that the photos and description will be enough to encourage you to try it right away. 

Gnocchi is one of my favorite classic Italian dishes. It’s basically a tiny Italian dumpling. The texture is so soft and light and it has a delicate flavor that is rich and filling at the same time. It’s made with potatoes, egg, flour, and some salt and pepper for flavor.

You can easily make a large batch of homemade gnocchi and freeze it in portions for later. Having some homemade gnocchi in the freezer can be a life-saver on a busy weeknight when you’re just too tired. 

Store-bought gnocchi is another way to go because you don’t have to spend a couple of hours making it on the weekend. Simply keep a couple of packs in the pantry for those busy days. Although, store-bought gnocchi is usually more dense than homemade so not as fluffy.

sauteing garlic in butter

HOW TO MAKE EASY GNOCCHI WITH BUTTER GARLIC AND PARMESAN

First thing to do, is get the ingredients ready. This is a fast recipe so you want to cut, mince, and measure everything ahead of time. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, stir the water with a wooden spoon, and add gnocchi. Let gnocchi boil until they all float at the top and give it another minute. Pour water and gnocchi through a fine strainer and let excess water drain off. 

When gnocchi is almost done boiling, preheat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Melt butter and start to saute garlic. When garlic starts to golden, add thyme and saute just a couple of seconds until fragrant. Carefully add gnocchi, season with some salt, and toss to mix. Sear, stirring once in a while, until sides of gnocchi get golden. (If you like it crispier, sear it a little longer until browned.)

Grate Parmesan cheese on top, stir, and serve. 

gnocchi in the pan with butter garlic and thyme

CAN I REHEAT GNOCCHI?

Yes you can! Since this gnocchi is seared in butter, it won’t stick together. So you can toss is back into a preheated pan and reheat it over medium heat. You can also use a microwave but gnocchi tends to get a little more chewy after the microwave. 

MORE GNOCCHI RECIPES TO TRY:

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Spicy Meatballs Gnocchi Soup

Tomato Gnocchi Soup

Homemade Gnocchi

grating Parmesan cheese to the pan with potato gnocchi

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horizontal view of cooked gnocchi in the pan

PIN THIS RECIPE

Easy Gnocchi with Butter Garlic and Parmesan

Boiled soft and fluffy gnocchi is sauteed in butter with garlic, thyme, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese until golden. This easy dinner will come together in only 20 minutes and only has 5 ingredients.
5 from 3 votes
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, Italian
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
Servings: 2
Calories: 648kcal
Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

  • 16 oz gnocchi
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 large cloves of garlic smashed and minced
  • 2 tsp fresh thyme
  • 2 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt to taste
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Prepare your ingredients first: smash and mince garlic, take thyme leaves off sprigs, cut butter, and open package of Parmesan cheese if needed.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, stir the water with a wooden spoon, and add gnocchi while water is swirling. (This will help keep gnocchi from sticking.)
  • Let gnocchi boil until they all float at the top and give it another minute. Pour water and gnocchi through a fine strainer and let excess water drain off. 
  • When gnocchi is almost done boiling, preheat a saute pan over medium-high heat.
  • Melt butter and start to saute garlic. When garlic starts to golden, add thyme and saute just a couple of seconds until fragrant.
  • Carefully add gnocchi, season with some salt, and toss everything to mix. Sear, stirring once in a while, until sides of gnocchi get golden. (If you like it crispier, sear it a little longer until browned.)
  • Grate Parmesan cheese over the top, stir, and serve. 

Notes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.

Nutrition

Calories: 648kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 1205mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 808IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 373mg | Iron: 9mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles

long collage of cooked gnocchi and grating cheese over gnocchi

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

23.4K shares

Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, Dinner, Pasta, Potatoes

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Jocelyn says

    November 24, 2021 at 11:04 pm

    5 stars
    “Amazing!” is what my daughter had to say about this dish. It is truly delicious and so easy to make. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Sarah says

    May 3, 2021 at 11:48 am

    5 stars
    I made this last night for dinner. I added in some onion and dill as that’s what my boyfriend and I like in our gnocchi. It was the best gnocchi I’ve ever made. I’ll definitely be keeping it in the back of my mind for whenever we want gnocchi. I served it with some pork chops and Caesar salad. It made for a fantastic meal

    Reply
  3. Stephanie says

    April 1, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    5 stars
    I loved this! Your husband is correct about crisping the gnocchi after. So simple yet really satisfying. Thanks for a fast dish to add to the rotation. Yum!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      April 5, 2021 at 1:51 pm

      Thank you, Stephanie! 🙂

      Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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