Easy Gnocchi Recipe
Gnocchi is soft, plump potato pasta that make an easy comforting meal for weeknights. This easy gnocchi recipe 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 heartwarming dish.
You can use this recipe either with Homemade Gnocchi or refrigerated store-bought ones.
Table of Contents
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/sauté 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.”
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 grab some on the way home. Just make sure to get it from the refrigerate section, not dry!
Ingredient Notes and Tips
Gnocchi – you can use homemade gnocchi or store-bought gnocchi. If using store-bought, I highly recommend that you get them from the refrigerated section!
Butter – use unsalted butter and if needed, you can use plant-based butter.
Garlic – it’s best to use fresh garlic cloves and smash and mince them yourself! Since this is the main flavor, you want to use the best ingredient option.
Parmesan Cheese – you will need freshly grated parmesan cheese for the BEST results. It has the best potent flavor and melts better. If you don’t have the time to grate it yourself, some deli sections of the grocery store will have freshly grated parmesan cheese available.
Thyme – If you don’t have access to fresh thyme, it’s completely okay to use dried. Just remember that dried herbs do tend to me more potent, so use half the amount listed in the recipe.
How To Make This Easy Gnocchi Recipe
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 sauté pan over medium-high heat. Melt butter and start to sauté garlic. When garlic starts to golden, add thyme and sauté just a couple of seconds until fragrant.
Carefully add boiled gnocchi, season with some salt, and toss to mix. Sauté mostly undisturbed, 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
You can serve virtually any meats with this gnocchi recipe.
Steaks and beef – Italian meatballs, seared steaks, filet mignon steaks.
Chicken – chicken Milanese, chicken parmesan, chicken marsala, or simple chicken meatballs.
Seafood – seared scallops, whole baked salmon filet, baked cod, garlic butter shrimp, and many other simple seafood recipes.
Absolutely! You can use this simple recipe for sauteed gnocchi to cook sweet potato gnocchi, cauliflower gnocchi, or any other flavor.
Some More Gnocchi Recipes
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Gnocchi Recipe
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
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
- *Gluten free note: To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free gnocchi. Many stores (especially healthy grocery stores) carry gluten free gnocchi. If you can’t find them at your stores, you can make homemade gnocchi but substitute gluten free all purpose flour.
- Storing: you can store leftover cooked gnocchi in an air-tight food storage container, in the refrigerator. Store it for 2-3 days.
- Reheating: you can toss leftover gnocchi into a preheated pan and reheat it over medium heat. You can also use a microwave in about 30 second increments, but gnocchi tends to get a little more chewy after the microwave.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles in March 2020.
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.
You specifically stated to use a wooden spoon and I am just curious as to why that is.
Hi! Never cooked gnocchi before. Yet, we are very fond of potatoes. I have Alfredo & tomato sauce. Is this something I could use? This is a new adventure. thank you for your help to a great Grandma. Hugs! Grandma Joy
Hi Joy,
Yes, I think that both would be good with gnocchi and I also have a recipe for the gnocchi with sauce if you’d like to try it here is the link https://www.willcookforsmiles.com/creamy-tomato-gnocchi/
I used gluten free potato gnocchi. Sautéed garlic in olive oil and added the butter after everything was done. Went great with chicken tenders. Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
I just made this but I didn’t have any thyme. I added fresh basil, onion, roasted red peppers and sun dried tomatoes. Love this and so easy and quick to make.
I am so glad you liked it, Beverly!
“Amazing!” is what my daughter had to say about this dish. It is truly delicious and so easy to make. Thank you!
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
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!
Thank you, Stephanie! 🙂