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Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
A bowl of Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup will make everything right in the world — well, almost. It’s hearty enough to serve for dinner with a salad and crusty bread, but it’s also perfect for lunch. I love gnocchi, but please don’t overcook it! Gnocchi should only be cooked until light, tender, and fluffy.
What You’ll Need to Make Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup:
- olive oil
- yellow onion
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- flour
- chicken broth
- boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- kosher salt
- ground black pepper
- dried gnocchi
- fresh spinach
- half-and-half
- red pepper flakes, optional
- fresh chives, for garnish
What is Gnocchi?
Gnocchi is basically a type of Italian pasta; but it’s a little different than the dried pasta you typically buy on the store shelf. For one thing, the gnocchi most commonly used (and the one used in this recipe for Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup) is a potato gnocchi. It’s made with flour, egg, and potato; some recipes call for additional ingredients. Another difference you’ll notice immediately is that dried gnocchi isn’t as dry as the pasta you’ll find on the grocery store shelf. Go figure!
I have made gnocchi by hand and it’s not actually very difficult but, honestly, I just don’t have time for that anymore. So, in the interest of saving time, I like to keep dried gnocchi in my pantry. It’s a great way to whip together a delicious and hearty meal in minutes.
In this recipe we use a traditional style potato gnocchi (paid link). It’s a dried gnocchi, meaning that it is shelf-stable, so it’s a wonderful addition to your working pantry. It cooks up quickly and is perfect when paired with pesto, marinara, or a simple butter sauce. Since this is a dried gnocchi, as opposed to fresh gnocchi, you can add it directly to the Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup without first having to cook it. It’s always a good thing to be able to skip a step – or an extra pan!
Make it Your Own
It’s easy to make changes to this Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup. In fact, most soup is generally very versatile, so feel free to make some changes to suit your own taste. Here are some suggestions:
- Substitute frozen spinach for the fresh spinach. Make sure it’s thawed and squeeze out the extra liquid.
- If you don’t like spinach, try using some chopped kale.
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts make an excellent substitution for the chicken thighs.
- Do you want a little more spice in your soup? Add some extra red pepper flakes!
- If you prefer a smaller bite of gnocchi, try using some mini gnocchi – I love that stuff!
- If you buy your chicken broth in quart size cartons, you can either save the 2 cups of broth leftover after making this Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup and use it for making rice or another dish — or, you could extend this soup by adding the last 2 cups of broth and a few extra vegetables and another clove of garlic.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, large, diced
- 2-3 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1-1/2 lbs. chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cut into 1" pieces
- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper, ground
- 1 lb. gnocchi, dried
- 5 oz. spinach, fresh
- 1 cup half-and-half
- red pepper flakes, optional, to taste
- chives, fresh, finely chopped, for garnish
Directions
- In a Dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery. Cook until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Add flour, cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly, until vegetables are evenly coated. Slowly stir in the chicken broth; bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer on medium heat.
- Add chicken, salt and pepper; return to simmer. Reduce heat and continue to simmer just until the chicken is cooked, about 5 minutes.
- Add the gnocchi, stir in; cover Dutch oven and cook about 5 minutes until the gnocchi are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the spinach and half-and-half; cook about 2-3 minutes until spinach is tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Adjust seasonings to taste. Garnish with minced fresh chives.
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