Gnocchi Soup
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Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup is the bowl you want after you’ve had Olive Garden’s version and would rather not drive out for it on a Tuesday night. I make it the way I make a good chicken noodle soup, except the potato gnocchi turn it into something that holds you over until the next meal. It comes together in one pot, which is most of why it stays in my rotation on busy nights.
The move that keeps it from going wrong is simple: the half and half goes in at the very end, off the hard boil, so it stays silky instead of splitting. Store-bought potato gnocchi does the work of a starch here without peeling or boiling a single potato, and three or four chicken breasts stretch across eight bowls.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a one-pot dinner, so you’re washing a pot and a spoon instead of half the kitchen.
- Store-bought potato gnocchi skip the peeling and boiling that a potato soup asks for, and they cook through in minutes.
- Three or four chicken breasts feed eight bowls, and leftover or rotisserie chicken slides in just as well when you’re using up what’s in the fridge.
- Half and half stirred in at the end gives you a silky broth without reaching for heavy cream.
- It reheats for weekday lunches, so one pot on Sunday earns its place in your meal prep.
Ingredients You’ll Need
A few of these are worth a word before you start. The rest are what you’d expect.
- Potato gnocchi. One 16-ounce package does double duty as the starch and the body of the soup, so there’s no separate potato to prep. Refrigerated or shelf-stable both work here.
- Cooked chicken. Three or four boneless skinless breasts, cooked and diced. This is the spot to use leftover grilled chicken or a store rotisserie bird, which cuts your cook time and uses up chicken you already have.
- Half and half. Two cups, added at the end. It carries the richness without the weight of heavy cream, and going in off the boil is what keeps it from breaking.
- Carrots. Dice them yourself from whole carrots if you can. The pre-diced bags tend to be dry and give up less flavor to the broth.
- Fresh spinach. A cup, roughly chopped, wilted in at the very end for color and a little green.
How to Make Creamy Gnocchi Soup
Scroll down for the full recipe card containing a full printable recipe and measurements in both US customary and metric units.
This gnocchi soup recipe comes together in one pot with simple ingredients and takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.
Sauté the vegetables
Warm the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, then add the celery, onion, carrots, and garlic. Cook them a couple of minutes, just until the onion softens and the garlic smells sweet rather than raw.
Add the chicken and broth
Stir in the cooked chicken, pour in the chicken broth, and season with the thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring it up to a gentle boil so the broth and chicken start to pull together.
Cook the gnocchi
Gently stir in the potato gnocchi and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until tender and floating. Reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the gnocchi, as leaving them too long in the hot broth can make them soft and cause them to fall apart.
Finish with cream and spinach
Turn the heat down, then stir in the half and half and the spinach. Give it a minute or two, just until the spinach wilts and the broth looks silky, and taste for salt and pepper before you ladle it out.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Keep the pot at a gentle boil rather than a hard one once the chicken is in. A rolling boil toughens cooked chicken and knocks the gnocchi around before they’re ready.
- I hold the half and half until the very last minute and pull the heat down first. Dairy stirred into a hard boil is what curdles and turns a smooth broth grainy.
- If the soup tightens up as it sits, loosen it with a splash of warm chicken broth. Potato gnocchi keep drinking up liquid, so a bowl that was perfect at the stove can turn thick by the time you serve seconds.
- Taste for salt at the end, not the start. The broth concentrates as it simmers, and rotisserie chicken brings its own salt to the pot.
Recipe Variations
- Use rotisserie or leftover chicken in place of fresh breasts. This one is tested, since the recipe already leans on pre-cooked chicken, and it’s the fastest way to get dinner going.
- Swap in gluten-free potato gnocchi. It’s well supported as a straight substitution, though brands vary in how fast they cook, so watch this batch closely the first time.
- Stir in baby kale instead of spinach. Kale holds up nicely and is a supported swap, but it’s sturdier than spinach, so give it an extra minute to wilt.
- Make the base ahead without the gnocchi. This one is well supported: creamy soups with gnocchi soften in the freezer, so some cooks freeze just the broth and chicken and drop in fresh gnocchi when they reheat it, which keeps the texture right.
How to Store Leftovers
To make it ahead, you can cook the soup through and refrigerate it, though the gnocchi keep softening the longer they sit. For the best texture, hold the gnocchi out and cook them fresh when you reheat.
For leftovers, move the soup to airtight containers and refrigerate within two hours of cooking. It keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or up to 3 months frozen, with the gnocchi coming out softer after freezing. Reheat gently on the stovetop over low heat, stirring often and thinning with a little broth, until it reaches 165°F. A hard, fast reheat, especially in the microwave, is what breaks the dairy.
What to Serve With Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
This is a full bowl on its own, so the sides just round it out. A slab of garlic bread is the natural partner for dragging through the broth. A crisp green salad with a sharp vinaigrette cuts the richness and keeps the meal from feeling heavy.
FAQs
Almost always heat. Add the half and half after you pull the pot off the boil, not during it, and keep leftovers to a slow stovetop reheat instead of the microwave. Once a broth has broken it won’t fully come back, so the fix here is prevention.
You can. Refrigerated and shelf-stable potato gnocchi both cook straight into the broth. Refrigerated gnocchi cook quickest and hold their shape best, while frozen ones tend to come out a little softer, so add them at the same late stage and watch them closely.
More One-Pot Soups to Try Next
If this one earns a spot in your rotation, these bowls run on the same one-pot, budget-minded idea.
- Chicken Noodle Soup is the lighter cousin to this recipe, same chicken-and-broth base without the cream.
- Potato Soup leans into the same creamy, potato-forward idea if you want to start from whole potatoes.
- Ham and Potato Soup is another creamy, broth-based pot that’s a good way to use up leftover ham.
- Cheeseburger Soup keeps the creamy, filling profile but swaps in ground beef and cheddar for a change of pace.
- Corn Chowder is a meatless, creamy option for a night you want something lighter and cheaper to put together.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and diced
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ½ cup onion diced
- 2 tsp garlic minced
- ½ cup carrots chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups chicken broth
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp thyme
- 16 oz potato gnocchi
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 cup fresh spinach roughly chopped
Video
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion is soft.1 stalk celery, ½ cup onion, 2 tsp garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, ½ cup carrots
- Add the diced chicken, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and thyme. Bring the mixture to a boil.3 to 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 4 cups chicken broth, Salt and pepper, 1 tsp thyme
- Gently stir in the potato gnocchi and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Reduce the heat and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.16 oz potato gnocchi
- Stir in the half and half and the chopped spinach. Cook for 1 to 2 more minutes, until the spinach is wilted. Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper if needed.2 cups half and half, 1 cup fresh spinach
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- Dice your own carrots; pre-diced ones can be dry and give up less flavor.
- Use pre-cooked rotisserie or leftover chicken to cut the cook time.
- Don’t overcook the gnocchi; they need only 3 to 4 minutes, and longer makes them mushy.
- Stir the half and half in at the end, off the boil, so it doesn’t curdle.
- If the soup thickens after storage, loosen it with extra broth or half-and-half when reheating.
- It keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, or up to 3 months frozen, with the gnocchi coming out softer after freezing.
