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Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup has a thick and rich broth with shredded carrots, celery, chopped spinach, gnocchi and chicken hidden throughout. This tastes even better than Olive Garden!
Bring restaurant quality soup to your home. I just love the Italian flavors in the slow cooker pasta e fagioli soup or creamy zuppa toscana too, so be sure to give them a try!
Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
You guys are going to love the incredible creamy and rich broth. It is flavored with the perfect amount of seasonings and it even has one of my favorite herbs inside…. thyme. The added chicken and gnocchi (which I absolutely love) are so hearty. When you add in the freshness of the shredded carrots, celery, and spinach this soup is full of flavor! Put this on your list of must try soups! You will not regret it.
This chicken gnocchi soup is full of flavor in every bite. The combination of the vegetables, creamy broth and gnocchi give this soup 5 stars. It is simple to make and so delicious! Make this a complete meal by serving this favorite olive garden soup with homemade breadtwists and a side salad asparagus salad with lemon vinaigrette or antipasto salad.
Ingredients to Make Gnocchi Soup:
This Olive Garden Copycat recipe has been on my list of soups to make for a few years now. I love all of Olive Garden’s Soups but their Chicken Gnocchi soup is awesome. The best part is that it is so easy to make! It comes together in less than 20 minutes.
- Butter: Use the butter to make the roux.
- Olive oil: Add to the pan with the butter onion and celery and garlic.
- Onion: I keep frozen diced onion in my freezer so that I can easily add it to any dish.
- Celery: Diced celery gives this soup a great crunch and fresh flavor.
- Garlic cloves:Minced garlic adds a deep Italian flavor.
- All-purpose flour: The flour makes a roux which gives the soup its consistency.
- Half-and-half: The creaminess of this soup.
- Chicken broth: Add as much as you like depending on how thin you like your soup. For a thinner soup use more broth.
- Fresh thyme: Earthy and a little bit sweet, with a slightly minty
- Shredded carrots: I love the sweet flavor the carrots add!
- Spinach leaves: Chopped so that you don’t have big pieces in your spoonful.
- Chicken breast: Diced and cooked chicken. Cut into pieces before cooking so it will cook quicker. Cook it in a little bit of olive oil until it’s just done. Add a little salt and pepper to it if you like.
- Potato gnocchi: Hint- find this on the pasta isle.
- Salt and pepper: To taste!
How to Make Gnocchi:
Gnocchi is made from potatoes, flour, and eggs. It seems like an odd combination I would have never thought of, but I am so happy someone did! Although it does take time to make from scratch, making gnocchi can be so fun!
When I am in the mood and I have the time, I enjoy making it myself. However, it tastes great store bought too! If you are hoping to try it from scratch here is the breakdown:
- Boil Potatoes: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and add to pot. Once cooked, scoop out inside.
- Combine: 1 cup mashed potato, flour and egg in a large bowl. Knead until dough forms a ball.
- Cook Gnocchi: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.
Olive Garden Favorite Soup:
- Make a Roux: In a large pot add butter and olive oil. Over medium high heat sauté onion, celery and garlic until tender. Next, add the flour to create a roux and cook for another minute.
- Add In Liquids: Slowly add the half and half and chicken broth and stir until it starts to thicken.
- Spices and Ingredients: The thyme, carrots, spinach, chicken and gnocchi.
- Simmer: Allow to simmer for about 5 minutes or until gnocchi is cooked and soup is thickened. (If you want a thinner soup add another can of chicken broth.) Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Tips for the Best Chicken Gnocchi Soup:
- Gnocchi: It is best to use mini gnocchi if you can find them (or make them mini), they’re the perfect size for soup.
- Sauce: Don’t let the sauce get too hot or it can separate. Continually stir the sauce to prevent any separation.
- Spinach: For best results use fresh spinach. The frozen spinach will become mushy in the soup over a long period of time.
- Vegetables: Dice vegetables small and the same size to have them cook through evenly in time.
Variations:
- Substitutes for Gnocchi: A great substitution is pasta. The small shells or orzo are perfect for adding to this soup as well as rice.
- Protein: Substitute Italian sausage instead of chicken in the soup. Before adding it to the soup, brown the sausage at the beginning, then add it in.
- Vegetables: Sneak in extra vegetables like peas, zucchini or asparagus.
- Thicker Soup: Add extra cream to make it even richer.
- Chicken: To save time use pre-shredded, cooked chicken from the grocery store.
Slow Cooker Adaptations:
I would still definitely use cooked, diced chicken. Also, go ahead and sauté the veggies and garlic. Then put the chicken and veggies all together in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the liquids and all the other ingredients except the gnocchi, half and half, and spinach. Cook on low for three to four hours, adding the gnocchi in for the last hour of cooking. Before serving, add the half and half and spinach and stir to combine. The spinach should wilt quickly. Serve.
How to Store Chicken Gnocchi Soup:
It is a bummer that this soup does not freeze well but it does reheat well. Place back on the stovetop and reheat on a low setting and slowly stirring it. This will help the soup from separating.
- Freezing: Unfortunately you cannot store this soup because of the dairy and gnocchi, it won’t freeze well. The gnocchi will become soggy and the dairy mixture will separate.
- Storing: If you are planning on lots of leftovers you can cook the gnocchi separately and add to individual servings.
Warm, Comforting Soups to Try:
- Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup
- Crock-Pot Lentil Soup
- Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
- Cheeseburger Soup
- The Best Broccoli Cheese Soup
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Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
Equipment
- Want to make this even easier? Here are a few products that I LOVE:
- Calphasdon Cookware Set
- Cuisinart Stainless Steel
- Chopper Utopia Kitchen Cookied
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup onion diced
- 1/2 cup celery diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 14 ounce can chicken broth for a thinner soup use 2 cans
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup fresh spinach leaves chopped
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken breast I used rotisserie
- 1 16 ounce package potato gnocchi on the pasta isle
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a large pot add butter and olive oil. Over medium high heat sauté onion, celery and garlic until tender. Add the flour to create a roux and cook for another minute.
- Slowly add the half and half and chicken broth and stir until it starts to thicken. Add the thyme, carrots, spinach, chicken and gnocchi. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until gnocchi is cooked and soup is thickened. (If you want a thinner soup add another can of chicken broth.) Salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is a fine recipe and makes a delicious soup. The flour is totally unnecessary though because the gnocchi expel so much starch into the soup. I skipped it and it was a lovely consistency. Soup should be flowing, not gloppy and thick. It also made it easy to reheat the next day as it will get thicker overnight anyways.
One thing that is never written to do in all the kopykat variations of this soup is cutting the gnocchi in half before adding them to the pot. It is very necessary if you want the soup to be like Olive Garden’s, and also want a soup–and not a stew. The gnocchi at the restaurant are SMALL. They are not the full-sized pastas that are sold in grocery stores. It seems like a long chore, but line a few up at a time in a row and it goes very quickly. They are much nicer to eat on the soup, and much closer to the restaurant version.
We looked this recipe up while out shopping. Never made it before. We LOVE it!! Fast, easy and delicious!! Without a doubt a go to anytime!! You won’t be disappointed. ♥️ Thank you so much!
This is a staple in my home now! Thank you for a wonderful recipe! I use Italian seasoning, chopped parsley, and basil to broaden the flavor, as we’re not huge fans of thyme on its own, but other than that, the recipe is superb on its own! I make it at least once a week, and using rotisserie makes life so much easier. LOL! Thanks!
Should you cook the chicken before adding it to the recipe? If so, how should you cook it?
Yes, you will want to cook the chicken ahead of time. This is a fall favorite! Enjoy! XOXO
So mine ended up as a pasta basically. There wasn’t nearly enough liquid to make this a soup when I made it. What did I do wrong?
The same thing happened for me.. I’d leave out the flour because the gnocchi are starchy, but to fix I turned off the heat and added about 1/2 cup more half and half.. it thins it right out and still tastes amazing! You may need more seasoning though.
This sounds amazing! However, I’m gluten and dairy intolerant, so what can I substitute for the butter, half & half, and flour? Any suggestions? Thanks! 🙂
I ate this wonderful concoction at the Olive Garden and knew I had to add the recipe to my repertoire. So, thank you, thank you, thank you for offering this recipe on Pinterest. I made it today and it’s delicious! I did double it to have plenty around..
Can I us chicken stock instead of broth? Would it taste the same?
Yes, that sounds great! Enjoy!! XOXO
I made this last night, it was really tasty and incredibly easy to make. No fancy ingredients, quick and simple weeknight dinner. Rounded out with homemade bread.
YAY! That is perfection in our house! Thank you for sharing! I really appreciate it! XOXO
Do you think this soup can be frozen?
It can be but you will want to remove the Gnocchi before freezing or they will be mushy when reheating it.
I made this today. Its so much better then olive garden. I had a couple of modifications . I didn’t use the thyme, but used some season salt, added some chives and used chicken thigh meat. I cooked the knocci separate because as left over I didn’t want them to expand and use of the juices from the soup and get mushy. This also allowed for my picky eaters. I also made a pot of white rice, so some of the family used the rice which is really good too.
What is the serving size?
4 to 6 people
I live alone and like to make big batches of food and freeze some. How woud this soup freeze.
This soup is not the best to freeze but it can be done. You will want to freeze the gnocchi separate though or it will be a little mushy when heating it up.
I made this for the second time with a few modifications. I used two cans of Kirkland:s chicken breast and the broth that is with the chicken. I’m not a fan of thyme so I left that out. I thinned the broth with just a little water. I used 3 cups of whole milk and a cup of cream. Then I went skimpy on the salt. This made a delicious low sodium soup. Using water instead of most of the broth allowed the sweetness of the sautéed vegetables to shine through. Lower sodium cooking does not have to be bland!
Im a bit embarrassed to ask, cause im new to this, but what is the half and half thats mentioned??
No problem at all. Half and half is half milk and half cream. You can find it in the dairy section in the grocery store by the milk. Hope that helps! XOXO
Can I use homemade Gnocchi?
OH, that sounds delicious! Enjoy!