This website may contain affiliate links and advertising so that we can provide recipes to you. Read my disclosure policy.
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
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
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.
We really enjoy this soup. It does get very thick so I usually add extra broth.
My son has Celiac Disease. Can I use gluten free flour like “cup for cup” or would a corn starch slurry be better?
Yes, gluten free flour will work great for this recipe.
I made this with a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes and oh my god it took the flavor up a notch. Perfect for those days where you feel a sickness coming on, it really complements the thyme. Thank you for posting this!
I try to make this WW friendly; I use Fat-free canned milk. Double the veg. And use chicken breast thAt I poach in chicken broth. It’s delicious!
This is honestly so much better than Olive Garden and I love Olive Garden’s
Will this recipe taste the same without celery? Could I use celery salt instead?
Omitting the celery varies the taste just a little but still tastes good. If you use celery salt, but sure to taste it before adding salt. Celery seed is another option, but just an 1/8-1/4 tsp or a good shake should do the trick.
I have added nutmeg to this recipe…I had read somewhere that was the spice that OG uses on this soup.
I dunno…but man oh man it does make it extra awesome.
Is it better to use salted or unsalted butter?
Hi Katie!
Thanks for the great question. I would prefer to use unsalted butter that way you can add salt to your taste. Hope that you like the recipe! Thanks for following along with me!!
Wow. This recipe is AMAZING. 🙂
I doubled all of the ingredients because my husband and I are greedy lol. He gave it 10/10 and told me I have to make it again at least once a month. He loved how thick the soup was too. This soup definitely sticks to your gut. Do you all serve this with any sides like a roll/salad or do you just eat the soup plain? Thanks for sharing this with us!!!
A salad works well with this or asparagus. Rolls or breadsticks are fun to dip in the soup. So glad that you and your husband both enjoyed. Thank you for sharing!
What Is the total volume of all the soup? I have a 4 quart pot and am wondering if I could possibly double the recipe in it?
For this recipe you can half it to stay in a 4 quart pot. If not, it should be in about a 6 quart pot. You can always leave out the remainder if needed.
I made this today… didn’t have cream or half n half, but I did have Carnation almond milk for cooking. Worked great. I used an entire bag of baby spinach ♥️. The soup came out great. I’ve made it before, and I’ll make it again. I also get gnocchi at the Dollar Tree.
OH Wow! I never would have thought that Dollar Tree had gnocchi! That is great to know. Thank you so much for sharing!
Great Recipe…..thank you so much!!!!???
Ok I just came from Olive Garden and had this soup which was absolutely the best thing I have ever eaten , so now I want to make it at home. This seems like the best recipe. I will update you with how it came out. Thanks so much.
Theresa, how did it come out? I love this soup at Olive Garden and I’m going to grocery store to get ingredients to make it.
Does anyone know the nutrition facts for this recipe? I am so excited to try it, everyone keeps saying it is better than Olive Garden’s…which is delicious.
I like to use skinny taste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional information. Hope that helps you find what you are looking for.
I’ve made this recipe several times and I love it. Instead of using just thyme, I use Italian seasoning. I omit celery altogether because I can’t tell a difference with or without it. I use shredded chicken instead of diced. Also it was good without it, but I tried adding half a block of cream cheese the last time I made it to make it a touch richer and it was amazing. Thanks for a recipe I will be using forever!
I made this not to long ago with this recipe and it came out so good! The second time i made it I decided to make it and habe some of my partners family members come over and have them eat it. They also really enjoyed it because it was so delicious, I would 10/10 recommend for you to try this!!