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Our Chicken Gnocchi Soup has chunks of tender chicken, plump gnocchi, and vegetables in a thick and creamy broth. It’s hearty and very delicious!
Thick and Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup inspired by Olive Garden
During a recent road trip, we stopped at an Olive Garden restaurant for dinner. Instead of the usual pre-meal salad, our daughter decided to try their Chicken Gnocchi Soup.
The soup was delicious and it inspired today’s recipe – but my husband Jack set out to make it even better!
Like the restaurant version, our Chicken Gnocchi Soup has tender chunks of cooked chicken, soft plump gnocchi, carrots, and other vegetables – all served in a creamy broth with a sprinkle of fresh spinach on top.
Our version has even more flavor and a thicker broth – making this soup even heartier and even more delicious! If you still prefer a thinner broth like the version served at the restaurant, feel free to add more chicken stock or some water.
Why you’ll love Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- This is a hearty meal-in-a bowl – loaded with chunks of chicken, gnocchi, and vegetables.
- You can enjoy the same delicious flavors at home without having to order from an Olive Garden restaurant.
- It’s a flexible recipe. You can make it 100% homemade, or with a few shortcut ingredients to make it easier.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken Stock – Make some homemade chicken stock following this recipe or buy a boxed or canned chicken stock. You’ll need a total of six cups.
- Cooked Chicken – If you made homemade stock, use the cooked chicken picked from the bones. Or roast a chicken or buy a rotisserie chicken and pick the meat off the bones.
- Potato – Buy yellow potato for this soup. It will be used to thicken the soup.
- Additional Vegetables – Our soup includes fresh leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, and fresh baby spinach.
- Gnocchi – We bought fresh gnocchi at our local supermarket. (You can usually find it with the other fresh pasta packages.) If you are ambitious, you could also make homemade gnocchi.
- Dried Herbs and Spices – Sea or kosher salt, ground white pepper, dry thyme, bay leaf, and fresh nutmeg.
- Unsalted Butter
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Half and Half – This is a dairy creamer made with half whole milk and half light cream.
Special Tools Needed
- Medium/Large Soup Pot
- Medium Sauté pan
- Medium Saucepan
- Cutting Board and Sharp Knife
- Potato Peeler
- Various Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Wooden Spoon
- Rubber Spatula
- Immersion Blender (or regular blender if you only have that)
How do I make Chicken Gnocchi Soup?
- Make chicken stock, then pick and dice the cooked chicken.
- Combine stock with the potato, half of the leeks, half of the diced celery, some of the carrots, and bay leaf. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Remove the bay leaf, then puree mixture with an immersion blender.
- Melt butter and oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add remaining leeks, celery, and garlic. Season with salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Sauté until tender, remove from the heat and stir in the rest of the shredded carrots.
- Partially cook gnocchi in a saucepan with salted water.
- After pureeing the stock and potatoes, add the contents of the sauté pan in and stir to combine.
- Add partially cooked gnocchi and simmer until gnocchi is tender.
- Add cooked chicken, and half and half, along with a few grinds of fresh nutmeg. Stir, then taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Stir in half the chopped fresh spinach, saving the other half to serve with portions.
- Ladle into individual bowls for serving. Sprinkle the remaining chopped fresh spinach over each portion as garnish.
Tips & Tricks
Olive Garden’s version of chicken and gnocchi soup is definitely thinner than our recipe. We purposely made ours hearty and thick. If you prefer your soup to be thinner, stir in some of the water used to cook the gnocchi, or add additional chicken stock or half and half.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup ahead of time? You can. The gnocchi holds up very well to heating and reheating.
- How do I store leftovers? Store refrigerated in a covered container for up to three days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? Heat in a pot on the stove, or reheat individual portions in the microwave. Because this soup is thick, use a low to medium heat and stir frequently as the soup reheats.
- Can I freeze this soup? Yes – this should freeze fine if it is frozen in an airtight container. Vacuum seal bags would also work well.
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(Better Than Olive Garden) Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Our Chicken Gnocchi Soup has chunks of tender chicken, plump gnocchi, and vegetables in a thick and creamy broth. It’s hearty and very delicious!
Ingredients
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 pound yellow potatoes, peeled and diced into half inch pieces
1 cup leeks, divided (whites only, cleaned of sand and diced small)
1/2 cup diced celery, divided
3/4 cup fresh carrots peeled, shredded and divided (shredded on large holes of a box grater)
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh garlic, minced fine
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 pound fresh gnocchi
1 pound cooked diced chicken meat
2 cups half and half cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach, divided (one cup measured after chopping)
Instructions
- In a medium soup pot, place stock, cut up potatoes, half the chopped leeks, half the chopped celery, a quarter cup of the fresh shredded carrots and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then lower to a fast simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
- While potatoes are cooking, place butter and oil into a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add remaining leeks, remaining celery, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper and sauté for three minutes. Add remaining shredded carrots and remove from heat.
- Bring saucepan of salted water to a boil and once boiling, add fresh gnocchi and cook for three minutes. Set it aside but do not discard water.
- Once potatoes are tender, remove and discard bay leaf and puree the mixture with an immersion blender or with a regular blender.
- Stir in contents of sauté pan.
- Use a slotted spoon and remove gnocchi and place into the pot, leaving the gnocchi water in the pan for possible use later to thin down the soup.
- Simmer the soup over medium heat until the gnocchi are tender.
- Add half and half cream and cooked chicken and stir.
- Add grated nutmeg and taste. Add additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Add in half the chopped spinach, leaving the rest to serve over portions.
- If you wish to make the soup thinner, ladle in a little of the gnocchi water or additional half and half cream. Taste again to see if additional salt and pepper is needed.
- Portion into bowls and top with the remaining chopped fresh spinach.
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Have all the ingredients on hand except one — “fresh gnocchi” ( I’m assuming you mean gnocchi purchased in the refrigerated section of the grocery store ). I do, however, have De Cecco shelf-stable gnocchi in the pantry. Would that be an okay substitute?
Yes – that should work. The gnocchi might take a little extra cooking time to become tender.
I was lucky enough to try this at Martha and Jack’s home and was incredible! My daughter also loved it. Will be making it for sure.
Thank you neighbor!
you mention needing 6 quarts chicken stock in the intro and 6 cups in the ingredient list.
Mitch
I read through this post five times and still missed that mistake. Thank you for catching it, now corrected to six cups.
Thanks again,
Jack