This chicken and gnocchi soup is thick, creamy, hearty, and delicious. Sautéed vegetables are simmered with bone broth, cream, fresh herbs, tender, seared chicken breast, and homemade gnocchi. It’s nourishing, satisfying comfort food.
My favorite recipes are hearty, filling, and delicious. I love adding some type of filled pasta, homemade dumplings, cubed potatoes, or tender gnocchi to a soup. They really make soups a meal in themselves, and this homemade chicken and gnocchi soup is exactly that.
I love making a large batch of this soup for dinner one night, and then we have at least one (maybe even two) easy and quick lunch for another day. It’s an easy way to get ahead through the week, while still feeding my family a nourishing meal and not cutting corners.
I always feel so productive when a single meal turns into two or three!
Since summer is in full swing, our days are brimming with gardening, various projects, and fun. With this recipe, we can spend all morning in the garden weeding, pruning, harvesting, and then come in for an easy and filling lunch. This simplifies our day tremendously, allowing for more progress in our other avenues.
Homesteading is hard work. It’s a difficult but incredibly satisfying life, requiring lots of time and energy to be spent outdoors. To make sure we are feeling our best and remaining energized, we need these hearty meals to sustain us.
This chicken and gnocchi soup is that perfect meal. Healthy fats, fiber, carbohydrates, veggies, and it’s all delicious. The vegetables provide a freshness to the soup that really give the dish a place on the menu in every season.
It’s cozy in the cold months, yet fresh and filling in the warmer seasons.
Tips:
- If you want to make everything from scratch in this recipe, I recommend starting it earlier in the day. Make the bone broth a few hours ahead of time. You could even make the gnocchi a few hours ahead of time and just place it in the fridge until you are ready to roll out, slice, and cook. Same goes with the pan-fried chicken.
- If you are pinched for time, you could use store-bought broth and gnocchi. Homemade will taste way better, but it will still be tasty and filling.
- You can use cream or half and half. Cream will yield a thicker, creamier soup.
- I love using einkorn flour for any recipe that doesn’t adjust for fermented grains. If you don’t have einkorn, you can substitute it for all-purpose flour.
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Tools:
Large pot
Cutting board
Knife
Measuring cups and spoons
Instant Pot (for homemade broth)
What is Gnocchi?
Gnocchi is a little dumpling made of potato, egg, and flour. It can be used just like pasta and served with a variety of different sauces.
How To Make Gnocchi
Gnocchi is actually pretty simple to make, and you can even make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator. You can find the step-by-step process with pictures in this post here.
Gnocchi starts by baking two potatoes and allowing them to cool a bit before mashing them in a large bowl. Add flour, egg, ricotta, parmesan cheese, and salt.
Use your hands to mix the ingredients together into a ball. Roll out into a one inch thick tube. Slice into 1×1 inch pieces.
Boil in salted water, or just add directly to the soup to cook.
How To Make Chicken And Gnocchi Soup
If you plan to use homemade broth, start the broth a few hours before (or even the night before) and store it in the fridge until you are ready to make this recipe.
Start a batch of homemade gnocchi. You could also use a package of store-bought gnocchi – still delicious, but homemade is far superior.
Place a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add butter and chicken to the hot pan. Cook chicken about 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Set aside to cool.
While the chicken is cooking, place a large pot over medium heat and add butter.
Dice celery, onion, and carrots; add to the pot. I like to dice everything really finely, especially the onions, since they are not my kids’ favorite. If they are chopped up really well, the kids don’t even notice them, but the flavor is still packed in.
Cook veggies for five minutes until they start to become translucent.
Add garlic and cook an additional two minutes.
Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and butter to create a roux. Cook for another minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning. This will help thicken the soup. You want to make sure to cook the flour a few minutes (without burning) to cook out the flour taste.
Add in the broth and cook until thickened.
Dice chicken and add to soup.
Add thyme, gnocchi, and cream.
Simmer for 5 minutes, or until gnocchi is cooked.
Add spinach, then salt and pepper to taste. Add spinach last so that it keeps a little bit of its texture.
Serve and enjoy.
Find More Farm Food From Scratch
- Mini Quiche With Einkorn Crust
- Sourdough Cheddar Waffles
- Chicken Marsala Soup
- Creamy Chicken And Wild Rice Soup
- No-Knead Sourdough Bread
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone
Creamy Chicken And Gnocchi Soup
Thick and creamy, this chicken and gnocchi soup is hearty and delicious. Sautéed vegetables are simmered with bone broth, cream, fresh herbs, tender, seared chicken breast, and homemade gnocchi. It's nourishing, satisfying, comfort food.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour or 1/3 cup einkorn flour
- 6 cups broth (I prefer homemade in the Instant Pot.)
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 3 cups cooked chicken, chopped (You can use leftovers from a whole roasted chicken or boneless skinless breasts.)
- 1 recipe gnocchi
- 2 cups cream or half and half (I prefer cream, but use what you have!)
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- If you plan to use homemade broth, start the broth a few hours before (or even the night before) and store it in the fridge until you are ready to make this recipe.
- Start a batch of homemade gnocchi.
- Place a cast iron skillet over medium high heat; add butter and chicken to the hot pan. Cook chicken about 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through. Set aside to cool. You can also use leftover roasted chicken.
- While the chicken is cooking, place a large pot over medium heat and add butter.
- Dice celery, onion, and carrots and add to the pot.
- Cook veggies for five minutes until they start to become translucent.
- Add garlic and cook an additional two minutes.
- Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and butter to create a roux.
- Cook for another minute, stirring constantly to avoid burning.
- Add in the broth and cook until thickened.
- Dice chicken and add to soup.
- Add thyme, gnocchi, and cream.
- Simmer for 5 minutes, or until gnocchi is cooked.
- Add spinach, then salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
If you want to make everything from scratch in this recipe, I recommend starting it earlier in the day. Make the bone broth a few hours ahead of time. You could even make the gnocchi a few hours ahead of time and just place it in the fridge until you are ready to roll out, slice, and cook. Same goes with the pan-fried chicken.
If you are pinched for time, you could use store-bought broth and gnocchi.
You can use cream or half and half. Cream will yield a thicker, creamier soup.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 686Total Fat: 49gSaturated Fat: 26gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 183mgSodium: 554mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 29g
Candy says
Do you serve the soup hot or cold?
Selina says
Because of the gnocchis, I guess it is hot. But I am sure it will also be delicious when you serve it cold.
Hope says
Lisa, this looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!
Katy says
Do you think it would be okay to freeze leftover soup? I doubled it and it made a lot.
kami says
Can you cook this in an instant pot?
Anne Marie says
Absolutely Delicious! I will definitely be making this soup again!
Sarah Coffey says
if using store bought gnocchi, how much gnocchi do i need? recipe never says total needed
Lisa says
I would say about a pound of store-bought gnocchi