Chicken Gnocchi Soup

by Cassie February 20, 2024

Rich flavors come together seamlessly in this comforting creamy soup. Rotisserie chicken simmers with Italian herbs, a classic mirepoix, fresh spinach, zucchini, and store-bought gnocchi to bring you one delicious and satisfying bowl of soup. Our surprise ingredient shows up in the form of sun-dried tomatoes bringing delicious depth and great flavor. You’ll get to serve a warm bowl of soup the entire family will love.

The difference between chicken stock and chicken broth.

Let’s dig a little deeper starting with the base of this particular chicken gnocchi soup recipe. I am a big fan of using chicken stock in any variety of soups, sauces, risotto, and more. Chicken stock is typically made from bones simmered down with aromatic vegetables whereas a chicken broth is simmered with meat, the same aromatic vegetables, and often herbs, spices, and a good amount of salt. Chicken stock is usually more nutritious and has a higher concentration of flavor while also remaining unseasoned with little salt allowing it to be a flexible base. You will be able to decide the specific layers of flavor that will come forward in your rich broth.

Easy tender chicken.

One of the great things about this comforting chicken gnocchi soup is its use of grocery store-bought rotisserie chicken. You could always cook up your own raw chicken breasts or skinless chicken thighs but this delicious recipe makes it the easy way and will cut down on your cooking time while adding more flavor with little effort. I primarily use both breasts of the bird leaving you with leftover chicken for any variety of uses over the next few days.

The 411 on gnocchi.

Many people ask if gnocchi is gluten-free and in short the answer is no. Typical gnocchi is made with simple ingredients including potato and flour. You can always make your own homemade gnocchi but I just love the consistency and ease of a good quality store-bought option. Some grocery stores do offer a gluten-free version if that is a necessity for you, you will also need to omit the 2 tablespoons of flour in this creamy chicken gnocchi soup recipe to fully make it gluten-free.

Sundried tomatoes.

These little gems are one of my favorite things to add to sauces, salads, soups, dips – you name it! All that rich tomato flavor is so amplified that a little goes a long way, be sure to include some of the oil that they are stored in when chopping them up and adding them in – you will be glad you did! Sundried tomatoes are easy to find at your local grocery store, you can usually find them jarred and in the aisle where pasta sauce is located. My store has them next to the tomato paste. They often come julienned which makes it easy to pour out about 1/4 of a cup onto your cutting board and then dice them from there.

Let’s make it creamy.

You can find other recipes out there to create a dairy-free version but here we are going all out. This soup is packed with so many nutritious ingredients – chicken, all of our fresh vegetables, plus our sundried tomatoes are super rich in antioxidants. So when it comes time to add your whole milk or heavy cream don’t second guess the addition and just go for it!

This is not an Olive Garden copycat, it’s better.

Any simple search for chicken gnocchi soup will yield dozens of copycat recipes for Olive Garden’s chicken gnocchi soup but we’re bringing you something even better! There are in fact several similar ingredients but I promise you our version comes in with more depth and bursting with fresh flavor. Give it a try – we’re sure you will agree!

Instructions

We start by heating a large pot over medium heat. Add the butter then mirepoix mixture (onion, carrot, celery) and sauté for several minutes. You’ll then add in the garlic, fresh thyme, and spices as well as the sun-dried tomatoes. Allowing everything time to sauté will aid in intensifying their flavors.

chopped carrots, onion, and celery being added to pot with butter

Add an additional two tablespoons of butter before adding the two tablespoons of flour which will help to create a creamy broth. I made a little well in the middle to easily mix the butter and flour. You’re going to allow the flour vegetable mixture to simmer for several minutes and then add your chicken stock.

chopped carrots, onions, celery, and sun dried tomatoes with butter and flour

Stir in the shredded chicken and zucchini. Continue on medium-high heat until the soup begins to simmer again. You can then add your whole milk or heavy cream, spinach, and the potato gnocchi and continue to simmer on low heat until your gnocchi is tender, I would say another five to seven minutes.

Chicken gnocchi soup simmering on stove in a pot

This soup is wonderfuly topped with parmesan cheese and a little bit of fresh basil. Serve with crusty bread and you will surely be coming back for seconds and reaching for this recipe throughout soup season.

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for several days but take note that the gnocchi will continue to absorb the broth and may have a different consistency than when made the first time. You could always add additional chicken stock while reheating to create more broth.

You will love how effortlessly this soup comes together. It is perfect to put on repeat throughout the winter months and an easy week-night go-to!

We know you will love this soup, Try some of our other favorites:

Spinach Tortellini Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Butternut Squash Soup