Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi (20-Minutes, One-Pan)

28 March 2024

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Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi is a 20-minute one-pan comfort food featuring lots of veggies (spinach, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes) and bold spices (paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and Italian seasoning)! It’s a perfect meatless meal or a side dish to your favorite proteins! This recipe works with any kind of gnocchi: store-bought shelf-stable, frozen, homemade, or cauliflower gnocchi.

20-Minute ONE-PAN creamy Tuscan gnocchi

What can be better than a delicious comfort food made in just 20 minutes? Hello, creamy Tuscan gnocchi! This meatless dish is packed with flavor, thanks to lots of veggies and bold spices (paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic, and Italian seasoning) – all smothered in a Tuscan-style cream sauce. The simplicity of this recipe makes it a perfect choice for busy weeknights! Try this recipe for yourself and it might become your family’s new favorite meatless dinner! Add your favorite proteins to make it more substantial: salmon, rotisserie chicken, flavorful skinless boneless chicken thighs, or shrimp. For more gnocchi inspiration, check out these 2 veggie-packed, meatless recipes: creamy spinach and mushroom gnocchi and shrimp gnocchi with tomatoes and asparagus.

Main Ingredients

Gnocchi. I used store-bought potato gnocchi, Delallo brand, made with 85% potatoes.
Greens. I used fresh spinach. You can also use frozen spinach, thawed and drained of any liquid, or kale instead.
Sun-dried tomatoes. I recommend sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil (sold in a glass jar). They are softer and have a better texture than those not in oil. Drain olive oil well. I used julienned sun-dried tomatoes, so I didn’t have to slice them.
Artichokes. I used 7 oz of canned artichoke hearts (half of the can) drained well of any liquid. Using a whole can might result in too much sourness in the sauce.
Garlic adds pungency and aroma to any recipe, especially Tuscan gnocchi!
Heavy cream provides the desired creaminess.
Chicken broth is combined with heavy cream to cook the gnocchi. You can also use vegetable or beef broth (or stock). Or even water if you don’t have chicken stock available.
Italian seasoning adds a ton of flavor.
Paprika is another spice that adds color and flavor to this dish.
Garlic. I used fresh minced garlic. It adds aroma and pungency to any dish.
Salt and pepper. Use those to taste. I recommend using freshly ground or coarse black pepper.
Red pepper flakes will add heat.

What type of gnocchi to use?

I used potato gnocchi, a Delallo brand, made with 85% potatoes. They work beautifully in this recipe. You can also use cauliflower gnocchi, frozen, or homemade. Even though gnocchi is potato dumplings they are often categorized as pasta.

Do you need to pre-cook the gnocchi?

You don’t need to pre-cook the gnocchi for this recipe. Just add the uncooked gnocchi directly to the sauce (heavy cream + chicken broth). The gnocchi will cook in the same pan with the sauce. This saves you one more pan to clean and minimizes the cleanup.

Dress up Tuscan gnocchi with these add-ins!

Add pine nuts. Toast the pine nuts in the preheated oven at 350 F for only 5 minutes. Watch the oven carefully – the nuts can burn quickly. Toasted pine nuts acquire a beautiful color and crunch.
Add fresh tomatoes. They will pair beautifully with the sun-dried tomatoes in the sauce. I prefer halved grape or cherry tomatoes, but you can use any kind of fresh tomatoes you like: Roma tomatoes or heirloom tomatoes.
Add crumbled Italian sausage. I recommend spicy sausage because its spiciness will be balanced out by the creamy Tuscan sauce.
Add cooked chicken, such as grilled or rotisserie.
Add a splash of white wine when you add chicken stock + cream to cook the gnocchi to cut the richness of the sauce.
Toppings. When serving, you can add grated Parmesan cheese (or Asiago, Romano, or Gruyere), fresh herbs, chopped green onions, or chopped chives.

Variations and Substitutions

Use tortellini or ravioli instead of gnocchi and cook them right in the sauce as in this recipe.
Pasta. If you can’t find gnocchi, you can use short-cut pasta instead. I recommend using orzo, bow-tie (farfalle), fusilli, orecchiette, rotini, or rigatoni. If using regular pasta, cook it in a separate saucepan, per package instructions.
Use your favorite leafy greens. This includes kale, arugula, spinach, or Swiss chard.
Add any other veggies you like: mushrooms, roasted bell peppers, broccoli, green beans, tomatoes, asparagus, etc. Creamy Tuscan gnocchi is an easily customizable recipe that will work great with most veggies.

Other recipe adjustments you can make

Make it dairy-free by using full-fat or lite unsweetened coconut milk instead of cream. You can also use almond milk, cashew milk, or oat milk. Gnocchi releases a lot of starch as it cooks, so even thinner dairy-free milk alternatives would work great.
Make it lighter using half-and-half instead of heavy cream.
Make it gluten-free with GF gnocchi.

Storage and reheating tips

Fridge. Store leftover Tuscan gnocchi in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezer. I do not recommend freezing this recipe because creamy sauces tend to lose their texture once frozen and thawed.
Reheat in the microwave oven. Reheat the refrigerated leftovers in a microwave oven for about 1 minute. Taste and reheat for 30 seconds more, if needed.
Reheat on the stovetop. You can also reheat this in a large, high-sided skillet on the stovetop on low-medium heat. When using this method, add a small amount of heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk to thin out the sauce when reheating.

What to serve with Tuscan gnocchi

Because this recipe features a rich and luscious cream sauce, a slice of crusty bread and a simple fresh salad are all you need!

Other gnocchi recipes you might like