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In this easy one-pan meal, Italian sausage is combined with gnocchi and baked in a decadent cozy cream sauce. It’s full of herbs, parmesan, mozzarella, spinach and tons of flavor. You’ll love this easy comforting dinner that comes together in just under 40 minutes.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you’re like me, you typically select the usual pasta shapes for recipes and bypass the unique offerings like gnocchi. But today, we’ll be using gnocchi and enjoying it’s unique and comforting dumpling-like taste. Although it’s commonly called a pasta and found in the pasta section, it’s much closer related in texture to a dumpling as it’s made from potatoes, flour and egg.
This Italian sausage gnocchi recipe warms the soul and is a dish that people adore and request again and again.
And the best part is that the entire dish uses simple ingredients and it all comes together in one pan from start to finish. So it’s perfectly easy when you’re in a hurry or want a simple but hearty dinner for a busy weeknight.
Key Ingredients
You’ll love this easy and simple ingredient list to pull this Italian sausage gnocchi together for a delicious one-pot dinner.
Italian Sausage – spicy Italian sausage is ideal but you can also use mild if you’re sensitive to spice.
Aromatics – using onion and garlic adds lots of flavor and imparts the most inviting smell in your home.
Gnocchi – these are a potato dumpling-like pasta. You can substitute for orzo or pastini if you aren’t a fan of the texture.
Seasonings – dried Italian herbs, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
Chicken Stock – I prefer unsalted stock over broth as it has more flavor and you can control the sodium.
Cream – the cream adds richness and decadence to this dish. Just 1 cup is all you need.
Flour – two tablespoons will help thicken up the pan sauce.
Cheese – freshly grated parmesan and pepper jack cheese are used. You can substitute the pepper jack for Monterey or mozzarella if you prefer less spice.
Spinach – frozen and thawed spinach is best to use.
How to Make Italian Sausage Gnocchi
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Start by cooking up the ground Italian sausage in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-low heat. As the sausage cooks, add diced onion and garlic and saute until the sausage is cooked through.
Add in the seasonings and sprinkle over the flour, tossing everything to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and cream, bringing to a low boil. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference. Allow the pan sauce to thicken, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in half the parmesan and pepper jack to incorporate into the sauce.
Stir in the spinach and uncooked gnocchi. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top starts to get slightly toasted.
Can I Use A Different Pasta?
Absolutely. If you don’t like gnocchi or perhaps just don’t have it on hand, you can use an alternate small pasta shape like orzo, pastina, small shells or wheels, etc. I wouldn’t recommend larger pasta like rigatoni because there is not enough pan sauce to coat that much pasta.
Shop Pastas
Looking for More One-Pan Meals?
Orzo Tuscan Chicken Bake
One-Pan Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Rice
Lemon Parmesan One-Pan Pasta
I hope you enjoyed this recipe for my Italian Sausage Gnocchi! Be sure to comment below with any questions or feedback!
If you make these or any other recipes, don’t forget to tag me on IG @BadBatchBaking to be featured on my story. Seeing your recreations makes my day!
Italian Sausage Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 lb spicy ground Italian sausage
- 1 lb gnocchi uncooked
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tsp italian seasoning
- 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly grated black pepper
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 oz frozen chopped spinach thawed and well-drained
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- 1.5 cups pepper jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Start by cooking up the ground Italian sausage in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-low heat. As the sausage cooks, add diced onion and garlic and saute until the sausage is cooked through.
- Add in the seasonings and sprinkle over the flour, tossing everything to combine. Pour in the chicken stock and cream, bringing to a low boil. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your preference. Allow the pan sauce to thicken, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in half the parmesan and pepper jack to incorporate into the sauce.
- Stir in the spinach and uncooked gnocchi. Top with remaining cheeses and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top starts to get slightly toasted.
This recipe was so dang good!!! Cheesy, meaty, creamy, simply YUMMY!!! My hubby had never had gnocchi before and I was a bit nervous to see what his opinion was. He loved it!!! He suggested we put it into the dinner rotation.
Monica, I am so happy to hear that! Gnocchi can be hit or miss with some people. But this makes me thrilled to know he loved it enough to add to the rotation. Thank you for sharing 🙂
This was very delicious! I will save it and make it again! I used honey garlic sausage because it’s my favorite and it added a great flavor.
Honey garlic sausage sounds incredible! So glad you loved this recipe.
Great and easy and totally delicious!😁
Agreed! Totally delish! 🙂
Delicious and easy!
Delicious and easy!