chicken gnocchi soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup is the ultimate cold-weather comfort food! Tender carrots, soft pillowy gnocchi, seasoned chicken are all wrapped up in the most creamy, delicious base. Make it in the crock pot or on the stove top for an easy dinner everyone is sure to love. 

this recipe

This recipe was originally published in October of 2017, but I just updated it to include extra tips and updated photos. The recipe has remained the same!

In the fall (and winter) I live off of soup and soup alone. Well not exactly. Throw in a healthy sprinkling of bread, roast veggies, and Halloween candy – but you get the point. I love me some soup.

Add some gnocchi to a pot of creamy soup and you’ve got the most wonderful combination. This recipe is super easy and requires simple ingredients – onions, celery, carrots, broth. And, of course, gnocchi. If gnocchi isn’t a staple in your pantry what have you even been doing? Don’t worry – this recipe will convince you that gnocchi deserves a permanent place in your pantry.

Making Homemade Soup is Easy!

Yes, really. You can make it in the crock pot (see recipe notes for instructions) or you can make it on the stovetop to feel like a domestic pioneer cooking rock star. Start by cooking the chicken in the bottom of your soup pot before starting the soup, to save on dishes. Set it aside to rest, covered with foil, and move on to the base of the soup!

Start by sautéing chopped carrots, onion, celery, garlic and some salt, pepper, and thyme in butter until they begin to soften.

Then, add your cooked chicken, broth, and gnocchi. We don’t need to dirty another pot to cook the gnocchi in – it cooks in the soup pot in just a few minutes – so convenient!

Next, we’ll stir in our half and half and you’ve got yourself a nice creamy pot of soup! You can also thicken it a tad more by stirring together a bit of flour and a bit of the soup, then adding that into the pot of soup. (Full directions for that are in the recipe, below.)

See – this whole situation is actually pretty easy! And so creamy and delicious. I recommend eating this Chicken Gnocchi Soup with a piece of crusty bread, while curled up in a blanket in front of a fireplace.

This recipe makes quite a bit of soup. I’ll be eating this all day every day and I’m not one bit sorry about it. Points for easiness, points for deliciousness.

If you don’t want this much soup, halve the recipe or freeze half for later. “Later” being one of those days where you get home from work and do NOT want to cook. We all have those days –  that’s where recipes like this come in. Just pop this out of the freezer, put the big ‘ol frozen chunk of homemade soup in a pot, heat it up, and you’ve got dinner.

You can also store extras in individual-serving freezer containers. I did this often in college when I was cooking for just one person. I still made full-size recipes and always froze some for later. Your future self will thank you.

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Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup is the ultimate cold-weather comfort food! Tender carrots, soft pillowy gnocchi, seasoned chicken are all wrapped up in the most creamy, delicious base. Make it in the crock pot or on the stove top for an easy dinner everyone is sure to love.

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Comfort Food, Easy Soup, Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Servings: 8 bowls

Calories: 315kcal

Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 2 lbs chicken breast
• 3 tsp dried thyme divided
• 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 TBSP salted butter
• 3 stalks celery
• 4 large carrots
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 medium cloves of garlic
• 1/4 tsp italian seasoning
• 5-6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1 16 ounce package gnocchi I don't use frozen - I use the packaged type you find in the pasta aisle.
• 1 and 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 cup fresh spinach

Instructions

• Cook chicken: Heat olive oil in large dutch oven or soup pot. Season the chicken breast with salt + pepper and 1 tsp thyme. Cook chicken, flipping occasionally to help it cook evenly, until done (no longer pink in the middle). Let rest on a plate until later.
• Make the soup: (If using the same pot from cooking the chicken, wipe out the bottom first.) Roughly chop your carrots and celery, and dice your onion and garlic. 

   Melt butter in the dutch oven or large soup pot. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, remaining 2 tsp of thyme, and an extra pinch of salt and pepper, and the italian seasoning. Cook on medium high heat, stirring frequently, for 12 minutes. (The carrots + celery will have softened but won't be completely tender.)

  Add the broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Then, lower to a simmer and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the carrots and celery have softened. Cut the chicken into chunks and add to the pot with the uncooked gnocchi. Let boil for just 2-3 minutes to cook the gnocchi. Then, turn the reduce the heat to low and slowly add the half & half. Stir in the spinach - the heat of the soup will wilt it. If you want your soup a bit thicker, add a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch into a small bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of the soup. Stir together until combined and smooth. Stir this into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow this mixture to thicken the soup a bit and cook out the raw flour taste.

  Troubleshooting Tip: I have had the soup split a bit after adding the half and half. This can happen if the heat is too high when you add the half and half. If this happens, you'll see the butter separating on the top of the soup. Lower the heat and add an ice cube, then whisk constantly. This can help shock the soup back together. If it doesn't help a ton at first, add a second ice cube and repeat. I've never had to add more than 2 to fix it when I've had this happen.
• Serve + Store: Serve warm with crusty bread - the best! Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week. The creamy soup base will thicken up in the fridge, but it will smooth back out when reheated in the microwave or on the stove!

  Soup can also be stored in freezer-safe container in the freezer for 2 months. Move to fridge a day before using to let it thaw.

Notes

NOTE: To make this in a crockpot:

• Add chicken, spices, garlic, onion, celery, carrots, and broth to your crock pot (omit the olive oil and butter). Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken in the crockpot. 
• Add gnocchi and cook 30-45 minutes, until gnocchi is cooked. 
• Stir in the half and half and spinach, and you're done!

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal

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