Wondering what to do with leftover mashed potatoes? This easy homemade potato gnocchi is light, pillowy, and ready in 20 minutes! With how-to video. Vegetarian.
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Earlier this week, we walked through Mashed Potatoes 101 and our Ultimate Mashed Potatoes recipe!
Today, we’re talking LEFTOVERS. Specifically, we’re talking about these gnocchi made from leftover mashed potatoes (*cue happy dance*).
These homemade gnocchi are soft, pillow-y, and – most importantly – a way to use any leftover mashed potato without just, y’know, reheating old mashed potatoes a million times (shoutout to all my leftover haters!! I GOT YOU).
Traditional gnocchi, of course, is not made with buttery, creamy mashed potatoes (click here if you’re looking for an authentic Italian gnocchi recipe!)
But when you’re up to your eyeballs in leftovers (looking at you, Thanksgiving) and sick of eating the same reheated thing over.and.over.and.over again, making mashed potato gnocchi with your leftovers is a quick and delicious way to mix things up.
Some things to know about this gnocchi:
You only need THREE ingredients: flour, an egg, and your leftover mashed potatoes.
This recipe is more about technique than anything – the amount of flour you need will vary depending on the consistency of your mashed potatoes. Be sure to read all of the recipe notes for best results!
How to freeze gnocchi
These gnocchi freeze VERY well!
Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat and lay gnocchi out in a single layer. Freeze for 2-3 hours, then throw the frozen gnocchi in an airtight container (I love my reusable Stasher Bag!) for up to 3 months.
When you’re ready to eat, drop the frozen gnocchi directly into boiling water to cook.
How to serve gnocchi
These gnocchi are equally delicious with a hearty sauce (think braised short ribs and tomato, parmesan spinach alfredo, or mac and cheese sauce) or served simply with some melted butter, herbs, and parmesan (which is what we did for these photos!)
You can roll your gnocco over a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork if you’re looking for some nice ridges to help you sop up extra sauce. I usually make these as part of a quick, clean-out-the-fridge dinner, so I generally skip that step in the interest of time (#lazy).
Whichever way you sauce ’em, these leftover mashed potatoes gnocchi are sure to be a hit – even with proud members of the “I hate leftovers” club.
VIDEO: HOW TO MAKE GNOCCHI WITH LEFTOVER MASHED POTATOES
Leftover Mashed Potato Gnocchi
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2–4 1x
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
An easy homemade gnocchi recipe made with leftover mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup leftover mashed potatoes (cold and straight out of the fridge is fine!)
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch salt
- 1–2 cups all-purpose flour, divided (you may not need it all)
Don’t forget to read the recipe notes before you start – they’ll help you make the best gnocchi possible!
Instructions
- Add mashed potatoes, egg, and a pinch of salt to a large mixing bowl.
- Add 1/4 cup of flour to the bowl and gently stir to combine. The amount of flour you need will vary based on your mashed potato recipe – I find I usually need around 1 cup to get a gnocchi consistency I like. I recommend adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough feels right. You can mix the first bit of flour in with a spoon or spatula, but after that it’s helpful to use your hands to finish mixing. When the dough is ready, it should be soft and pliable, but not sticky. Avoid overworking the dough – this can cause chewy, gummy gnocchi.
- Lightly flour a large cutting board and a sheet pan or large plate.
- Use a knife to divide gnocchi dough into 4 or 5 sections. Place one section of dough on the cutting board and use your hands to gently roll it into a long rope, a little less than 1″ thick. If the dough gets sticky as you roll it, dust it with some extra flour.
- Use a knife to cut the rope of dough into 1″ pieces – these are your gnocchi! Transfer the cut gnocchi to your lightly floured sheet pan and repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough. If you’d like, you can roll each gnocco across a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork to form ridges (see recipe notes).
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a generous pinch or two of salt.
- Carefully add gnocchi to boiling water give them a gentle stir. Cook for 2-3 minutes until gnocchi float to the top of the water. Drain and toss with your favorite sauce.
For the sauce: For these photos, I melted 4 Tablespoons of unsalted butter in a skillet with fresh rosemary, basil, salt, and pepper, then tossed it with the gnocchi and a splash of the gnocchi’s cooking water. The gnocchi are topped with shaved parmesan, an extra dusting of fresh ground black pepper, and fresh basil. I also love these gnocchi with tomato sauce, browned butter and sage, garlic alfredo, or my parmesan spinach gnocchi recipe!
Notes
A note about potatoes: I’ve tested this gnocchi with a variety of different mashed potatoes – it’s worked fine whether your potatoes are riced, mashed with lumps, peeled, or with some skins. (For more on mashing techniques, check out Mashed Potatoes 101!)
The key is in the technique here – your instincts matter a whole lot more than the ingredients list.Some general tips for success:
- Work the potatoes as little as possible. Overmixed/overworked potatoes can get gummy and gluey, resulting in dense gnocchi, so fold things together as gently as possible.
- When the dough has enough flour worked in, it should feel soft but not sticky and relatively light. If the dough starts to feel sticky as you’re rolling it out, dust it with a bit more flour.
- Start with good mashed potatoes. If your leftover mashed potatoes are dense or gummy, your gnocchi will be, too. I find I prefer these gnocchi made with light and fluffy mashed potatoes (rather than thick, runnier potatoes). For tips on how to make the best mashed potatoes, start with Mashed Potatoes 101 and my Ultimate Mashed Potatoes recipe.
Leave out or reduce the egg if you like – the egg can make your gnocchi a little denser, so feel free to adjust if you’re worried about your gnocchi being too heavy. I like using a whole egg because it’s just easier (I hate having a leftover half-egg to deal with) but you can reduce the egg. Use just an egg yolk, or whisk an egg together and add just half to the gnocchi. You can leave the egg out entirely, but I find it’s a useful binding agent that helps the dough come together with less kneading. No egg also means you’ll need less flour, so keep an eye on your dough.
To form ridges on the gnocchi, roll the cut gnocchi pillows over a gnocchi board or down the tines of a fork. The ridges help the gnocchi collect plenty of sauce, and they give them a nice textured look. When I’m in a hurry, I don’t bother with this extra step (the gnocchi in these photos were just rolled out, cut, and boiled!)
Authentic Italian Gnocchi are exceptionally light and airy, usually made with riced potatoes. Because we’re starting with prepared mashed potatoes, these gnocchi may naturally be a bit heavier (although I find that with a bit of practice, these gnocchi are still quite light). If you’re looking for an authentic, just-like-Grandma-made Italian gnocchi recipe, try something like this. But if you just have some leftover mashed potatoes you want to repurpose, I think you’ll be more than happy with the ease and texture of this recipe.
To freeze these gnocchi, line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat (you could also use waxed paper) and lay gnocchi out in a single layer. Freeze for 2-3 hours, then throw the frozen gnocchi in an airtight container (I use my reusable Stasher Bag!) for up to 3 months. To cook, drop frozen gnocchi directly into boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes until gnocchi float to the top of the water.
Keywords: leftovers, thanksgiving, holiday
Wish I had watched the video first. I didn’t really get mine to roll into ropes–probably for fear of overmixing I undermixed–but I gently pressed them into a rope-like shape on the board, and cut into pieces. It was the first time I had made and I think they turned out pretty well. Very light . . . at least for something that’s made of flour and potatoes. And well received at dinner. I wonder if cake flour would make them yet lighter?
★★★★★
We’re so glad to hear you enjoyed making your first gnocchi! We like to make the gnocchi with the all-purpose flour we always have on hand, but it’s a great base recipe to experiment with your favorite flours and flavors!
Really wanting to make thiw with our leftovers, but we mixed really finely diced sausage, corn, and onion to our mashed potatoes! Is this a brilliant idea in the making?! Or would the chunky ingredients destroy the gnocchi? Thanks for all the notes/tips!!
Hi Kevin! We haven’t tested this gnocchi recipe with other components mixed into the dough, but we think it will work! You can always add another egg to help it all stick together if they’re too delicate. If it’s too hard to roll and cut the gnocchi because of the added ingredients, you can also mix the dough and then drop it into boiling water like a dumpling!
Made them tonight and they were terrific! I’ve never made gnocchi before but had a lot of leftover mashed potatoes from Easter dinner. Tossed with a brown butter fresh sage sauce! Will definitely make again. Thank you!
★★★★★
YIPPEE! We love the combination of brown butter and sage with gnocchi!
Question! How far ahead of dinner could I make these without freezing? These are on regular rotation at our house by request of my three young boys, wondering if I could make them earlier in the day to reduce the dinner time chaos when I’m in a fresh batch 🙂
★★★★★
Great thinking, Andrea! If you make them in the morning you can refrigerate them until dinner! Keep them lightly covered in the fridge (in a single layer on a plate or baking sheet dusted with flour) until dinnertime.
Made these tonight using a gluten free flour blend. I think I may have ended up only using a half a cup of the flour. They turned out great! I’ve never made gnocchi before and it was a great way to use the leftover mashed potatoes. After I cooked them I tossed them with leftover ham and peas in an Alfredo sauce. Super easy. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
We’re SO happy to hear that you loved it!