This easy parmesan spinach gnocchi recipe is ready in under 30 minutes with just one pot. Perfect for busy weeknights! Vegetarian.
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There’s no question that soft, pillowy gnocchi is one of the greatest inventions of all time.
And while gnocchi sure does shine with a bit of simple browned butter or a light tomato sauce, sometimes you just have to COVER THAT ISH IN CHEESE, y’know?
Enter this quick and easy gnocchi sauce! All you need:
- Butter
- Garlic
- Flour
- Milk
- Spinach
- Parmesan Cheese (note: strict vegetarians should look for parmesan cheese made without rennet)
Additions and Substitutions
This easy spinach gnocchi recipe is very forgiving – use whatever you have on hand! Some of our favorite ways to riff on this recipe:
- We used store-bought gnocchi here, but it’s excellent with homemade gnocchi! We frequently make quick and easy homemade gnocchi with leftover mashed potatoes, or you can try your hand at an authentic Italian recipe like this one.
- No gnocchi? Make the sauce as instructed and serve over spaghetti (or any pasta you have on hand!), grilled chicken, zucchini noodles, or your favorite grains (rice, quinoa, and farro are all great here!)
- Stretch this recipe and amp up the sauce by adding sautéed onion, fresh pesto, sautéed mushrooms, roasted veggies (broccoli, parsnips, brussels sprouts, and squash are some of our favorite mix-ins!) or fresh tomatoes.
- Use fresh or frozen spinach here, or swap the spinach for kale or arugula.
- Lighten your sauce up by swapping the flour and milk for our favorite Magic Cauliflower Cream Sauce! This quick, packed-with-veggies sauce is amazing in this recipe.
- If you’re not vegetarian, top this gnocchi with some shredded chicken, chorizo, bacon, grilled salmon, or garlicky shrimp to add some extra protein.
- For extra texture, pan-fry your cooked gnocchi in some butter to crisp them up, then spoon the sauce over top.
How to serve this gnocchi
This creamy gnocchi sauce is similar to an alfredo and is fairly rich, so we love serving it with lighter sides to balance it out! (Pro tip: To lighten up the sauce itself, swap the milk and flour for our Magic Cauliflower Cream!)
Some of our favorite sides:
If you eat meat, serve this gnocchi with grilled chicken, grilled salmon, garlic baked shrimp, or some sausage.
VIDEO: How to make parmesan spinach gnocchi
Parmesan Spinach Gnocchi
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4 1x
- Category: Pasta
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Easy parmesan spinach gnocchi with a quick, creamy sauce!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces potato gnocchi
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 3 heaping cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (strict vegetarians: look for parmesan cheese made without rennet)
Instructions
- Cook the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain, set aside, and return the empty pot to the stove.
- Melt butter over medium heat.
- Add garlic to butter and sauté for about a minute until garlic is fragrant.
- Add flour to butter and whisk to form a roux. Cook for 30 seconds or so to cook out any raw flour taste.
- Slowly add milk to roux, whisking constantly to break up any lumps. Cook for 3-4 minutes until sauce has just begun to thicken.
- Stir chopped spinach into sauce and cook 3-4 minutes more until spinach has wilted and sauce has thickened.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove pot from heat.
- Add parmesan cheese to sauce and stir to combine.
- Return cooked gnocchi to sauce and stir to combine. Serve immediately.
Notes
What kind of gnocchi should I use? We used store-bought gnocchi here, but homemade is great! We love this leftover mashed potatoes gnocchi, or try this recipe for a more authentic Italian version.
No gnocchi? Serve this sauce over spaghetti or any dried pasta, rice, farro, or grilled chicken.
Additions and Substitutions. This is a forgiving recipe: use what you have! Add diced onion or sliced mushrooms when you add the garlic in step 3, or stir in extra veggies after the sauce is finished. We love adding roasted veggies (parsnips, broccoli, butternut squash, etc.) and fresh tomatoes. Frozen spinach is fine here if you don’t have fresh. You can also use arugula or kale! Use goat cheese, white cheddar, asiago, fontina, or havarti in place of the parmesan. Almond milk and coconut milk work fine here, but we do not recommend using heavy cream or half and half unless you like a very rich sauce.
For a healthy twist, swap our favorite Magic Cauliflower Cream for the flour and milk in this recipe!
Depending on the size of your gnocchi (and your personal preferences!) you may have a little more or less sauce than you need. To thin out a too-thick sauce or to stretch your sauce a little further, stir in a bit of extra milk until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
Please don’t skip the salt! With so few ingredients, seasoning is VERY important in this recipe. Taste the sauce and season as you go for best results. If a sauce ever tastes flat or bland, add more salt a pinch at a time, then stir and taste until it pops. If you don’t want to use salt, you can stir in some lemon juice, goat cheese, nutmeg, fresh herbs, or fish sauce for extra flavor.
Strict vegetarians should look for parmesan cheese made without rennet.
Nutrition
- Calories: 396
Keywords: alfredo, pasta, sauce
Very good I added some Asiago and cheddar only had almond milk but I thought it was great
YUM! We’re so happy you enjoyed it!
Very simple quick meal. I used nice fresh spinach, frozen potato gnocchi, Kerry gold unsalted butter, whole milk It was very nice added about 6 cloves of garlic. When you add the Parmesan I added some pasta water to keep the sauce a nice consistency. Enjoyed would recommend.
★★★★
Yippee! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed it!
Tastes delicious I added broccoli and hot italian sausage to mine. I cannot figure out why mine keeps turning into a gelatinous mess at the end when I add the cheese? I remove from heat and add parmesan and instantly it turns from a sauce to a giant glob of rubbery solid?
Any help would be appreciated. Very good glob though.
★★★★
Hi Jeff! It’s hard to say without being in the kitchen with you, but we have a few ideas that could help for next time! Our first recommendation would be to try a different variety of cheese and see if that helps. We always recommend shredding the cheese yourself! You can also thin out the sauce using some extra milk, broth, or pasta water. If it’s VERY globby, you can also hit it with an immersion blender to smooth it out. Our final recommendation is to steam the broccoli separately and add it after the parm. Sometimes broccoli makes even good parmesan act weird – the little trees sometimes just hang onto cheese and get in the way while it melts! We hope these tips help and would love to hear how it goes!
Very quick and easy to make, but I found it to be very salty! My husband and I could hardly eat ours…maybe I added too much Parmesan, but I’m not sure.
★★★
Hi Sandra! We’re happy to hear you enjoyed making the gnocchi! Parmesan can definitely contribute to a salty flavor!
First time making Gnocchi for my family, they loved this recipe and didn’t even realise they were wasting spinach. We’ll defenitly make this again.
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Chantel! We love to hear successes in adding extra veggies to your meal!
I would like to make ahead. Just throw in oven when ready to serve … any suggestions. What temp, how long?
Hi Peggy! Yes, you can definitely make this recipe ahead!
We recommend making the recipe through step 7 and pouring the pasta into an oven-safe dish. Once it cools, cover and refrigerate it until about an hour before you’d like to eat. Pull the dish out of the fridge to get to room temperature and bake at 350 degrees F until the sauce bubbles (10-20 minutes).
You could also add some cheese/breadcrumbs/herbs on top to make it a little prettier out of the oven!
Easy and delicious. I used almond milk and part shredded parm in a can and part nutritional yeast
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Kennen!