Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
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Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup copycat is every bit as creamy and delicious as the restaurant version, made in less than 30 minutes!
Love gnocchi? You’ll go crazy for my Gnocchi in Tomato Cream Sauce and Creamy Lemon Garlic Shrimp and Gnocchi! And don’t forget to serve them up with these easy homemade OLIVE GARDEN BREADSTICKS.
There’s a reason nearly everyone loves Olive Garden. Their food is good! And addictive! A quick search of Pinterest reveals hundreds of Olive Garden copycat recipes — from their Italian salad dressing to their toasted ravioli. I can think of a few reasons why seemingly everyone wants to recreate these dishes at home. First of all, it’s more budget-friendly to eat at home. Second, you can make as much as you want (leftovers!). Third, you don’t have to put on pants that don’t have an elastic waistband and drive to the restaurant when a craving hits. And, fourth, you don’t have to take your kids out to eat. I probably should have put that as my first reason, actually. Let’s face it, taking your kids out to eat is the ultimate gamble. And sometimes you’re just not in the mood to test your luck.
Let’s just say the perfect storm of all of these reasons came together for me one fateful Saturday. Not to be outdone, I decided to make my own Chicken Gnocchi Soup, darn it. And no one and no pants with a zipper and a button were going to stop me. Luckily, I had some gnocchi in the freezer and the rest of the ingredients on hand (it’s like I unknowingly prepared for this exact moment).
The rest, they say, is Olive Garden recipe history. The soup was delicious, no one had to go anywhere, and — most importantly — there were plenty of leftovers.
HOW DO YOU MAKE GNOCCHI?
Gnocchi is made from potatoes, flour, and eggs. I’m not sure what genius came up with this combination, but I am forever grateful. Making gnocchi is fun and rewarding, if you have the time and inclination. I’ve made it before but it’s been a while and now I just tend to use the store-bought varieties, as I find they work well in most recipes. If you want to try your hand at your own homemade gnocchi, allow me to refer you to this recipe. I hope you enjoy it and that it turns out perfectly.
WHAT KIND OF PRE-COOKED CHICKEN SHOULD I USE?
For this recipe, I suggest you use boneless, skinless chicken that’s already been cooked and diced because it makes this recipe come together more easily. To do this yourself, I recommend dicing the chicken before cooking it, as it will cook quicker that way. You can cook it in a little bit of olive oil until it’s just done. Add a little salt and pepper to it if you like.
Another option is to buy pre-shredded, cooked chicken at your grocery store. It tends to be more expensive, but can be worth it. The only drawbacks are that you’re going to have shredded chicken instead of nice, little, bite-size cubes in your soup and sometimes I think that this kind of chicken tends to have a little bit of a chewier texture than when it’s been more recently cooked.
CAN I MAKE THIS IN A SLOW COOKER?
Yes, yes, you can make this soup in a slow cooker. Here’s what I would change though, in this recipe. I would still definitely use cooked, diced chicken. So have that at the ready. Also, go ahead and saute the veggies and garlic. THEN put the chicken and veggies all together in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the liquids and all the other ingredients except the gnocchi, half and half, and spinach. Cook on low for three to four hours, adding the gnocchi in for the last hour of cooking. Before serving, add the half and half and spinach and stir to combine. The spinach should wilt quickly. Serve. Enjoy. And try not to eat it all in one sitting.
What people are saying about this Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
“Easy to make and delicious. It ended up like a whole dinner in a bowl. Next time I might try using a rotisserie chicken.” – Don
“This soup is so delicious! It’s so easy and flavorful. I love to top it off with some grated parmesan cheese.” – Erin
“I made this with my Thanksgiving turkey left overs and it turned out fantastic! Thank you so much for the recipe!” – Krystal
Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- ½ white onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 16 ounces potato gnocchi
- 2 cups half and half, see note
- 1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add celery, onions, garlic, and carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.
- Add chicken, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and thyme, bring to a boil, then gently stir in gnocchi. Boil for 3-4 minutes longer before reducing heat to a simmer and cooking for 10 minutes.
- Stir in half and half and spinach and cook another 1-2 minutes until spinach is tender. Taste, add salt and pepper if needed, and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Definitely worth the time invested. Made this tonight for the first time. Will absolutely make this again!
It was good. My granddaughter had eaten at our nearby Olive Garden the evening before and had actually ordered this soup. She dished up a bowl and when I asked her if it was good, she said, “Yes but why didn’t you make a roux? This is really watery compared to what I ate last night.”
Oh and I had never had gnocchi. I found I definitely do not care for it but the chicken, veggies, spices and dairy were all good. I will probably make it again but leave out the gnocchi. It would be good with egg noodles too.
Absolutely delicious!
Thank you for sharing your recipe
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
What if my cream doesn’t thicken in my soup what to do
You could let it simmer longer for a few minutes, use a cornstarch slurry, or use some heavy cream as it’s thicker than half and half. The gnocchi should also help thicken the soup 🙂
Can you freeze this recipe? Would you recommend freezing before or after cooking?
Yes, you can freeze this soup as is for around three months or so. But, the gnocchi may be a bit softer once thawed than when fresh. You may, however, need to add more broth or half and half since the gnocchi may absorb some of the liquid. So to avoid this, you can keep the gnocchi out until you’re ready to eat it. It’ll also help the gnocchi itself not be as soggy from soaking up the liquid. As for the spinach and half and half, you can freeze this soup with those ingredients but to avoid the soup possibly becoming grainy when reheating, you can keep it out. The same goes for the spinach as it can lose color and texture and become mushy so to keep it fresh, leave it out until you’re ready to eat the soup.
Made this with beef broth and it was so rich and flavorful!
So easy to make and incredibly delicious—honestly better than Olive Garden’s!
This recipe was soo good and easy to follow. I will be making this again. I personally used some of my rotisserie chicken and it was wonderful.
Taste great but doesn’t work in pressure cooker. Gnocchi disintegrated.
It sounds like it was in the slow cooker for too long. Did you put it in in the last hour of cooking? If so you could put the gnocchi in right before serving, giving them enough time to soften but not become mushy.
My 14 year old is on the spectrum and can be very particular about things. This is his absolute favorite soup! We have made this recipe every year for his birthday for the last 5 years. His birthday is next month, so it’s time for Olive Garden at home again. 😉 That’s what we call it. Thank you for sharing this.
Oh that’s such a fun tradition! I’m so glad he enjoys it!<3