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.
Amazing soup. I didn’t have cooked chicken so I pan fried my own. I used one cup of half and half and one cup of heavy cream as suggested. I also added some green parsley and dash of red pepper flakes. Perfect recipe.
Definitely not like Olive Gardens. Followed recipe to the Tee and it’s way too watery. The broth doesn’t taste that good. Definitely should use regular broth not the low calorie one it suggests
My go to recipe… I cook the Celery and onion for a lot longer because mine didn’t get soft after 3 minutes and the last few minutes I add the carrots and garlic… I also add some flour to thicken it. I always double the veggies and the broth. And I don’t add the chicken until an hour before its ready to eat because mine gets rubbery. Super good! Idk why that Joey guy gave it 3 stars he must have done something wrong.
Amazing! Did half whipping cream and half half and half.. came out nice and creamy. I did add 1 tablespoon of flour to make it a little thicker. Will definitely be making this again
Very good soup! I don’t change anything and everyone loves it!
What is the best dry or frozen Gnocchi when buying from store ?
I use dry gnocchi
I made this and it was absolutely delicious. My wife has never had gnocchi and she loved it! 5 star rating!
This was ok-ish, but definitely not the same as Olive Garden. The soup was surprisingly sweet, which was unexpected. I had to check to make sure I didn’t accidently add sugar instead of salt. I probably wouldn’t make this soup again without making some significant changes.
How did you season the chicken? Maybe it wasn’t seasoned enough
i made the gnocchi soup an it turned out on the sweet side very dissapointing what can i do to elimate the sweetness i was really looking foward to this soup i follow the reciepe
i made the chicken gnocchi soup but it was sweet what did i do wrong i did excatly what was said how do i do away with the sweetness i love this soup
You can try and add a little more salt or vinegar to help neutralize the flavor
I made this, and it was so yummy. While it was not the consistency of the olive garden soup, didn’t change the fact that it was good. Even my non-chicken lover, youngest, enjoyed it and asked for seconds. I did add more whipping cream towards the end when I felt like it wasn’t creamy enough. I had doubled the recipe & used 2 rotisserie chickens, 4 breasts & 3 thighs. The flavors were all there, (and it’s seasoned to your taste). but I was reminded that it needed the parmesan they grate on top of everything. And that Really did make a difference. Bottom line everyone loved it, great as leftovers, (did thicken a little more, but not much). Will definitely make Again. Thank you
Turned out great. I used the heavy cream.
This is so good. I only make a few tweaks. First, I’m lazy and use garlic and onion powder. Next, I don’t measure the veggies, and I definitely put more in than recommended. I probably put a full cup or more of Shredded carrot and use at least 4 stalks of Celery. I also like using the mini gnocchi over full size. I’ve found rotisserie chicken is better than other cooked chicken.
How do you make this dairy free?
There is actually non-dairy options of half and half in stores
Chicken gnocchi soup is the best. I have made over and over again. Easy and quick meal with salad .