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.
I made this for my daughter because she kept asking for Olive garden chicken and gnocci. Going there just for soup is silly to me so I decided yo try this recipe. I made double and followed everything except the seasoning portion. Salt, pepper, thyme is not enough. I marinated the chicken and let it sit a few hours in the fridge. My chicken seasonings included “chicken seasoning, lemon pepper, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic powder, &paprika, salt, pepper, and thyme. It was delicious and flavorful. I will make this again with the extra seasonings. I did not need a roux or cornstarch like I thought. I’m glad to have an extra soup to make during the winter.
That was absolutely delicious! I generally followed the recipe, only difference:
1. I add flour to make a roux
2. I tempered the half n half before adding it in
3. Changed quantities according to my preference.
Thanks so much! 10/10 recommend
This I had never tried before. But, I will have it again.
Do you have to use spinach?
No, you can omit it or use kale 🙂
Phenomenal.
Did you use fresh thyme or the powdered pantry thyme?
I use the dried thyme seasoning 🙂
I’m going to make your Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi. I LOVE THE ONE I ORDER, THANK YOU! IT GOING TO BE AWESOME!
I hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Excellent recipe! I doubled the recipe, but only used half of the half & half, so I could reduce some calories. It was delicious!!
How long can this last in the fridge or freezer? Any tips for reheating?
About 3-4 days in the fridge but the gnocchi gets softer the longer it sits in the soup. Yes, you can freeze this soup for around three months or so. But, once again, the gnocchi may be a bit softer once thawed than when fresh. It will reheat well over medium low heat, stirring occasionally until warm. 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.
This soup was magnificent! I made it for my daughter’s birthday celebration. This is her favorite restaurant soup. While I had never tried the OG version, she said that if presented with a bowl of this soup and a bowl of theirs, she would not be able to tell the difference.
I used frozen homemade (uncooked) gnocchi, which worked wonderfully, though the soup understandably took a while to return to boiling after they were added. The soup was very thick before I added the half-and-half, possibly helped by the extra flour on the gnocchi I had used to keep them from being too sticky as I formed them. To keep the soup thick, I only added half of the half-and-half at the end.
For folks saying this soup lacked flavor, it may be the chicken broth you are using. I used homemade bone broth, which was very flavorful on its own. My suggestion would be to taste it before serving and consider adding Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder if it’s not there for you.
Best copycat recipe out there. This soup is wonderful! Always a hit with my family! Love it! Easy to make and tastes like you spent the day in the kitchen!
Hey, what’s a serving size for this recipe? Making it now. We love it.
1/4 of the recipe is a serving size 🙂
Soo like a cup? 😂😂 I just took 1/4 of the the liquids and got like a cup.
Can coconut milk replace the half and half and heavy cream?
Another reader has said they used 14 oz can of unsweetened coconut milk with success 🙂
Absolutely my go to kopy kat recipe. I think over the years I actually prefer it to the restaurant itself!
Can you make this the night before and then add the gnocchi the next day during reheat?
Yes, you can 🙂
Better than OG!
Why didn’t my soup thicken? Followed directions word for word. What do I do? Help
I’m sorry it didn’t thicken! It may have just needed a bit longer on the heat. But a cornstarch slurry should thicken it right up 🙂
The Chicken Gnocchi Soup recipe was absolutely delicious!! I made it twice in two weeks.