My homemade Gnocchi Recipe calls for just 4 ingredients! These soft potato dumplings are a cinch to make. This recipe will give you the best gnocchi you can enjoy with any of your favorite sauces, complete with instructions on how to freeze them for later.
Oh, gnocchi. Pasta always puts a smile on my face! Especially these little dumplings. They’re pillowy, soft, and with just the perfect amount of chewiness. Besides that, they’re incredibly easy to make with just 4 ingredients.
Gnocchi has to be the easiest type of pasta to make from home. The dough is fool-proof to make and you don’t have to roll out thin sheets! No fancy tools required to make this recipe. This is the perfect introductory course to your new homemade Italian food lifestyle.
What Is Gnocchi?
Gnocchi are a traditional Italian potato dumpling that are small, thick, and soft, typically made with flour, semolina, or a mixture of the two. There are lots of ways that people make gnocchi, but one part stays consistent: they’re always made with potatoes.
Today I’ve just used flour to make my gnocchi recipe. I find that I can’t tell the difference in texture of these dumplings with semolina mixed in. One less ingredient to hunt down at the grocery store for you!
Ingredients
If you need to go to the grocery store at all, I have a feeling it’ll just be for the potatoes! With my gnocchi recipe, pasta has never been easier to make. Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for full ingredient amounts and instructions, or click the Jump To Recipe button at the top.
- Russet potatoes – For this recipe, you need a nice and starchy potato. Russets are ideal, but yellow potatoes can be used if needed. Do not use red or white skinned potatoes.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour.
- Salt – Season to taste.
- Egg – I used a large egg.
How to make my Gnocchi recipe
- Cook the potatoes: Add the potatoes to a pot and fill it with water to cover the potatoes by about 2 inches. Boil them until they’re fork-tender. Drain the water, let them cool down a bit, then mash them with a masher, fork, or potato ricer.
- Make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the eggs and the flour mixture to the bowl of potatoes. Use your hands to mix everything together until you don’t see any more dry flour. Lightly flour your work surface and turn the dough out onto it.
- Roll the dough: Knead the dough a few times until everything comes together into a smooth, slightly sticky, ball. Using a sharp knife or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 8 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into 3/4″ thick logs, flouring your surface as necessary. Cut the logs into 3/4″ pieces. Place your gnocchi on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, sprinkled with flour.
- Shape the gnocchi: You can boil the little gnocchi as is, or you can shape them to give the gnocchi ridges as I’ve done. Hold a fork in one hand and with the other, hold a gnocchi against the tines of the fork. With gentle pressure, roll the gnocchi down the tines to create ridges.
Pro tip: Make sure to keep you gnocchi dusted generously with flour as you work with it. The gnocchi can become very sticky, even on the parchment paper, and wreck your ridges and/or gnocchi shape.
If your gnocchi does end up sticking, don’t worry! You can re-shape them and just dust with more flour.
How to Serve Them
There are so many amazing ways to enjoy my gnocchi recipe! Want to make the beautiful skillet pesto gnocchi I have in these photos? Follow this super simple, 3-ingredient recipe:
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the gnocchi. When the gnocchi float to the top of the pot, they are done cooking. About 1-2 minutes. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon as they rise to the top.
- Add 2-3 tbsp butter to a skillet and melt over medium-high heat. Stirring occasionally, keep the butter over the heat until it begins to toast and brown.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the gnocchi. Toss everything well. Add 3 tbsp pesto, and mix it in well. For these photos I made one batch with regular basil pesto, and the other batch with a red sun dried tomato pesto. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Top your gnocchi with parmesan cheese and serve.
I froze half of the gnocchi I made, and used the other half to make these two skillets.
What Else Can I Make With My Gnocchi?
There are so many amazing ways to serve gnocchi! You can keep it simple like I’ve done today, or turn it into a full meal. Give some of these recipes a try:
- One Skillet Ham and Cheese Gnocchi
- Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Gnocchi
- Sausage Leek Ragu Gnocchi
- Garlic Parmesan Butter Gnocchi
- One Pot Chicken Florentine Gnocchi
- Gnocchi with Mushroom Ragu
Leftovers
If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. It’ll reheat easiest in the microwave.
You can also reheat them on the stovetop. Add the gnocchi to a skillet over medium heat. Add a splash of chicken or veggie broth to make sure they don’t dry out. Cook, stirring occasionally, until your pasta is heated through.
Freezing Gnocchi
My gnocchi recipe is perfect for freezing. Here’s how you’ll do it:
To freeze uncooked gnocchi: Spread the gnocchi out, so they aren’t touching each other, on the well floured, parchment paper lined, baking sheet. Pop the baking sheet in the freezer for 2 hours then transfer all the gnocchi to a large freezer bag. They will last 4-6 weeks frozen.
Let your frozen gnocchi thaw completely in the fridge before boiling them.
To freeze cooked gnocchi: It isn’t ideal to freeze gnocchi after they’ve been cooked as the texture will change after freezing and thawing. They will become much more mushy. If that isn’t a problem for you, simply transfer the gnocchi with the sauce into an airtight container and freeze for 1 month.
Reheat cooked gnocchi either in the microwave, or let it thaw in the fridge overnight and use the stove-top method I’ve described in the section above.
Looking for More Pasta Recipes? Try These!
- Aglio e Olio
- Pesto Shrimp Asparagus Pasta
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Penne Arrabbiata
- Arugula and Walnut Pesto Pasta
- Cacio e Pepe
- Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs
- Easy Pasta Alfredo
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Gnocchi Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lb russet potatoes peeled (about 4 medium)
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour more for kneading and rolling
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 large egg beaten
Instructions
- Fill a pot of water with enough cold water to cover the potatoes by at least 2 inches. Add the potatoes to the pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Drain and cool, then mash them using a fork or potato masher.
- Lightly flour your work surface. In another medium bowl mix the flour with the salt.
- Add the egg to the potatoes, then add the flour mixture. Using your hands, mix until the flour is moistened then transfer the dough onto the floured work surface. Gather the dough together and start kneading until the flour is fully incorporated into the dough. The dough is done when it's smooth and a little sticky. Do not over knead the dough or the gnocchi will be tough.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into long snake-shaped log, that's about 3/4 of an inch in diameter.
- Using a sharp knife or dough cutter, cut the logs into small 3/4 inch pieces. Place finished gnocchi onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, while you're working with the rest of the dough. Dust each gnocchi with a bit of extra flour.
- To shape the gnocchi, hold a fork in one hand and place a gnocchi against the tines of the fork. With a light touch, use your thumb and press in and down the length of the fork. This step is optional.
Cook the gnocchi
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil then add gnocchi to the pot. The gnocchi is done cooking when they pop to the top. Use a slotted spoon to remove the gnocchi from the water. Serve gnocchi as desired.
Video
Recipe Notes
- If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. It’ll reheat easiest in the microwave.
- You can also reheat them on the stovetop. Add the gnocchi to a skillet over medium heat. Add a splash of chicken or veggie broth to make sure they don’t dry out. Cook, stirring occasionally, until your pasta is heated through.
Love your content. Very impressed with the knowledge you have. I am a professional chef and this is something that i would actually cook in this way, is a great article. Very good photos and explanation. I will come back often to find some inspiration, keep up the great work.
Thank you so much Matteo!
Hello. Can I prep the gnocchi earlier in the day and cook when ready to serve?
Yes, absolutely! Just make sure you flour them well so they don’t stick together.
Made these with my daughter. They were perfect in every way! Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
Can you make these ahead of time, or do you need to cook them fresh?
Nope, you can make them ahead of time, there are instructions in the post on how to freeze them.
1st time ever making gnocchi and I’m so happy with how it turned out thanks to your amazing recipe! I’ve loved so many of your recipes and save them and this is a new fav. Now whenever I look up a recipe and see it’s from JoCooks I’m so relieved because I know its a good one! Thank you!
That’s fantastic! Thank you, Jocelyn. We’re so happy you’ve been loving our recipes.
I am a beginner , an I do well looking at the videos. For some reason or reasons they won’t play lately.
Can you still see the video in the recipe card and just the play button won’t work? Or the video doesn’t show up?
Watched my Italian Grandmother creates these beauties, don’t recall her using a ricer. Can this be accomplished without one?
Yes just mash the potatoes as you normally would for mashed potatoes, you can use a potato masher or a mixer.