Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi
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Soft-pillowy gnocchi, a garlicky cream sauce, tender, juicy chicken thighs, and sneaked-in kale? Yes, 1,000% yes.
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If you need one of those nights in with a tall glass of white wine (that you can also use in this recipe) and the best kind of comfort food you can eat in the most comfortable sweatpants, this is it for you.
It’s hearty, it’s cozy, and it’s super super easy to whip up.
Now you can use store-bought cauliflower potato gnocchi (I used the one from Whole Food’s here – it seemed a lot lighter and less dense than the regular kind of gnocchi), or you can go that extra mile and use the homemade gnocchi recipe here.
IT IS ALL GOOD. There is absolutely no wrong-doing here at all. Just know that the cream sauce is absolute perfection.
tips and tricks for success
- Homemade gnocchi goes a long way. In a pinch, we love using cauliflower potato gnocchi but we also highly recommend using homemade gnocchi if you have the time. It makes all of the difference!
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
- Add in your leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in all the greens (kale, spinach, cabbage, swiss chard or collard greens) for those picky eaters.
what to serve with chicken and gnocchi
Tools For This Recipe
Dutch oven
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, chicken breasts can absolutely be used here but chicken thighs have more dark meat and a higher fat content which will yield juicier, more flavorful chicken.
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
Additional chicken broth can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.
Spinach, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce)package cauliflower potato gnocchi
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup dry white wine*
- ½ cup half and half
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed and leaves torn into bite-sized pieces
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan, about 2 ounces
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large pot or Dutch oven of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi according to package instructions; drain well.
- Season chicken with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet in a single layer and cook until golden brown and cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 4-5 minutes per side; set aside.
- Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter. Add shallot, and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in chicken broth and wine, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in half and half until thickened, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in gnocchi and kale until the kale has wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet; sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Place into oven and bake until bubbly, about 10-12 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Delicious. I used truffle cheese gnocchi and it made it next level!
Sooo delicious! Super easy to add or substitute ingredients. I used spinach instead of kale and added sun dried tomatoes. I also made it a second time with tortellini instead of gnocchi and added mushrooms. My very picky husband loves it so this will definitely be a new staple in the house. Thank you for the great recipe!
Can I make this through all of the steps, refrigerate and bake the following day?
Yumbo! I’ve made it several times and everyone loves it. It’s a regular now
Delicious and easy recipe. We used spinach not kale.
Make this recipe on repeat! Use GF flour and GF gnocchi for my daughter!! Delish!
What a phenomenal recipe! The cream sauce is SO delicious. I substituted chicken breasts for the thighs, because I just can’t stomach chicken thighs. Also, the kale was subbed with baby spinach. Everything else was exactly what your recipe called for. And it was such a great dinner. My family was singing its praises as well. This is absolutely one for the regular dinner rotation. Thanks so much for sharing it.
Love this recipe! It is now a regular meal in our household!
I’ve done it with ground chicken and spinach instead and it is delicious!
Adding panko before baking it is also very good
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made gnocchi for the first time this week! It came out fairly well. I had cooked some chicken breasts in the crockpot the same day. So I used the broth from them, cut about 1-1/2 of the breast up, (they were fairly large) used regular white onion, more broth because I had no white wine, fresh greens & some fresh mushrooms. Then I added some grated cheddar in with it. Baked it in my ninja foodi dual heat air fryer and it was very good! A real good comfort meal.
I’ve made this dish several times, it’s delicious!! A family favorite. I make enough for leftovers. Substituted spinach for the kale also.
Made this dish three times already. So delicious! Everyone in my family loved it, especially on cold nights. I make a double batch, btw, so there’s leftovers ❤️
This was delicious! I doubled the amount of half and half and added an extra 1/2 cup of broth just because the half and half was spoiling soon and I wanted to use the rest of it. It came out great!
Wow! Yum! I subbed spinach for the kale and it turned out really well. Great recipe.
Another hit. Your recipes are so good and simple.
Thank you so much.
Will have to prepare this one again as I used 2 teaspoons of bottled thyme (not fresh). I forgot that so the thyme taste was overwhelming. Also subbed kale with spinach.
I made this for my family for dinner one night.. It was amazing and they all loved it! My uncle with dementia who refuses to eat anything if its not box potatoes… ate the entire meal! I will be making this anytime I have someone I want to impress.. Thank you!
This looks amazing! Do you have any suggestions for how to cook the gnocchi in the same pan to avoid dirtying a second dish?
This was awesome… my husband and I loved it and plan to add it to the fall/winter dinner rotation. I did make a few subs due to convenience. I used rotisserie chicken quarters and instead of cooking the gnocchi separately (I used a package of dry potato gnocchi), I added extra broth and cooked it in the sauce. Worked beautifully and reduced the cooking time greatly.
Made this last night for my mom’s bday. We both loved it. I had to make some changes as we didn’t have flour. Subbed it for almond flour and a little bit of arrowroot mixed into the wine first then added. I also essentially slow cooked the chicken within the cream since I hadn’t realized it was to be separated in the process. Chicken came out so tender it melted in your mouth so I’m not complaining.
Will definitely be making this again.
This is SO GOOD! I had to make some changes because I made it as dinner meal prep for the week and since I am a college student.
I used chicken breasts and cut them into cubes to cook. I also used a yellow onion instead of a shallot, just potato gnocchi because they didn’t have cauliflower gnocchi at the store, 3 handfuls of chopped kale from a bag instead of a whole head, pre-minced garlic from a jar, just chicken broth so no white wine, dried thyme instead of fresh, and I just used the parmesan they sell in the little plastic shakers instead of fresh grated.
Even with all the changes, my roommate said it was the best thing I’ve ever cooked. It was absolutely delicious and I will definitely be making it again!
Holy moly I’ve made this and wow, it was so delicious everyone enjoyed it. I recommend this recipe!!