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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So so delicious! Did use chicken breasts and spinach. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for this tip! I was wondering if I could use chicken breasts!
Is the gnocchi fresh or frozen or shelf-stable (wondering where to look for it at my WF store)? Is it Whole Foods brand or another brand? Thanks!
Delicious! I added white beans to add extra protein, and both my husband and I loved it!
Made this meal tonight. I served it with riced cauliflower and cantaloupe. We all loved it including my picky 6 and 3 yo girls. I made it exactly and it turned out great. Took me about 45 minutes.
I’m making this recipe now. It’s in the oven. How do you recommend storing leftovers? Can it be frozen?
Made it and loved it! Kale I bought frozen and added Spinach not bitter very tasty. Seriously you have the best recipe’s very easy to follow and so many different flavours. So happy I have found you! You are amazing! Thank you for such awesome ideas.
This dish is so good. I’m not typically a fan of kale, but it was awesome. Thanks for the recipe.
Soooo good! I added mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes and it was amazing.
Made this tonight – another winner. The sauce is a great base to serve with any number of proteins or veg. Next time I’ll cook chicken ahead of time and do dried thyme (I’m so bad at pulling leaves off and had too many stems). Will also use frozen kale or do green veg on the side (maybe Brussels sprouts). The possibilities are endless!!
So… I make your recipes on a weekly basis. I love this one, and I really don’t make changes other than I can’t stand kale so I use spinach… your blog has made cooking so much fun for me, and so many of my family’s favorites. Thank you! Now instead of googling an ingredient, I type damn delicious first, and I’ve yet to make something we didn’t love. DAMN if I’m not the lucky one for finding your cookbook in the library.
Made with regular gnocchi land was perfect! Came together quick and easy! Entire family enjoyed, even a picky eater who would never eat kale. Praises from all! Didn’t have fresh thyme and subbed with dry and was delicious. Used a Sauvignon blanc for the wine and used chicken stock instead of broth. Will make again 🙂
OMG…another awesome recipe! So simple yet flavourful.
Love this recipe, it’s delicious. It’s easily substituted. Don’t like kale? Use spinach. Don’t have shallot? Use onion. Pork or turkey in lieu of chicken? Best of all it’s a one pot dish if you boil the gnocchi in the pan you will use to cook everything else. AND while it’s finishing in the oven for 10-12 minutes you can wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen so you don’t have to do that when you’re done eating and you’d just rather sit and digest! I’ve made this 3x now. Love it!
I think this recipes excellent but there are a few tweaks I made. Skip 1 & 2. First, simple one pot meal. No oven. Second, gnocchi cooks in 6 minutes I just added it later with chicken and kale (step 10). Also, I didn’t salt the chicken since it prevents browning. I salted later, if need be. If you golden brown and delicious chicken add a little baking soda then pan fry and don’t worry getting temp. It’s cooking and melding on the the stove for 10-15.
Every recipe I make from Damn Delicious is always delicious. Bought her book for 3 of my daughters!❤️
Made this recipe tonight and it was great! I am going to make it again next week for our dinner club. I plan on adding mushrooms and bacon.
Store was out of regular gnocchi, so I grabbed basil gnocchi. Made this recipe phenomenal!
Another amazing recipe…I am ready to toss all my cookbooks and rely solely on you! Thank you.
I really enjoyed this! My only complaint is that my bunch of kale was just WAY too much kale. Is a bunch of kale a universal size? When I added it to my pot of sauce and stirred, it was just a pot full of barely glazed kale. I ended up adding 2 more cups of liquid (1 cup broth, half a cup each wine and half n half). In the end, the kale was overwhelming. It was still great, but I wish I had either made more sauce from the get-go, or had used about half as much kale.
My husband just went back for seconds, though, and I posted pictures of my bowl online and my friends are asking for the recipe. 🙂
If I use chicken breasts should I cook or bake for less time?
I know this is late, but in case anyone else has this question — keep a meat thermometer in the kitchen and if the interior of the biggest part of the chicken hits 165 degrees F, then you’re golden. The original skillet section should do most of the cooking/browning and it can finish in the oven. If you are worried a piece of meat is too large to cook evenly, you can cut it down into cutlets/strips first and keep an eye on them as they will cook faster.
This was a big risk since my husband hates gnocchi and kale! I love both so she who cooks gets to decide! Not only did he say it was amazing, but he ate some off the kids’ plates. I made it exactly as written, and it was perfect! I will definitely make it again.
Great recipe!! Comfort food for a cold stormy night. I used chicken breasts, spinach, cannelloni beans, and onion as substitutes. Boyfriend doesn’t care for gnocchi and he LOVED this dish!
I made this for our stay-at-home New Year’s Eve dinner and I made it tonight again. Tonight’s version didn’t have gnocchi but a homemade focaccia did the job. I also added mushroom to the sauce when the onions went it and I threw in a serious bunch of spinach, way more than the recipe called for. The base of this recipe — the sauce — is forgiving and accommodating to many substations. I’ve added this to my ‘permanent collection’ and will be making this often. Well done!
This was very lovely! My picky 8yr son are his entire plateful as did the rest of us. Grateful for all your recipes here; each one we’ve tried has been terrific! Thank you for the detailed instructions and timeframes, I find them incredibly helpful.
Can you tell me what I could sub in for the flour ? Xantham gum or ?
Potato starch. Make a slurry and add it toward the end, after the chicken is returned to the pot. It will thicken the sauce in a matter of minutes. Maybe two minutes? Ans whisk while adding it. You can also omit the flour entirely when frying the chicken, but the slurry is a must to thicken the sauce. I’ve made the gluten-free version as there are quite a few people affected by celiac disease in my familial circle.