Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Creamy broth, gnocchi, plenty of Parmesan. Perfect for sick days or the first real cold night of fall. Perfect with leftover rotisserie chicken.

What You’ll Need

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups water
• 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded. Rotisserie chicken is the move here. If all you have is raw chicken, poach two large breasts right in the simmering stock, then shred and stir them back in.
• 16 ounces store-bought potato gnocchi. Just use the shelf-stable kind from the pasta aisle… no need for refrigerated or frozen. They cook right in the broth and float when they’re done.
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (for garnish)
• Extra grated parmesan cheese (for garnish)
• ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Equipment You’ll Need

• Large pot or Dutch oven. You need at least 5 quarts. The gnocchi expand and this makes a lot of soup.
• Instant-read thermometer. Only if you’re poaching raw chicken instead of using cooked. Otherwise, don’t bother 🙂

Instructions

Soften the vegetables

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, then add the diced onion, carrots, and celery. Give them 6 to 8 minutes with an occasional stir. Watch the onions, not the clock. When they turn translucent and the vegetables have lost their raw crunch, you’re ready to move on.

Now stir in the garlic, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Keep it moving for a full minute. The tomato paste should darken a shade, which is exactly what you want. This is not the moment to wander off and check your phone, because garlic goes from fragrant to bitter fast.

Simmer the broth

Pour in the chicken stock and water, and scrape up all the browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot as you stir. That stuck-on stuff isn’t a mess, it’s flavor, so get it into the broth. Crank the heat to high and bring everything to a boil.

Once it’s boiling, drop the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. You’re done when a fork slides through a carrot with no resistance. Check the carrots, not the timer. An almost-tender carrot in a creamy soup is an unpleasant surprise.

Add the chicken and gnocchi

Stir the shredded chicken and gnocchi into the pot, then let it cook uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes. You’ll know the gnocchi are done when they float to the top.

I almost always use rotisserie chicken here because it’s already cooked and already seasoned. Leftover baked chicken works just as well; you’re only warming it through, not cooking it.

Finish with cream and parmesan

Turn the heat down to low before you pour in the cream and grated Parmesan. The order matters. Cream that hits a boiling pot can break, and there’s no fixing a curdled soup. Stir continuously until the cheese melts completely and everything is heated through.

Taste the broth and add more salt or pepper if needed, then turn off the heat. The parmesan is salty on its own, so taste it before adding any more salt.

Ladle and garnish

Ladle the soup into bowls while it’s piping hot, then immediately top each one with a handful of mozzarella, a sprinkle of extra parmesan, and the chopped parsley. The heat of the soup melts the cheese right into the broth, which is the whole point of garnishing right away instead of at the table.

Storage Instructions

Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. Let them cool completely first, then pack them into an airtight container. The gnocchi keep drinking up broth as they sit, so the soup will be much thicker the next day. Splash in some chicken stock or water when you reheat to thin it out.

Reheat on the stove over medium-low, stirring occasionally, and don’t let it boil. The cream can break. Individual bowls do fine in the microwave in 30-second bursts.

I don’t recommend freezing this one. The cream separates and the gnocchi turn mushy when thawed, and no amount of stirring fixes it. If you want a freezer version, make the soup through the simmering step, freeze the broth base for up to 3 months, and add the gnocchi, cream, and cheese fresh when you reheat.

Variations

• Add greens: stir 2 cups of baby spinach or chopped kale in during the last 2 minutes of cooking, right before the cream goes in.
• Start with raw chicken: you can poach two big chicken breasts right in the simmering stock in step 4 (just cook them to 165°F), then shred them up and stir back in at step 5.
• Lighter version: swap the heavy cream for half-and-half or whole milk. The broth will be thinner, so stir 1 tablespoon of cornstarch into the cold milk first.
• Italian sausage version: brown a pound of Italian sausage in the pot first, then cook the vegetables in the drippings and skip the chicken.
• Extra heat: double the red pepper flakes.

Questions and Troubleshooting

Why did my soup curdle after I added the cream?

It boiled. Once the cream goes in, keep the heat low and don’t let it boil again. It’ll get grainy on you.

Can I use the pre-grated Parmesan in the plastic tub?

I wouldn’t. It’s coated in anti-caking stuff and won’t melt smoothly into the broth. Grate a block yourself. It takes two minutes and the soup will be much silkier.

Can I make this in a slow cooker?

Yes, but only partly. Cook the vegetables and broth on low for 4 to 6 hours, then add the gnocchi and cream during the last 20 to 30 minutes. Gnocchi that cook all day will just turn to mush.

More ways to use rotisserie chicken

• Our Favorite Chicken Salad
• Chicken and Dumpling Soup
• Crockpot Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice