The first time I tasted Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi Soup, it was during a winter lunch with friends. As the steaming bowl arrived at our table, I was instantly captivated by the aroma of herbs and cream. That first spoonful of pillowy gnocchi and tender chicken swimming in rich, velvety broth was pure comfort in a bowl. I knew immediately I had to recreate this magic at home.
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Table of Contents
Why This Homemade Version Beats the Original
This copycat Olive Garden soup elevates the restaurant experience in several key ways:
- Gnocchi Perfection – Cook gnocchi to your ideal tenderness rather than the sometimes overcooked restaurant version
- Superior Chicken Quality – Use freshly roasted chicken instead of pre-processed meat for juicier, more flavorful results
- Customizable Consistency – Control the thickness of your soup for your perfect creamy texture
- Vegetable Freshness – Enjoy vibrant, just-cut vegetables with perfect al dente texture
- Herb Intensity – Adjust seasonings to amp up flavors beyond the sometimes subtle restaurant version
Everyone Loves Chicken and Gnocchi soup
Why does everyone love this recipe? This is one of those chicken soup recipes everyone loves because it is made with tender gnocchi, juicy chicken, fresh carrots and celery, and a perfectly seasoned chicken broth. Make salad and breadsticks to so with this soup.
The Secret to Perfect Chicken Gnocchi Soup
The magic of this recipe lies in creating a silky, flavorful base and ensuring each ingredient maintains its distinct texture while melding harmoniously with the others.
Ingredients
- Butter – Creates a rich foundation and helps form the roux that thickens the soup
- Olive oil – Adds authentic Italian flavor while preventing the butter from burning during sautéing
- White onion – Provides a sweet, aromatic base that’s milder than yellow onions
- Celery – Contributes essential savory notes and subtle texture to the soup
- Fresh garlic – Delivers aromatic depth that’s essential for authentic Italian flavor
- All-purpose flour – Works with butter to create the roux that gives the soup its signature thickness
- Half and half – Creates the creamy, luxurious texture that makes this soup so comforting
- Low-sodium chicken broth – Forms the flavorful foundation while allowing you to control salt levels
- Dried thyme – Adds classic herbal notes that complement chicken perfectly
- Dried parsley flakes – Provides color and fresh flavor balance to the rich base
- Ground nutmeg – Enhances the creamy elements with subtle warmth and complexity
- Shredded carrots – Adds natural sweetness, color, and nutritional value
- Cooked chicken breast – Delivers tender protein chunks throughout the soup
- Potato gnocchi – Creates the signature pillowy texture that makes this soup unique
- Spinach – Contributes fresh color, nutrition, and slight texture contrast
Should you use store-bought or homemade gnocchi?
Store-bought gnocchi is perfect for this recipe. You can take the extra step in preparing homemade gnocchi, but premade potato gnocchi works well. Gnocchi can be found in a couple of places in your supermarket, and you have options to purchase them.
- Many local stores sell shelf-stable potato gnocchi in the pasta aisles. I have purchased this at Walmart and Kroger, and I have been told that some dollar stores carry gnocchi.
- I have seen fluffy fresh gnocchi sold in the fresh sections of higher-end grocery stores, where you would pick up a prepared meal. Fresh gnocchi has a better texture and is more desirable, but not every grocery store offers it.
- I have even found it available in the grocery store’s frozen section.
Either type of gnocchi will work well. Your family will love this. Have a hard time finding gnocchi? Make your homemade potato gnocchi.
Preparation tips
- 🥄 PREP TIP: Fresh garlic makes a massive difference in flavor
- 🔥 COOKING TIP: Don’t boil after adding cream to prevent curdling
- ⏰ TIME TIP: “Prep vegetables while heating broth
How to make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi
It is straightforward to make this Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup recipe. You will find that all of the ingredients are very common in your average grocery store. We think it is easiest if you gather all of your ingredients before you start preparing the soup. This way, you will have everything on hand to get started.
First, you will sauté the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat. Then, add some flour and cook that through. You will then add the half-and-half and chicken broth. Please bring it to a low boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Cooked chicken and gnocchi are added to your seasoned broth and vegetables. Adjust your seasoning, and you will be ready to serve this soup in less than an hour.
Customizing this soup for you
Some people want a larger punch of flavor from their soup, so you can add some additional chicken soup base to dial up the flavor. I would add an extra teaspoon or two of chicken base to this to bring up the flavor. While I don’t find adding a soup base too close to the restaurant version, it can add something additional.
Want to add in a few more vegetables? We recommend adding some chopped zucchini; you could also add carrots or spinach.
Can you use a Crockpot for this recipe?
Yes, you can. I like to saute the vegetables first before I prepare the soup. You don’t need to do that if you like.
Place all of the vegetables, except the kale, chicken, seasonings, and stock, into the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, add the remaining ingredients, and cook for another hour.
If the soup is too thin, make a cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons of water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the soup, turn the crockpot on high, and stir until the soup has thickened.
How to Store and Reheat Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- 📅Refrigerate any leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- ❄️Freezer – freeze for up to 3 months in an air-tight container
- 🔥Reheat – this creamy soup is best reheated in a large pot on the stove over low heat. This way, the creamy broth won’t break down.
Can you freeze copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup?
Yes, you can freeze this soup. The soup stays well in the freezer for several months when stored in an airtight container. The consistency of the soup will change a bit; if you can, I recommend freezing the soup without the gnocchi and adding gnocchi when you reheat it. The texture of the gnocchi will change after it is frozen. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight.
What to serve with chicken gnocchi soup
There are so many things you can serve with this soup. You may want to serve the classic Olive Garden Salad; we have found a good old-fashioned Caesar salad that also hits the spot. But when it comes to bread options, you could serve some crusty hot bread, like sourdough bread, or even our copycat Olive Garden bread sticks.
You may want to garnish this soup with cheese. To top the soup, you could use fresh grated Romano or grated Parmesan.
More Olive Garden Recipes
- Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken
- Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara
- Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
- Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo
- Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
- Olive Garden Dressing
- Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
- Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup
- Olive Garden Salad Recipe
- Zuppa Toscana
Popular Soup Recipes
Love soup? Check out these soup recipes and try one of my great dessert recipes to complete your meal.
Look at more of my copycat Olive Garden recipes to make your favorites at home.
Homemade Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart half-and-half
- 28 ounces chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
- 1 cup carrots finely shredded
- 1 cup spinach leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 cup chicken breast cooked, and diced
- 16 ounces package ready-to-use gnocchi
Instructions
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion becomes translucent.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened.
- Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer until thickened again. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, thyme, parsley, nutmeg (if using), shredded carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi.
- Simmer until the soup is heated through. Before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary.
Video
Notes
- You can use leftover roitisserie chicken for extra flavor
- You may want to use less thyme than suggested
- Some gnocchi is very large, you can cut these pieces in half
- You may want to add additional salt to the final soup. This soup does not have a lot of salt in it, especially if you use low-sodium chicken broth
This was delicious! I made it as written. What is the serving size? 1 cup? 2 cups?
A serving is a very generous 1 cup serving.
I think this recipe is better than Olive Garden. I followed the recipe except used garlic from a jar. It took me longer to make than stated time but that’s probably because I am not a professional cook.
I am glad you liked it!
Wow was this easy and delicious! I doubled the recipe to make enough for 5 adults and 2 teens and have leftovers and everyone loved it (even my husband who’s not usually a fan of soup!). I served it with oven baked breadsticks. We will be making this again!
Awesome recipe. I made a few changes for our taste by add three cloves of garlic, a little more salt more chicken. I also used boneless chicken thighs instead of breast because they do not dry out as much as breast do.
Great except for the seasoning…as most people have said, it definitely needs salt and pepper. I added extra nutmeg and parsley and it still wasn’t enough flavor. So I added garlic powder and a pinch of curry powder. That was the perfect combo! Everyone said it was better than Olive Garden’s!
Does the gnocchi need to be cooked separately first before adding to the soup?
No, it will cook in the soup.
My mom made this for me today where it was so cold. She followed the recipe exact(I watched her). It did NOT taste like olive garden. The chicken gnocchi soup at olive garden is the only soup I’ll eat, it’s amazing. This recipe is not that. I’m happy for those who liked it but we genuinely didn’t. It was bland and after a few bites neither of us wanted any more. My mom said it’s not even something she’d feed an animal. I do recommend trying it as everyone’s taste buds are different and you might like it. But to be real and honest it’s not for my family.
I am very sorry you and your Mom did not like this recipe. This recipe has been on the website, and made 1,000s of times and most people love it. I understand you didn’t. Let me know if I can help you rework it to make it more to your liking.
It’s -1 degrees out today, so of course we need soup! SOOO HAPPY I came across this recipe! Definitely add more salt than recipe calls for, as author and other commenters advise. Other than that, this recipe is perfect! I did use heavy cream instead of half and half- as author suggested for creaminess. My 2,5, & 8 year olds approve! And my husband sent pics to his friend’s group chat raving about it, so I guess that’s a win all around!
Oh, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Made this, and my family loved it! Will make it again for sure!! Thank you
Absolutely delicious! The only things I added were black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Sooooo tasty. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Omgosh. Absolutely delicious! I have a family of 7, so I made the 1 recipe and a half, it was more than enough and my family loved it. I ate 3 bowls myself. I can’t believe how delicious it is. Next time I think I will cut down on carrots because this soup, when I order it from OG, it hardly has any celery and carrot – but tastes delicious. When you think it’s missing something, its the salt, we use pink Himalayan salt, and I just added a few pinches after the soup was done. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This would probably be good with finely chopped mushrooms in it as well.
I agree with that!
Think I could make this the night before and reheat in a crockpot for a pot luck?
Yes, that should work just fine.
This was delicious but it lacked “something ” but not sure what! I love the creaminess of this soup. I’ll definitely make it again once I can put my finger on what’s missing!
You might want to add more salt. If something is missing, and you can’t put your finger on it, it is salt.
I love the Chicken soup but I need to know if you have a recipe for the Shrimp and Risotta which they use to make years ago–can’t find a good restaurant that still makes it–plus if you have any recipes for Older Seniors–only cooking for 2 people–as we hate leftovers???
I did this gnocchi soup tonight with the storm brewing for this week..
I love this recipe! I’ve made it many times for my family. I appreciate that it’s quick, easy to follow and tastes great.
We all loved this and plan to make it again. I just added more gnocchi to my cart so we can. Thanks for the recipe.
I’ve made this a few times. Most of my family is lactose-interolant so I usually use lactose-free half & half which is great… but this week, the stores were out. So I used a lactose-free whole milk and it worked out perfectly! I didn’t have a white or yellow onion and had to use red and that was fine too. For the first time today, I used the Gia Russa brand of gnocchi and it’s been the best, most tender we’ve had! I also used about 1.5 large cans of chicken, rinsed and strained. Squisito!!! :: chef’s kiss ::
After our recent visit to Olive Garden, my Granddaughter wants me to make this soup. Since only her and I will be eating it, I was wondering if this could be frozen. Thanks for the recipe!
Yes, this soup can be frozen, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.