The Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi soup is one of the most popular Olive Garden soup recipes. This rich soup has This warm bowl of goodness features roasted tender chicken, soft pillowy gnocchi, shredded carrots, celery, and fresh spinach. Hands down, this is one of my favorite Olive Garden copycat recipes of all time.
This is an Olive Garden favorite, but this soup is so good you are going to want to make make a double batch of this soup every time you make it.
The Chicken and Gnocchi soup is going to taste like you spent hours at the stove making your family a delightful chicken and potato gnocchi soup. You can make this soup in less than 30 minutes.
Everyone Loves Chicken and Gnocchi soup
Hands down this has been one of my most popular recipes at CopyKat.com. You can read through the comments and you can see how many people just love this soup. It is easy to make and it tastes great.
Actually, all of my Olive Garden Recipes are pretty popular. Most people seem to just love the Olive Garden menu items.
A lot of people ask me if you can freeze this soup? Yes, you can. So go ahead and make up a batch of this soup and store the extra in your freezer.
You will soon fall in love with this delicious soup. Don’t forget to make some salad and breadsticks to go with this classic dish from the Olive Garden.
Should you use storebought or homemade gnocchi?
Storebought gnocchi is perfect for this recipe. You can take the extra step in preparing homemade gnocchi, but premade potato gnocchi works well. You can find the gnocchi in a couple of different places in your supermarket.
- My local stores sell shelf-stable potato gnocchi in the pasta isles.
- In higher-end grocery stores, I have seen this sold in the fresh sections where you would pick up a prepared meal.
- I have even found it available in the frozen section of the grocery store as well.
Either type of gnocchi will work well. Your family will really love this. Have a hard time finding gnocchi? Make your own homemade potato gnocchi.
How to Make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi
It is very simple to make the Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup, you will find that all of the ingredients are very common in your average grocery store.
This recipe begins sauteing the vegetables in butter, and then you add some flour and cook that through. You will then add in the half-and-half and chicken broth.
Cooked chicken and gnocchi gets added to your seasoned broth and vegetables. You can then adjust your seasoning and you will be ready to serve this soup in about an hour.
Can you freeze copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup?
Yes, you can freeze this soup. The soup stays well in the freezer for a couple of months when stored in an air-tight container.
Can you use a Crockpot for this recipe?
Yes, you can. I personally like to saute the vegetables first before I prepare the soup. You don’t need to do that if you like.
Simply place all of the vegetables with the exception of the kale, chicken, seasonings, and stock into the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, add in the remaining ingredients and cook for another hour.
If the soup is too thin for you, make a cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the soup and turn the crockpot on high and stir until the soup has thickened.
Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup Ingredients
I love this delicious recipe is made with simple ingredients. In no time at all your entire family is going to fall in love with this soup that you made in the comfort of your own home.
- Butter – you can use either salted butter or unsalted butter
- Olive oil
- White onion – I like the white onion for this recipe, it tends to be a bit sweeter and has less heat than yellow onion.
- Celery
- Fresh garlic
- All-purpose flour
- Half and half – I recommend using half and half instead of milk, it reheats better, if you want something completely decadent swap the half and half for heavy cream.
- Low sodium Chicken broth – if you have homemade broth, I would recommend this
- Dried thyme
- Dried parsley flakes
- Ground Nutmeg
- Shredded carrots
- Cooked chicken breast – if you have leftover rotisserie chicken I would suggest this, the Olive Garden does not use this, but it is an opportunity to drive up the flavor. Also, this recipe can be made with cooked chicken thighs as well.
- Potato Gnocchi – my keto friends will swap out the gnocchi for cauliflower gnocchi, Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi is a favorite. If you can find it some people really love this with mini gnocchi.
- Spinach – regular spinach is fine but my personal preference is for fresh baby spinach
How to Store and Reheat Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Refrigerate any leftover soup for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
- Freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight 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.
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? Be sure to check out these soup recipes and try one of my great dessert recipes to complete your meal.
Take a look at more of my copycat Olive Garden recipes to make your favorites at home.
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
Leslie Spann
It tastes exactly the same, I loved it!! I did add a large spoonful of chicken flavor Better Than Bouillon just to put it over the top.
Patty
I made the soup, including adding the optional nutmeg. Doubled the spinach and only added two cups of half and half. It was crazy delicious. Thank you for putting out the recipe.
Paula Jewett
Absolutely delicious. Made Triple batch for a church function and everyone raved about it and wanted the recipe
Kim
Decided to make this for a big family & friends dinner, so I quadrupled the recipe, probably my first mistake. It has an overwhelming bitterness to it. I’m assuming from the spinach. I have added citrus juice, extra salt, extra onions, pepper and have continued simmering it. It has gotten rid of some of the bitterness, but still way too bitter for my taste. Any suggestions to help combat it so I don’t end up throwing all of this food away? More half and half? More citrus? Please help!
Stephanie Manley
Maybe add a little bit of sugar, that might help.
Deb
I love the Olive Garden chicken and gnocchi. It is my favorite. made this recipe tonight. It was just decent but did not taste like Olive Garden. soup to me. The thyme was overwhelming. Not sure if I would make it again but it is definitely worth a try if you’re looking for a easy weeknight recipe.
Stephanie Manley
I am so sorry you found 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme too much for your taste. I wouldn’t have thought 1/2 teaspoon would have overwhelmed a whole pot of soup. I will take your comments into consideration for further recipe development.