Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup – Copycat

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.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.


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Easy Homemade Soup

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 about 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.

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
Ingredients for copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup.

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 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 this Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup recipe, you will find that all of the ingredients are very common in your average grocery store.

First you will sauté the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat, and then add some flour and cook that through. You will then add in the half-and-half and chicken broth. Bring it to a low boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Cooked chicken and gnocchi get added to your seasoned broth and vegetables. You can then adjust your seasoning and you will be ready to serve this soup in less than an hour.

Collage of making copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup.

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.

Overhead view of copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.

How to Store and Reheat Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

  • Refrigerate any leftover soup for up to 5 days 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.

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 airtight container. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup on a spoon over a bowl of it.

More Olive Garden Recipes

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.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Grab a large pot and make some of this delicious soup, it has pillowy soft potato gnocchi, tender chicken, carrots, and more.
4.97 from 498 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Olive Garden Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 369kcal

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

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 420mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3645IU | Vitamin C: 11.9mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 2.8mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elaina

    5 stars
    I followed it exactly except I left out the nutmeg. This was really good, taste pretty close to OG’s. I used about 3 tablespoons of cornstarch to get the consistency I prefer. I also added extra salt. Anyone suggest a good gnocchi? The one I used just wasn’t great.

    • Deanna

      I use DeLallo Mini Potato Gnocchi. I know the nutmeg seems weird, but I’ve found it’s the one spice that makes it taste truest to the Olive Garden version.

  2. Rebekah

    5 stars
    This was delicious! I did add more chicken and spinach than what recipe called for, and a touch more salt at the end. Everyone loved. Will use this recipe again. Thanks!

  3. Rebecca

    5 stars
    Made this last night for my son, who loves Olive Garden’s soup. He absolutely loved it. He had 3 bowls of it and is having it again tonight.

  4. Louise

    Do you have a suggestion for making this dairy free? My family can have butter but not the half and half. I think that coconut milk would be too sweet and almond would be too nutty. Have you tried this with anything else?

  5. Mary Hope Roseneau

    5 stars
    I made it today and my husband LOVED it. Used the mini gnocchi and it worked well. Going to try crockpot next. May add more chicken and less onions next time, but it was still delicious!!!

  6. Holly

    5 stars
    I doubled the recipe for 2 families. I didn’t follow the step by step instructions. I made homemade nocchi. I think the store bought is terrible. It turned out fabulous. Just as good as Olive Garden. So happy to have found this recipe online. Thank you!

  7. Susie C.

    5 stars
    I made it for the first time today for my son since we love Olive Garden and it was delicious! Will make again for sure!

  8. Jacob

    4 stars
    Everything was good, except, I would definitely add the carrots when cooking the onions, carrots don’t have time to cook at the end

  9. kathleen

    Thank you for the excellent recipe. We have made it several times now, and it doesn’t disappoint. We started making homemade gnocchi and they were so good with this delicious soup. Thank you.

  10. Jill

    The video doesn’t match the printed recipe. The video says 14 ounces chicken broth. Printed says 28 ounces. Big difference!

  11. Kathey

    5 stars
    I made the several times it is delicious each and every time but I do prefer Frozen gnocchi instead of the dried ones I like the texture better

  12. Joanna Baker

    5 stars
    It was awesome it is now one of our go to soup on these wintery days. When we would go to olive garden I always ordered soup and salad and breadsticks. I made home made gnocchi with my granddaughter (so easy) and made plenty to give to my mother-in-law. Everyone loved it. Thank you
    For this wonderful, crowd-pleasing recipe. Now to master the art of Breadsticks..

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