Lighter Chicken Gnocchi Soup is hearty and comforting!
Lighter Chicken Gnocchi Soup uses milk instead of heavy cream to lighten up this recipe that is inspired by an Olive Garden favorite.
I just love potatoes, in fact, they are one of my most favorite foods! (Check out the My Love For Potatoes section of this blog for some of my most favorite recipes!)
And potatoes in the form of a dumpling? Well, they are delightful.
This starts out as a classic chicken soup recipe that has chicken, onions, celery and carrots.
But then, instead of noodles it has gnocchi!
The addition of spinach makes it even heartier.
We love spinach and are always trying to add it to dishes.
We even put it in pasta dishes like this Chicken Spinach Tortellini Alfredo and this One Pot Beefy Pasta!
According to Health Digest eating cooked spinach is as beneficial as eating it raw.
There are differences in nutritional value if you eat it cooked versus raw.
Eating it cooked allows you to absorb more calcium and iron that it contains.
And cooking it also increases the amount of vitamins A and E that you absorb.
How cool is that?!
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Lighter Chicken Gnocchi Soup is perfect to feed a large family, or have leftovers if you have a small family like ours.
This recipe makes 6 good sized servings but would feed more if you have little children.
Our youngest was here when I made it last time.
The three of us ate it for dinner once and she ate leftovers 3 times.
I don’t add additional salt when the soup is cooking because we are trying to consume as little sodium as possible.
My daughter salted her servings, we did not and I didn’t miss it.
If you aren’t concerned with sodium intake then you could add some during the cooking process.
Here are some other hearty soup and stew recipes you might like:
Italian Tortellini Sausage Soup
Healthier Slow Cooker Chicken Stew
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Lighter Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 4 cups chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 package gnocchi 16 ounces
- 3 cups spinach
Instructions
- Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch Oven or large pot over medium to medium-high heat, add chicken and cook stirring occasionally until brown, 4-5 minutes. Add remaining butter, when melted add onion, celery and carrots, cook stirring occasionally for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Sprinkle with flour and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Stir in milk and cook stirring constantly until bubbly, 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add broth and pepper; heat to boiling, reduce heat and cook stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add gnocchi, breaking them apart as you put them in the pot. Add spinach and cook stirring occasionally until gnocchi is tender and spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
I see you say “6 good size servings” but what counts as a serving? 1 cup?
One sixth of the recipe is probably more than a cup. I didn’t measure it, I divided it into 6 servings.