Chicken gnocchi soup
The creamy restaurant favorite at home: pillowy potato gnocchi, tender chicken and spinach in a rich, thyme-scented broth.
- 45 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $3.73 a serving
- 560 calories
- Good the next day
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 carrot, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into ½-inch pieces
- 2 tbsp butter
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 lb potato gnocchi
- 1½ cups half-and-half
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 560 calories, 36 g protein, 57 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $3.73 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and celery, the carrot and the garlic. Cut the chicken into ½-inch pieces on a separate board.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring, until soft, about 5 minutes.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium heatTimer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic and flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Pour in the broth a little at a time, so no lumps form. Add the thyme, salt and pepper and over medium-high heat.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Medium-high heat
Add the chicken, turn the heat to low and for 8 to 10 minutes, until the pieces are white all the way through.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Low heatTimer: 9 min
Dolly’s tip: Cut the biggest piece in half to check. No pink means it’s done.Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Turn the heat to medium, add the gnocchi and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, until they float to the top.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Turn the heat to low and stir in the half-and-half and spinach.
Low heat
Heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the spinach and the soup is steaming. Don’t let it .
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Low heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
Taste for salt and serve with parmesan on top.
Dolly’s tip: Gnocchi keep soaking up broth. Loosen leftovers with a splash of broth or milk when you reheat them.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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