How To Make Olive Garden Chicken And Gn

This Chicken Gnocchi Soup is better than Olive Garden! Loaded with tender chicken, chunks of vegetables, and spinach in a creamy, flavorful broth, it's made in 30 minutes!

See the step by step recipe video down in the recipe card.

Table of Contents

Why this Chicken Gnocchi Soup is better than Olive Garden:
How to make Chicken Gnocchi Soup:
How to make Crockpot Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:
How to store soup:
More hearty soup recipes you'll love!
Chicken Gnocchi Soup Recipe

overhead image of pot of chicken gnocchi soup with wooden spoon

Love gnocchi as much as we do? Try this Italian Sausage Gnocchi Skillet or this Gnocchi with Sausage, Spinach and Tomatoes — both are made in one pot!

Everyone loves Olive Garden, right?

There is just something so comforting about rich, creamy pastas, fresh-from-the-oven breadsticks and a cozy bowl of soup!

Now, I love them all: the Zuppa Toscana (see my Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscana here), the Minestrone (see my Minestrone soup here), the Pasta e Fagioli — but a good chunky, creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup will always have my heart.

The thing is, the last couple times I've been there I've just been so disappointed in what Olive Garden is calling "Chicken Gnocchi Soup" these days — I feel like a more accurate name would be "Thin Creamy Broth with One Carrot, One Piece of Spinach and Two Gnocchi'.

close up image of wooden spoon stirring chicken gnocchi soup

It doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Why this Chicken Gnocchi Soup is better than Olive Garden:

Instead of the thin, disappointing Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup, in this soup you'll get plenty of:

flavor! All those veggies add a ton of it
tender shredded chicken — that cooks right in the soup, making it tender and lending more flavor to the broth! (If you've got some of this Crockpot Shredded Chicken or Instant Pot Shredded Chicken kicking around, feel free to use that instead!)
pillowy soft gnocchi
and enough creamy broth to soak up with our favorite breadsticks 😉

Plus, you get the added benefit of making your house smell amazing in the meantime 😉

How to make Chicken Gnocchi Soup:

This soup is so simple to make, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to make it even easier:

Saute your onion, celery and carrots in a great big dutch oven or soup pot
Add your spices and seasonings — cooking them first in the dry pot wakes up their flavor!
Add your broth, raw chicken breasts or thighs (you read that right!), and other vegetables — I use a bag of matchstick carrots to make this even easier.
Cook it until the chicken and vegetables are tender, then remove the chicken to shread and stir in some cream, gnocchi, spinach and a big sprinkling of Parmesan — let it cook just until the gnocchi is tender.
Serve it up! Don't forget the bread 😉

sauteeing vegetables in large pot for chicken gnocchi soup — Saute vegetables and add seasonings

broth and chicken breasts added to soup in pot — Saute vegetables and add seasonings

How to make Crockpot Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:

This Chicken Gnocchi Soup is also easy to make in the slow cooker if you need to plan ahead!

Simply saute your onion, celery and spices as the recipe originally calls for (if you're really in a time crunch or hate dishes, you can skip this part, but you'll get the best results this way).

overhead image of bowl of chicken gnocchi soup

Add the chicken and other vegetables to the crockpot with the broth, and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Shred the chicken and add in the gnocchi, cream, spinach and Parmesan and cook another 20-30 minutes.

How to store soup:

One of the great things about this soup is it makes great leftovers! The flavor continues to develop as it sits so it's perfect for making ahead.

In the refrigerator:

You can store this soup in the refrigerator up to 4 days in an airtight container.

In the freezer:

You can freeze this soup in freezer safe containers (I prefer to freeze mine in large freezer bags, frozen flat, so that it thaws quickly!), leaving an inch or two of space in the container at the top.

Freeze up to 3 months.

To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight or in a pot on the stovetop on low.

overhead image of bowl of chicken gnocchi soup with spoon

More hearty soup recipes you'll love!

Cheeseburger Soup
Crockpot Potato Soup
Beef and Barley Soup
Chicken Rice Soup: Stove Top or Slow Cooker

2 tablespoons oil
½ medium onion finely chopped
2 ribs celery finely chopped
1 cup carrot matchsticks (or finely chopped carrots)
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
¾ cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon corn starch
3 cups small gnocchi (500g)
1 ½ cups fresh spinach roughly chopped
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large dutch oven or soup pot, add oil and cook onion, celery and carrots over medium-high heat until slightly softened.
Add parsley, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and stir.
Add broth and chicken breasts and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until vegetables are tender and chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 12-15 minutes.
Remove chicken breasts to a cutting board to shred. Whisk together cream and corn starch and stir into the soup with the gnocchi. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes until gnocchi is tender and soup is slightly thickened.
Stir in shredded chicken, spinach and Parmesan. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve.

Keywords chicken gnocchi soup, chicken soup

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My name is Ashley Fehr and I love creating easy meals my family loves. I also like to do things my way, which means improvising and breaking the rules when necessary. Here you will find creative twists on old favorites and some of my favorite family recipes, passed down from generations!