Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup (2024)

ThisOlive Garden Recipe can be made on the stove, slow cooker or instant pot in just 30 minutes!

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup is creamy, flavorful and ready in just 30 minutes. ThisChicken and Gnocchi Olive Garden Recipe can be made on the stove, slow cooker or instant pot.

Like Soups From Olive Garden? Try our other Copycat Olive Garden Recipes: Zuppa Toscana Soup, Pasta e fa*gioli, and Olive Garden Minestrone Soup. Pair it with Stuffed Ziti Fritta, another Olive Garden copycat recipe, for a full meal.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

This Chicken and Gnocchi Olive Garden Recipe is the epitome of a cozy, cold weather soup recipe. The rich and creamy broth engulf’s tender chicken, soft gnocchi, healthy vegetables and flavorful seasonings. It’s also pretty adaptable to suit your needs.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients to make Chicken Gnocchi Soup Olive Garden:

Protein – chicken breasts work best
Gnocchi – homemade or store bought
Vegetables – onion, carrot, celery, garlic and spinach
Fats – Olive oil and butter
Liquids – chicken broth and half and half
Spices – thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper
Flour – thickens the soup! Don’t skip it

Make sure to use high qualify chicken broth, such as our Instant Pot Bone broth, or the end result will suffer.

What Kind of Chicken Should I Use?

Pre-cooked skinless chicken breast is the way to go. Dice up a few chicken breasts, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and add to a sauce pan pre-heated with some olive oil over medium high heat. Flip and stir until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until you’re ready to make your soup.

You can also snag a rotisserie chicken from the store and cut up.

How To Make

This Olive Garden Copycat recipe calls for store bough gnocchi. Homemade gnocchi is time consuming and messy, so we usually stick with store bought for this one. If you insist on making your own (more power to you!) here’s a popular gnocchi recipe to check out.

Slow Cooker

This Chicken and Gnocchi Soup Olive Garden coverts easily to the slow cooker. Only a few minor edits are needed, mainly the order in which you add the ingredients and when you add them in. Check out the recipe card before for the Slow Cooker instructions.

Instant Pot

Making Chicken Gnocchi Soup in the Instant Pot is just as easy as making it on the stove top. As with slow cooker chicken gnocchi soup, instant pot chicken gnocchi soup just mixes up the order in which you add the ingredients and when you add them in. Check out the recipe card before for the Instant Pot instructions.

Recipe Variations

Don’t have gnocchi? Sub in small pasta, orzo or even a diced potato (will need to cook longer to soften).
Replace the chicken with browned sausage for an extra flavor boost.
This is a great soup recipe to sneak in extra veggies. Think peas, zucchini, etc.
Thinner Soup – this soup gets pretty thick. To thin out the broth, just add an extra cup of chicken broth.

Olive Garden Copycat Recipe Tips

The soup will get thicker as it cooks. Keep that in mind when serving. If you want it thicker, just wait an extra 5 minutes or so.
Sauce – Continually stir the sauce, after the half and half is added, to avoid scorching and separation.
Vegetables – dice up the veggie’s as close in size as possible for even cooking. Fresh spinach works best. Frozen spinach will turn to mush.
Broth – Don’t cut corners. Make sure to use high qualify chicken broth, such as our Instant Pot Bone broth, or the end result will suffer.
How Long Does This Soup Last? Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The gnocchi will continue to suck up liquid, so if you know you won’t eat the whole pot, I highly recommend adding the gnocchi when ready to eat vs all at once.
Can You Freeze? Negative. Dairy-based soups and gnocchi, don’t freeze well. The texture of the soup will suffer and who want’s that??
How to Re-heat -Transfer the soup to a medium sauce pan and heat low and slow.

Side Dish Ideas

The only thing we eat with Gnocchi Olive Garden Soup is bread. Think one hour dinner rolls, slices of French bread or even muffaletta bread if we have some on hand.

Can You Freeze Leftovers?

Negative. Dairy-based soups and gnocchi, don’t freeze well. The texture of the soup will suffer and who want’s that??

Soup recipes from the Olive Garden lead the “fall soup recipes” list. Here are a few others:

Jambalaya Soup
Sancocho Dominicano
Split Pea Soup
Unstuffed Cabbage Soup

Wine Pairings

Riesling and Pinot Grigio are awesome white wine options.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Easy copycat of Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup. This olive garden recipe is creamy, flavorful and ready in just 30 minutes!

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 Servings

Calories: 415kcal

Cost: $11.00

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 cup diced white onion
½ cup shredded carrots
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ cup All-purpose flour
2-3 cups Instant Pot Bone Broth (or Low Sodium Chicken Broth) (*Note 1)
2 cups Half and Half
¼ tsp dried thyme
⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
2-3 cooked chicken breasts, diced (*Note 2)
16 oz Ready-To-Use potato gnocchi (*Note 3)
1 cup chopped fresh spinach,
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Stove Top Version:

Add butter and olive oil to a large soup pot and pre-heat over medium high. Sauté the onion, celery and carrots, until tender (approx. 2-3 minutes).
Add in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the flour and cook for approx. 1 minute.
Slowly pour in the chicken broth and half and half, stirring consistently, until the broth starts to thicken.
Turn down the heat to medium and stir in the thyme, nutmeg, cooked chicken and gnocchi. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until gnocchiis cooked and soup is thickened. (For thinner soup, add in an extra cup of chicken broth).
Add the spinach and cook until the spinach is wilted (approx. 2-3 minutes). Salt and pepper, to taste, and serve immediately.

Slow Cooker Version:

Turn the slow cooker to high, or use a skillet over medium high heat, and add the butter and olive oil. Once the butter is melted, sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until softened.
Add in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the flour and cook for approx. 1 minute.
Transfer the vegetable mixture to your slow cooker (if sautéed on the stove top). Add in the cooked chicken, thyme, nutmeg and chicken broth and stir to combine.
Cook on low for 3-4 hours, adding in the gnocchi for the last hour of cooking.
Right before serving, add the half and half and spinach and stir to combine. The spinach should wilt in approx. 2-3 minutes. Salt and pepper, to taste, and serve immediately.

Instant Pot Version:

Set the Instant Pot to the sauté setting and add the butter and olive oil. Sauté the onion, celery and carrots until tender (approx. 2-3 minutes).
Add in the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the flour and cook for approx. 1 minute.
Add in the thyme, nutmeg and chicken broth giving it a quick stir.
Set Instant Pot to "soup" setting and set timer for 15 minutes.
Once done cooking, naturally release for 5 minutes and then quick release.
Click "off" and then click the "sauté" button. Add the chicken, gnocchi, Half & Half and spinach to the soup. (For thinner soup, add in an extra cup of chicken broth).
Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until gnocchiis cooked and soup is thickened. (For thinner soup, add in an extra cup of chicken broth).

Notes

Note 1 – Start with two cup and add an extra cup if you prefer a “thinner” final product. Make sure you use low sodium stock or broth as to control the sodium content.

Note 2 – This is a good recipe to use leftover cooked chicken or a store bought rotisserie chicken.

Note 3 – If the gnocchi is extra large, cut them in half.

Note 4- the soup will continue to get thicker as it sits.

Nutrition

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