A copycat of Olive Garden’s favorite soup, this Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is filled with vegetables, chicken and potato gnocchi, all in a creamy, flavorful and comforting soup.
There’s nothing like a warm bowl of soup on a cold night! Serve this soup up with some Easy Dinner Rolls or French Bread for the perfect cold night dinner.
I love a good copycat recipe. I mean, who doesn’t, right? We’ve got Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana, Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits, California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza, and Chili’s Southwest Egg Rolls, just to name a few.
I mean – if you can make it even better at home, I’m all in!
And this Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is on my list of favorites, probably right there among the best. Creamy and full of flavor, I make this soup several times a year.
Ingredients
- Butter & Olive Oil: I love the mixture of the butter and olive oil in this recipe. The flavors are perfect.
- Onions, Celery, Carrots, and Garlic: This is your vegetable mix. You do want fresh garlic, if possible, for the best flavor.
- Thyme: The thyme really brings in a lot of flavor. Fresh is best, but if you need to use dried, use about 1/2 teaspoon and crush it between your fingers before you add it for the best flavor.
- Salt and Pepper: Always season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Flour: The flour will thicken up the soup a bit.
- Chicken Broth & Half and Half: The half and half gives the soup its creaminess, and the chicken broth gives lots of flavor.
- Chicken: My shortcut for this recipe is to use cooked, shredded chicken that I’ve made ahead of time. It’s a great ingredient to keep on hand all the time! You can also use rotisserie chicken, if desired.
- Gnocchi: I use the dry, packaged gnocchi that you can find with the other dry pastas at the grocery store.
- Spinach: Baby spinach works great because it is tender, but you can also use regular spinach. Just make sure to chop it roughly.
How to Make It
- Start by heating the olive oil and butter in a heavy bottomed pot. I love using a Dutch oven. Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic and thyme. Cook them until they are softened, then season them with salt and pepper.
- Stir the flour into the mixture and cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the chicken broth slowly. Make sure you scrape the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan – this is where you get a lot of flavor! Whisk in the half and half, then stir in the chicken. Simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cooked gnocchi and the spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted. Serve and enjoy!
Chicken Gnocchi Soup Video
Watch the video above to see how easy it is to make this soup.
Tips and Tricks
- As with most recipes, taste the soup at the end and add more salt and pepper to taste. You’ll be amazed how much a little bit of salt can do!
- The recipe calls for half and half, but you can sub in milk and/or heavy cream as desired.
- Don’t love spinach? You can leave it out, or sub in another green you may like better, such as kale.
- I like to use an enameled Dutch oven to cook this on the stovetop, but any soup pot will work.
More Soup Recipes
Crock Pot Chili
Turkey Noodle Soup
Butternut Squash Soup
Crockpot Potato Soup
Beef Stew
French Onion Soup
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Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 4 cups half and half
- 2 cups cooked chicken shredded or cubed
- 1 pound gnocchi prepared according to the package directions
- 2-3 cups baby spinach roughly chopped
Instructions
- In a Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic and thyme and cook until softened, 5-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Slowly whisk in the half and half. Stir in the chicken. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add in the prepared gnocchi and spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted.
- Taste soup and season with salt and pepper before serving.
Tammie says
Made this recipe today. It was so yummy! Will definitely make again.
Connie says
My husband and I thought this was even better than Olive Garden.
Britt says
Tried this recipe tonight. It tastes exactly like Olive Garden. It’s my favorite soup, I will be making this all the time!
Michelle says
This was so easy to make and better than olive garden!
Urana Q. C. says
Made this today I added old bay seasoning. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Elizabeth says
I just made this delicious recipe! Thanks for sharing absolutely yum!!
I did use 2 cups skim milk instead of all 4 half and half. The soup was pretty thick do I think next time for the sake only of fat would probably just replace all half and half with skim milk. But either way! Very amazing!
Pamela says
I made this soup for dinner on a snowy day. I did add sausage and cooked it in the Crock-Pot. I do not feel that it tastes like the soup at Olive garden but it was still very good.
Betty Kinder-Kirby says
With the use of sausage you failed to follow the recipe as it was written. Sausage is greasy with stronger taste than chicken, that would surley change the taste. Plus cooking in a crockpot just allowed it to cook longer asorbing all the flavor of the sausage.
Evelyn says
I made this soup on Friday night in hopes of it lasting all weekend but my husband loved it so much I had to make a second batch batch for him on Sunday! Thanks for the recipe, its a hit at my house! I’m hoping there’s some leftovers I can take for work this week.
jackie z says
what could I use instead of half-half? Could I use white beans instead?
Deborah says
You can use half milk and half cream, or you could probably even just use all milk if you want a soup that isn’t quite as rich. You could definitely add beans to it as well!
Cynde Ketchum says
I made this and the family lived it!! Definitely a keeper. We have a chalkboard in the kitchen we put our favorite meals and this one made the board
Deborah says
I’m honored to have made the board! So glad it’s a new family favorite. 🙂
Kathryn says
I have been wanting to try this! I love gnocchi so this is perfect!
Linda says
Made this soup it’s to lie for. Everyoneloved
Neena says
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE! !! It is spot on olive garden’s soup which I love! Like your husband mine loved it as well abd I am making it again for him tonight lol. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. ….
Deborah says
Yay!! I’m so glad you loved it as much as we do! 🙂
Connie says
I have made this many times but instead of buying the gnocchi, I make potato dumplings with a mashed cooked potato and bisquick. My family loves it.
Deborah says
ooh – that sounds delicious!!
Melanie | Melanie Makes says
The perfect bowl of comfort on this crazy cold day!
Sally says
I need to try this soup out but the problem is there is no half and half where I live, so would you please tell me if there is a substitute for it?! thanks 🙂
Deborah says
You can just use half regular milk and half heavy cream and that should work!
Sally says
thanks a lot you’re the bestest 🙂
Alyse says
We used half heavy cream and half cashew milk, cause no half and half, and I needed to use my cashew milk haha! It turned out AMAZING!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Deborah says
I’m so glad it turned out well!!