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20-Minute, One-Pan Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinach

Busy weeknights? No problem. This easy and fast Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinach is wonderfully tasty! All you need is 20 minutes and one pan. Deliciously simple!

Gnocchi with sausage, spinach, and tomatoes in a pan
Fluffy, tender gnocchi with sausage, spinach, and tomatoes

Gnocchi with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes

With all the busy ongoings of daily life, if you’re ever asked yourself who has time to cook? then you’re in the right place today.

Feeding the family deliciously nutritious meals doesn’t have to take hours to accomplish. Especially when there are fail proof one-pan meals that require minimal effort for maximum results.

This 20-minute Gnocchi with Sausage, Spinach, and Tomatoes is packed with big flavors the entire family will adore. Fluffy soft gnocchi, savory sausage, and fresh vegetables are combined into a tasty meal you’ll feel great about serving.

Bonus: you’ll appreciate the fact that there’s only one skillet for this easy gnocchi recipe.

gnocchi with sausage, spinach, and tomatoes in a pan
Weeknight meal-in-one, in just 20 minutes

Buying and Storing Gnocchi

Though we won’t pretend store-bought gnocchi is synonymous with the variety that comes from a masterful chef’s restaurant kitchen, we will vouch for the simplicity and ease that pre-made gnocchi provides. Not to mention, it tastes pretty incredible when treated right.

You’ll generally find vacuum sealed packages of gnocchi in the refrigerated section of your major grocery store. It can sometimes be found in the pasta aisle as well. Packaged gnocchi will feel soft to the touch, unlike other dry pasta. Gnocchi differs from pasta, as it’s made with potatoes. Thus, its characteristics are soft and fluffy, rather than chewy.

Once you bring your gnocchi home, store it in either your fridge or pantry at moderate room temperature in its original vacuum sealed container. We recommend using the entire package once opened, in order to enjoy it as freshly as possible.

Gnocchi with sausage, spinach, and tomatoes
Just a handful of ingredients and one big skillet

Prep-Ahead Tips

Although this easy gnocchi recipe is already unbelievably simple and quick, we’re still fond of any streamlining strategies that make dinnertime even easier.

Here are a few tips for you to make our fast and easy gnocchi recipe even quicker:

  • Whenever you have a recipe or need for chopped onions and/or garlic, go ahead and chop plenty of extra. Place extras in an airtight container and freeze until your next recipe calls for chopped onions or garlic.
  • Buy ground Italian sausage without casings. This eliminates the need to remove casings when you go to cook the sausage.
  • Buy baby spinach leaves in the pre-packaged salad section of your grocery store, pre-washed and ready to use.
  • You can buy pre-shredded cheeses, or better yet — shred your own blocks of cheese one night and place in airtight containers to keep in fridge for recipes that call for shredded cheese.

This 20-Minute, One-Pan Gnocchi with Sausage with Spinach is a completely fuss-free recipe that will satisfy your carb lovers, carnivores, and and melty cheese eaters. Enjoy.


Try This One-Pot Creamy Gnocchi with Chicken, Too:


Did you make this?

Please give us a rating and comment below. We love hearing from you!

gnocchi with spinach and sausage and tomatoes

20-Minute, One-Pan Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinach

4.86 from 95 ratings
Busy weeknights? No problem. This easy and fast Gnocchi with Sausage and Spinach is wonderfully tasty! All you need is 20 minutes and one pan. Deliciously simple! Serve with a loaf of French or Italian bread to eat up any leftover sauce.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 17 minutes
Servings: 6
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

  • 2 TB olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb Italian sausage, bulk, no casings
  • 1 16 oz package potato gnocchi (from refrigerated or pasta aisle)
  • 1 14.5 oz can Italian flavored diced tomatoes with juices (do not drain)
  • ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
  • 4 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • In a large nonstick skillet, add oil and heat over medium high until hot. Add onion and garlic and stir/cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
  • Add sausage; stir and break it up into pieces, until nicely browned. Don't drain. Add uncooked gnocchi. Stir 1 min, gently breaking up any clumps. Stir in tomatoes with juices and chicken broth. Cover and cook on medium heat, 5 min, or just until gnocchi is fluffy and cooked through. Turn off heat.
  • Add spinach and pepper. Stir until spinach leaves are wilted. Sprinkle with cheeses and cover for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melty. Serve immediately. 

Notes

Sliced French or Italian bread is a great accompaniment, for soaking up leftover sauce.
Make it meatless: Simply skip the sausage and add another veggie instead. Sub veggie broth for chicken broth.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 217kcal | Carbohydrates: 16.4g | Protein: 10.8g | Fat: 12.6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 20.8mg | Sodium: 516.5mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 2.9g
Course: Dinner, Main
Cuisine: Italian
Method: Stovetop

favorite weeknight one-pan meals

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One Pot Gnocchi with Spinach and Chicken 4

2. One-Pot Pizza Pasta. No need for pizza dough; get your weeknight pizza fix with this delish pasta!

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3. One-Pot Thai Chicken and Rice. A simple twist for something deliciously different from your everyday one-pot!

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4. One-Pot Enchilada Rice Casserole. Get all the yum in an enchilada, with this easy rice dish!

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Recipe Rating




97 comments

    • Marcie
    • 5 stars

    This is by far the yummiest and easiest dinner I make for my family. It’s so easy and seriously one of my all time favorites. It can be made so many different ways and is unbelievably delicious regardless of the variation. No spinach, lots of spinach, no parm, tons of parm, no mozzarella, lots of mozzarella, mild sausage, spicy sausage, small gnocchi, large gnocchi, ITS LITERALLY DELICIOUS NO MATTER HOW YOU MAKE IT.
    I never eat gnocchi any other way now, lol.
    I’m so glad I found this recipe. Being a mom of 2 crazy boys is a lot easier when you have easy, quick, yummy recipes up your sleeve.

    • Susan j Kingsbury
    • 5 stars

    Fabulous.

    • Dorothy A Shull
    • 5 stars

    I made this the other night, downsizing for 2. It was very light and easy. I’d make it again.

      • Amy Dong

      So happy to hear that, Dorothy! 🙂

    • Rachel
    • 5 stars

    It seemed a little meat heavy for me so next time I’ll only use half a pound of Italian sausage and sub veggies or mushrooms for the other half.

      • Marcie
      • 5 stars

      Sometimes I just cup up Italian sausage links into little mealball sized chunks rather than using a ground meat. You could try that if you don’t like having meat in every bite. I actually prefer it that way.

    • Emily
    • 5 stars

    I LOVE this recipe. I made it as a freezer meal prep for when I was having a baby, and now I make it for all of my friends and family. I add mushrooms and zucchini for extra veggie factor. I’m always playing with reheating— 375°F until heated through is usually what I go with. I’d love to hear how others reheat!

      • Amy Dong

      Love the extra veggies and using it for freezer meal prep!

    • Marcie
    • 5 stars

    I’ve made this several times now. OUTSTANDING flavor, super super easy recipe, pretty quick meal even when it’s late and we’re in a rush. All around just one of my favorite recipes. Easy, Delicious, and quick. All my kids love it too, including the 1 year old.
    Depending on what I have in the frig, I’ve made it with and without mozzarella, with and without spinach leaves, with and without parm chese, etc. It’s Delicious no matter what to be honest with you
    side note– I do always use fire roasted tomatoes instead of regular diced (canned) tomatoes. Just an added zing that I like.

    • Marcie
    • 5 stars

    I’ve made this several times now. OUTSTANDING flavor, super super easy recipe, pretty quick meal even when it’s late and we’re in a rush. All around just one of my favorite recipes. Easy, Delicious, and quick. All my kids love it too, including the 1 year old.
    Depending on what I have in the frig, I’ve made it with and without mozzarella, with and without spinach leaves, with and without parm chese, etc. It’s Delicious no matter what to be honest with you

    • Lisa
    • 5 stars

    Got a “mmmm” from both my kids. This recipe is a keeper!

      • Amy Dong

      Yay, Lisa!

    • Emma
    • 5 stars

    I *rarely* (if ever) rate recipes, but I was blown away at this one. I had a hankering for gnocchi and sausage for dinner, and found this recipe in my search!

    Inexpensive, incredibly easy and quick to make (a one-pot dump-and-go? Sign me up!) and the added spinach for the veggie serving. I have a weird texture thing with spinach so I chopped it all up and it was perfect!

    I stirred in the cheese instead of topping it, then sprinkled a little bit more when serving. I also added in a splash of whole milk to dampen the spice from the sausage (I have a mega-weak tongue when it comes to spice). Wow wow wow. Perfection!

    10/10. Will definitely be adding to my rotation.

    • Leeward
    • 5 stars

    This is comfort food at its best! I didn’t have enough sausage meat so I made up the rest of the weight with some shredded cooked chicken but it was superb! Thank you for a great recipe.

    • Maria

    Do you have any suggestions for a sausage substitution? My family doesn’t like any type of sausage but this recipe sounds delicious and I’d like to make it

      • chewoutloud

      These would all work well: chopped ham, shredded cooked chicken, or crumbled cooked bacon. Enjoy!

    • Christine

    Thank you for this gnocchi recipe; it was soooo good. I wanted to add more vegetables, so I served it over well-steamed broccoli with melted Parmesan cheese. It was the perfect comfort food: Hot, yummy, and not too heavy. This will definitely go into our regular rotation.

    • Stevi
    • 5 stars

    wow! this was delicious! made it with some homemade Italian seasoning and gluten free sweet potato gnocchi. My husband loved it as well!!!! definitely making another batch to seal a meal up for next month’s camping trip. thank you!

    • Hannah Platt
    • 5 stars

    Made this recipe many times… The whole family love it

    • Darelyn Kelly

    I have made this at least 10 times now and my picky husband just loves it and so do I. Thank you so much for a great quick weeknight recipe.

      • chewoutloud

      Aww, that makes me super happy to hear! 🙂

    • Jess
    • 5 stars

    Awesome and quick! Thank you for the recipe! We loved it!

      • chewoutloud

      You’re so welcome, Jess!

    • Emily
    • 5 stars

    This has been one of my go-to weeknight recipes for over a year! It is one of our favorites! The only thing I change is adding way more spinach. Basically as much as I can fit in the pan! 🙂 Thank you for a great and easy recipe!

      • chewoutloud

      I love hearing this, Emily 🙂

    • Barbara
    • 4 stars

    Made this last night. It was very tasty! Took longer to make than 30 minutes, but here is the reason. I couldn’t find dry or refrigerated gnocchi at the market (live in a small town) so I decided to make them when I got home. Found several recipes online using instant potato flakes. Next time I will cook them first before adding them to the meat. I didn’t because your recipe called for uncooked, but it took about 15 minutes for them to cook through. I now have some in my freezer, the recipe made enough for two batches.

      • chewoutloud

      Sounds fabulous, Barbara!

    • Jena Schaafsma
    • 5 stars

    One of the best dishes I have made and it’s so easy!! Highly recommend!

      • chewoutloud

      That’s wonderful! Thank you, Jena 🙂

    • Kari Alana
    • 5 stars

    This is the perfect combination of flavours in a gnocchi dish. My entire family loves gnocchi so I am going to be making this for dinner.

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