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30-Minute, One-Pan Gnocchi with Sausage

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

30-Minute, One-Pan Gnocchi with Sausage

4.88 from 111 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: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes
Total Time: 22 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

  1. One-Pot Gnocchi with Spinach and Chicken. Creamy, quick, and delish!
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!

One Pot Pizza Pasta

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




101 comments

    • Helen Jennings
    • 5 stars

    Thank you! I was looking for a recipe that I had most of the ingredients for already. I used spinach gnocchi and a bag of mixed italian style veggies instead of going out to find fresh spinach. Skipped the mozza cheese too, but the Parmesan was enough for us. I love these kinds of recipes that can be adapted to what you have. Loved it!

      • chewoutloud

      Oh, that’s awesome, Helen! So so happy you liked this recipe 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • Amanda

    Super fast, super easy, teenagers scarfed up happily. I’ll keep this in the rotation.

    • Susanne
    • 5 stars

    Made this today with sun dried tomato/basil chicken sausage and dried gnocchi from Trader Joe’s. I added extra broth to make it a little more like a stew. It was REALLY delicious! I am definitely making this again. Everyone loved it.

    • Johanne Mostek

    Yum! Great recipe! Will definitely be making again:) Loved all the flavors. I had bought a costco size package of gnocchi that I wanted to try a different recipe for, so glad I tried this one. Very simple to make. I added some diced black olives because they have been sitting in the pantry a while and it worked. Thank you for sharing.

    • Susan phillips

    Why dry gnocchi?

      • chewoutloud

      I use dry gnocchi because that’s easiest for me to keep stored in my pantry 🙂 You can probably use refrigerated gnocchi just fine as well, but might need to lessen the cook time if needed. Hope you love this, Susan 🙂

    • Rachelle Hughes

    Easy and delicious. Going into my pasta dinner rotation.

    • Vanessa

    Ever freeze it?

    • Mimi

    This was so good! I have a two year old so anything under a half hour is a must in my book. She loved it, my husband loved it and I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing…I’m not looking if you have any quick shrimp recipes. New favorite blog!!

      • chewoutloud

      Awww, thanks Mimi! So happy you all enjoyed this 🙂 I know when my kiddos love something, it’s a win!

    • Dea Varner

    OK… so my husband hates sausage, and usually he won’t eat pasta… but this sounded sooo good I made it anyway… for myself! Well the hubs smelled it and said it looked good and the next thing I know, he’d eaten a big plate of it and was raving about it… guess this one’s a definite keeper!!!!!!

      • chewoutloud

      LOL, looks like we brought him over to the dark side So glad you guys liked!

    • Melissa

    This was pretty amazing, even my kids loved it. My two year old went back for seconds. Definitely a keeper.

      • chewoutloud

      Yipee, Melissa, that makes me happy!! 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know you guys loved! 🙂

    • Laura

    Would this work with tortellini? Thanks!

      • chewoutloud

      Laura, I think it would work! Just have to adjust the cook time according to your tortellini package instructions, but it should turn out yummy. Cool idea 🙂

    • Megan

    This dish was excellent! My husband and I really enjoyed it. I’ve never cooked gnocchi before and this recipe made it very simple. We decided to use hot sausage for this dish and it was an amazing flavor! The little bit of left overs we had were just as good! Thank you for this great recipe!

      • chewoutloud

      Yay, love to hear it, Megan! Thanks for taking the time to come over and tell us 🙂

    • Rachelle

    Awesome recipe! It got raving reviews from my boyfriend (haven’t heard that level of “this-is-delicious” enthusiasm in a while). Thank you so, so much!

      • chewoutloud

      Yay, Rachelle! So happy to hear you guys loved it 🙂 Thanks for coming over to let us know today!

    • chantelle catania

    This was delicious! A great way to get even more veggies into my toddler. I also mixed in some green beans. Thanks for sharing!

      • chewoutloud

      Yay, so glad to hear that, Chantelle! Thanks for coming over to let us know 🙂

    • Gloria

    Made gnocchi with spinach sausage and cheese one pot dinner, just excellent keep the 30 minute dishes coming. My husband couldn’t stop eating Thank you

      • chewoutloud

      Aww, you’re so welcome, Gloria! Thanks for the kind comment. So glad you guys loved it, and hope you keep comin’ back for more 🙂

      • Liz

      Love this recipe! I make it vegetarian with Field Roast Vegan Sausages and veg broth and the flavors are definitely not lacking.

      Also, I would advise against using a cast iron skillet for this, because the tomatoes and dairy clear the seasoning right off! Lesson learned 🙂

        • chewoutloud

        That’s fantastic, Liz! So glad you’re loving it 🙂

    • Mary

    Do you have to use a non stick skillet

      • chewoutloud

      Mary, I prefer my nonstick for this recipe, but you can certainly use a regular skillet, greased first. Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for coming over today 🙂

    • Emily B

    This was amazing and perfect to just throw together any day. Having it be a one-pot dinner is even better! I love crock pot meals but that requires actual forethought whereas this is perfect for “I did not even remember dinner was a thing until 5:30. Scheiße! ” THANK YOU!

      • chewoutloud

      Aww, that’s awesome to hear, Emily! Super happy you loved it – great job! 🙂 Thanks for coming over and letting us know. Hope you continue finding recipes you love here at COL 🙂

    • Anne

    This is fantastic, had it twice I the since you posted it and my picky husband is asking for this yummy dish again;) thanks for the recipe.

    • psychoexgf

    Hi, I just wanted to let you know that my husband & I had this tonight, and it was delicious! Thanks for the awesome recipe.

      • chewoutloud

      Yipee, Anna, great job! Thanks for letting us know, and glad you found us 🙂

    • Reesie Qzak

    It’s official, you need a cookbook so that I can stop printing these out and just have everything on hand 😀 This looks amazing and I’ll have to try this next week.

      • chewoutloud

      Thanks for the kind comment, Reesie! I’m so glad you enjoy the recipes…yippee!! 🙂 Thanks for coming over and dropping a line today 🙂

      • Chris
      • 5 stars

      Thank you so much for this recipe. I made it tonight and it was a big hit!

        • chewoutloud

        So happy you guys enjoyed this dish, Chris! 🙂 🙂 🙂

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