Homemade Gnocchi Recipe, Easy & Fluffy  — Homesteading Family

Gnocchi is a traditional Italian dumpling made from potatoes, flour, and eggs. It’s soft, tender, and wonderfully satisfying, with just enough chew to hold onto your favorite sauce. And this homemade gnocchi recipe is especially handy because you can use home-canned potatoes to get dinner on the table a little faster. You can also boil fresh potatoes if that’s what you have on hand.

There’s something really special about making these little potato dumplings from scratch. They’re simple ingredients, but the result feels decadent. Much like this homemade egg noodles recipe, they are incredibly versatile. Serve them with your favorite pasta sauce, or keep things simple with this carrot top pesto.

What Makes This Recipe Unique?

One of the things I find really helpful about recipes like this is that they don’t require a long list of specialty ingredients. You can make something that feels a little extra special using potatoes, eggs, flour, and salt.

And if you’ve got home-canned potatoes sitting in the pantry, this is a wonderful way to put them to work.

Here’s why I love this recipe:

• It uses simple ingredients. Nothing fancy is required.
• Canned potatoes save time. You can skip the step of boiling and cooling fresh potatoes.
• It’s soft and fluffy. Potato gnocchi has such a lovely texture when it’s cooked properly.
• You can make it ahead. Gnocchi can be frozen for another meal.
• It’s incredibly versatile. Pair it with tomato sauce, cream sauce, pesto, butter, garlic, or simply olive oil and fresh herbs.
• It’s a great from-scratch kitchen skill. This is the kind of recipe that helps you become more confident making food at home instead of always reaching for something packaged.

And don’t worry if your first batch isn’t perfectly shaped. Those little ridges are helpful for catching sauce, but they don’t change whether your gnocchi tastes delicious.

Serving Suggestions

This homemade gnocchi recipe is one of those wonderful foundations you can take in a dozen different directions. Once you’ve got those soft little potato dumplings cooked, you can dress them up however you like.

For a simple weeknight meal, I love sautéing the cooked gnocchi in olive oil with garlic, fresh thyme, and oregano. It’s simple, but those fresh herbs and golden edges make the whole kitchen smell wonderful.

You can also toss your gnocchi with your favorite pasta sauce made with fermented tomato sauce, a homemade meat sauce, this creamy leek pasta recipe, Alfredo, or carrot top pesto. A little freshly grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper on top is always a good idea, too.

But don’t stop there. Use gnocchi to make a quick pantry soup, or swap for the potatoes in a skillet supper, casseroles, and sheet pan dinners.

Start where you are, use what you have, and make it your own.

Storage Instructions

Refrigerating Cooked Gnocchi:

Allow cooked gnocchi to cool, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

For the best texture, use refrigerated cooked gnocchi within a few days.

Freezing Gnocchi:

Gnocchi freezes beautifully, and this is a great way to get ahead on future meals.

Place the uncooked gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured baking sheet or tray. Freeze until firm, then transfer the gnocchi to a freezer-safe container or bag.

When you’re ready to cook it, you can cook the gnocchi directly from frozen. Add it to boiling water in batches and cook until it floats and is cooked through.

Don’t overcrowd the pot. Give those little dumplings room to cook.

The Homestead Kitchen

This homemade gnocchi recipe was featured in issue No.60 of the Homestead Kitchen magazine. If you are ready to master your homestead kitchen, this affordable magazine was curated with you in mind.

It’s packed full of cream-of-the-crop homesteading information, including recipes, DIY instructions, inspirational stories, homesteading hacks, book reviews, gardening tips, kids’ projects, and more. We can’t wait to share it with you! 

If you want to spend less time striving in the kitchen and more time enjoying it, then subscribe today to have your monthly copy delivered right to your mailbox.