8 Gnocchi Recipes Pasta Lovers Will Adore

Gnocchi may be one of the more baffling varieties of pasta. For starters, how do you even pronounce the name? According to one self-proclaimed YouTube pronunciation expert, it's "NYAW-kee," so we're going with that.

The next question, though, is how can it call itself pasta when it's made from potatoes? Yes, most dictionaries and encyclopedias define pasta as a dish made from wheat flour, but we'll just have to accept that gnocchi is the exception to that rule and move on. One thing that's not at all confusing, however, is what to do with gnocchi, since you can use it pretty much as you would any other kind of pasta.

While you can make something as simple as gnocchi tossed with marinara or prepared cacio e pepe style with butter and parmesan, we do have a few recipes tailored specially for potato pasta. These include pasta bakes, soups, and one-pan fry-ups, but if you're really ambitious, you might also want to check out the recipes for DIY gnocchi. One of these is made with white potatoes, the other with sweet potatoes, and both recipes are easier to follow than you'd probably think.

This dish is kind of like the pasta version of a loaded baked potato since you've got the potatoes in the form of gnocchi, while you've also got sauteed mushrooms, crumbled bacon, and both mozzarella and cheddar cheese. There's even some spinach in there, for good measure. This casserole could make for an extra-rich side dish to accompany steak or grilled chicken, but you could also serve it with a salad and call it the main course.

Recipe: Creamy Gnocchi Bake

Making your own pasta might sound like an ordeal that takes all day and requires special equipment, but gnocchi's a different deal. Cook your potatoes, mash them, and add flour to make a dough. Shaping them is as simple as rolling and cutting, no pasta machine needed. You can heat up the gnocchi right away if you're hungry, but if not, it's okay to leave it in the freezer until you're ready to use it.

Recipe: Potato Gnocchi

While this recipe calls for cauliflower gnocchi, you can use the standard potato-based kind if you prefer. Boil it, fry it up in a pan with some sweet potatoes and kale, sprinkle it with parmesan, and you'll have a great side dish to accompany roast pork, pot roast, or any other hearty fall favorite. If you really want to go all-in on the autumnal theme, you could even swap out the sweet potato for pumpkin.

Recipe: 15-Minute Fall Gnocchi

While this recipe has the words "Trader Joe's" in the name, you can pick up the necessary ingredients at any other grocery store you favor. If you're not a fan of cauliflower gnocchi, you can use the potato kind here, as well. The gnocchi are cooked with cherry tomatoes and basil then sprinkled with grated cheese to make for a Mediterranean-style side. If you pair it with meatballs or chicken parmesan, it can make an excellent alternative to spaghetti.

Recipe: Trader Joe's 5-Ingredient Gnocchi

Sheet pan meals were one of the hottest cooking trends of the 20-teens, but they'll never really be out of style as long as busy people want to cook an entire meal (or most of one) without much hands-on time. This particular sheet bake consists of onions, asparagus, tomatoes, and gnocchi that are cooked then served up on a bed of arugula with a balsamic drizzle. If you add a protein such as salami, chicken, or chickpeas to this salad, you can consider it a complete meal.

Recipe: Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi

Did you know that sweet potatoes, too, could be used to make gnocchi? You should if you've been paying attention since we mentioned it once already. This type of potato works pretty much the same way as its paler counterpart, meaning that all you need to do is cook it, stir in some flour, then roll out the gnocchi dough and cut it into bits for boiling. To get the most out of the sweet potato flavor, we recommend dressing it simply — here we're going with garlic-sage butter and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Recipe: Easy Sweet Potato Gnocchi

If you enjoy Olive Garden's gnocchi soup but don't need the endless bread sticks, our copycat recipe will allow you to enjoy something pretty similar at home. With some leftover rotisserie chicken, a carton of gnocchi, a cup of cream, and a carton of stock, plus a few cups of pre-chopped vegetables (we suggest hitting up the supermarket salad bar for these), you can have a bowl of soup in under half an hour.

Recipe: Copycat Olive Garden Chicken & Gnocchi Soup

If you want to experience all of kale's health benefits but can't stomach the stuff in a salad, this recipe makes the fibrous greens much easier to consume. For one thing, cooking them means they're not so hard to digest. For another, the combination of starchy gnocchi and beans plus the flavorful marinara and mozzarella topping helps to temper the vegetable's somewhat bitter flavor.

Recipe: 5-Ingredient Kale And White Bean Gnocchi Bake