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Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
4.9 from 297 votes

Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)

This creamy chicken and gnocchi soup combines sautéed onion, carrot, celery, and garlic with chicken broth and herbs, cooked with chicken breasts or shredded rotisserie chicken. A butter and flour roux with milk and cream thickens the soup before adding spinach and gnocchi. The result is a hearty, rich, and comforting soup with tender chicken, pillowy gnocchi, and fresh spinach for mild texture and color contrasts.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
50 mins
Servings: 5
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups yellow onion finely chopped
  • 1 cup carrot small diced
  • 1 cup celery small diced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced (1 Tbsp
  • 2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth low-sodium
  • 1/2 teaspoon rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh, dried
  • 1/2 tsp thyme or 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh, dried
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • salt freshly ground
  • black pepper freshly ground
  • 1 lb chicken breast pounded evenly to nearly ½-inch thickness, or 2 1/2 cups cooked shredded rotisserie chicken, boneless, skinless
  • 1 (16 oz) pkg potato gnocchi I like to use mini, or homemade gnocchi
  • 5 Tbsp butter
  • 6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups milk then more to thin as needed
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups (2 oz) spinach roughly chopped, packed, fresh
  • Romano cheese for serving (optional, shredded, or parmesan cheese

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté 6 minutes, add garlic sauté 1- 2 minutes longer. 
  2. Pour in broth, add rosemary, thyme, nutmeg and season with salt and pepper to taste. 
  3. Add in chicken breasts (if using rotisserie chicken wait to add at the end) and bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and allow to simmer until chicken is cooked through (it should register 165 in center), about 8 - 12 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, while chicken is cooking, melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, cook and stir constantly 1 minute.
  5. While whisking vigorously pour in milk then continue to whisk vigorously to smooth any lumps. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
  6. While whisking constantly, cook until mixture thickens and lightly boils. Stir in cream, remove from heat.
  7. Once chicken in soup has cooked through remove chicken from soup and allow chicken to rest 5 minutes then dice or shred into pieces. If veggies aren't nearly soft let that soup simmer a few minutes longer before adding gnocchi. 
  8. Add gnocchi to broth mixture, cover and simmer for recommend time directed on package, about 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat. 
  9. Stir milk mixture into broth mixture, then add in cooked chicken (shredded rotisserie or cooked chicken breasts) and spinach. Cook until spinach wilts, about 1 minute.
  10. Serve warm with Romano cheese if desired.

Notes

  • Use fresh spinach to maintain texture; frozen spinach may become mushy.
  • Mini or homemade gnocchi work best for desired texture.
  • Pasta or cooked rice can be used instead of gnocchi as alternatives.
  • Cooked Italian sausage is a suitable substitute for the chicken if preferred.
  • Yields approximately 9 cups of soup.