Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Instant Pot)
My soup obsession is alive and kickin’ with this Instant Pot chicken gnocchi soup. With bites of pillowy gnocchi, fresh veggies, tender chicken and a touch of half and half, this is my favorite soup for when the weather starts turning.
You can make this soup in the instant pot, stove top or slow cooker. The heart of the soup is the gnocchi, often categorized as a pasta, but really more of a small potato dumpling. It adds so much texture and heart to this soup, it’s the one thing I don’t suggest subbing out.
Check out white bean and chicken chili, roasted butternut squash and red pepper soup or high-protein soups and chilis for a soup roundup that has something for the whole family, all winter long.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Low fat, high protein, and large servings.
- Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup.
- This soup takes only 5 minutes to pressure cook.
- Customize your chicken gnocchi soup to how you want it! Your bowl…your rules.
Ingredients and Substitutes:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions for instant pot chicken gnocchi soup.
- Ground Chicken: any ground protein: beef, turkey, pork, rotisserie chicken, or shredded chicken.
- Fresh Spinach: the baby spinach makes it feel like a complete meal while adding greens and color. You can use any leafy green.
- White Onion, Carrots and Celery: any combo of fresh veggies but there are my classic go-to soup veggies.
- Frozen Peas and Corn: using frozen makes this easy.
- Chicken Broth: I used low sodium. Vegetable broth, beef broth, chicken stock or bone broth also work well.
- Gnocchi: made with flour, potato and egg. It’s soft, chewy, thick, and perfect for adding depth, flavor, and texture to this soup. I used De Cecco Potato Gnocchi but any brand or gluten-free gnocchi works. You can find fresh gnocchi at the grocery store in the refrigerated section or in the pasta aisle.
- Fresh Garlic: the more the better, in my book!
- Fat-Free Half and Half: or Greek yogurt, full-fat coconut milk or heavy cream in place of half and half.
Variations
- If you want to thicken this soup, add corn starch to the broth. Do this by making a cornstarch slurry with 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water. Add this when you add the half and half.
Dietary Modifications
- Gnocchi is not typically gluten-free as it’s made with potato and wheat flour. To make gluten-free use a gluten-free version, such as Trader Joes cauliflower gnocchi.
- For dairy-free, replace the fat-free half-and-half with full-fat coconut milk. Omit or substitute parmesan cheese for a dairy-free version.
How to make Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (a visual step-by-step guide):
Step 1: sauté chicken and add veggies
Set your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add the olive oil, once hot, add the ground chicken (image 1). Cook until browned, breaking into bite-size pieces. Add the seasonings to the chicken. Stir to evenly coat (image 2). Add the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery (image 3). Sauté for about 2 minutes until the vegetables start to soften and the garlic is fragrant (image 4).
Step 2: stir in gnocchi and pressure cook
Pour in the chicken broth (image 5), stirring well to combine and scrape any bits off the bottom of the pot (image 6). Add the gnocchi to the pot. Stir well to combine (image 7).
Put the lid on the Instant Pot, set the valve to the sealing position, and cook on Manual High Pressure for 4 minutes. When the timer beeps, quick release the pressure. Once the pressure is fully released, remove the lid (image 8).
Step 3: return the instant pot to the sauté setting.
Set the Instant Pot back to the sauté setting. Stir in the spinach, peas and corn (image 9). Cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted and the peas and corn are warmed through (image 10). Add in the fat-free half-and-half, stirring until well combined (image 11). Allow the soup to simmer for a few more minutes until it’s heated through and the peas and corn are warm. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed and serve (image 12).
Expert Tip!
If you know your IP runs hot, add cooked gnocchi in after pressure cooking to avoid it being overdone.
Recipe FAQs
Store your leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Soup gets better the next day and this is no exception. Heat your chicken gnocchi soup on the stovetop or microwave. If you find the gnocchi have soaked up some of the liquid, add a little milk, fat-free half and half or broth to the pot while it heats up.
Nothing goes better with this creamy chicken gnocchi soup than a side of crusty bread and a little side green salad. So simple, but so complete.
1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground chicken. Cook until browned, breaking it into bite-sized pieces. This will take about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer the browned chicken to the slow cooker. Add seasonings, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and chicken broth. Stir to combine.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours.
4. About 20 minutes before serving, add the gnocchi to the slow cooker. Stir well, cook until the gnocchi flout to the top. Once cooked add in the spinach, peas, corn, and fat-free half-and-half. Stir well and cover, allowing the spinach to wilt and the peas and corn to heat through.
1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground chicken. Cook until browned, breaking it into bite-sized pieces, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the seasonings to the chicken, stirring to coat evenly. Mix in the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery, sautéing for about 2-3 minutes until the vegetables start to soften and the garlic becomes fragrant.
3. Pour in the chicken broth, making sure to stir well, scraping any bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the gnocchi and continue to simmer until they rise to the surface and are cooked through, approximately 3-4 minutes.
5. Stir in the spinach, peas, and corn. Allow them to cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted and the peas and corn are warmed through. Mix in the fat-free half-and-half, stirring well. Let the soup simmer for a few more minutes until everything is heated through.
Check out some of our other instant pot meals!
- Instant Pot Chicken Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Fettuccine Alfredo
- Instant Pot Fried Rice
- Instant Pot Chicken Stroganoff
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
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Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. lean ground chicken
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced in rounds
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 lb. potato gnocchi
- 2 cups fresh spinach packed
- 1 cup frozen peas 130g
- 1 cup frozen corn 140g
- 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half 115g
Optional Toppings
- fresh chopped parsley
- fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- hot sauce
Instructions
- Set your Instant Pot to the sauté setting. Add the olive oil, once hot, add the ground chicken. Cook until browned, breaking into bite size pieces. This takes about 5 minutes. If using frozen ground chicken do the same this may just take longer to cook.
- Add the salt, pepper, basil, paprika and oregano to the chicken. Stir to evenly coat.
- Add the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté for about 2 minutes until the vegetables start to soften and garlic is fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken broth, stirring well to combine and to scrape any bits off the bottom of the pot. This will prevent the "burn" warning.
- Add the gnocchi to the pot. Stir well to combine.
- Put the lid on the Instant Pot, set the valve to sealing position, and cook on Manual High Pressure for 4 minutes.
- When the timer beeps, quick release the pressure. Once the pressure is fully released, remove the lid.
- Set the Instant Pot back to the sauté setting. Stir in the spinach, peas and corn. Cook for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted and the peas and corn are warmed through.
- Add in the fat-free half-and-half, stirring until well combined.
- Allow the soup to simmer for a few more minutes until it's heated through and the peas and corn are warm.
- Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
- Serve the soup hot, garnished with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.
Notes
- All nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
- Use any preferred ground meat for this gnocchi soup.
- Beef broth, veggie broth or bone broth may be used in place of chicken broth.
- Add any fresh or frozen vegetables you prefer.
- Alternatively to cooking the gnocchi in the instant pot you can simmer after removing the lid until cooked through.
Loved this so much, it tasted almost like a dumpling soup, so comforting and macro friendly at the same time!
Totally agree, it definitely has dumpling vibes! So glad you loved it.
I’ve made this for meal prep multiple times! So delicious and filling. I used shredded chicken instead of ground chicken and it turns out great. So homey and comforting on these chilly Midwest days. Thank you, Danielle for another winner!
Made this gem in the crockpot multiple times in the last month already. Simple, delicious, the right amount of flavors and still macro friendly of course! Another one I will be recommending to anyone that listens to me!
Another great recipe to add to my meal prep! Delicious! But I may cut down the time in the instant pop to 3 mins to see if that helps with the gnocchi and avoiding it to be too soft!
Feeling a little under the weather and wanted some comforting soup. This was easy to make and hit the spot. So good!!! Will definitely be making again!
Another 5 star from our fam!!! Even the kiddos ate it down to the last bite. “Can we have soup again tomorrow?”!
Made this in the instant pot. The gnocchi dissolved. It was very tasty, but more like a potato purée.
Bummer! Sounds like your gnocchi got over cooked. Maybe try a shorter cook next time. 🙂
I made this in the crockpot! Delicious and easy – perfect for weeknight dinner meal prep!
Love to hear that! Thank you!!
This was warm and delicious! I will definitely make this again as it gets colder in Denver. I used frozen spinach and full fat half and half. It bumped the calories up a little, but it was worth it. Thanks again for another great recipe!
Thank you!!! So glad you loved it!
This soup was amazing!!
This is delicious! About how many grams or cups of soup is considered one serving? I forgot to measure the whole pot before my family tore into it because it was so delicious!
Yay! I’m glad you loved it. 350 grams, it’s always listed in the nutrition facts before the calories 🙂
Oh my so very good!!!! Made this tonight with chopped chicken breast instead of ground chicken. And I found I should have used a bigger pot LOL as it makes a lot.
Yay!!! So glad you loved it!!
I made this last night for dinner and OH MY GOODNESS it was delicious! The gnocchi got a little mushy but it was still sooooo good! Will definitely be making this again as it gets colder in California!
Made this for first time this afternoon and it’s a winner! So good and so quick to make, it was the perfect recipe to kick off soup season in East Tennessee. Just a couple of changes bc I didn’t want to go to store. I didn’t have celery. I ground my chicken breast in food processor, and subbed Greek yogurt for half and half. The soup didn’t suffer from these tweaks, but I’ll definitely make sure I have celery in hand next time. Thanks, Danielle, for another great recipe!
Made this last night. Made swaps for things I had on hand — including chicken breasts (cooked in instant pot first). Delicious. Even my husband ate it.
That’s a win!! So happy you both loved it, thank you!
Made this in the crockpot it was delicious!!! Only thing I will do next time is cook on low for 3-4 hours …I originally did it on low for 6-7 min per directions and the carrots and celery were starting to get too soft and was afraid they would be mushy! But again delicious and will be making again and again!