Homemade Gnocchi Recipe

This delicious homemade Italian gnocchi recipe is made from scratch using potatoes and pasta dough to make the perfect dumplings. These will become your new favorite pasta once you try them.

I eat pasta at least once a week, but I’m Italian, so it’s natural for me to do so. I recommend trying my Pasta Carbonara or Lasagna Bolognese if you’re as big a pasta fanatic as I am because they are amazing.  

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is Italian for “dumplings.” They are classically made by combining baked, peeled, and mashed potatoes with eggs, flour, or farina to make a dough. Other common things to add to the dough are cheese and spinach. Gnocchi is small-shaped balls with grooves boiled in water and served with butter, cheese, or sauce.

Gnocchi is versatile and can also be chilled, baked, or fried. While they are traditionally served as a side dish similar to spaetzle, they can be served as the main entrée with a hearty sauce. This is a classic Italian recipe where you’ve got a few things left over, mixing them to make something insanely flavorful.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Potatoes – Russet potatoes are what is used in this.
• Flour – You can use all-purpose, 00, semolina, or bread flour.
• Eggs – Large cold or room temperature eggs are what you will need.
• Salt – I always use sea salt in my cooking and baking.

How to Make Gnocchi from Scratch

You can use plain baked potatoes for this recipe, or you can coat them in oil and salt to help season the potatoes and give them an extremely fluffy inside.

Add the potatoes to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 375° for 60 minutes.

Let the potatoes cool at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before peeling them.

Add the peeled potatoes to a food mill or ricer and mill them until they are pressed through and free of chunks.

Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl with eggs, flour, and salt.

Mix the ingredients until well combined.

Knead the gnocchi dough for 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to sprinkle on an additional teaspoon or two of flour.

Take a handful of the dough and roll it out until it is about a 1/2” diameter and resembles a rope.

Using a bench knife, cut down the rope into ¾” pieces.

Roll each piece on a gnocchi board by pressing down and rolling it. If you do not have a gnocchi board, you can press them down using the back of a fork.

Let the gnocchi rest at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking or storing.

How to Cook Gnocchi

• Add the gnocchi to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook them until they float, which can take anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes.

• While the gnocchi is boiling, add butter or olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until smoking lightly.

• Once the gnocchi is floating, drain them and transfer them to the pan with butter and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned.

What do You Serve Them With?

You can treat gnocchi just like pasta and serve it with any sauce. In addition, you can also eat it plain with olive oil, salt, pepper, or butter. Here are a few of my favorite sauces to serve gnocchi with:

• Puttanesca Sauce
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Pomodoro Sauce
• Arrabiata
• Pesto

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make gnocchi up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: After the pasta has been rolled into little balls and dried for 10-15 minutes, you will need to cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 3 days.  You can also freeze-wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 2 months.  If you are freezing, add it to a hot pan with butter or oil. Do not add to boiling water, or it will clump together.

How to Reheat: Add some olive oil or butter to a large frying pan over medium heat, and quickly sauté the un-sauced gnocchi until hot. 

Chef Notes + Tips

• Red potatoes or Yukon potatoes can be substituted.
• Gnocchi pronunciation is as follows: NYOH-kee.

More Pasta Recipes

• Cajun Shrimp Pasta
• Pasta with Italian Sausage
• Pasta Alla Gricia
• Spaghetti Algio E Olio
• Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe

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Homemade Gnocchi Recipe

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5 from 7 votes

This delicious homemade Italian gnocchi recipe is made from scratch using potatoes and pasta dough to make the perfect dumplings.

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

• 5 baked and peeled potatoes
• 3 large eggs, whisked
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

• Add the potatoes to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake at 375° for 60 minutes.
• Let the potatoes cool at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before peeling them.
• Add the peeled potatoes to a food mill or ricer and mill them until they are pressed through and free of chunks.
• Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl with eggs, flour, and salt.
• Mix the ingredients until well combined.
• Knead the gnocchi dough for 1 to 2 minutes. You may need to sprinkle on an additional teaspoon or two of flour.
• Take a handful of the dough and roll it out until it is about a 1/2” diameter and resembles a rope.
• Using a bench knife, cut down the rope into ¾” pieces.
• Roll each piece on a gnocchi board by pressing down and rolling it. If you do not have a gnocchi board, you can press them down using the back of a fork.
• Let the gnocchi rest at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before cooking or storing.
• Add the gnocchi to a large pot of boiling salted water and cook them until they float, which can take anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes.
• While the gnocchi is boiling add 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter or olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until smoking lightly.
• Once the gnocchi is floating, drain them and transfer them to the pan with butter or oil and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes or until lightly browned.

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make gnocchi up to 2 days ahead of time.

How to Store: After the pasta has been rolled into little balls and dried for 10-15 minutes, cover it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.  You can also freeze-wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 2 months. If you are freezing, add it to a hot pan with butter or oil. Please do not add to boiling water, or it will clump together.

How to Reheat: Add some olive oil or butter to a large frying pan over medium heat, and quickly sauté the un-sauced gnocchi until hot. 

Red potatoes or Yukon potatoes can be substituted.

Gnocchi pronunciation is as follows: NYOH-kee

Nutrition

Calories: 240kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 8gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 323mgPotassium: 617mgFiber: 4gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 92IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 30mgIron: 3mg

Course: Main Course, Sdie Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Author: Chef Billy Parisi