Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Posted Aug 18, 2024, Updated Nov 12, 2024
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This homemade potato gnocchi recipe is made with 5 ingredients and tastes significantly more delicious than store bought varieties! Follow our step-by-step instructions and watch the video to learn how to make gnocchi!
Who else loves homemade pasta? Homemade is always so fresh and delicious, and so much better than store bought, especially when it comes to gnocchi.
Did you know I went years without buying boxed pasta?! Literally years. I always opted to make my own because I just love it so much! Gnocchi is a dumpling shaped, potato-based pasta that is hearty and satisfying, and this homemade gnocchi is the best.
Plus, in our recipe we boil the gnocchi to cook in and then brown it in a mixture of oil and butter – a step that takes your pasta from good to – knock-your-socks-off amazing.
I often only cook half of the gnocchi recipe, and freeze the rest for later. It can be cooked in boiling water straight from the freezer, so it’s great to have on hand! Serve it with homemade marinara sauce, pumpkin pasta sauce, pesto, or meat sauce!
Potato Gnocchi: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Potatoes. Any variety of potato works well in this recipe, even sweet potatoes. My favorites are Yukon Gold, russet and red potatoes.
- Flour. you can substitute up to half of the flour with white whole wheat flour. Or, use all-purpose gluten-free flour to make it gluten-free.
- Parmesan cheese. cheddar cheese is a good substitute.
How to Make Potato Gnocchi
As always, I love giving you as much information as possible to help ensure your success when you choose to make one of my recipes, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Cook the Potatoes
Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake at 450 degrees F for 60-90 minutes or until soft. (Baking time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes).
Once the potatoes are cool, remove the skin and place them in a food processor.
Make the Dough
Use a food processor fitted with an “S” blade to make the potato gnocchi dough. Start by adding the egg, salt and cheese and process until combined (do not overprocess).
Then, add 1 ½ cups flour and process until combined.
If needed, add up to ¼ cup of additional flour until the dough forms a tacky ball.
Turn dough onto a well-floured surface, and use the remaining ¼ cup flour to knead the dough until it is no longer sticky.
Put dough on a well-floured surface and cover with a bowl and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
Form the Potato Gnocchi
After the dough has rested, divide it into four equal parts and roll into thin ropes (about ½ inch thick).
Then, cut each rope at ½ or 1” intervals (depending on how big you want your gnocchi). This will yield square gnocchi.
If you prefer round gnocchi, you will need to roll each piece by hand to form an oval/round shape.
Once you have your desired shape, press a floured fork into the top of each gnocchi.
Freeze uncooked gnocchi
Once you have made the gnocchi, you can freeze it uncooked. Our family usually eats a half batch at a time, but I make a full batch and freeze the rest for later.
Lay it out in a single layer on a baking sheet to flash-freeze, then transfer frozen potato gnocchi to an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
Cook the Potato Gnocchi
This homemade potato gnocchi always needs to be boiled first. It cooks relatively fast, (in 3-5 minutes). You will know the gnocchi has finished cooking because it will float to the top of the boiling water.
At that point, remove it with a slotted spoon and transfer it to a colander to drain any excess water.
If you want to take your homemade potato gnocchi to the next level, I highly recommend you do not skip the browning in butter/olive oil step.
Add 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil/butter to a large sauté pan. Melt/warm over medium heat. Add ½ batch of gnocchi and stir to coat with oil.
Cook gnocchi on one side for about 5-10 minutes until golden-brown.
Flip and cook another 3-5 minutes on the second side until golden brown.
Transfer cooked gnocchi to a covered baking dish in the oven set to “warm” to keep it warm while you cook the remaining pasta or wait to serve.
Serve
Serve this homemade gnocchi with your favorite pasta sauce. Here are a few suggestions:
- Make this cheesy sausage gnocchi – it’s delicious.
- Serve with marinara sauce or meat sauce.
- Toss it with some pesto sauce or avocado pasta sauce.
- Serve with homemade meatballs or turkey meatballs!
- In the fall, make this pumpkin pasta sauce and serve it with homemade gnocchi!
Store
Store leftover cooked gnocchi in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze
As mentioned above, I suggest freezing uncooked gnocchi in a single layer in an airtight container for up to 2 months.
Then, you cook potato gnocchi from frozen. Just bring a pot of water to a boil and add the frozen gnocchi. Cook until the noodles float to the top of the water then follow the recipe.
Potato Gnocchi Recipe FAQs
Yes, this recipe is easily scaled to your preferences!
Here are some delicious sauce suggestions:
Lemon butter sauce
Marinara sauce
Meat sauce.
Pesto sauce
Avocado pasta sauce.
I love serving this gnocchi with the sauces mentioned above along with some meatballs like homemade meatballs or turkey meatballs.
It’s also great with a delicious salad, or roasted vegetables.
The answer is both! Boil the gnocchi to ensure it’s cooked all the way through, then pan fry it in oil or butter for a delicious crispy outside.
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Homemade Potato Gnocchi Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook the Potatoes
- Bake potatoes wrapped in foil in oven at 450 for 60-90 minutes or until soft. (Baking time will vary depending on the size of your potatoes}.
- Set aside to cool.
Make the Dough
- Once potatoes are cooled, remove the peel peel and place them in a food processor fitted with the “S” blade.
- Add egg, salt and cheese and process until the mixture is uniform and forms a ball.
- Add 1 ½ cups flour and process until combined (If needed, add up to¼ cup of additional flour until the dough forms a tacky ball.)
- Turn dough onto a well-floured surface, and use the remaining ¼ cup flour to knead the dough until it is no longer sticky.
- Put dough on a well-floured surface and cover with a bowl and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
Form the Gnocchi
- Divide the dough into four equal parts and roll into thin ropes (about ½ inch thick).
- Cut each rope at 1” intervals. This will yield square gnocchi. If you prefer round gnocchi, you will need to roll each piece by hand to form an oval/round shape.
- Once you have your desired shape, press a floured fork into the top of each gnocchi.
- If desired, after this step you can freeze the gnocchi! Simply put the uncooked gnocchi on a floured baking tray and put them in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Remove from tray and put in a plastic bag.
Boil the Gnocchi
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add half of the gnocchi to the boiling water to form a single layer in the pot. Stir the gnocchi to be sure that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Once the gnocchi floats to the top of the water (after about 3-5 minutes), use a slotted spoon to remove gnocchi from the pot into a strainer.
- After all gnocchi have been removed, add the rest of the batch and repeat.
- To cook frozen gnocchi, do not thaw! Put them in boiling water straight from the freezer. They will take longer to cook than room temperature gnocchi.
Brown the Gnocchi
- Preheat your oven to the warm setting.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil/butter to a large sauté pan. Melt/warm over medium heat. Add ½ of your batch of gnocchi and stir to coat with oil.
- Cook gnocchi on one side for about 5-10 minutes until golden-brown.
- Flip and cook another 3-5 minutes on the second side until golden brown.
- Remove to an oven-safe baking dish or bowl and place in the oven to warm.
- Repeat with the rest of your gnocchi.
- Serve with your favorite sauce.
Video
Notes
- Potatoes. Any variety of potato works well in this recipe, even sweet potatoes. My favorites are Yukon Gold, russet and red potatoes.
- Flour. you can substitute up to half of the flour with white whole wheat flour. Or, use all-purpose gluten-free flour to make it gluten-free.
- Parmesan cheese. cheddar cheese is a good substitute
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I needed the perfect combination of ingredients and you delivered! Thank you so much. I boiled the potatoes instead of baking and added Spelt flour instead of Common wheat. All came out really nicely. The texture was really delicate. I used to add more flour in the past but your ratio worked so well. My husband wants them every day now. Thank you again!