Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Posted Apr 19, 2018, Updated Oct 09, 2022
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This Homemade Potato Gnocchi Recipe is made with only 5 ingredients and is so much more delicious than store bought varieties! Follow our step-by-step instructions and watch the video to learn how to make gnocchi! It’s easy to freeze so you can make a big batch once and enjoy it many times.
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!
How to make 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 processing all the ingredients except for the flour.
Once the mixture is homogenous (uniform throughout) add the flour a little bit at a time until you get a dough ball comes together and isn’t too sticky.
Kneading/Resting.
Knead the dough until it becomes smooth. Add more flour as you knead until it is no longer sticky. Next, place the dough on a well-floured surface and cover with a bowl for 30 minutes.
Rolling/Shaping
As you can see below, I am not super precise when I make roll the dough into ropes and cut it. That’s because I like my homemade potato gnocchi to be round. Not sure why or how I developed that preference, but it is what it is! So after I cut them I always roll each individual gnocchi until it’s round!
I do weigh the dough and divide it into four equal portions, but that’s not totally necessary. Just try to be sure that the gnocchi are about the same size.
Use a fork to press a design into the tops
This, again, is a total preference thing. But since I’m making gnocchi, I’m going to really make gnocchi if you know what I mean! LOL! I love how pretty the pasta looks with cute little fork indents. Be sure to rub the fork in flour as you press it into each gnocchi to prevent it from sticking.
Boil 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.
It is the only way we eat gnocchi around here because it’s just that amazing. I recommend serving it wish your favorite pasta sauce on the side! Mixing them together too long before serving could cause the gnocchi to lose that golden-brown crispiness!
Serve
Serve this homemade gnocchi with your favorite pasta sauce. Here are a few suggestions:
- Make this cheesy sausage gnocchi – it’s delicious.
- Toss it with some pesto sauce or avocado pasta sauce.
Homemade Potato Gnocchi: Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are a few possible substitutions that could be made in this recipe!
- Potatoes. Any variety of potato works well in this recipe, even sweet potatoes! My favorites are Yukon Golds and red potatoes!
- Flour. All-purpose flour is my flour of choice in this recipe. For a little more wholesome option half of the flour can be substituted with whole wheat (or white whole wheat). A 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour mix can be be used as well, you may just need to add more to get a smooth dough!
- Cheddar cheese. The sky’s the limit when it comes to cheese options. Cheddar and parmesan are my favorite choices!
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Homemade Potato Gnocchi Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold Potatoes or your favorite potato variety
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
Make the dough:
- 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.
- 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 cup of flour and process until combined.
- Add ½ cup more flour and process until combined and a sticky ball forms.
- Add another ¼ cup of flour and process until combined.
- 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.
- 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.
Cook 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 TBS of your 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 and some roasted veggies!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Excellent and so well presented, thanks for the simple but subtle recipe.
I made this recipe specially for my husband with gluten free flour and the result was great! I was able to freeze a bunch and have it at hand for a tasty and quick meal! Thanks!
Thank you Tais! I’m so glad to know that Gluten-Free flour worked well! Homemade gnocchi is my all-time favorite pasta!
You just can’t beat homemade gnocchi! Thank you for letting me know that GF flour worked well too!!!
Do you think you could leave the skin on the potatoes without compromising the final product too much?
Hmm…I wouldn’t recommend it. If you want to leave them on, maybe toss the potatoes in a high-powered blender or food processor so you don’t have large chunks of skin in the dough? I always peel mine though! If you try it let me know how it goes!
I am really lucky that I got a chance to read your article. It was great.
Funny thing, I have never tried gnocchi before, maybe I should, because these look delicious!
How long can you leave the dough out with a bowl over it once it’s made?
Hey Rebecca! I have never left the dough sitting for more than 60 minutes before shaping it into gnocchi! But I imagine it could be left longer!
Gnocchi is the BEST! It’s such a fun food to make with kids too— I made it with my nanny family kiddos last summer and they had a BLAST! Can’t wait to try your recipe 🙂
I had no idea the ingredients were so simple in Gnocchi! Definitely bookmarking this to hopefully make it sooner than later.
So Italian, so frugal, so gooood, so inviting, so simple ! Thank you for reminding me of this beauty !
Would this work with sweet potatoes? Have you ever tried it?
Yes!!! I have and it’s amazing too!