Cook gnocchi according to package instructions & drain.
Heat ½ TBS butter and ½ TBS olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until butter is melted, stirring to combine.
Add cooked gnocchi and stir to coat with the oil/butter mixture.
Cook gnocchi on one side for 3-5 minutes or until golden brown.
Once the first side of the gnocchi is golden brown, flip each gnocchi over and cook on the other side for an additional 3-5 minutes until golden brown.
Once both sides of the gnocchi are golden-brown, remove and place on the paper-towel lined plate. Set aside.
Optional: Remove paper towel and put the browned gnocchi in an oven-safe dish and place it in the oven at 200 degrees F to stay warm while you make the sauce. (I recommend doing this if you plan on serving the gnocchi and sauce separately).
Make the sauce:
Heat 1 TBS olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add Italian chicken sausage to the skillet, breaking it apart into small pieces with a spatula and stirring to coat with olive oil.
Place a lid over the sausage and let it cook for 5 minutes or until it just begins to brown, stirring occasionally.
Remove the lid, add the diced green pepper and continue cooking until the sausage is evenly browned and the peppers are soft.
Add diced tomatoes, milk, garlic salt, pepper onion powder, garlic powder and stir to combine.
Cook over medium-high heat until the mixture just begins to bubble.
Add cheddar cheese and reduce heat to medium.
Stir until the cheese is melted and continue cooking until the sauce thickens slightly (about 3-5 minutes).
Remove from heat.
Serving:
Once the sauce is thickened serve immediately in one of two ways:
Option 1: Serve gnocchi and sauce separately, letting your family/guests scoop as much or as little as they’d like.
Option 2: Add the browned gnocchi to the sauce in the pan and stir until it’s evenly distributed, then serve it as a one-pot meal!
I prefer Option 1 because it helps the gnocchi retain its crispiness!
Top with fresh parsley and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Ingredient Substitutions
Potato Gnocchi.Choose your favorite variety of gnocchi for this dish! We love cauliflower gnocchi.
Butter. you can use all olive oil to brown the gnocchi and omit butter, if desired.
Olive oil. If you'd prefer you can use all butter and omit the olive oil. You can also substitute avocado oil with great results!
Italian Chicken Sausage. I love chicken sausage because it's a touch lighter and has less fat than regular sausage. However, feel free to substitute your favorite variety of sausage. I highly recommend that you use an Italian style sausage though! If you like spicer dishes, use hot or medium sausage.
Fire Roasted Tomatoes. regular diced tomatoes can be used in place of fire-roasted.
Green pepper. Any color bell pepper works great in this recipe. If you don't like bell pepper feel free to omit. Other ideas of sneaky veggies that can be added to this dish and still taste great are: shredded zucchini, carrots, yellow squash, peas, etc.
2% Milk. Any percentage of milk can be used with great results (whole milk, half and half, etc.). The higher the fat content, the creamier your sauce will be!
Onion & Garlic Powders. use minced garlic and finely diced onions instead if you'd like. I'm pregnant and cooking for kids...so both of these ingredients are off-limits for me right now lol! Add them towards the middle of the sausage browning.
Sharp Cheddar Cheese. You can sub parmesan, but the sharp cheddar is really the best choice.
Serve
There are two ways to serve this recipe:
Keep the gnocchi and sauce separate until serving. This is my serving method of choice. I like to keep the gnocchi warm in the oven while I cook the sauce, and then put two bowls on the table -- one filled with gnocchi and one with sauce. This way the gnocchi retains it's pan-fried buttery crispiness as long as possible.
Serve together. the simpler way is to simply toss the gnocchi into the sauce as soon as it has thickened and serve it as a one-pot dish! This is much easier and sometimes we do opt to do it this way if we have company over!
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.