Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup – Copycat

The Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi soup is one of the most popular Olive Garden soup recipes. This rich soup has This warm bowl of goodness features roasted tender chicken, soft pillowy gnocchi, shredded carrots, celery, and fresh spinach. Hands down, this is one of my favorite Olive Garden copycat recipes of all time.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.


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Easy Homemade Soup

This is an Olive Garden favorite, but this soup is so good you are going to want to make make a double batch of this soup every time you make it.

The Chicken and Gnocchi soup is going to taste like you spent hours at the stove making your family a delightful chicken and potato gnocchi soup. You can make this soup in about 30 minutes.

Everyone Loves Chicken and Gnocchi soup

Hands down this has been one of my most popular recipes at CopyKat.com. You can read through the comments and you can see how many people just love this soup. It is easy to make and it tastes great.

Actually, all of my Olive Garden Recipes are pretty popular. Most people seem to just love the Olive Garden menu items.

A lot of people ask me if you can freeze this soup. Yes, you can. So go ahead and make up a batch of this soup and store the extra in your freezer.

You will soon fall in love with this delicious soup. Don’t forget to make some salad and breadsticks to go with this classic dish from the Olive Garden.

Olive Garden Chicken and Gnocchi Soup Ingredients

I love this delicious recipe is made with simple ingredients. In no time at all your entire family is going to fall in love with this soup that you made in the comfort of your own home.

  • Butter – you can use either salted butter or unsalted butter
  • Olive oil
  • White onion – I like the white onion for this recipe, it tends to be a bit sweeter and has less heat than yellow onion.
  • Celery
  • Fresh garlic
  • All-purpose flour
  • Half and half – I recommend using half and half instead of milk, it reheats better, if you want something completely decadent swap the half and half for heavy cream.
  • Low sodium Chicken broth – if you have homemade broth, I would recommend this
  • Dried thyme
  • Dried parsley flakes
  • Ground Nutmeg
  • Shredded carrots
  • Cooked chicken breast – if you have leftover rotisserie chicken I would suggest this, the Olive Garden does not use this, but it is an opportunity to drive up the flavor. Also, this recipe can be made with cooked chicken thighs as well.
  • Potato Gnocchi – my keto friends will swap out the gnocchi for cauliflower gnocchi, Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi is a favorite. If you can find it some people really love this with mini gnocchi.
  • Spinach – regular spinach is fine but my personal preference is for fresh baby spinach
Ingredients for copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup.

Should you use storebought or homemade gnocchi?

Storebought gnocchi is perfect for this recipe. You can take the extra step in preparing homemade gnocchi, but premade potato gnocchi works well. You can find gnocchi in a couple of different places in your supermarket.

  • My local stores sell shelf-stable potato gnocchi in the pasta isles.
  • In higher-end grocery stores, I have seen this sold in the fresh sections where you would pick up a prepared meal.
  • I have even found it available in the frozen section of the grocery store as well.

Either type of gnocchi will work well. Your family will really love this. Have a hard time finding gnocchi? Make your own homemade potato gnocchi.

How to Make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi

It is very simple to make this Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup recipe, you will find that all of the ingredients are very common in your average grocery store.

First you will sauté the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat, and then add some flour and cook that through. You will then add in the half-and-half and chicken broth. Bring it to a low boil then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Cooked chicken and gnocchi get added to your seasoned broth and vegetables. You can then adjust your seasoning and you will be ready to serve this soup in less than an hour.

Collage of making copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup.

Can you use a Crockpot for this recipe?

Yes, you can. I personally like to saute the vegetables first before I prepare the soup. You don’t need to do that if you like.

Simply place all of the vegetables with the exception of the kale, chicken, seasonings, and stock into the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, add in the remaining ingredients, and cook for another hour.

If the soup is too thin for you, make a cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the soup and turn the crockpot on high and stir until the soup has thickened.

Overhead view of copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.

How to Store and Reheat Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

  • Refrigerate any leftover soup for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
  • Reheat – this creamy soup is best reheated in a large pot on the stove over low heat. This way the creamy broth won’t break down.

Can you freeze copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup?

Yes, you can freeze this soup. The soup stays well in the freezer for a couple of months when stored in an airtight container. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup on a spoon over a bowl of it.

More Olive Garden Recipes

Popular Soup Recipes

Love soup? Be sure to check out these soup recipes and try one of my great dessert recipes to complete your meal.

Take a look at more of my copycat Olive Garden recipes to make your favorites at home.

Copycat Olive Garden chicken gnocchi soup in two bowls.

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Grab a large pot and make some of this delicious soup, it has pillowy soft potato gnocchi, tender chicken, carrots, and more.
4.97 from 495 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Olive Garden Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 369kcal

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons Butter
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup finely diced onion
  • 1/2 cup finely diced celery
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 quart half-and-half
  • 28 ounces chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
  • 1 cup carrots finely shredded
  • 1 cup spinach leaves coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup chicken breast cooked, and diced
  • 16 ounces package ready-to-use gnocchi

Instructions

  • Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat.
  • Add the chopped onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion becomes translucent. 
  • Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened.
  • Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer until thickened again. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, thyme, parsley, nutmeg (if using), shredded carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi.
  • Simmer until the soup is heated through. Before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary.

Video

Notes

  • You can use leftover roitisserie chicken for extra flavor
  • You may want to use less thyme than suggested
  • Some gnocchi is very large, you can cut these pieces in half
  • You may want to add additional salt to the final soup, this soup does not have a lot of salt in it, especially if you use low-sodium chicken broth

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 695mg | Potassium: 420mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3645IU | Vitamin C: 11.9mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 2.8mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Toni Addington

    5 stars
    Turned out perfect! I didn’t have a quart of half and half so I substituted 8 ounces of heavy whipping cream and 24 ounces of milk and it’s still yummy and thick

  2. Liz

    5 stars
    Reeeally easy to make! Usually never like more than 5 ingredients but this is sooo easy and sooo worth it. Delicious!! Am making again. I used 50% Halfnhalf with 50% whole milk last time but am going to try 100% whole milk this time. Plenty rich, wonderful soup. Thanks so much!

  3. Denise Lange

    I made this today, after being to Olive Garden last week. Even though I mixed up an order in steps, it turned out amazing!! My daughter taste tested for me, saying it looked creamy….she was skeptical. I got this raised eyebrow look, then she gave me a ten out of ten. Thank you!!

  4. Marcy

    5 stars
    Your Olive Garden gnocchi soup is the real deal
    Since you replicated it so perfectly I’m challenging you to recreate a recipe that after watching YouTube how to’s, the chefs have still not gotten it right. Montreal’s Chalet BBQ and Cote St Luc BBQ have the exact same savory peppery, clovey BBQ sauce. It is outstanding. Next time you’re in Montreal, one of the great food cities in the world, could you try to replicate the recipe and post it?
    Thank you

    • Stephanie Manley

      I love a great challenge, but I have to say my skill set is simply this, I must be able to taste something before I know what to make it taste like. So if I can’t taste it, I can’t try to duplicate it.

  5. Megan C.

    If you make ahead of time, is it okay to add the gnocchi to it, or keep separate and add in when eating? Just curious if the gnocchi will be okay to sit in soup in fridge.

  6. Donna

    5 stars
    I followed the recipe exactly as written but used no sodium broth. I was lucky to find lactose free half and half so I was really able to enjoy it. I did have to add extra salt as you mentioned and it was fantastic!

  7. Traci

    5 stars
    Really amazing copycat recipe–actually better than the original! I was able to use half of the butter and milk for about half of the amount of half and half, and it was still so creamy and decadent! Really was even better than the Olive Garden’s, thank you so much for sharing this!

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