Make this Easy Baked Gnocchi Recipe in one pan. Combine ground turkey, marinara sauce, veggies and cheese with pasta to make a healthy skillet gnocchi.
One-pot
Easy cleanup
You’ll Learn: How to balance acidity and sweetness for a better tomato sauce
Worth It: It’s a satisfying, protein-forward option that actually keeps you full
Bonus: Option to assemble then freeze for easy prep
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy, healthy weeknight dinner – this baked pasta has added protein and veggies to make it a healthy balanced weeknight dinner. It comes together quickly and can be baked later in the day so its a wonderful weeknight meal.
- Perfect for meal prep – make this baked gnocchi on Sunday and enjoy for lunches throughout the week,
- Customize and add extra veggies – The recipe calls for ground turkey, but you can sub that for any ground meat you’d like. You can also hide lots of vegetables in this dish to amp up it’s nutrient density! I use onions and spinach, but you could add in some bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant – you name it!
- Flawless freezer meal – prepare this dish in a freezer friendly container. Freeze it and bake later or deliver to a friend in need of a meal.
Kitchen Tools
- Measuring spoons and measuring cups
- Liquid measuring cup
- Large oven-safe skillet
- Cooking utensil like a wooden spoon or spatula
What is Gnocchi?
Traditionally, this little Italian dumpling is made from potatoes and wheat. Though it is not technically pasta, it is often treated similarly in dishes.
They can be found in many forms: shelf stable, frozen, or fresh! It has become quite popular to find gnocchi with various different kinds of vegetables included – like cauliflower, sweet potato, or kale. The traditional kind will always be my favorite.
Serving suggestions
This baked gnocchi recipe is the perfect combination of healthy and comforting. It makes for a perfect weeknight dinner. I like to serve it with a simple green salad tossed in a white balsamic vinaigrette.
Serve it for a dinner party along with a chopped Italian salad and some garlic bread or no knead focaccia. Make a simple and flavorful dessert to serve with it like these easy brown butter cookies or chocolate ganache cake.
If you’re looking for another easy baked dinner, try this stuffed pepper casserole recipe or this baked ziti with ricotta.
Baked Gnocchi Recipe Ingredients
- Yellow onion – finely diced yellow onion adds lots of flavor to the base of this recipe. Finely mince a couple cloves garlic and add it to the onion for even more flavor.
- Olive oil – I use extra virgin olive oil to saute the onions, but you can use any cooking oil that you like.
- Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano – I use this dried seasoning blend to season the ground turkey. As a shortcut you can use an Italian seasoning blend instead.
- Ground turkey – a pound of ground turkey adds tons of protein to this recipe. The protein helps keep you full.
- Fresh spinach – spinach wilts into the sauce. It doesn’t add much taste, but it adds tons of lovely nutrients.
- Gnocchi – I like to use shelf stable gnocchi straight from the package. You can also use frozen gnocchi. No need to cook or boil the gnocchi prior to baking.
- Marinara sauce – use your favorite tomato sauce or pasta sauce for this recipe. I like to use Rao’s Marinara or homemade pasta sauce.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese – sprinkle mozzarella all over the top of the skillet just before you roast this dish. Then, serve it up with the delicious melty cheese and fresh basil on top.
I usually use store-bought gnocchi, but you can try making your own gnocchi at home with this sweet potato gnocchi recipe.
Ingredient Substitutions
This baked gnocchi recipe is actually quite versatile. You can add any vegetables you’d like to make it more nutrient dense. I like to add some thinly sliced mushrooms and zucchini. Saute them with the onions before adding the ground meat to the pan.
If you don’t want to use ground turkey, you can use any ground meat. I like to use ground chicken, ground beef or ground pork. You can even use a blend of ground meats. For a burst of flavor, remove Italian sausage from the casing and brown it like you would the ground meat.
Use fresh mozzarella slices in place of shredded mozzarella. You can also add some freshly grated parmesan cheese for umami flavor.
Use gluten free gnocchi like a cauliflower gnocchi in place of wheat based gnocchi to make this gluten free. Many people like the Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi. Use a dairy free mozzarella to make this dairy free, and if you’re vegan you can also replace the ground meat with a meat substitution and make it vegan.
How to make
Step 1: Saute onions and ground turkey
To begin, preheat oven to 350F. Then, heat a large oven safe skillet over medium heat.
Add the oil and onions to the skillet and saute until soft and fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Next, add the ground turkey to the skillet and break up into crumbles as it browns. After 3 minutes of browning the ground turkey, pour the salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano and dried basil into the skillet. Toss to mix with the meat.
Step 2: Add spinach, marinara and Gnocchi
Then, place the spinach in the skillet and toss to combine with the turkey and onions. Sauté until wilted.
Turn off the heat and pour the gnocchi and marinara sauce in the skillet.Toss to combine all of the ingredients evenly.
Step 3: Top with Cheese and Bake
Then, cover the top of the skillet with an even layer the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Place the skillet in oven to bake at 350F for 28-30 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and serve with fresh basil.
Storage, reheating and Freezing
Once fully cooled, store this gnocchi bake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, until warmed through.
You can freeze this skillet before baking. Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container. To bake from frozen, bake covered at 325F for 1 hour.
Check out these other delicious Pasta Recipes
If you love this baked gnocchi recipe, try this sheet pan gnocchi recipe next!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Easy Baked Gnocchi Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 a yellow onion – finely diced
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 3 large handfuls spinach
- 1 lb gnocchi – no need to cook or boil before using in this recipe
- 28 oz marinara sauce
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Heat a large oven safe skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and onions to the skillet and saute until soft and fragrant – about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the ground turkey to the skillet and break up into crumbles as it browns. After 3 minutes of browning the ground turkey, pour the salt, pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano and dried basil into the skillet.
- Place the spinach in the skillet and toss to combine with the turkey and onions. Saute until wilted.
- Turn off the heat and pour the gnocchi and marinara sauce in the skillet.Toss to combine all of the ingredients and then cover the top with the shredded mozzarella.
- Place the skillet in oven to bake at 350F for 28-30 minutes. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and serve with fresh basil.
Recipe Notes
- Freezer instructions: freeze before baking. To bake from frozen, bake covered at 325F for 1 hour.
- Use ground chicken, ground pork, ground beef or Italian ground sausage in place of ground turkey
- Use fresh mozzarella in place of the shredded
- Store in the fridge for up to 4 days
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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