Easy Baked Gnocchi Recipe
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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.
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
- Mushroom Alfredo Pasta
- Creamy Meat Sauce One Pot Pasta
- Asparagus Lemon Garlic Pasta
- Sun Dried Tomato and Turkey One Pot Pasta
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!
Easy Baked Gnocchi Recipe
Make a healthy gnocchi bake in one pan with simple ingredients
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
- 28oz 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.
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
Chelsea H says
Hi, this recipe looks delicious. Wondering what you would suggest if I wanted to double the batch and then bake in the oven? What size dish would you use and should I still cook at 350 degrees for 28-30 minutes? Thanks so much!
Madeline says
Hi! I would use a 9×13 casserole pan. I would cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes then remove the foil and allow the cheese to brown.
Kelly says
YUM! definitely gonna make this!
Erica says
Made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious! I used kale instead of spinach and chicken instead of turkey because that’s what I had on hand. Everyone went up for seconds!
Jessica Maxey says
I made this with Cauliflower Gnocchi and it was so easy and so delicious! Great simple weeknight meal!
Madeline says
thanks Jessica!
Bonnie says
SO GOOD! SO EASY! Putting this into my pasta rotation. Absolutely loved it!
Sandra says
I always wanted to try making gnocchi at home but had been too nervous to try…this recipe seemed simple and I had most of the ingredients already ok hand so I decided to give it a try.
Your recipe was was so simple and tasty that I’ve made twice now within 2 weeks. My family loves it. Thank you!
Madeline says
so glad it went well Sandra! love that you finally got to make them. thanks!
Ashley says
I just made this. I haven’t even finished the bowl and I’m here to say this took almost no effort on my part and it tastes PHENOMENAL!! I used rotisserie chicken, mini gnocchi, and forgot to add all the greens I wanted – but it’s so delicious regardless. I’ll probably saute some greens and add to reheated portions.
Madeline says
YAY! love that you made if your own. I NEED to get my hands on some mini gnocchi
Carolyn R. says
So delicious and easy…love that there aren’t multiple pans/dishes to clean afterwards!! Thank you!
Madeline says
yay!! thank you!!
Anna says
Hi! Do you cook the gnocchi first or just throw it in with the sauce and cook in oven?
Madeline says
just mix it in!! it will cook through
Sarah H says
This looks delicious, but I don’t care for gnocchi. I have two questions. Would substituting a different pasta shape still work? And is that sodium nutritional information accurate? It seems incredibly high for this dish. Thank you!!
Madeline says
yes you could use any noodle shape, but you need to cook it ahead of time becuase it wont cook quickly like the gnocchi. I use a nutrition calculator and I don’t have control over every aspect (like I have to pick generic brand sauce, cheese etc.) If sodium is a concern I would just check the levels in the sauce and cheese taht you are using and then possible reduce any added salt
Sam says
I rarely go out of my way to leave a review on a recipe but this had my family raving! Such an easy and delicious recipe that can be dressed up or dressed down depending on how much effort you want to put in. Delicious any way you do it!
Madeline says
yay thanks so much for the review Sam! means a lot!
Diana says
Delicious, easy and fast
Madeline says
Thanks, Diana!
Natalie says
This was great!!! I LOVE one pan dinners and this tops the list for a fast, hot meal when you need to throw something together quick. I made mine even easier (I was in a hurry) I used 1 lb Italian sausage (has all the herbs already in it) and omitted the onion since my littles won’t eat anything with onions in it. I have a large family so I used 24oz of gnocchi, 24oz jar of Rao’s marinara, plus one can of tomato sauce and it all for into my Le Creuset pan perfectly. Cooked mine appropriately 35 minutes 🙂
Madeline says
Great to hear! Thanks, Natalie!
Nikole DiVito says
Made this tonight. Swapped out Turkey for beef because that’s what I had and added a dash of red pepper flake… BUT THIS IS OUTRAGEOUSLY DELICIOUS! For sure will be in the rotation!!!
Madeline says
Wow!! Thanks, Nikole! Great compliment.
Julie T says
This was absolutely delicious! I could have eaten the whole casserole by myself,but I had to share 😁
Madeline says
LOVE IT! Thanks, Julie!
Samantha S. says
This was absolutely amazing and a huge hit with my husband. I made it two weeks ago, and I’m making it again tomorrow! We love it!
Madeline says
Nice!!! Great to hear!
Lauren says
Stupid question do you precook the gnocchi ? First time using this
Madeline says
Nope! Goes into the dish uncooked 🙂
Cindy says
Do you use fresh or frozen gnocchi?
Madeline says
It can be either. Add 10 minutes to the baking time and cover with foil if you choose frozen.
Nancy says
Can this recipe be made freeze then defrost and then baked?nancy
Madeline says
Yes! Bake from frozen at 25 degrees cooler than normal for an extra 30 minutes covered. Check that it is warmed through and remove cover to melt cheese.
Dana says
Hello do you cook the gnocchi first ? Before putting in marinara sauce?
Madeline says
You just mix it in uncooked – it will cook in the oven.
Marija Zeljko says
Do you cook the gnocci first before you bake it?
Madeline says
Nope! It will cook in the oven.
C says
Delicious! Used GF gnocchi from Costco and Jennie-O breakfast sausage.
Madeline says
Yay! Thanks for the review!