Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
It’s finally soup season, and this Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is perfect for the cooler weather coming our way! This soup, much like my Zuppa Toscana, is based on one served at the Olive Garden, but once you make it at home I think you’ll be sold on staying in! The base of this Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is super rich and creamy and with the chicken, vegetables and soft, pillowy gnocchi, I found a cup of this soup to be super filling. I love pairing a decadent soup like this with a side salad, it makes for a perfect fall or winter lunch or light dinner. If you already love my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup (and I know many of you do), this soup uses the same technique to get the smooth, creamy texture and it tastes just as good. Better still, one cup of this Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is just 227 calories or 6 WW Points! To view your current WW Points for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
For more tasty, lightened up soup recipes like this Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup, check out my Sausage and Tortellini Tomato Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Roasted Corn Soup, Beef Taco Soup, Buffalo Chicken Soup, Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup, Chicken Corn Chowder, Zuppa Toscana, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Italian Wedding Soup, Cheeseburger Soup, Spaghetti and Meatball Soup, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Herbed Chicken and Dumplings, Roasted Tomato Basil Soup and more in the soup section of my recipe index!
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup water
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 5 tablespoons light butter, I use Land O’Lakes
- 2 cups fat free half-and-half
- 16 oz package of gnocchi, I used Wegmans mini gnocchi, but regular-sized gnocchi are just fine!
- 2 cups torn fresh spinach leaves
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a dutch oven or soup pot to medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and stir to coat. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the onions are softened. Add the broth and water and increase the heat to bring the contents to a boil. Add the chicken breasts, carrots, celery, rosemary, thyme and nutmeg and once bubbling again, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes until the chicken breasts are cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
- About 10 minutes before the chicken is done simmering, mix together the flour, salt and pepper in a small dish. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the flour a little at a time until fully combined and let the “paste” that forms cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the half-and-half a little at a time until the mixture is completely combined, smooth and creamy. Cook for another few minutes, whisking occasionally, until the mixture thickens and lightly bubbles. Remove from heat.
- When the chicken from step one is finished cooking, remove it to a cutting board (recover the pot and continue to simmer the other ingredients). Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
- Uncover the simmering pot and add the gnocchi to the broth and vegetables. Re-cover and simmer for the time listed on the package of gnocchi (likely somewhere between 2-5 minutes). Uncover and whisk or stir in the creamy mixture from step two until well combined. Add the chopped chicken and the spinach to the pot and stir to combine. Cook, stirring, for another 2-3 minutes until spinach is wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. Serve warm.
Notes
6 per (1 cup) serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers brand PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition information below) I combined my Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup recipe with this recipe from Cooking Classy
Where did you get that cute soup and salad in one dish? Thanks again for another great recipe!
I need this bowl
I can’t wait to make this! Your creamy chicken and wild rice soup is already one of my favorites! Question: Is the gnocchi you use frozen?
Hi Mary Beth,
The gnocchi I used is not frozen, it is shelf stable and found in the pasta aisle. I definitely think you could use frozen though if that’s what you have!
Hi! What size dutch oven do you use? I’m single and like to make enough to freeze into portions but don’t have a large family to feed. Wasn’t sure if I should look for a certain size.
Mine is 5.5 qt I believe
This looks wonderful!!Do you think this could be made in a instant pot?
I made it in the IP! Im making it again right now, but ugh I can’t remember how long I put it in for! I think only like 5 or 6 mins after combining everything but the flour mixture!
I made some adjustments, I used oregano, salt, pepper, red crushed pepper, and garlic salt for seasoning in lieu of Thyme and Rosemary. But let me tell you what…. THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. The recipe plus the execution delivered results. Perfect for fall/winter and was filling, creamy, and fantastic.
Very tasty! I didn’t have any nutmeg so I omitted it. It did taste a bit like it was missing something, but I suspect the lack of nutmeg was to blame, which was completely my fault. In spite of that, it was creamy, comforting, and delicious. Thanks for the great recipe!
This soup is unreal!! Made it last night. It tastes amazing and is so filling. Thank you!
This soup is so delicious! My whole family (three-year-old included) loved it.
This is delicious. My family asked me to add it to the regular rotation. My teenager said it was in his top three favorite meals I’ve ever made. Yum!
Has anyone tried to make this in the crockpot? Thank you for the great recipes!
I made this last night for my family and they loved it! Thanks for all the great recipes. There’s even leftovers for lunch this week. Thanks again. 🙂
Absolutely delish! Followed the instructions and it came out so stinkin’ well! And it makes so many servings!! Definitely adding to my normal rotation.
Holy yum!!! My husband and I LOVED this soup. Great instructions, easy to make, and excellent results. I had some peas and bacon that needed to be used up and they were a great addition. We will definitely make it again. Thank you!!!
This dish is amazing! I coilsnt believe how rich and creamy it was! And the flavors were off the wall! I told everyobe about it. Thisnis becoming a staple in my house.
This recipe is absolutely delicious.
Do you have any suggestions if you cannot find the light sticks of butter? Our store used to carry them and now they do not and I am at a loss because I am in love with all of your soups that use this.
Oh no! Land O’Lakes has a product locator on their website, have you tried that? You can slso always make a request at your store, a lot of them will listed to their customers
It comes to 7 freestyle points.
Hi Emily, do you know if this recipe will freeze well?
Does the spinach add a lot?
Ever since I was pregnant with my first (almost 8 years ago now!) I CANNOT stand spinach. Even saying the word would send me to the toilet!
Can I just leave it out?
I am so excited to make this, I’ll take both my kids into the grocery store just to get the ingredients!
Thanks!
You can leave it out! It will still be delicious.
Can you tell me how much sodium is in your chicken gnocchi soup?
I made this last night and all I can say is OMG seriously soooo good! When I took the chicken out, I covered the pot again but it seemed like there wasn’t a lot of broth left so I added some water – advice? Wondering where I went wrong bc it doesn’t seem like anyone else had that issue. Also when I put it into the ww calculator it came back at 7 green points. Thanks for another amazing recipe, I love all of them!
When you add the cream mixture in, it should bring the soup volume back up to the 10 cups! Or perhaps you kept a rolling boil (big bubbles) rather than a simmer (small bubbles) and it evaporated more.
One of my favorite soups! I recently started making this with Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi so I can have a larger portion of soup. Note that the cauliflower flavor is noticeable when just boiled in the soup (as opposed to pan saute with garlic to mask the cauli flavor!)
This is one of our all-time favorite recipes!! I make it in my instapot – on high pressure, I cook the veggies, broth, and chicken for 15 minutes, shred the chicken in the pot, then I add the gnocchi and spinach after it’s finished and still hot. Then I follow the directions for the cream sauce and add right into the instapot. I also add extra garlic and onion salt to taste. I have been making this soup (and the wild rice, similar base recipe) almost every week!! Thank you for making such delicious recipes that are healthy!!!
What would the “blue” point value be per cup if the chicken and gnocchi were omitted?
I made this using the cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Jones. It was very good. A little bit time consuming to prepare but very tasty.
Do you think you can freeze this soup?
Just made this last night, for the second time. It’s so delicious!
Is 1 cup a serving?
My family loved this soup, thank you!
This soup was delicious!! I used the cauliflower gnocchi in the recipe. I will definitely make it again!!
This was so good and comforting! I used the light butter from land o lakes that comes in the tub. Will definitely make again!
A new family favorite!
Comfort food at its ultimate best!!!! So creamy and dreamy!!
I love this recipe! So flavorful and easy!
My husband does not eat soup and was not particularly happy when I put this in front of him but even he loves it and requests it all the time, even in the summer . Delicious!
We added some Creole seasoning and it kicked it up a notch.
So Good! My favorite soup currently. I subbed almond milk in place of half and half and it was just as delicious. Excellent recipe!
So creamy and delicious !
Recipes from Emily never disappoint, this one included!! The prefect fall meal, and dare I say better than OG?!?!
Currently have this in the making for dinner tonight~ it is one of my family’s favorites!!
Absolutely Delicious!
Do you think I can freeze this soup?
I love love your creamy chicken wild rice soup! I just found this one. How’d I miss it?!?! Can this be made the night before or partially at least??? It’s on the meal plan for Sunday after church. It would be great if I had most of it prepared ahead of time if possible of course. Thank you.
Delicious! Picky toddler approved!