One-Pan Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Spinach
Dinner in one pan: gnocchi, chicken sausage, and spinach, ready with almost no thinking.
When you’re tired and still need dinner, this is the kind of meal that helps: one skillet, a short ingredient list, and no separate pot for the gnocchi. It’s a real weeknight version of a classic sausage-and-gnocchi skillet, adapted with chicken sausage for a lighter, quicker cook. The gnocchi get tender right in the sauce, the spinach wilts in at the end, and you still get a cozy, filling dinner without much cleanup. Expect big comfort, not complicated technique. If you can slice sausage and stir a skillet, you can make this on a low-energy night.
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken sausage — sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 unit yellow onion — small, diced
- 3 unit garlic cloves — minced
- 16 oz potato gnocchi — shelf-stable or refrigerated
- 1.5 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 0.25 tsp red pepper flakes — optional
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 0.5 cup grated Parmesan
- 0.25 tsp salt — plus more to taste
- 0.25 tsp black pepper — plus more to taste
Method
- 1 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken sausage and cook until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
- 2 Add the onion to the skillet and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes, then cook for 30 seconds.
- 3 Add the gnocchi, chicken broth, and heavy cream. Bring to a simmer, then cook uncovered, stirring often, until the gnocchi are tender and the sauce starts to thicken, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- 4 Stir the sausage back in, then add the spinach in handfuls and cook until wilted. Turn off the heat and stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and black pepper, then serve right away.
Variations
- Vegetarian swap — Skip the chicken sausage and use 8 oz sliced mushrooms plus 1 can drained white beans for a meatless skillet.
- Faster swap — Use pre-sliced chicken sausage and baby spinach; it trims the prep to almost nothing and keeps the dish moving.
- Substitutions — Swap heavy cream for half-and-half for a lighter sauce, or use kale instead of spinach and simmer it 2 to 3 minutes longer.
Notes
If the sauce gets too thick before the gnocchi are tender, splash in a little more broth. For a looser skillet, keep an extra 1/4 cup broth nearby. Use a large skillet so the gnocchi have room to simmer evenly.
Equipment that helps
- Large skillet — Gives the gnocchi enough room to simmer in the sauce instead of steaming in a crowded pan.
- Wooden spoon — Helps scrape up the browned bits from the sausage, which adds a lot of flavor to the sauce.
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