This homemade gnocchi recipe is simple to make with 4 ingredients. It's delicate, soft, and pillowy—perfect for serving with your favorite sauce!
Let’s make gnocchi! My homemade pasta is one of the most popular recipes on Love & Lemons, so it’s about time I shared my favorite potato gnocchi recipe too.
These homemade gnocchi are soft, pillowy, and light. Served with a flavorful sauce, they’re absolutely delicious. If you think you like store-bought gnocchi, prepare yourself: this homemade version is so much better.
This simple recipe calls for 4 basic ingredients—flour, potatoes, eggs, and salt. It’s a bit of a project, so I’d save it for a weekend or date night, but it’s 100% worth the effort. These potato gnocchi are like little clouds on a plate!
What is gnocchi?
Gnocchi (pronounced nee-OH-kee) are a type of Italian pasta or dumpling.
According to The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, the Italian word “gnocchi” translates to “little lumps,” which perfectly describes this food’s small, ball-like shape.
Though you’ll see variations made with cauliflower, ricotta cheese, and more, gnocchi most commonly consist of potatoes and flour. Keep reading to learn how to make my recipe!
Recipe Ingredients
You’ll need 4 basic ingredients to make this recipe:
- Potatoes and all-purpose flour – The key ingredients in homemade gnocchi! Together, they create a light, pillowy dough. I recommend using starchy russet potatoes here.
- An egg – It makes the dough cohesive and easier to handle.
- And sea salt – For depth of flavor.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Gnocchi
You can find the complete recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post. For now, here’s a step-by-step overview of how it goes:
Start by cooking the potatoes. A traditional gnocchi recipe would start with boiling the potatoes. After a lot of experimentation and comparison, I actually recommend baking the potatoes instead. It adds less moisture to the dough, making it lighter and easier to handle.
Bake the potatoes in a 425°F oven until tender when pierced with a fork.
Allow the potatoes to cool slightly, then peel away the skins. Pass the soft flesh through a potato ricer, or mash the potatoes with a fork until completely smooth.
Next, make the dough. Transfer the potatoes to a lightly floured surface, and spread them in a wide, thin mound.
Drizzle with the egg and sprinkle with the salt and a third of the flour. Using a bench scraper or your hands, lift and fold the potatoes into themselves to incorporate the flour and egg. Repeat with another third of the flour.
Continue adding flour a little at a time and kneading the dough until it’s soft and pillowy, but not sticky. Careful not to overwork the dough, or the gnocchi will be tough.
- Tip: You may not need all the flour the recipe calls for, or you may need a bit more. The exact amount you use will depend on factors like humidity, the moisture in your potatoes, etc. Add just enough to form a soft—but not sticky—dough.
Then, cut the gnocchi. Form the dough into a ball. Cut it into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long rope about 1-inch in diameter and cut it into 3/4-inch pieces.
Shaping Options
From here, you can cook and serve the gnocchi—shaping it isn’t required! But if like, you can add ridges. They’ll help the dumplings catch sauce and cook more evenly.
I do this by gently pressing each gnocco into and along the tines of a floured fork. If you start making this recipe often, you could invest in a gnocchi board for adding even finer ridges.
How to Cook Gnocchi
To cook homemade gnocchi, you’ll boil it like any pasta.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add one-third of the gnocchi and cook until they float, about 2 minutes. Use a spider or slotted spoon to scoop them out of the boiling water and into a colander set over a large bowl. Repeat twice to cook the rest of the batch.
A note on preparation: Skillet and sheet pan gnocchi are all the rage these days. These recipes are usually designed to be made with store-bought gnocchi, not homemade.
Boiling this gnocchi is the best way to cook it. I can’t guarantee that it will work with other cooking methods.
How to Serve Gnocchi
I love to serve this delicate homemade pasta in a simple, flavorful sauce with fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese on top.
You can’t go wrong with one of these sauces:
- Basil pesto (Gnocchi al pesto was my favorite dish to order when I visited Liguria, Italy!)
- Fresh tomato sauce
- Marinara sauce
- Lemon butter sauce
Round out the meal with garlic bread or focaccia and a big green salad. Buon appetito!
How to Store
Cooked leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat them in the microwave or gently on the stovetop.
You can also freeze uncooked homemade gnocchi. Spread it in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. No need to thaw before cooking—you can boil it directly from frozen!
Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, 3 to 4 medium-large
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Use a fork to poke holes in the potatoes. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, but still warm, peel off and discard the skins. Pass the peeled potatoes through a ricer, or place them in a large bowl and mash with a fork until smooth.
- Transfer the potatoes to a lightly floured surface and form them into a wide, thin mound. Drizzle with the egg and sprinkle with the salt and a third of the flour. Use your hands or a bench scraper to lift and fold the potatoes into themselves to incorporate the egg and flour.
- When the first addition of flour is just incorporated, sprinkle the potatoes with another third of the flour. Fold and lightly knead the dough to incorporate it. Continue adding flour a little at time and kneading and folding the dough until it’s soft and pillowy, but not sticky. You may not need all the flour, or you might need a bit more. Knead the dough as little as possible to incorporate the flour. You don’t want to overwork it.
- Form the dough into a ball and cut it into 8 equal pieces. Dust your work surface and your hands with more flour and roll one piece into a rope about 1-inch in diameter. Cut it into ¾-inch pieces and transfer them to a floured plate or baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Optional step: Shape the gnocchi. Dip the tines of a fork in flour and hold the fork parallel to your work surface. Place one gnocco at the end of the tines and use one finger to press it into and along them. One side will have ridges and the other side will have an indentation from your finger. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Set a colander over a large bowl nearby. Add a third of the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes, or until they float. Use a slotted spoon to lift the gnocchi out of the boiling water and into the colander, then repeat twice with the remaining gnocchi.
- Serve with marinara sauce or pesto, or try another of the serving suggestions in the blog post above.
do you provide nutrition information for recipes somewhere for those of us who track ?
can I use sweet potato to make this as I don’t like potato