The first time I tasted Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi Soup, it was during a winter lunch with friends. As the steaming bowl arrived at our table, I was instantly captivated by the aroma of herbs and cream. That first spoonful of pillowy gnocchi and tender chicken swimming in rich, velvety broth was pure comfort in a bowl. I knew immediately I had to recreate this magic at home. You can enjoy the same taste that you can get from the Olive Garden with this easy copycat recipe.
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Table of Contents
Why This Homemade Version Beats the Original
This copycat Olive Garden soup elevates the restaurant experience in several key ways:
- Gnocchi Perfection – Cook gnocchi to your ideal tenderness rather than the sometimes overcooked restaurant version
- Superior Chicken Quality – Use freshly roasted chicken instead of pre-processed meat for juicier, more flavorful results
- Customizable Consistency – Control the thickness of your soup for your perfect creamy texture
- Vegetable Freshness – Enjoy vibrant, just-cut vegetables with perfect al dente texture
- Herb Intensity – Adjust seasonings to amp up flavors beyond the sometimes subtle restaurant version
Everyone Loves Chicken and Gnocchi soup
Why does everyone love this recipe? This is one of those chicken soup recipes everyone loves because it is made with tender gnocchi, juicy chicken, fresh carrots and celery, and a perfectly seasoned chicken broth. Make salad and breadsticks to so with this soup.
The Secret to Perfect Chicken Gnocchi Soup
The magic of this recipe lies in creating a silky, flavorful base and ensuring each ingredient maintains its distinct texture while melding harmoniously with the others.
Ingredients
- Butter – Creates a rich foundation and helps form the roux that thickens the soup
- Olive oil – Adds authentic Italian flavor while preventing the butter from burning during sautéing
- White onion – Provides a sweet, aromatic base that’s milder than yellow onions
- Celery – Contributes essential savory notes and subtle texture to the soup
- Fresh garlic – Delivers aromatic depth that’s essential for authentic Italian flavor
- All-purpose flour – Works with butter to create the roux that gives the soup its signature thickness
- Half and half – Creates the creamy, luxurious texture that makes this soup so comforting
- Low-sodium chicken broth – Forms the flavorful foundation while allowing you to control salt levels
- Dried thyme – Adds classic herbal notes that complement chicken perfectly
- Dried parsley flakes – Provide color and fresh flavor balance to the rich base
- Ground nutmeg – Enhances the creamy elements with subtle warmth and complexity
- Shredded carrots – Adds natural sweetness, color, and nutritional value
- Cooked chicken breast – Delivers tender protein chunks throughout the soup
- Potato gnocchi – Creates the signature pillowy texture that makes this soup unique
- Spinach – Contributes fresh color, nutrition, and a slight texture contrast
Should you use store-bought or homemade gnocchi?
Store-bought gnocchi is perfect for this recipe. You can take the extra step in preparing homemade gnocchi, but premade potato gnocchi works well. Gnocchi can be found in a couple of places in your supermarket, and you have options to purchase them.
- Many local stores sell shelf-stable potato gnocchi in the pasta aisles. I have purchased this at Walmart and Kroger, and I have been told that some dollar stores carry gnocchi.
- I have seen fluffy fresh gnocchi sold in the fresh sections of higher-end grocery stores, where you would pick up a prepared meal. Fresh gnocchi has a better texture and is more desirable, but not every grocery store offers it.
- I have even found it available in the grocery store’s frozen section.
Either type of gnocchi will work well. Your family will love this. Have a hard time finding gnocchi? Make your homemade potato gnocchi.
Preparation tips
- 🥄 PREP TIP: Fresh garlic makes a massive difference in flavor
- 🔥 COOKING TIP: Don’t boil after adding cream to prevent curdling
- ⏰ TIME TIP: “Prep vegetables while heating broth
How to make Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi
Making this Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi soup recipe is straightforward. You will find that all of the ingredients are very common in your average grocery store. We think it is easiest if you gather all of your ingredients before you start preparing the soup. This way, you will have everything on hand to get started.
First, you will sauté the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat. Then, add some flour and cook that through. You will then add the half-and-half and chicken broth. Please bring it to a low boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Cooked chicken and gnocchi are added to your seasoned broth and vegetables. Adjust your seasoning, and you will be ready to serve this soup in less than an hour.
Customizing this soup for you
Some people want a larger punch of flavor from their soup, so you can add some additional chicken soup base to dial up the flavor. I would add an extra teaspoon or two of chicken base to this to bring up the flavor. While I don’t find adding a soup base too close to the restaurant version, it can add something additional.
Want to add in a few more vegetables? We recommend adding some chopped zucchini; you could also add carrots or spinach.
Can you use a Crockpot for this recipe?
Yes, you can. I like to saute the vegetables first before I prepare the soup. You don’t need to do that if you like.
Place all of the vegetables, except the kale, chicken, seasonings, and stock, into the crockpot. Cook on low for 4 hours. Shred the chicken, add the remaining ingredients, and cook for another hour.
If the soup is too thin, make a cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch mixed with two tablespoons of water. Stir the cornstarch slurry into the soup, turn the crockpot on high, and stir until the soup has thickened.
How to Store and Reheat Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- 📅Refrigerate any leftover soup in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- ❄️Freezer – freeze for up to 3 months in an air-tight container
- 🔥Reheat – this creamy soup is best reheated in a large pot on the stove over low heat. This way, the creamy broth won’t break down.
Can you freeze copycat Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup?
Yes, you can freeze this soup. The soup stays well in the freezer for several months when stored in an airtight container. The consistency of the soup will change a bit; if you can, I recommend freezing the soup without the gnocchi and adding gnocchi when you reheat it. The texture of the gnocchi will change after it is frozen. Thaw the soup in the refrigerator overnight.
What to serve with chicken gnocchi soup
There are so many things you can serve with this soup. You may want to serve the classic Olive Garden Salad; we have found a good old-fashioned Caesar salad that also hits the spot. But when it comes to bread options, you could serve some garlic bread, crusty bread like sourdough bread, or even our copycat Olive Garden bread sticks.
You may want to garnish this soup with cheese. To top the soup, you could use fresh grated Romano or grated Parmesan.
More Olive Garden Copycat Recipes
- Asiago Tortelloni Alfredo with Grilled Chicken
- Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara
- Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce
- Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo
- Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
- Olive Garden Dressing
- Olive Garden Minestrone Soup
- Olive Garden Pasta Fagioli Soup
- Olive Garden Salad Recipe
- Zuppa Toscana
Popular Soup Recipes
Love soup? Check out these soup recipes and try one of my great dessert recipes to complete your meal.
Look at more of my copycat Olive Garden recipes to make your favorites at home.
Homemade Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup finely diced onion
- 1/2 cup finely diced celery
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 quart half-and-half
- 28 ounces chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (optional)
- 1 cup carrots finely shredded
- 1 cup spinach leaves coarsely chopped
- 1 cup chicken breast cooked, and diced
- 16 ounces package ready-to-use gnocchi
Instructions
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion, celery, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion becomes translucent.
- Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Whisk in the half-and-half. Simmer until thickened.
- Whisk in the chicken broth. Simmer until thickened again. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, thyme, parsley, nutmeg (if using), shredded carrots, spinach, chicken, and gnocchi.
- Simmer until the soup is heated through. Before serving, season with additional salt, if necessary.
Video
Notes
- You can use leftover roitisserie chicken for extra flavor
- You may want to use less thyme than suggested
- Some gnocchi is very large, you can cut these pieces in half
- You may want to add additional salt to the final soup. This soup does not have a lot of salt in it, especially if you use low-sodium chicken broth
I forgot 1/2 &1/2 can I use 1% milk?
You can, but it won’t be the same, the soup may not taste quite as rich. Let me know how it goes.
I have been making this recipe for several years. It is delicious! My husbands favorite along with Frischs vegetable soup. Last time we were at Olive Garden he told our waiter I made chicken gnocci soup better than theirs.
Oh no 😉 I am glad you really enjoyed the soup.
I made it tonight, and the family loved it. Thank you
I am so happy your family loved the soup.
Amazing! Followed the recipe exactly, with the exception of adding a little basil. East to make! I put all the veggies in a chopper to cut off some prep time. Soo good! Tastes like I’m eating Olive Garden to go!
I made this with gluten-free flour and gluten-free gnocchi for my husband….Delicious!! Made a double batch this time.
Great recipe, turned out wonderful, better than OG. I doubled it (except for the nutmeg & gnocchi) and added lots more veggies & a whole rotisserie chicken. Used half 2% milk & half 1/2 & 1/2. I agree, the nutmeg adds a depth of flavor, but I was wary about doubling that potent spice, so I used what was called for-1/4 tsp for a double batch. I used shears to cut the gnocchi in half, making double the portion. It thickened up nicely, was a breeze to put together & was very flavorful. Made a Caesar salad & garlic bread & it was a hearty, warming special dinner. Can’t wait to try the leftovers. Would be good with tortellini as well? Thanks CopyKat! Now I’ll have to peruse your other recipes.
I made this soup the other day and you hit the nail on the head. It was so yummy, tasted just like OG’s. Now I don’t have to go to OG to get take out of this soup. This is my favorite soup and am so glad that you created this recipe. Thank you!!!! .
I am so happy you enjoyed this soup. This is definitely one of my favorite soups of all time. One thing about making a copycat recipe at home is you can customize it any way you like.
Don’t make the nutmeg optional. Changed the taste a ton from very sweet cream, to more restaurant flavored. Otherwise yum! Topped mine with park cheese, croutons, and some green onion.
I doubled the recipe and it definitely had too much thyme. I will cut back on it next time, but besides that it tastes almost perfect!
Amazing soup, my favorite from Olive Garden and I was super excited to try it out on my family. 🙂 🙂
I am glad you enjoyed the soup.
This soup has so many of my favorite flavors – all combined into one fantastic,comfort-filled soup! Looks delicious!
This is definitely one of my fav’s… and the featured comment is perfect!
Sorta kinda obsessed with this soup! I want all the creamy soups as the weather gets cooler 🙂
This was amazing! Just as good as OG, if not better. I omitted the nutmeg, but only because I didn’t realize I didn’t have any in my spice drawer. If I hadn’t JUST gotten home from a not so quick trip to walmart, where I had went with my daughter for the fresh veggies for this recipe, and ended up with 20 additional items, I would have ran back to get some.
Also since I was trying to do this quickly, instead of roasted chicken I took 2 very small frozen chicken breasts, boiled them & chopped them. I stirred them in at the same time the chicken broth so they wouldn’t end up bland.
Great idea on stirring in the chicken breasts with the chicken broth, it should give the soup a little extra flavor.
Oh goodness, I know what you mean, there is never a quick trip to Wal Mart, for me it always takes much longer than I intend. I am happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. I think it works fairly well without the nutmeg. Thank you for giving the recipe a try.
Oh my gosh this looks insanely delicious!!!
Thank you very much!
I made this and it was great! If you find it to be not what you want tweak it to your satisfaction. This was pretty spot on to me compared to OGs soup. I love that at home you are the one who decides what you consume. For example I have HBP so I am glad when I get to control my sodium. Thank you for sharing this recipe we make it a lot in our house.
Thank you for your comments. I think we all like to tweak recipes to our personal tastes. I know I do. I also think one of the best things about copy cat recipes is you can modify the recipe for your diet. It is much easier to do this when you know what you are starting with. I hope you get a chance to try more recipes.
I made this soup (my favorite from Olive Garden) and it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! I’m pinning all kinds of recipe’s now, and cannot wait to try others! THANK YOU!
I am so happy that you enjoyed the soup, and thank you for pinning the recipes!
Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I made this the other day and it turned out awesome! Super yummy and easy!
Oh terrific, I am so glad you gave it a try and that you liked it.
NAILED IT!!! My very picky teenage daughter loves this soup at OG. She said it tasted exactly like theirs and even a bit better because theirs didn’t have enough gnocchi. I did a serious Happy Dance!! I followed the recipe exact……….thank you!!
I appreciate your comment. I never thought the soup had enough stuff in it at the restaurant. I like my soup to be packed with goodies. I am so glad you and your family enjoyed this one.
Yum we love this recipe. I had to slow down we were eating this 3 times in a week lol. It’s addictive but we have our habit under control now 😉 thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
That’s funny. I am glad you enjoyed the recipe. I always love it when you find something you really like.
I made this soup and it was DELICIOUS. This soup is one of my favorite things about OG, and now that I can make it at home we are free to try any and all other Italian restaurants (my boyfriend hates OG).
I am glad you enjoyed the soup. It is very tasty.