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
Stephanie Manley, I would like to make this and have read through a ton of these comments and I was just wondering if you ever experimented with the rosemary instead of thyme suggestion? If so, what were your thoughts? I was also wondering what the difference would be between using half and half or using cream…Thank you 🙂
I do not believe their recipe contains rosemary, so I don’t want to add it. I personally think rosemary and cream sauces don’t taste well together, but that is my palette. Using half and half vs cream the differences would be mouth feel, cream is just the winner. I also find when you reheat things made with cream they just do better than half and half.
Awesome, thank you 🙂
You could add a little, it may work. I am always cautious with rosemary.
How many people will this feed?
The clock on your stove tells me you did NOT let it simmer for 20 minutes. The soup is a lie!
You are right, I didn’t. I was paying a camera person by the minute to shoot the video and it was my choice to call it done as quickly as a could. So, yes, the video is a lie the recipe isn’t. Thank you for pointing that out. You can see from all of the responses on how much people like the video what a true sham this recipe is.
It’s a great recipe. I was just joking.
It was a hilarious joke. I have explained this before. 400 videos later, perhaps I should replace this one. Video production is a learning curve.
Very good was very easy too make this is my daughters favorite soup.yum gotta new recipe!!!
Thank you for sharing
Gina
I must be doing something wrong, cause i didn’t have a kitchen fire, but my soup also didn’t turn out right, it was either too thin or too thick, I must be doing something wrong
Well it sounds like this is falling apart at the roux stage. If the roux isn’t thickening, turn up the heat a little bit more and it will thicken. If it is too thick are you adding the right amount of liquid?
This my favorite soup and every time I make it its a big hit!
I am happy to hear this recipe turns out for you.
My husband loves the Toscano soup which includes kale, while I love the gnocchi. I take his kale (which he’s not supposed to eat), and add it to my gnocchi. Voila, a totally yummy flavor addition from kale/sausages. Try it and enjoy.
This sounds like a great way to combine the two favorite soups.
This recipe is nowhere close to Olive Gardens Chicken Gnocchi.
This recipe was absolutely disgusting.
Way too garlicky and didn’t like texture of onions in a smooth creamy soup base.
Dog nor pot belly pig would eat it let alone my family
Very disappointed wasted money on ingredients
I am really sorry you didn’t like the recipe. Many people really enjoy this recipe.
Again, I am sorry that no one human, or with four legs in your house found this recipe suitable for their consumption.
@ Lovetocook….
Your the most rudest , obnoxious person! Seriously dogging on someone’s else’s recipe. Just because you couldn’t make the damn soup doesn’t mean you respond rudely. If this was my site I would ban you and you would not like my consequences, so man up and apologizes you pathetic, ungrateful, stupid piece of crap.
*starts slow clap as crowd joins in….*
Thanks for saying what we all were thinking. @Lovetocook was completely rude.
Let’s not forget that all of our tastes aren’t the same. To me this is WAY better than the Olive Garden version. Honestly most of their stuff is bland (even though their chicken and gnocchi is still by far my favorite thing there). If you don’t like it, cool, however being rude is 100% unnecessary
If I use the “dry” pasta – do I have to cook it first ?
Yes, you need to cook the gnocchi first.
Oh really? Lol I’ve never cooked it first. Oops!
is the gnocchi dry or is it fresh? Do both have to be precooked before adding?
If are using fresh, just pour it in, it will cook. If you are using the shelf-stable variety I would suggest that you cook it first, before adding. Or you can just pour it in, but you will need to cook it long enough so that it will cook through. Your choice.
Thanks for asking Barb..I was wondering the same thing.
Just finished preparing this soup. I couldn’t find gnocchi so I made it from the linked recipe. I believe I need to roll it out a little smaller next time and and just a tad more salt. I had two variations because I didn’t have thyme (substituted basil) and used frozen chopped spinach as I had no fresh. Other than not looking as pretty because of all the tiny green spinach pieces, it was wonderful!! Thanks so much for the recipe. Can’t wait to make it again and looking forward to trying your other recipes.
Excellent recipe!!!! Tastes exactly like the Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi!!! Well done!!!!
Question: I made this for the first time last night and I accidentally added 1 tsp of thyme instead of 1/2 tsp of said herb. Is there anything I can add to it to take away the strength of the thyme?
Why do you cook the gnocchi separately?
I don’t want it to over cook by staying in the soup forever.
Stephanie Manley you are the jam. I am going to try this recipe. Thank you for taking your time out to teach us how to make this .
This was way better than OG! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you 😉 I appreciate that very much!
I made this last week and it was great. I left out the spinach because I forgot to buy it but it was still awesome. Thank you!
This recipe seems to be very flexible 😉 I am glad you enjoyed it.
Great soup. Love all your recipes. Will definitely make again. Omitted chicken and used vegetable stock as we have a vegetarian in household.
I made this into a vegetarian soup, just omit the chicken and use Better Than Bouillon’s no-chicken base according to the directions on the bottle. Comes out sooooo good.
I tried this recipe for the first time and it came out very good! It tastes exactly same as the Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi Soup. Thank you so much for sharing this excellent recipe Stephanie!
This recipe was delicious!! It was a hit with my family. Added Great Value (Walmart) garlic breadsticks. Filling and perfect for a cold night.