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.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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
Made your soup and it was exactly like Olive Garden’s, wonderful!! My whole family loved it and and we ate it two night’s in a row. The only thing I did differently was use a half pkg. of the gnocchi and halved the pieces because they were large. I bought the precooked fajita chicken and that worked really well. Thank you so much, this is a fabulous recipe, can’t wait to try more of yours!!
I liked your idea about cutting the gnocchi in half! Sometimes packaged gnocchi is very large.
I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! It’s so good, we can’t even eat it at Olive Garden anymore…it just doesn’t compare! It’s a great way to get the kids to eat their spinach also! And they do! Even asking for seconds! I make this now at least once a week because there’s a request for it, and we never, ever have left overs. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
This soup is AWESOME! I found it on pinterest and crave it all the time now.
I made this soup with fat-free half and half and used a little corn starch to thicken. It was delicious. We ate every bite!
Hi! I’m going to make this next weekend, but I’m a bit curious, in the video you only put one can of broth but the recipe calls for two. Which is correct? Thanks!
Wow…..delicious. I substituted the 1/2 & 1/2 for evaporated milk (less fat). It was delicious!!!! Thank you!!!
This is the best soup…we fell in love with it at the Olive Garden and wanted to be able to make it ourselves. That you CopyKat Recipes…made it last night and it was spot on.
Thanks for your comment. Now just think you don’t have to leave home to have this soup!
Love it! Thank u!
This recipe is PHENOMENAL!!! Matches Olive Garden soup perfectly! Thank you!
~Wendy Pierce~
Wendy, thank you for letting me know that you enjoyed the soup!!
I made this the other night – I halved the recipe, which was great for about 3 people. I kept the chicken portion the same, as to keep the protein aspect, and used about 3/4 of the gnocchi package. DELISH!
Is it 1 or 2 cans of chicken broth? You state 2 in your recipe but in the video you only say one, doesn’t look like there would have been room for 2 in your pot.
It is two. I believe the second can was cut in the editing of the video. My video editor doesn’t cook much, and sometimes we have a disconnect here.
Let me just say that sometime there is a disconnect between editing the video, filming the video. I need to do a better job in working with my editor to ensure everything is fully noted. My editor is fabulous, but she doesn’t cook a lot, and so I think the 2nd can got cut, and sometimes minor things get cut so we can keep the videos short. It is a learning process on my part, and I hope to improve as we continue to shoot videos for y’all.
My boyfriend and I made this last night and it was amazing! The soup didn’t thicken as much as we’d have liked for some reason but it was still delicious and I will definitely be making it again. Thanks for the recipe!
YAY!!! I love going to Olive Garden for Soup, Salad and Breadsticks but my husband and I have made it our mission to save money and 1 aspect of this is by not eating out. I just finished making this and I am super excited for our very own Soup Salad and Bread Sticks dinner tonight, w/o having to tip anyone!!! The only thing I did different was use whole wheat flour b/c that is all we have, left out the parsley b/c for some reason I don’t have any and after done cooking I put everything in the crockpot on “warm” since I made much earlier than dinner will be served….. also I am hoping this will soften up the carrots a little more. Thanks for making copy kat recipes for people like me that our too scared or not kitchen savvy enough to try it themselves!
I made this the other night and had some of the same problems other posters had. My gnocci was REALLY big (I know that’s not your fault at all) so it was kind of hard to eat. The kids hated that part. Mine ended up being a lot thicker and more bland then what I remember the soup tasting like at Olive Garden. My husband thought it was good but needed more seasoning. When I reheated the leftovers, I cut the gnocci in half, added broth to thin it out and a ton of pepper and some salt. It tasted so much better. Because my husband liked it, I might make it again with those changes. I might just add some shaped pasta instead of the gnocci next time for the kids. Thanks for posting this though. My husband loves it at OG and now I have a good base! 🙂
I just wanted to let you know how wonderful this is! I am making it for the 2nd time tonight! Thank you so much for what you do!!
I am making it right now with leftover grilled chicken. Something tastes funky. I don’t know if I added too much thyme (which I don’t believe I did). I’ve added a ton more garlic, a little parmesean, salt. I have had to thin it quite a bit. I used a whole 15 oz jug of broth. I’m now adding water. It’s been so long since I’ve made my own cream-based soup…not sure what else I can do to “fix” it.
I am not sure what is going on there. There really isn’t a “funky” ingredient in there, you are describing a funky taste, but then trying to get it to taste differently by adding more liquid.
I just thought you’d like to know that we ate at Olive Garden last night and remarked how much we loved the chicken and gnocchi soup. Then it hit us: “We could make this its own meal. But how?” We found your site and your YouTube video and made a meal out of the soup by adding a little bit more meat. We complemented it with French bread (which our 6-year-old son loved “painting” with butter before it went into the oven). We loved it so much that we just bought your book over on Amazon. Thank you for making dinner an international experience tonight for us. The house smells great! — The Dupont Family
Thank you for the glowing testimony! I am so glad your family could recreate your favorite meal in your home. There are lots more recipes available online, and new recipes are coming out on Youtube all of the time.
dumb question but what kind of spinach? frozen?
Use fresh spinach.
Definately needs salt and pepper. Tweeked it based on what I had in the kitchen! I used onion and garlic powder as well as celery salt since I didn’t have the fresh stuff. Spinach wouldn’t be an option with my boys so I added a few canned green peas for color. I also used canned carrots, left over turkey and milk since I didn’t have half/half. It was nice change of dinner menu for our family. Will make again!
my sister and I go to Olive Garden every other week and have soup ( Cnocchi ) and Salad. It is the best soup ever. My grand children have nana and pap take them there every other week to. they love the place