Easy Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
on Oct 21, 2019, Updated Jan 02, 2025
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This delicious crockpot chicken gnocchi soup has it all – it’s creamy and comforting, it’s on the lighter side, and you need just 20 minutes to prepare it. Whether you know and love Olive Garden’s creamy chicken and gnocchi soup or not, you’ve got to try this easy copycat version!
Prefer to make the soup in your pressure cooker? I’ve got you covered there too!
Table of Contents
Why you’re going to love it
Looks good, right? So let’s just dive right in (with a big spoon) and find out why this dreamy, creamy easy chicken and gnocchi soup might just be your new favourite crockpot chicken soup recipe…
- A pretty good Olive Garden copycat! I can’t promise it will be EXACTLY the same, but it’s close. If you haven’t tried it, make it anyway and find out what all the Olive Garden soup fuss is all about.
- A lightened up creamy soup. Thanks to the evaporated milk you use (rather than cream).
- Just 7 main ingredients. So easy.
- Only 20 minutes hands-on time. So why not chop up your vegetables the night before and then throw them in the pot with chicken and stock/broth in the morning for an effort free and delicious dinner?
- A balanced but satisfying meal. It’s packed with vegetables: carrots, celery, onion, spinach. It’s got protein (hello delicious shredded chicken). And let’s not forget those cute little potato dumplings!
And if you love this soup, you’ll enjoy this crock pot zuppa toscana too (another Olive Garden copycat recipe!).
What’s gnocchi, anyway?
Made from mashed potato, flour, egg and sometimes cheese, gnocchi is like a kind of Italian dumpling. In fact, in Italian, gnocchi means ‘lumps’. Usually it’s boiled, but you can also bake it or pan-fry it. If you love gnocchi, try this 30-minute sheet pan gnocchi and sausage recipe, this baked gnocchi with broccoli, or this pan fried gnocchi with cherry tomatoes as well as this gnocchi soup!
What ingredients you need
I really wanted to keep the ingredients down to a minimum so that it’s a really easy win of a meal. But I wanted to make sure that it still has plenty of flavor.
Here are the 7 main ingredients:
- 4 kinds of vegetables: carrots, onions, celery and spinach. You can use frozen spinach if you prefer. Just defrost the spinach, then squeeze out any excess water before stirring into the soup.
- garlic and Italian herbs (for some good but simple flavour)
- chicken breasts (chicken thighs work, too)
- chicken broth / stock (Try to stick to really good quality)
- evaporated milk (so it’s creamy but lightened-up!) Cream works, too, if you prefer.
- cornstarch mixed with a bit of water for thickening the soup
- gnocchi (of course!) – I prefer to use a good quality store-bought gnocchi for this recipe, as it holds up better in the hot soup.
Top Tip
As there are only a few ingredients, I try to use the best quality ingredients I can find. I particularly like to buy good quality chicken and stock/broth (if I have some homemade, all the better!).
How to make chicken gnocchi soup in your crockpot
Photo 1: Chop the vegetables (carrots, celery, onion, garlic – everything apart from the spinach) and get all the other ingredients ready to go. So measure out the stock/broth, wash the spinach, get the herbs out of the pantry…
Throw the chopped vegetables, garlic, chicken and stock/broth into the slow cooker. Cook for about 6 hours on low.
Photo 2: After the cooking time is up, grab two forks and shred the chicken in the pot.
Photo 3: Now it’s time for the lightened-up creamy magic to happen! About half an hour before you want to eat, stir in a can of evaporated milk, some corn flour/cornstarch mixed with water (for thickening!) and the gnocchi. Replace the lid of the crockpot, turn it to high and let it bubble away for a few more minutes to cook the gnocchi and let the cornstarch do its thing.
Photo 4: Stir in a bag of spinach and let it wilt into the soup.
Photos 5 and 6: Season to taste and serve!
More things to know (recipe FAQ)
After much testing of this recipe over the years, I finally decided that 3 tablespoons of cornflour gives you the perfect thickness.
If you’d prefer your soup to be more like a hearty chowder or casserole, just add a tablespoon or two more of cornflour.
If you’d prefer a much thinner soup, simply reduce the cornflour to just 2 tablespoons.
The soup is lovely heated up the next day, but I sometimes find some of the liquid is soaked up by the gnocchi in the fridge. Simply add a bit of water to thin it out again to your liking.
Mostly, we just eat it as it is (it’s a wonderful one pot meal!), but if you want to serve some toasted bread with it go ahead! This 2-minute toasted bread with olive oil and salt is my favourite. If you have an air fryer, go with air fryer garlic bread. If you have a little more time, try this delicious no-knead Greek bread.
No, I wouldn’t recommend it. A slow cooker might not bring the chicken to a safe temperature quickly enough. Instead, thaw the chicken completely before cooking this soup. I find the easiest way is to let it thaw overnight in your refrigerator (if you can remember to get it out of the freezer!).
Yes! Cook for 10 minutes on high pressure, then let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes (on my pressure cooker I use the ‘auto quick release’ setting which takes about 5 minutes).
Although the recipe states to cook on low for 6 hours, your gnocchi soup will be fine left cooking all day. Out at work for 8, 9 or even 11 hours? No worries!
Once you’ve added the cornflour, gnocchi and spinach and the soup has bubbled and thickened, it’s also fine to leave the soup on the ‘keep warm’ setting for a while until you’re ready to eat.
Absolutely. Reheat either in a saucepan or in the microwave at 50% power (so the chicken doesn’t get tough!). See how it looks when it’s reheated, but feel free to add a drizzle of milk or water if it’s looking too thick.
You can freeze for up to 3 months. Simply let defrost, then reheat as above.
How to make your soup taste better than Olive Garden’s!
I say this with my tongue in my cheek. But I truly don’t think you need a ton of fancy ingredients to get a meal that tastes just as good.
In my very humble opinion, all you need to do is use the VERY BEST QUALITY ingredients you can find and/or afford.
In other words:
- local fresh and in-season vegetables.
- fresh supermarket chicken stock / broth or homemade stock. How do you make homemade chicken stock? Sometimes, instead of throwing away a roast chicken carcass, I just simmer for 4 hours on the stove top or cook it on low for at least 8 hours in my slow cooker with: half an onion, some (unpeeled) garlic cloves, a carrot, a bay leaf, water (until everything is just covered), salt and pepper and some fresh or dried herbs. I then let it cool, strain and freeze for the next time I want to make this chicken soup (or these amazing Greek potatoes)!
More comforting chicken dinners
Easy Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (Olive Garden Copycat)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds chicken breasts, skinless boneless (3 medium to large)
- 1 onion, large, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 4 sticks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed or chopped
- 4.5 cups chicken stock, (US=chicken broth)
- 1 tablespoon mixed Italian herbs, e.g. basil, thyme, oregano (or Italian seasoning)
- 14 ounces evaporated milk, (1 can)
- 3 tablespoons corn flour, dissolved in a little water (US=cornstarch)
- 16 ounces gnocchi
- 7 ounces spinach, (baby spinach)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Place the chicken, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, stock and herbs in the crockpot and cook on low for six hours minimum (or high for four). If you prefer to use an electric pressure cooker/Instant Pot, cook for 10 minutes on high pressure (70kpa), then quick pressure release (either instant or auto quick which takes 5-10 minutes in my pressure cooker).
- At the end of the cooking time, shred the chicken in the pot with two forks.
- Stir in the evaporated milk, cornstarch/water, and gnocchi (no need to cook it first). Bubble on 'high' until the soup has thickened a little and the gnocchi is cooked (a few minutes). If cooking in a pressure cooker, use the saute function instead.
- Wilt the spinach into the pot, grind in plenty of salt and pepper to taste, then serve.
Made this tonight and the hubby and I loved it! Varied from the originally recipe a little by adding pre cooked rotisserie chicken and the spinach and garlic at the start to save time. Will definitely make again! Yum 🙂
Hi Jessica! So so happy to hear that you enjoyed this. No problem at all to add pre-cooked chicken – good to hear that that works well too. Now you’re making me want to make this again soon! 🙂
I love this soup at the Olive Garden. I order it every time we go. I made this soup today and my family had it for dinner – I have to admit none of us liked it 🙁 I followed the recipe exactly. It seemed to be more of a stew…
Oh noooo – so sorry to hear this, Berri. I have a feeling you won’t want to give it another go, but if you do I’d suggest adding more milk or water before serving – or even reducing the amount of cornflour to 1 spoon instead of 2. I found this was more like a casserole when I reheated it on the second day as the leftovers soaked up a lot of the liquid, but after I added more water it was as good as new. 🙁
OK, Lisa! Thanks for leaving your honest review – I appreciate it even though you weren’t a fan!
Oh my! To be honest I absolutely love this soup. It’s the main reason I visit Olive Garden. I usually end up too full from it that I end up leaving half my entrée (terrible habit but can’t help myself). I’m not sure how this recipe ended in my page but I have been wondering how to make it at home. Really looking forward to trying it. I rarely use my kitchen but this is sure worthy. Thank you!
Hello Alee! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a message. This has ended up being one of my most popular recipes. We love it too, and it really is so easy to make at home. Definitely worth getting into that kitchen for! Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Do you need to boil gnocchi before putting them in crock pot or just open package and dump? 🙂
Hi Janine! No, you don’t need to boil it first. Just dump it in! This is a really yummy soup – hope you enjoy it! 🙂
Once I had added the spinach and garlic, I cooked it on “high” for half an hour, to fully cook the cornstarch mixture for maximum thickening. It needed a lot of salt and pepper and the touch of nutmeg, but it was delicious.
Hi Susan! Thanks so much for the tips. That’s a great idea to cook on high for half an hour, and definitely something worth adding to my notes section.
Hi Helen, I made this yesterday and we had it for dinner this evening,it was great,actually excellent,will definitely make again.Thank You
Hi Rick! Thank you so much for taking the time to pop in here and leave some feedback! This really is a great winter warmer, isn’t it? I love that it’s nice and comforting and filling, and makes LOADS! Really happy you enjoyed it! 🙂
Hi Helen, oh so sorry about your tooth, going to the dentist is definitely no fun. Though I do love this soup, pretty clever to add gnocchi to the mix.
Thank you for the good wishes, Cheri … tooth all good now, thank goodness. Goodbye to soup for the time being!
I have never tried gnocchi before! This looks so perfect and comforting! Really a perfect Winter dinner! 🙂
Hi Annie! Really, you’ve never tried gnocchi. Ooh, you’ve got to! 🙂
Sorry to hear about your dental problem Helen. I hope you will recover soon!
I love how creamy the soup is! It’s finally getting cold in Austin and I’m crazing for soup everyday. This one will be on my cooking list 🙂
Glad you like this, Maggie. The tooth is OK now, thank goodness, but I’m still craving big bowlfuls of this!
Wow this soup looks fantastic!! I’ve never had this soup before at Olive Garden but it sounds fantastic! I love the gnocchi in it!
Thank you, Kelley … I hope you give it a go!
That looks wonderful! I’ve never added gnocchi to soup although I have added dumplings and pasta so I can see how well it would work! 😀
Thank you, Lorraine! This was the first time I’d added gnocchi to a soup too, but it really does work. Definitely a bit like dumplings.
Ta soupe est divine, elle a l’air tellement réconfortante! J’imagine déjà le mangé à côté d’un bon feu de chimené. Bon courage chez le dentiste et bon weekend!
Merci beaucoup, Eva! Maintenant tout est bien avec le dent … enfin. 🙂
Dental appointments are not fun, hope everything is ok Helen! Love this soup, so creative and full of flavor! Perfect for the holidays!
Everything is fine now, Mira. Thank goodness I don’t have to eat soup any more!
So sorry to hear about the dental woes but if you are going to decide between your steak in the blender and this delicious soup. I think you know which one I would be up for. Love your creamy dreamy soup. I actually have never had Olive gardens soup but this recipe looks so good! Wishing you a successful and permanent tooth solution.
Thank you for the good tooth wishes, Bam! Only 1 more day to go before my dental appointment, thank goodness. Pretty sick of soup, to be honest (ahem … yes, even this one 😉
This looks so comforting. I just love adding gnocchi to soups, to make them much more filling.
Thanks, Dannii! I’ve actually never added gnocchi to a soup before making this, but I certainly will again!
Oh dear – I am so sorry to hear about your dental issues, Helen. I am glad you managed to catch the doc that afternoon after you displaced your new crown!
As for this soup – it sounds delicious – perfect for people with dental issues and people without any dental issues as well 🙂
Hahaha … yes, I agree that this is great for anyone, dental issues or no!!
This soup looks delicious. Soup is always the perfect comfort food.
Thank you, Dawn! Thanks for passing by! 🙂
This soup looks amazing! I love gnocchi! I have never been to Olive Garden, but now I don’t need to!
Thank you so much, Cathleen. Hope you give this soup a go some time! 🙂
I have never eaten at Olive Garden, but I do love this soup. It’s so hearty and just what I need when it’s chilly out.
Thank you, Janette! 🙂
Now this is a pot of soup! This is perfect for sore mouths after dental visits, right? Haha. And calling yourselves toothless old crones cracked me up! This soup looks just incredible. 😃
Thanks, Marcie! Losing my teeth is actually a big fear of mine … hahaha! Hopefully I’ll hold onto them for a good few more years, but just in case I need to gather up plenty of soup recipes … 😉
Happy healing! This looks delicious- I may make it this weekend!
Hope you do, Chrissy! 🙂
I have mine in the crockpot as we speak! So excited to try it!!.. how long do i need to cook the gnocchi after putting it in the pot?
Hello Megan! Thanks so much for passing by. So sorry for the delay in reply… you must have your gnocchi soup all done and dusted by now. I hope it turned out well! You don’t need to cook the gnocchi. Just tip the package in at the point specified in the recipe and you’ll be good to go! 🙂
I made this tonight. It was very good. Tasted awesome. I Followed the recipe. However, it was not like Olive Garden Garden. It was very good but it was just missing something.
Really happy you gave this a go, Amber, and thank you so much for bothering to leave your honest feedback. I wonder what it’s missing? But at least it’s still tasty! 🙂
I have yet to try the crockpot version but in all over the stove recipes I made, nutmeg is part of that list. I usually add tons more garlic, seasonings, and lots of nutmeg. Better than the original! I look forward to trying yours!
Oh yes, a touch of nutmeg would be wonderful!
I think I considered adding it to my recipe but decided to keep the ingredients list as short as possible in the end.
I will add a sneaky pinch next time I make this though! 😉