Butternut Squash Gnocchi (With Sausage And Kale)
on Oct 21, 2025
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After just 15 minutes hands-on prep, this butternut squash gnocchi becomes a one pan dish packed with crowd-pleasing sausage and wholesome butternut squash and kale. No need for any side dishes!
Tasty comfort food at its best
This butternut squash gnocchi is a little bit of everything – oozy, cheesy and comforting, but also tasty, on the healthier side, and very easy to make with relatively few ingredients. It might just be the perfect family dinner!
There’s no shortage of flavor in this. Sausage always makes for a great hit of taste. The rich tomato sauce contains fennel seeds, garlic, fresh basil and a little splash of balsamic vinegar to add a bit more ‘oomph’.
And then there’s the roasted butternut squash and kale to make you feel all smug about eating a balanced dinner with relatively little effort.
📌Recipe snapshot
- Prep in around 15 minutes (the oven does the rest of the work)
- Comfort food meets healthy
- No side dishes necessary.
- A perfect family friendly midweek dinner
About the ingredients
You’ll find a full list of ingredients with amounts in the recipe card below. But here’s a summary of what you need to know.
- Butternut squash: For convenience, use ready-chopped fresh or frozen butternut squash. Pumpkin works, too.
- Kale: Again for convenience, I like to get ready-chopped and washed kale. If washing and chopping yourself, make sure you remove any tough stems. Spinach is a good alternative.
- Potato gnocchi: I prefer to grab a package of gnocchi from the refrigerator section at the supermarket rather than the shelf stable gnocchi you can often find in the pasta aisle. Note: This homemade ricotta gnocchi is wonderful but probably not suitable for this recipe as it may not hold up well stirred into a gnocchi bake.
- Olive oil: For cooking.
- Onion: Any kind – red or regular (red are sweeter, regular white or brown onions are stronger).
- Garlic
- Pork sausages: I recommend choosing a good quality and tasty pork sausage with a high percentage of meat in it. Italian sausages are a good option. A well seasoned, good quality ground sausage could work well in this gnocchi bake recipe, too.
- Fennel seeds: You’ll only need around half a teaspoon of these to add plenty of sweet, herbal flavor. Alternatively, you could add some sliced fresh fennel at the same time as the onions.
- Dried thyme: Mixed Italian herbs are a good substitute.
- Passata: This is a smooth tomato puree made from ripe tomatoes. You can usually find it in a bottle in the pasta sauce aisle. However, in a pinch you can use canned crushed tomatoes. Just pulse them in a food processor until they are smooth.
- Fresh basil: I like to add most of a small bunch – or around a cup. If you only have dried, that’s OK too – add around a tablespoon.
- Salt and pepper: Add this to the sauce to taste, but you won’t need very much. Usually, there’s already plenty of salt and pepper in sausages, and cheese adds salty flavor, too.
- Mozzarella: A ripped-up ball of mozzarella dotted over the top adds delicious cheesy ooze! Mini mozzarella balls, or even grated mozzarella would work, too.
- Parmesan cheese: For sprinkling over the top before baking.
How to make this butternut squash gnocchi
Make this all-in-one gnocchi bake in just a few simple steps:
Start by preparing the vegetables and gnocchi. Roast the butternut squash, and boil the kale and gnocchi. Mostly I use ready-chopped (either fresh or frozen) squash and kale, but it’s fine to chop your own, too.
While you’re waiting for the butternut squash to roast, you can also make the quick sausage sauce. Simply pan-fry the onion and garlic, then squeeze the sausage out of their casings and straight into the pan. Break them up with a wooden spoon as they cook.
Sprinkle over the dried herbs and seasoning. Then stir in the passata and basil, plus half a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar if you like.
Now stir the kale and gnocchi into the sauce.
Empty the mixture into a baking dish. Scatter ripped mozzarella and grated parmesan over the top.
Finally, bake for around 20 minutes until oozy and bubbling on top.
Helen’s Top Tips
- To prep ahead: Assemble the bake fully, then cover with aluminium foil and store in the fridge. When you’re ready to cook it, bake for around 30 to 35 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
- Handy shortcuts: Use ready chopped and washed kale, store-bought gnocchi, and ready-chopped butternut squash (or pumpkin) to save time. Fresh or frozen are both fine.
- How to serve: Either serve the butternut squash gnocchi simply, as it is, or with a simple fresh green salad or extra green vegetables on the side. Try sauteed frozen broccoli or sauteed frozen green beans!
- Variation: Don’t have any parmesan? Try making a quick batch of this pangrattato instead. You could call it poor man’s parmesan, and you won’t believe how delicious it is!
More easy comfort food
- Love gnocchi? Arrive home to this Olive Garden copycat crockpot chicken gnocchi soup. Or make this quick baked gnocchi with sausage, peppers and tomatoes, and no one will be complaining.
- Greek macaroni cheese is much lighter than a classic mac n cheese, and you’ll love the interesting Mediterranean twist.
- Butternut squash season? I’ve been making this chicken and butternut squash curry for years for good reason. It serves at least six, or you can freeze portions for later.
- Spend a little time chopping the vegetables, then this creamy lemon chicken orzo soup will be on the table in no time.
Butternut Squash Gnocchi (With Sausage And Kale)
Store-bought gnocchi with butternut squash, sausage, kale and a tomato, fennel & basil sauce stirred through it – dotted with mozzarella and parmesan and baked until bubbling. This makes for a wholesome and very tasty one-pot mid-week meal!
Ingredients
- 3½ cups butternut squash, cubed or chopped into smallish pieces (ready-chopped, either fresh or frozen, is convenient) – about half a butternut squash
- 4 cups kale, chopped (I use ready-chopped and washed but if washing and chopping yourself, remove any tough stems)
- 17 ounces gnocchi, or about 4 cups (I like store-bought gnocchi from the refrigerator section)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, roughly, for cooking
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 pork sausages, good quality, or 12 to 14 ounces of ground sausage
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1¾ cups passata, (smooth, strained, uncooked tomato puree – usually found near the pasta sauces)
- ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar, (optional, it just adds some depth of flavor to the sauce)
- 1 small bunch fresh basil, washed and chopped
- ¼ teaspoon pepper, optional
- 1 ball mozzarella, torn into pieces
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 390F/200C. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Scatter the cubed/chopped butternut squash over it, then toss with around two tablespoons of the olive oil, and a little salt and pepper (if you like). Roast for around 30 minutes or until golden and soft, tossing half way through.3½ cups butternut squash, 3 tablespoons olive oil
- Cook the kale in a large saucepan of boiling water for around 5 minutes. Then add the gnocchi to the water and cook for a further 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.4 cups kale, 17 ounces gnocchi
- Heat up the rest of the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium high heat. Cook the onion, stirring, for a few minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic.1 onion, 2 garlic cloves
- Run a knife down the side of the sausages and squeeze the meat out into the pan. Cook the sausage, breaking it up as you go. Then stir in the thyme, fennel seeds, passata, basil, pepper and balsamic vinegar (if you like).4 pork sausages, ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1¾ cups passata, ½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 small bunch fresh basil, ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Now stir the roasted butternut squash, kale and gnocchi into the tomato and sausage sauce. Empty the mixture into a medium-sized baking dish. Dot the mozzarella pieces over the top and sprinkle over the parmesan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until bubbling.1 ball mozzarella, ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
Notes
Prepping ahead: You can fully assemble the gnocchi bake earlier in the day, cover with foil, and store in the fridge until ready to cook. When ready, bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Take the foil off around 10 to 15 minutes before the end of cooking to let the top brown slightly.
Butternut squash: You can easily replace the butternut squash with regular pumpkin if you prefer. Sweet potato would work, too.
Storage instructions after cooking: Leftovers will keep well for up to 3 days in the fridge (either covered tightly or in an airtight container). Reheat separate portions covered in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes or until piping hot. If it looks at all dry, add a drizzle of water before microwaving.
You can also reheat in the oven. Just cover with foil and reheat at 355F/180C for around 20 minutes or until hot again, removing the foil for the last 5 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 955kcal, Carbohydrates: 73g, Protein: 41g, Fat: 57g, Saturated Fat: 21g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 25g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 132mg, Sodium: 1664mg, Potassium: 1378mg, Fiber: 9g, Sugar: 10g, Vitamin A: 16326IU, Vitamin C: 61mg, Calcium: 572mg, Iron: 10mg
Like this recipe? Rate and comment below!
This sounds like such perfect comfort food. I am loving kale at the moment.
We know some of our neighbours and they are really nice, others are not so nice.
Hi, Dannii! Hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday! I’m a bit of a kale newbie and am not sure what to make of it yet. It was good in this bake and I love kale crisps, though. Mmmmm!
C’est sure Helen, avoir un chien ou des enfants ça aide! J’ai commencé à rencontre de gens ici quand j’ai eu mes enfants. Les voisins qu’avant ils ne disent pas bonjour ils on commencer à s’arrêté pour voir ce qu’avait dans le landau ! Peut être ton voisin il vous laissera promené le chien de temps en temps !
Ton plat me paraît divine ! C’est l’heure de dîner, j’ai faim et j’aurais aimer gouté ton plat chaud !!
Coucou, Eva, et merci beaucoup! Je suis ravie que tu aimes ce plat tant. Je l’ai mange de nouveau aujourd’hui parce que j’avais mis le restant au congelateur. Mmmm!
OK, donc selon ton conseil je dois acheter un petit chien et avoir un bebe a la fois! Pourquoi pas?! 😉
this looks perfect for dinner tonight! Hope you meet more people to say hello to on your daily walks 🙂
Thanks so much, Tandy!! 🙂
Helen. This is my kind of dish! I love gnocchi and all the veggie-sausage goodness going on. Pinned!
Hi, Marcie! Thanks so much for the pin. I find that anything with sausage in it tastes really good – and because it’s so tasty you don’t need to add too many other ingredients. Just my kind of dish, too!
Gnocchi is one of my favorite dishes, yet I hardly ever make it! I definitely have to change that after seeing this recipe. What a fantastic idea to combine sausage and butternut squash into a bake. Sounds like the perfect comfort food, Helen!
This was actually the first time I’d cooked with gnocchi for ages, and the first time ever I’d made a bake with it, but I was really pleased with the result. Glad you like it, Gayle!
You know what they say…we get what we give… which means you will be swimming in friendly hellos in no time! Your energy will speak for itself…but cute babies and puppies never hurt either! 😉 And this dish…forget about it! I need it in my life right now!
Hi, Annie! Haha … that’s so true! Well, I hope it’s true. Thanks so much for passing by, and so happy you like this!
This sounds amazing. What a delicious combination of flavors! I love gnocchi, and it sounds phenomenal paired with the butternut squash and sausage. Pinned!
Hi, Rachel! Thanks so much! You can’t really go wrong with sausage in a tomato sauce – it’s so tasty!
Oh my. This is like comfort food central right here. It’s like a fully loaded pasta bake. Talk about a sensational combination of flavours! You ROCK! I bet the UK Delicious magazine is a poor cousin compared to this. PS I also like the addition of Kale so I can feel like I am adding some goodness to the carbs / cheese / sausage. YUM!!
Hi, Nagi. Hahahaha … thanks for suggesting that my version could be better than Delicious mag’s!! I must admit I added more passata than they did, and also the butternut squash and some different herbs. Still, I thought I’d better give them the credit for the original idea 😉
So glad you like it!
Let me tell you something, there is a house for sell in my development and I would love to have you as a neighbor! For multiple reasons, you seem totally like a friendly person at least virtually 🙂 and I might have chances to get leftovers or be a guinea pig for you!
That would be lovely hehe!
Hope you are doing well Helen, I understand you are settling down (sorry I have been around, a lot of things lately that took my mind away… 🙁 Anyway!)
Hi, Melanie! Oh, don’t worry at all, I know what it’s like to have a lot of things going on. It’s very hard to keep up with blogging sometimes! Oh, how I wish I could buy that house next to you. Thanks so much for saying you think I’d be a good neighbour (blush blush!) I feel very honoured that you said that and hope to meet you some day ‘in the flesh’! 🙂
Ummm It’s almost quite same here!!!! It is very rare that you’ll come across a random stranger who will smile at you while on the street. Usually, everyone avoids eye contact (even me, sometimes, ’cause I’m pretty sure I’ll flash my pearlies and will end up sorely embarrassed when the opposite person does not LOL)I am craving this gnocchi bake!!!! OMGoooooooodness it looks soooooo good!!!!!I can almost taste this when I look at it! Need to make it stat!!!!!
Hi, Samina! Really, it’s like that in India, too? I would have expected it to be much friendlier there! It must be just modern life, wherever you are in the world – especially in cities. So glad you like the gnocchi bake! I have some defrosting in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch – yum!
Oh Helen, first of all this bake is ALL the things I crave! I love the addition of the healthy veggies. Negates the delicious, less-than-healthy parts I think! 🙂 This is the perfect bake for these chilly days – pinning! And I can definitely relate to the lack of friends. We’re slowly (slooooowly) getting to know people in Nashville but it’s certainly been a process. Borrowing the dog might not be a bad idea haha People definitely react to animals/children!
Hi, Alyssa! I knew you’d be able to relate to this! How did you go about trying to meet people in Nashville? Did you know a few people before you arrived? We have lots of friends in the UK, but they’re all over the country, not in our city. In the meantime, then, we’ll just need to work up enough courage to go and ask our neighbour for her dog … haha!
Glad you like the bake and thanks so much for pinning! 🙂
This bake looks absolutely sensational!!
Thank you! 🙂
I’m a people person and will talk to just about anyone who looks my way. When we moved, we didn’t know anyone and not speaking to other people was odd and makes you feel isolated. With dishes like this you are sure to gather people around. This looks like a wonderful comfort meal. I can’t wait to give it a try.
Oh, Cindy, I wish you were my neighbour, then! Maybe next time I make this dish I’ll open the windows so that the lovely aroma floats out – that might help us make some friends! 🙂
This gnocchi bake look delish, Helen! Love the butternut squash and kale, so delicious!
Thanks so much, Jess! 🙂
Oh wow! This sounds like some goooood comfort food! I love all of your stories too! I totally understand where you’re coming from on the desire to have friendly neighbors. I grew up in Washington, DC, and people walk past you like you’re invisible! Since moving to the southern part of the US, it was definitely a culture shock to have people smile and say hi! At first, I was taken off-guard. I thought everyone who waved at me, wanted something from me – how jaded is that?! Once I got over the regional cultural difference – I found that I really liked having friendly faces around 🙂 Maybe you should carry this awesome dish around with you on your walks – I hear a way to someone’s heart is through their stomach 😛
I have to admit that when someone stops me in the street (to ask the time or something) I’m often immediately suspicious. That’s definitely sad, isn’t it? Here people are generally more friendly the further north you go (sorry, southerners, but it’s true), so that’s totally the opposite to the US! Or in villages – so I think I need to move to a village further north! 🙂
Hi Helen
Just discovered your site and am impressed . I am a Geordie and proud of it and we are well known for friendliness. I now live in rural Norfolk and some are ok but not all. After 25 years of driving trucks all over UK here are my fav places for friendly people
Newcastle and Northumberland
Most of Scotland especially Glasgow (honest)
South Wales as noisy and as daft as my lot.
Speak first smile ,make the buggers speak to you 😊👍👀😎
Hi James! You just made my day with this comment! I’m originally from Nottingham and would say the folks there are a bit like the folks from Norfolk! Thanks for the tips. I will have to check out the geordies on my next trip back home. So glad you like the site. Have you tried any of the recipes yet? 🙂
Lovely and comforting dish! I love the healthy ingredients you used Helen! Pinned! That was a great way to start a conversation with your neighbor!
Hi, Mira! So glad you like this and thanks so much for pinning! 🙂
I actually think it’s a great idea to walk the neighbors dog for her! I bet she’d appreciate it, and it probably would help to break the ice and start conversations 😉 This bake looks so warm and comforting! Love all the delicious fall flavors <3
Hi, Sweet Allie! So glad you like the bake – I just love easy dishes like this for mid-week (or any time, actually). So now I’m off to scheme up ways of stealing the neighbour’s dog 😉
Hi Helen, having a dog does help break the ice, we know all of our neighbors and even people that do not have dogs that run out and give our dog treats. Who does that? Anyway love gnocchi, never thought to make a bake out of it, looks delicious!
Hi, Cheri! Oh, we definitely need to get a pet! Only problem is, I’m allergic to both dogs and cats … 🙁 So glad you like the bake. Gnocchi does indeed make a good one!
Asheley and I still haven’t met all our neighbors yet… and we moved in to our home back in July! It’s just so tough sometimes when you’re running from here to there to remember to actually take a moment and have a conversation! We’ve luckily met a few while outside doing yard work like mowing and raking leaves… but I totally need to get better at it. If only I had a puppy… that would make it easier! This gnocchi bake sounds SO good Helen! Total comfort food!
I suppose getting to know people takes time, and isn’t something to be forced, either. It has to happen naturally like any relationship, but definitely having a puppy (or, yes, even raking leaves!) can help. Glad you like the bake – I thought it was a great option for the Autumn!
I say you DO ask to borrow the dog! Haha! I bet it’s a hard time of year to meet people, with the cool weather and all. It seems here that everyone’s on a mission to get to the store, get back home, etc., to warm back up.
This bake looks delicious. I’m a big fan of cheesy bakes, so I know I’d love this. And you got it–the butternut squash and kale will make me feel proud of my vegetable intake! Have a great weekend!
Haha … OK, we’re going to do it!!! I’m sure we’ll meet people eventually. The bad thing is we both work from home (=bad for making new friends), the good thing is my parents live just up the road!
So happy you like the bake, Ashley, and you have a great weekend, too.