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This Cheesy Baked Gnocchi recipe is about to be high up on that list of loved vegetarian family meals. Affordable, ready in 30 minutes, very little effort, super tasty = winner!
This Cheesy Baked Gnocchi recipe is a complete meal, all cooked in one pan. Just what we love. (In fact, I’ve written a whole book of One Pot Recipes – I love them that much!)
Here’s how this one works:
➡️ Roast the veggies
➡️ Add gnocchi and roast a bit more
➡️ Pour over instant sauce and bake
Boom! That’s it. This is so adaptable. Swap out the broccoli for something else, add in some meat or other protein if you fancy. But either way, don’t forget the cheese.
Why You’ll Love this Gnocchi Pasta Bake
⭐️ A veggie, creamy treat
⭐️ Hands-off and quick
⭐️ Vegetables yes, but also… cheeeeesy!
Recipe Tip
If you’re new to gnocchi (and if you are – please also try my Chorizo Gnocchi Pan-Fry because it’s divine), these little blobs of happiness are pronounced noh-kee.
They’re a Italian soft, dumpling-style pasta that’s made with a dough that usually includes potato, semolina or plain wheat flour, and egg.
They work really well with plenty of sauce, and you can cook it separately or, like this recipe, you can throw it in with the sauce to cook.
In testing this recipe, we started off with a cream based sauce but felt that it was a little heavy and rich for a mid week dinner.
So in our later tests, and this version, we used an instant white sauce cheat type method which I’ve used in a few recipes elsewhere and absolutely love.
The mustard, garlic powder and plenty of Parmesan add flavour and the gnocchi roasts just enough to have a little bite and texture.
Cheesy Baked Gnocchi Ingredients
- Broccoli – This needs to be cut very small so it cooks quickly enough
- Onion – You can use fresh or pre-chopped frozen for this, again chop small
- Gnocchi – I used dried gnocchi but you can use fresh if you prefer
- Cornflour – NOT regular flour
- Milk – Semi-skimmed or whole is fine
- Crème fraîche – Regular or half fat is fine
- Grated Parmesan cheese – Or a vegetarian alternative if you prefer
How To Make Baked Gnocchi
1. Roast the broccoli and onion as per the recipe below.
2. Add the gnocchi and more oil and return to the oven.
3. Mix up the sauce as per the recipe below.
4. Pour over, sprinkle on the remaining cheese and bake one last time!
Substitutions
- Meat – You can add in meat if you’d like to. Bacon lardons would work well.
- Veggies – Similarly, add any veggies you think would work here. Perhaps peas or sweetcorn?
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully by before serving.
You may need a splash of water or an ice cube to loosen up the sauce a bit when reheating.
In the freezer Gnocchi is always at its best when cooked and eaten immediately and can be a bit stodgy and mushy once defrosted. That said, I’d rather eat it like this than waste it, perhaps for a lunch, but ideally, eat leftovers from the fridge.
Recipe Tip
Chop the broccoli up into similar size pieces as the gnocchi so it cooks quickly and before it burns on the outside.
More Easy pasta bakes…
FAQs
No! It cooks absolutely fine in the sauce and you don’t want to overcook it as they will become mushy. We want it cooked through but still solid.
Sure, just use vegan substitutes for the milk, cheese and crème fraîche.
Sure. Add cooked meat when you add the sauce.
The recipe doesn’t contain any meat, but if you don’t eat cheese that contains rennet (ie is not free from meat products) replace it with an alternative that is suitable.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Cheesy Baked Gnocchi {with Broccoli}
Ingredients
- 300 g Broccoli , Cut into very small pieces
- 1 Onion, Peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 500 g Gnocchi, I used dried
- 25 g Cornflour
- 300 ml Milk
- 300 ml Crème fraîche
- 75 g Parmesan cheese, Grated
- 1 tsp Wholegrain mustard
- 1 tsp Garlic granules
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200℃ fan/220℃/Gas Mark 7.
- Put the broccoli, onion and 1 tbsp of the olive oil, with plenty of salt and pepper, into a shallow roasting tin. Stir to coat with the oil. Roast for 10 minutes.
- Add the gnocchi, the remaining oil and stir well. Return to the oven for 10 minutes.
- While it’s in the oven, mix the cornflour with just enough of the milk to make a smooth paste in a small bowl. Then stir in the crème fraîche and whisk until smooth. Add the rest of the milk and whisk again until smooth.
- Add two thirds of the parmesan, the mustard, garlic granules and more salt and pepper.
- Add the creme fraiche mixture to the roasted gnocchi, stir through and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top. Bake for a further 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This dish was so easy and SO delicious!! I used it as a simple mid week meal so had some food to use up. I made on a Wednesday and added leftover roast chicken from Sunday for the final 10 minutes, and topped with some leftover mozzarella which I grilled off to make crispy.
Also the 10 minutes intervals allowed me to sort some washing and do some washing up during the cooking times; the perfect mid week recipe!!
Delicious, will be making again, thank you!
I have 15 month old twins and one of them shoved this into his mouth like it was the best thing he had ever eaten. The other didn’t really care for it but did have a few bites. My bake wasn’t setting so I had to add a little cornstarch and bake it like an extra 15 minutes. Very toddler friendly.
I can’t quite believe how well this turned out, would highly recommend giving it a try. I used cream and cheddar (swap for creme fraiche and parmesan as that’s what we had) and it turned out really nicely. Very easy to make too.
Hi, do you need to precook the gnocchi first? Thanks!
Delicious! Very quick and easy to make
This was very tasty. However, the onion definitely needed precooking because it was still crunchy by the time the rest of the dish was cooked
Love this.
It’s amazing with cauliflower and leeks and some pancetta.
Absolutely delicious