Easy Gnocchi Gratin (with pre-made gnocchi)

Name: Easy Gnocchi Gratin (with pre-make gnocchi)
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 22 min
Ingredients: 1 package gnocchi, fresh or frozen (375-500 g or 13-16 ounces); 1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese; 1 tablespoon chopped parsley for garnish; 1 1/2 tablespoon butter (salted or unsalted butter is fine); 2 tablespoon all purpose flour; 1 garlic cloves, minced ((or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)); 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (or more to taste); 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt ((or to taste)); pinch black pepper; pinch nutmeg (optional); 1 1/2 cup milk, 2% or whole ((1/4 cup of this can be light or heavy cream for extra richness)); 1 cup grated white cheese e.g. Gruyere, Fontina, Emmenthal, Monterey Jack, Provolone; 1/4 cup chopped green onion

Jump to Recipe

The pillowy gnocchi in this gnocchi gratin is transformed with a rich, velvety white cheese sauce. Serve it as an appetizer, side or main dish using fresh store-bought gnocchi for a great shortcut.

Using pre-made fresh potato gnocchi, of course, cuts the time and effort way down. The gnocchi have few or no additives and cook in just a few minutes.

What’s to love

Easy: The dish is easy to make. It’s just a simple white cheese sauce with a few seasonings – combined with store-bought cooked gnocchi.
Great make-ahead party appetizer: When I use the gnocchi recipe as an appetizer, I love being able bake it a few hours ahead then broil it when guests arrive. It’s also great as a main or side dish.
Comfort food! When you wrap a yummy, cheesy sauce around the soft plump gnocchi, the dish becomes real comfort food – sort of like upscale gnocchi mac and cheese.

Ingredients – tailored to your taste

gnocchi, butter, cheeses, milk, cream, seasonings, flour, green onions — **Ingredients:** packaged potato gnocchi, butter, Gruyere and Parmesan cheese, milk, cream, seasonings, flour, green onions. 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper, (chopped parsley not shown)

Gnocchi: The vacuum sealed packages of handmade gnocchi – or even the more common Olivieri brand – work really well. You can also use frozen pre-made gnocchi. No need to thaw. If you want to make your own gnocchi, here’s a good recipe for homemade gnocchi. Fun!

Cheese: I use Gruyere or Emmanthal cheese. Fontina, provolone or other melty cheeses would work as well.

Seasoning: A key flavor booster in this baked gnocchi recipe is poultry seasoning – a combination of sage, thyme, rosemary, marjoram and pepper. If you don’t have any, try combining sage and one or more of the others. Basil would be nice substitute in a summer version of this dish.

Sauce: The cheese (gratin) sauce is made with milk or cream, cheese, butter, flour and seasonings. I use 2% milk and a splash of half and half cream for added richness. Feel free to use whole milk or a lighter combination if you prefer.

Step by step instructions

gnocchi boiling over pot — Boil a large pot of water at high heat, add gnocchi, then lower heat and gently cook gnocchi at a low heat for 2 minutes or until they float to the top. Drain and set aside.

adding cheese to cream sauce in pot — Make white sauce in a large saucepan. Turn off heat and stir in cheese and seasonings until you have a smooth creamy sauce.

adding boiled gnocchi and green onions to cheese sauce in pot — Stir in cooked gnocchi and chopped green onions to the white cheese sauce.

assembled gnocchi in cheese sauce with cheese on top ready to bake — Pour gnocchi and sauce into a small casserole dish (7-8 inches/18-20cm). Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley.

Recipe FAQs

What is gnocchi?

Gnocchi are small dumplings made from potato, semolina, or flour. It is not a pasta. In Italy, gnocchi is mostly commonly eaten with a light butter sauce or extra virgin olive oil and fresh sage. Other serving ideas include cream-based sauces, tomato-based sauces or butter and cheese.

What does gratin mean in cooking?

Gratin means that a dish is topping with cheese and baked or broiled in the oven until golden brown. The topping is sometimes mixed with breadcrumbs and butter as well.

Shortcuts

Talk about easy Italian recipes and easy dinners. As noted, the big shortcut is using store-bought potato gnocchi. Buy it fresh if possible, but frozen is fine too.
One blog I read said it’s not necessary to boil the gnocchi before adding it to the sauce. If you want to try this, I suggest doing it when you are making the dish the day before (see Make Ahead) since the bake time increases substantially.

How to serve gnocchi gratin

For a main or side dish, try adding chopped fresh baby spinach at the same time you add the gnocchi to the sauce. Extra nutrition.

For an appetizer, I suggest serving it with toothpicks and having some cut up French bread available for dipping the delicious sauce.

I served this dish to my guests a while ago as an appetizer. Some ate it with toothpicks, but most scooped a few gnocchi onto their plates with a spoon and then proceeded to use the cut up bread from another appetizer as a tool to mop up any remaining sauce.

When I went to check how things were going about 10 minutes after I planted the dish on the coffee table, I found the bowl scraped clean. I guess it was a success!

Truth be told, this is the one dish I stressed over that night as I wasn’t sure it was going to work as an appetizer. It does. Needless to say, it also makes a nice main dish or side dish.

What to make with gnocchi

As a main dish, gnocchi gratin goes beautifully with a simple green vegetable like microwave green beans, steamed broccoli or peas.

As a side dish, serve it with crispy baked fish or simple herb stuffed salmon.

I also like to serve it with a side salad like citrus salad with greens, fig salad with pomegranates or peach salad with walnut dressing.

Make Ahead

Instructions for make ahead baked gnocchi gratin are in the recipe. The bake time will take longer as the dish will be cold if you make and refrigerate it the day before.

baked gnocchi au gratin in casserole dish p3

Looking for another easy gnocchi recipe?

Try our veg gnocchi Indain-style recipe that uses the same fresh packaged potato gnocchi. It has deep, rich Indian flavors with a creamy tomato-based sauce. Make it in just 20 minutes.

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