This garlic chicken gnocchi skillet is the perfect simple recipe for a quick weeknight dinner. It’s easy, done in 30 minutes, and can be made gluten-free! Juicy chicken thighs and pillowy gnocchi are cooked in a delicious cream sauce, and there’s plenty of vegetables included right in the same meal with the spinach, onions and mushrooms. It’s truly a one pan wonder that’s family friendly, or great for meal prep.

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This garlic chicken gnocchi skillet is the perfect simple recipe for a quick weeknight dinner. It's easy, done in 30 minutes, and can be made gluten-free! Juicy chicken thighs and pillowy gnocchi are cooked in a delicious cream sauce, and there's plenty of vegetables included right in the same meal with the spinach, onions and mushrooms. It's truly a one pan wonder that's family friendly, or great for meal prep. #chickengnocchi #glutenfreechicken #weeknightmeals #30minutes #chickenrecipes #chickenskillet

Garlic Chicken Gnocchi Skillet Ingredients

For this chicken gnocchi skillet, you’ll need about a pound and a half of boneless, potato gnocchi, skinless chicken thighs, butter (or ghee), chicken broth, half and half, and shredded mozzarella. You will also need a few vegetables, which include diced yellow onion, diced white mushrooms, and spinach. The rest of the skillet ingredients are simple pantry spices such as paprika, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

If you’d like to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, you can absolutely substitute them here. The cook time will increase by a bit though, as bone-in thighs take longer to cook through than boneless thighs. You’ll also want to start by searing them skin side down so that you get a nice crispy skin on the thighs.

Using Gluten-Free Gnocchi

To make your garlic chicken gnocchi skillet gluten free, the only change you will need to make is to opt for a gluten-free gnocchi. There are quite a few stores that carry this option, or you can of course grab some online. My preference is this one, and this one. Regardless of which you go with, you will still follow the package instructions to cook the gnocchi.

Chicken Gnocchi Step By Step Cooking Instructions

First start by getting the gnocchi boiling, and you can prepare the rest of this skillet so you’re not adding more prep time, and it will all get done at the same time! Once that’s out of the way and on a back burner, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt two of the tablespoons of butter in the skillet. While the butter is melting, season your chicken thighs with salt, pepper and the paprika.

Once seasoned, add the chicken thighs into your hot skillet with the melted butter. Cook the thighs for about 5-10 minutes on each side, until they’re golden brown, and then transfer them to a plate. Then you’ll melt the remaining tablespoons of butter and scrape up any brown bits. Add the minced garlic, Italian seasoning, mushrooms and onions to your skillet.

garlic chicken gnocchi skillet step by step cooking instructions

You’ll sauté the vegetables for about 3-4 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the mushrooms are tender, but not fully cooked yet. The next step is to make the cream sauce. By now your gnocchi is likely cooked, so you can drain that and keep it close to the stove.

To do this, you’ll whisk in the chicken broth and continue whisking the skillet for about 1 minute, until the broth is hot and combined with the spices and vegetables in the skillet. Next, whisk in the half and half, making sure you’re continually whisking the sauce as you’re pouring it in. Lastly, do the same thing with the shredded cheese, and whisk until the cheese is melted and the sauce has begun to thicken.

Transfer the gnocchi and spinach into the skillet, and give the sauce a small taste to adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Stir the gnocchi and spinach into the sauce, and then place the chicken thighs back into your skillet. Push the gnocchi around slightly to make room for each thigh to be nested in the sauce as well. Then you’re just going to let it simmer for a few minutes until the chicken has heated through again.

Serving Options and Storing Instructions

This chicken gnocchi is really great served all on it’s own in a big, cozy bowl. You can top it with chopped parsley, parmesan cheese, and red pepper chili flakes.

To store your gnocchi, you will want to make sure that it’s cooled down completely first. Then it can get portioned out into individual containers with air-tight lids. Chicken gnocchi can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. When you reheat it, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of water just to rehydrate the gnocchi and sauce.

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