Everyone... hold your horses - if you've never made my Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake, it's about to be the new favorite thing on What's Gaby Cooking!
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
Let me preface this by saying... I'm not even sure how we can go up from here. This Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake is just THAT good.
It's a ground chicken mixture that's flavored the same way you would season a chicken parmesan. Add to that some perfectly boiled gnocchi (which are like little pillows of heaven) on top and finish it off tons of cheese and herbs because obviously love a burrata moment, and that's about it. It's magical to say the least and I am 20000% confident that you're going to love it. Also it's perfection when served with my cucumber salad - just saying!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Plain Gnocchi
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper freshly cracked
- Ground Chicken
- Marinara Sauce
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Mozzarella shredded
- Parmesan shredded
- Burrata
- Fresh Basil or Oregano garnish
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions; drain, reserving ¼ cup of the cooking liquid.
Step 2: Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add the ground chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
Step 4: Add the gnocchi, reserved cooking liquid, marinara sauce and red pepper flakes to the skillet with the chicken mixture and stir to combine.
Step 5: Add the parmesan and stir.
Step 6: Sprinkle with the mozzarella. Bake on the top oven rack until hot and bubbling and the cheese turns golden, about 15 minutes.
Step 7: Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the burrata on top. And season with salt and pepper as needed. Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.
How to Store Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake
You can store leftovers for this in the fridge for 3-4 days. When its time to eat, the best move would be to warm it in the oven till its warmed through and the cheese melty again. If you have some extra marinara on hand, you can use it if it dries up from the re-heating.
How to Freeze Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake
It is better to assemble this and freeze, skipping the baking step, if you want to keep it on hand for a quick meal in the freezer. You can then bake it straight from the freezer (increase baking time) or thawed in the fridge and then baked. Remember to portion it into meal-sized portions per your requirement so you do not have to thaw it all to use.
Tips & Tricks
Feel free to get fancy and use spinach gnocchi. It will make a great visual on the plate.
FAQs
Can I make this vegetarian?
Certainly! Just skip the chicken. You can also add veggies of your choice- mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, zucchini are all great!!
Why did my gnocchi bake dry out?
Do not over-bake this dish, as it can dry it out. Since all the components in this chicken parm gnocchi bake are already cooked, we are baking it to further warm it together, let all the flavors marry and, most importantly, the cheese melt. And so, you should not need to bake it for very long.
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If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi Bake
Ingredients
- 12 ounces plain gnocchi
- 1 ½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 2 cups store-bought marinara sauce
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella
- ½ cup shredded parmesan
- 1 ball fresh burrata
- Sprigs fresh basil or oregano for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions; drain, reserving ¼ cup of the cooking liquid.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large nonstick cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the gnocchi, reserved cooking liquid, marinara sauce and red pepper flakes to the skillet with the chicken mixture and stir to combine. Add the parmesan and stir.
- Sprinkle with the mozzarella. Bake on the top oven rack until hot and bubbling and the cheese turns golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the burrata on top. And season with salt and pepper as needed.
- Garnish with fresh herbs and serve.
This was sooooo good and super easy!! I love Burrata so this was a huge hit!! Thank you 🙂
What brand gnocchi do you use ?
usually the one from Trader Joe's or DElallo
Gaby, how many servings does this recipe make? I'm having 6 for dinner on Friday and this looks good!
I would double it to be safe!!
This looks amaze - I'm a veg, how would you do with eggplant rather than chicken?
saute the eggplant with more olive oil until soft!
This dish checks so many boxes! So so good! The combination of gnocchi and sautéed chicken and fresh Burrata mixed in tomato sauce is heaven.
So easy and so delicious! Can never go wrong adding burrata on top either. A definite keeper 🙂
I have made this so many times. Not just with chicken though. Its amazing with ground turkey, pork or even pork sausage. SO good. On regular rotation at my house.
If this gets baked from frozen how long and at what heat would be best?
I would thaw it out for a few hours before baking and then follow the same instructions as printed
So good! Use Rao’s marinara :):) skipped the mozz cause #quarantine & used some grated parm sprinkled on top before baking. Used dollops of pesto instead of herbs. Sooo good and a lot of food.. will definitely be a new staple
I saw you make this on your live instagram post....my whole family is obsessed and we've made it twice in 2 weeks. I really appreciated all your substitution suggestions in light of this crazy time! I made it once with chicken sausage instead of ground chicken. Next time with ground chicken but bow tie pasta.....'cause that's what I had:) So good both times. Thank you!!
Made this tonight , yummmmmmy!
This was such a comforting dish! Quick to put together, boil the gnocchi while fixing the onion and chicken. I added Kale into the chicken and onion since I was too lazy to make a salad, and it was fantastic. I drizzled Garlic Goodness Oil over top as i popped it into the oven. Quarantine challenges left only ricotta, parm and pecorino in the fridge, so parm and pecorino got mixed into the sauce and once it was baked I added dollops of ricotta on top and a few drizzles of pesto. Absolutely amazing!!!! I used GF gnocchi too- worked just fine!
Made this tonight. It is sooooo good and super easy to make!! Perfect easy weeknight comfort meal! I added several handfuls of fresh spinach to up the veggies, other than that, followed the recipe as written. Thanks Gaby!!
This recipe has so much flavor and was easy to make. Perfect for a cold winter's night.
Taking this out of the oven now....It looks and smells amazing!
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes.