One of those meals that is perfect for stoking the appetite on a chilly winter day is this gnocchi spinach soup. This dish resembles an Italian wedding soup but is creamier and has potato gnocchi and meatballs instead. Although I prepare my own meatballs and chicken stock, you can buy them at the store.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr |
| Servings: | 10 |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 (32 ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large bay leaf
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 (17.5 ounce) packages potato gnocchi
- 2 cups thinly sliced escarole
- 1 carrot, shredded
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or Italian parsley
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or more as needed for serving
- 1 ¼ pounds ground beef
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ¼ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¾ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat and sauté onion in hot oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken broth, bay leaf, Italian seasoning, sea salt, and pepper; bring slowly to a simmer, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare meatballs: Combine ground beef, beaten egg, bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, onion powder, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Roll mixture into tiny 1/2-inch meatballs.
- Drop meatballs carefully, one at a time, into simmering soup in the pot. Bring to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Skim off any foam that comes to the surface with a spoon and discard.
- Add gnocchi, escarole, and carrot; bring soup back to a simmer. Stir in half-and-half, spinach, and basil. When gnocchi rise to the top, remove from heat.
- Discard bay leaf and garnish with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese to serve.
- You can use ground turkey instead of ground beef.
- You can refrigerate soup overnight and skim fat off the top the next day.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 381 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 91 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 634 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 22 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I used a cup of lactose free milk instead of the half and half. This recipe is a keeper!
It is easy and delicious Does require a good deal of prep but the rest is easy and worth it
Great recipe James!! Because we made on a weeknight, used frozen meatballs and did in the crockpot, halving the broth. Before dumping into crockpot, first sautéd onions, shredded carrots and garlic. Added everything to crock and cooked for about 4 hours, stirring once half way through. Added spinach, gnocchi and half & half for the last 45 min -hour. Topped bowls with finely shredded Parmesan cheese. Stupendous! Great hearty soup for a chilly day. Thanks to how easy it was, will be in regular rotation!
I used frozen Italian meatballs and did everything in my slow cooker. First put the broth, seasonings, meatballs, carrots, garlic, and onion for about 3-4 hours on low. Then added 1 cup dairy-free half and half (took some broth out and whisked the half and half in so it wouldn’t curdle), added the gnocchi, spinach, and escarole for about 30min-1 hour. Added a little basil and parm cheese and served. Family LOVED it!!
This was wonderful and probably the best soup I’ve ever served. Thank you for the recipe!
A previous review said the soup was too thin so I cut the chicken broth to 12 cups and kept everything else the same. It was still too thin. I had leftovers so thought to thicken with instant potato flakes. That helped immensely. Good flavors all around.
Super easy and delicious!!
Terrific. Make your own gnocchi, it’s easy!
As soon as I saw “Skim off any gray muck “, I knew I had to make it. All kidding aside, this was awesome! I used frozen meatballs (so I didn’t have any gray muck) and frozen spinach which made this super easy. Thanks for a great Comfort Food recipe and getting me to try gnocchi for the first time.
I made this recipe as written excluding the escarole, I could not find any locally. It is also listed as optional on the recipe poster’s original recipe. I also used gluten-free gnocchi and breadcrumbs. For chicken broth, I used a combination of reduced sodium and regular chicken broth. As written this recipe was salty and if I were to make it again, I would either use my own chicken broth or all reduced sodium and omit any extra salt. Additionally, the meatballs mostly fell apart. The final issue was there was a lot of broth and not enough “fillers”. With some tweaks, this could be a delicious soup I could see becoming a family favorite.