14 Spring Gnocchi Recipes I’m Making on Repeat This Season

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why I Love It: <30 minutes, vegetarian, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 4

Fresh mint, peas, asparagus and plenty of lemon juice give the gnocchi a crisp, refreshing flavor that is just begging to be served alfresco with a spritz on the side. Better yet, the entire meal can be made in 20 minutes flat, and it only dirties one pot and one pan. It’s the ideal recipe for a busy weeknight. (Oh, and if you’re not into mint, you can easily omit it.)

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why I Love It: <30 minutes, vegetarian, one-pot meal
• Serves: 6

I’m a sucker for Tieghan Gerard’s pasta dishes, and this is no exception. Gerard calls for stir-frying the asparagus in butter, garlic and lemon zest, then cooking the gnocchi in butter before tossing it in basil pesto and serving atop room-temp burrata. You could skip the cheese to make it less indulgent, but…why?!

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, one pan
• Serves: 6

Take advantage of the very end of broccoli rabe season with this easy skillet dinner. You can cook the sausage as you wait for the water to boil, making it another weeknight dinner staple. The gnocchi gets a strong earthy, savory flavor, but if you wanted to brighten things up, you could spritz it with lemon juice just before serving.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why I Love It: sheet pan recipe, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 4

A riff on sausage with peppers and onions, this meal will make you look at prepping gnocchi in a whole new light. I mean, sure, they boil in minutes…but what if you didn’t even have to do that? Turns out, you don’t, as our former senior food editor proved with this simple—and simply delightful—meal. (Plus, the gnocchi gets crispy on the outside but stays soft and chewy on the inside.)

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, one pot, make ahead
• Serves: 6

Pinterest declared spring soups a major trend this year, and I’m down with it. Gnocchi makes this soup a bit heartier, but it still isn’t as heavy as a cream-based one (at least in my opinion). I also love that you can use store-bought rotisserie chicken to have this dish ready in a flash.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why I Love It: low sugar, <500 calories, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 4

If you’re trying to cut back on carbs—but not on flavor—this is the dish to try. This recipe swaps potatoes for carrots, providing a hint of sweetness and letting you take advantage of late spring carrot harvests.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, sheet pan recipe, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 4

This recipe had me at feta. I love the briny saltiness it gives gnocchi, and how it livens up the roasted broccoli, Brussels sprouts and chicken in this pairing. And the acidity from the lemon? *Chef’s kiss*

• Time Commitment: 20 minutes
• Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, <30 minutes, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

Shrimp immediately reminds me of warmer days, and I love how quickly it cooks up. Plus, when paired with lemon, basil and Parm, it’s a total umami flavor bomb. Pair it with a lime seltzer or a mineral-y sauvignon blanc, and you’ve got a restaurant-worthy night in.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why I Love It: vegetarian, high protein, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 4

Most of the recipes I’ve featured call for store-bought gnocchi, and you could certainly do that here, but if you’re feeling adventurous, recipe developer Heidi Larsen offers a full tutorial for making potato gnocchi from scratch. You will have to budget in an hour and a half to bake the potatoes and let them cool, but the end result is worth it.

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why I Love It: high protein, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 4

Creamy pesto complements the crispy, lemony chicken in this Italian-inspired dinner. The key to this dish is giving the gnocchi a quick pan-fry to firm up the outside, so it can stay chewy—not mushy—and hold its own alongside the chicken cutlets.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian, beginner-friendly, sheet pan recipe
• Serves: 4

Maria Lichty truly delivers with this seasonal take on a sheet pan dinner. By now, you may be sensing a trend: fresh herbs, green veggies and a dab of melty, salty cheese are a failproof trifecta for an irresistible spring gnocchi. A pile of arugula on top adds a peppery note and makes this meal feel a little more virtuous. (And psst: If you don’t like asparagus, Lichty recommends trying snap peas, zucchini or cherry tomatoes instead.)

• Time Commitment: 40 minutes
• Why I Love It: vegetarian, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 6

Cauliflower gnocchi lightens up this meal (though you could easily use potato, if you prefer). What’s really delightful about it is the unexpected tang from the whipped goat cheese, which pairs beautifully with the mild zucchini and crunch of the crispy, herby breadcrumbs.

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why I Love It: sheet pan recipe, beginner-friendly, vegetarian
• Serves: 2 to 4

Don’t let the ingredients list sway you—while lengthy at first glance, it’s largely ingredients you probably have on hand (salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, dried basil and so on). You’ll need a food processor to whip up your own pesto, but the freshness—compared to store-bought—is eye-opening. Plus, it’s just a few pulses in the food processor, then you let your oven and a sheet pan do most of the work. And dinner’s still ready in half an hour. In the words of Ina Garten, how easy is that?

• Time Commitment: 30 minutes
• Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, one-pan meal, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 2 to 4

Why should angel hair or linguine have all the fun? Chungah Rhee of Damn Delicious proves that gnocchi can be the perfect canvas for that buttery, garlicky sauce. Plus, the dumplings’ springy texture is a fitting pairing for tender shrimp.