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Say Hello to Your New Favorite Soup for Fall
As a self-proclaimed soup connoisseur, I can confidently say that this Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi soup is one of the best I’ve ever had – plus, it’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and packed with vegetables, so it’ll leave you feeling both satisfied and nourished.
This soup is an easy weeknight meal that comes together quickly with a few ingredients – most of which you probably already have at home! It’s a great fridge clean-out meal because you can throw any extra vegetables you haven’t used up during the week into the broth to give them a new life in a delicious soup recipe.
Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Soup
This Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi soup is both gluten-free and dairy-free, so it’s great to make if you’re trying to detox your body from either (or both) of those things! On a Sunday night after a long week, it’s a great meal to throw together that will leave you feeling nourishing and cleansed before the week ahead.
The key to making this soup gluten-free is buying gluten-free gnocchi. Not all gnocchi is gluten-free, so I recommend reading the packages at the store carefully – they usually should have a gluten-free marking. You can substitute gluten-free pasta in this recipe if gnocchi isn’t your jam.
This recipe is also dairy-free – woohoo! Many soup recipes incorporate cream and cheese, but this soup is exceptionally creamy without all that! Instead, I add coconut cream, which gives the soup an amazingly smooth flavor and creamy texture. Coconut cream is higher in fat than other dairy alternatives, so I recommend trying almond or soy milk/cream if you’re conscious of that. The flavor won’t be the same, but it will reduce the soup’s fat content.
Why I Created This Anti-Inflammatory Recipe
I love this recipe because it has such a unique and savory flavor, but I love it even more because of the health benefits that the ingredients provide. Keeping this soup gluten- and dairy-free cuts out many of the inflammatory components other soups might have if they contain gluten and dairy. It also has a ton of leafy greens, carrots, and celery that are great for your health.
Earlier this year, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including this soup, with anti-inflammatory properties in mind. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one because eating this way really has positively impacted my health, and I figured maybe it could help others, too.
Customizing Your Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup
My favorite thing about cooking is that it’s not prescriptive – following a recipe is nice, but after reading Salt, Fat Acid Heat (the bible if you’re looking to learn cooking basics), I realized that all is fair when you step into the kitchen. This soup recipe is perfect the way it is (in my humble opinion…), but you can always add in extra vegetables of your choice, remove anything that you don’t like, or switch out the gnocchi for pasta!
The coconut cream can also be substituted with almond or soy milk or cream! If you don’t mind dairy, add parmesan at the end to give the soup some extra flavor and texture.
How to Make Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup is delicious, easy to make, and comes together with a few simple ingredients! Here’s how to make Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup:
Prep Your Ingredients: To make the cooking process easier, start by dicing your onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. If you make your chicken at home, I also recommend doing this beforehand. For this recipe, I used an already-cooked rotisserie chicken from my local market.
Cook Down Your Vegetables: Add your extra virgin olive oil to a cast iron pot over medium heat, then add in your onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Let them brown for about five minutes, stirring them periodically.
Add Your Spices: Once your vegetables are browned, add salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir to coat the vegetables in the spices.
Add in Your Chicken Broth and Chicken: Add in your chicken broth and shredded chicken and stir your soup to combine everything. This is optional, but toss it in a sprig of fresh thyme. Cover your soup and let simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, taste your broth and add additional seasonings if necessary.
Add in Your Gnocchi, Cream, and Leafy Greens: Lastly, while your soup is still simmering, add the coconut cream, gnocchi, and leafy greens. Stir that and let it simmer for another 5 minutes (or however long your gnocchi package recommends).
Serve Your Soup: Give your soup a final taste for additional seasonings and then remove it from the heat, plate, and serve.
For details and visuals, check out the how-to video below. Enjoy your homemade Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup!
Ingredients:
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- White Onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Fresh Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Fresh Thyme
- Gluten-Free Gnocchi
- Coconut Cream
- Chicken Broth
Creamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup Recipe:
PrintCreamy Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 cup White Onion (diced)
- 1/2 cup carrots (diced)
- 1/2 cup celery (diced)
- 2 Cloves Fresh Garlic (finely diced)
- 1/2–1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/ tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 2 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 1 cup Gluten-Free Gnocchi
- 1/2 cup Coconut Cream
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 cup Rotisserie Chicken (shredded)
- 1 cup Frozen Spinach (optional)
- 1/2 cup Tuscan Kale (optional)
Instructions
- Prep Your Ingredients: Dice your onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. If you make your chicken at home, I also recommend doing this beforehand. I used an already-cooked rotisserie chicken from my local market for this recipe.
- Cook Down Your Vegetables: Add your extra virgin olive oil to a cast iron pot over medium heat, then add in your onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Let them brown for about five minutes, stirring them periodically.
- Add Your Spices: Once your vegetables are browned, add salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, and onion powder. Stir to coat the vegetables in the spices.
- Add in Your Chicken Broth and Chicken: Add in your chicken broth and shredded chicken and stir your soup to combine everything. This is optional, but toss it in a sprig of fresh thyme. Cover your soup and let simmer for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, taste your broth and add additional seasonings if necessary.
- Add in Your Gnocchi, Cream, and Leafy Greens: Lastly, while your soup is still simmering, add the coconut cream, gnocchi, and leafy greens. Stir that and let it simmer for another 5 minutes (or however long your gnocchi package recommends).
- Serve Your Soup: Give your soup a final taste for additional seasonings, and then remove it from the heat, plate, and serve.
For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!