This Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup is a satisfying comfort food dinner made in just 30 minutes. The creamy soup is so nice with the healthy vegetables and the shredded chicken – a quick, easy and delicious Olive Garden copycat recipe!
Copycat Chicken Gnocchi Soup
I know, not another copycat recipe… But hear me out: This isn’t just an OG recipe. It’s an actually delicious, creamy, hearty family meal. A soup my entire family eats without complaining.
I also make it in the slow cooker when I get to think ahead, but the instant pot is for when I need dinner on the table in 30 minutes. So here it is, very quick and easy to whip up – a total backpocket dinner for me.
Ingredients you’ll need
Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!
Ingredient notes
- Milk: I either use whole milk or evaporated milk, because that’s what we always have on hand. I usually don’t want to add 2 cups of expensive heavy cream to a soup, and it makes it too heavy to me. You can use anything you like though! Milk, half-and-half, cream, evaporated milk or a mix of them. Be careful with skim milk though, it splits more easily.
- Chicken: Feel free to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the chicken breast. The soup will need to cook 5 minutes longer with the chicken thighs.
- Gnocchi: I use refrigerated gnocchi for this recipe, not frozen. If using frozen, I would recommend to either defrost them first or to cook them separately before adding them to the soup. Otherwise, they need to simmer too long in the soup and the other ingredients will end up overcooked.
- Butter: Feel free to use oil in place of the butter if you prefer.
- Spinach: I use pre-washed, bagged baby spinach. If you’re using mature spinach, you’ll want to chop off any large stems and then tear or chop the leaves a little. I have also added frozen, defrosted spinach before. It works, just make sure you get leaf spinach and not chopped spinach – chopped spinach turns the soup into a mess.
How to make Chicken Gnocchi Soup in the Instant Pot
Start by sautéing the onion, garlic and celery in the instant pot. You do this on the sauté setting which is pretty self-explanatory, but I thought I’d mention it.
Then you add the seasoning and chicken broth and submerge the raw chicken breasts in the liquid. Pressure cook with a 5 minute natural release, then release any remaining pressure manually before opening the instant pot lid.
Then you need to shred the chicken and add it back to the soup along with your milky liquid of choice (stir in your cornstarch before adding it to the soup!), the carrots and the gnocchi. You’ll want to switch the instant pot to sauté again at this point.
Once the gnocchi are done, stir in the spinach and let it wilt for just a minute. Then serve the soup with your favorite crusty bread (this is my favorite)!
Recipe tips
- The chicken cooks fastest if it’s fully defrosted and the chicken breasts are on the smaller side. But the beauty of an instant pot is that you don’t need a lot of additional cooking time if you just happened to forget to defrost some chicken! Simply add around 5 minutes to the pressure cooking time. Each of my chicken breasts weighed around 4 ounces, so they were definitely thinner/smaller. If your chicken breasts are large (6-8 ounces each), you’ll want to cook the soup for 8-10 minutes and not the 6 minutes the recipe calls for.
- Pressure release: Do not skip the natural pressure release, otherwise your chicken will come out too chewy.
- Do not overcook the gnocchi: Most ready-made, refrigerated gnocchi varieties cook in 2-3 minutes. Make sure you watch them closely, or they’ll overcook and start disintegrating in the soup.
Watch the recipe video
Really. Make this. Even if you secretly love cake more than soup?? Yes, even then.
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 onion diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 sticks celery sliced
- ½ teaspoon dried garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and cracked black pepper to taste
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 1 ½ cups milk of choice see notes for tips
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 large carrots coarsely shredded (about 2 cups, not packed)
- 1 (16-oz) package potato gnocchi uncooked
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
Instructions
- Sauté: Set your instant pot to sauté and melt the butter in it. Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook until softened, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in garlic powder, dried thyme, salt and pepper.
- Add chicken: Pour chicken broth into instant pot, scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add chicken breasts, making sure they are covered with broth.
- Pressure cook: Seal lid and pressure cook on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes (this is for small, 4-oz sized chicken breasts; if yours are closer to 8-oz each, pressure cook for 8-10 minutes). Once time is up, allow pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes, then release any remaining pressure manually.
- Shred chicken: Open lid. Remove chicken and shred, then return to soup.
- Finish soup: Set instant pot to "sauté". Whisk the cornstarch into the milk, then stir into the soup. Add the carrots and gnocchi and simmer until gnocchi are done (this should only take a couple of minutes). Add spinach and allow to wilt for one minute, then serve.
Notes
Ingredient notes
- Milk: I either use whole milk or evaporated milk, because that’s what we always have on hand. I usually don’t want to add 2 cups of expensive heavy cream to a soup, and it makes it too heavy to me. You can use anything you like though! Milk, half-and-half, cream, evaporated milk or a mix of them. Be careful with skim milk though, it splits more easily.
- Chicken: Feel free to use boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the chicken breast. The soup will need to cook 5 minutes longer with the chicken thighs.
- Gnocchi: I use refrigerated gnocchi for this recipe, not frozen. If using frozen, I would recommend to either defrost them first or to cook them separately before adding them to the soup. Otherwise, they need to simmer too long in the soup and the other ingredients will end up overcooked.
- Butter: Feel free to use oil in place of the butter if you prefer.
- Spinach: I use pre-washed, bagged baby spinach. If you’re using mature spinach, you’ll want to chop off any large stems and then tear or chop the leaves a little. I have also added frozen, defrosted spinach before. It works, just make sure you get leaf spinach and not chopped spinach – chopped spinach turns the soup into a mess.
Recipe tips
- The chicken cooks fastest if it’s fully defrosted and the chicken breasts are on the smaller side. But the beauty of an instant pot is that you don’t need a lot of additional cooking time if you just happened to forget to defrost some chicken! Simply add around 5 minutes to the pressure cooking time. Each of my chicken breasts weighed around 4 ounces, so they were definitely thinner/smaller. If your chicken breasts are large (6-8 ounces each), you’ll want to cook the soup for 8-10 minutes and not the 6 minutes the recipe calls for.
- Pressure release: Do not skip the natural pressure release, otherwise your chicken will come out too chewy.
- Do not overcook the gnocchi: Most ready-made, refrigerated gnocchi varieties cook in 2-3 minutes. Make sure you watch them closely, or they’ll overcook and start disintegrating in the soup.
Nutrition
More recipe information
Recipe first published on 01/04/2018. Updated with better recipe, new photos, new video and new text on 03/04/2021.
Sabrina P says
My daughter has a cold and this was perfect on this blustery day. She said to “Give that lady 5 stars! She deserves it!“ I used buttermilk as a substitute.
Shannon says
SO good! I swapped the milk and corn starch for 3/4 package of low fat cream cheese and it worked great as well. I added it on top of the soup before pressure cooking
Nora says
I’m glad to hear it, Shannon!
Bree says
Have you ever tried substituting different kind of milk? Like non-dairy or 2% instead of the whole? Thanks
Nora Rusev says
Bree, nondairy I haven’t tried, and I’m not so sure about the flavor to be honest. 2% would work for sure, it will just be a little less creamy.
Tara says
Step 4. what setting is the instant pot supposed to be on?
Nora says
Sorry for the confusion, you put the instant pot on sauté for that!
Rachel says
Have you seen the Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi?? I just love that stuff. Have you used it? Do you think it could work in this recipe?
Nora says
Hi Rachel, haven’t tried them! But I think they would work, but I wouldn’t cook them in the soup (I read it turns them quite mushy). I’d pan-fry them and then have everyone add them to their bowl of soup at the table! Let me know if you end up trying 🙂
Katherine says
What size insta pot is this recipe made for?
Nora says
Hi Katherine, it should work in both a 6 quart and an 8 quart! Hope that helps! – Nora
Tracey says
How do you let it simmer ? Do you put it on the “soup” setting?
Nora says
Sorry for the confusion, Tracey! Just leave it on the sauté setting with the lid open for 1 minute! If it cooks too much, press the “adjust” button twice for lower heat! Hope that helps 🙂