You’re in for a treat with this delicious Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi! Tender gnocchi blanketed in a creamy tomato sauce, speckled with fresh spinach and bites of melty cheese. Gorgeous!
Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach
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This is DELICIOUS! I made the recipe exactly as written and added ground Italian chicken sausage (cooked separately). Served with a green salad and crusty bread. HEAVEN. Thank you!!
Sara C.
This recipe is sponsored by DeLallo.
Tender gnocchi blanketed in a creamy tomato sauce, speckled with fresh spinach and bites of melty cheese – capital G to the orgeous!
This recipe is a new fave around here and I think it walks that summer-to-fall line perfectly: just a beautifully simple tomato sauce made with mild tomato passata (a skinless, seedless, silky, and pure tomato puree that pretty much tastes like fresh tomatoes in a jar), thinly sliced garlic and onion, a little torn basil to hold onto those last few days of warmth, and a dollop of mascarpone cheese to kick off the cozy vibes for the season.
Add some pre-made gnocchi and spinach to that dream of a sauce, blanket it under some fresh mozzarella and Parmesan, and you are looking at a dinner-party-worthy recipe that conveniently also works as an SOS weeknight meal.
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Here Are The Ingredients We’re Working with Today
Your wonderfully short ingredient list consists of:
- passata (love! love love love. I recommend DeLallo passata because they make only the best authentic Italian products so you know they’re doing it right. Their passata is just so mild and lovely.)
- onion / garlic
- mascarpone cheese
- pre-made gnocchi (see above about DeLallo)
- spinach
- cheese for topping – I like mozzarella slices and a little dusting of Parmesan
- basil
Fab. Amaze. Perfection. Couldn’t love this lineup more.
How To Make Baked Gnocchi
Making this couldn’t be easier:
You make the sauce.
You add the gnocchi and spinach.
You bake it under cheese.
How you deal with all the goodness, though, is a more challenging affair. Do you invite friends over? Share with a neighbor? Eat the whole thing in 1-2 sittings? Or save a small container in the fridge for a midnight snack? I can personally confirm these are all effective and appropriate ways to conduct yourself around a large bubbling skillet of cheese-blanketed gnocchi. You can’t go wrong.
I’ve also tried adding a can of white beans for a little extra bulk, which would be a good trick to keep in your back pocket, but I would submit to you that the glory of this recipe is its simplicity – the chewy gnocchi, the tender cooked spinach, and the tangy tomato sauce with just the right amount of creaminess – and honestly I hate to mess with such a good thing.
Grab your cozy clothes and let’s get into this.
Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi: FAQs
Can I use frozen gnocchi?
Absolutely! Just thaw the gnocchi beforehand.
How can I bulk this meal up?
It’s super filling on its own, but you can always add white cannellini beans or spicy Italian sausage. Either would be delish!
I can’t find mascarpone. Any substitutions?
Ricotta cheese can work in a pinch. The texture just might be a little grainier.
Watch Lindsay Make This Gnocchi on Stories!
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Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi with Spinach
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5–6 servings 1x
Description
You’re in for a treat with this delicious Three Cheese Baked Gnocchi! Tender gnocchi blanketed in a creamy tomato sauce, speckled with fresh spinach and bites of melty cheese. Gorgeous!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Simple Delicious Tomato Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- quarter of an onion, minced
- 1 large clove garlic, minced or thinly sliced
- 12 ounces DeLallo Passata Tomato Purée
- 1/2 cup broth or water
- torn basil
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Gnocchi:
- one 16-ounce package DeLallo Potato Gnocchi (I used shelf-stable gnocchi but frozen would also work)
- a handful of baby spinach
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese slices
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the onion and garlic; sauté until translucent and fragrant. Add passata and water or broth; bring to a low simmer. Add torn basil, mascarpone, and salt. YUM.
- Bake it up: Add gnocchi and spinach. Stir to coat evenly with sauce. Top with mozzarella slices and a sprinkle of Parmesan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until gooey and light golden brown on top. Serve with more basil. THE END. That’s it. You’re in heaven.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: baked gnocchi, passata recipe, gnocchi recipe
Thank you to DeLallo for sponsoring this post!
Other Gnocchi Recipes We’re Crushing On
- Homemade Cauliflower Gnocchi (three easy ingredients and that’s it)
- Ridiculous Baked Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce (an incredibly easy weeknight favorite)
- Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (pasta in soup? definitely!)
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Broccoli Rabe and Garlic Sage Butter Sauce (gnocchi with a boost)
Time To Show You Off!
Filed Under: All Recipes Dinner Fall Main Dishes Pasta Quick and Easy SOS Series Sugar-Free Vegetarian
September 1, 2021
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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This looks fantastic! Is this being cooked in a Dutch oven? Or is it a skillet?
We used a skillet!
Is there something I could use in place of the Mascarpone?
You could try cream cheese, creme fraiche, or ricotta!
So the directions are lacking a lot. Like in a pot boil water and cook Gnocchi per package directions.
Did put add tomato puree after onions and garlic are fragrant…So many missing information.
I don’t think you read the recipe. It says exactly when to add the tomato in step 1. Also, if you’re putting the whole pan in the oven for 20 minutes, there’s no need to boil the gnocchi ahead of time. They’ll cook in the oven.
This was the perfect thing to come across in my fortnightly meal planning to change up the relentless monopoly of the same dishes for my extra needs kids. and be able simple dish for a night when my brain has left the building.
We added chorizo as Italian sausage is not a thing in Australia.
If I had to find an issue, the only teeny tiny ity bity complaint I could have to make is when I switched it to metric it left the 12 ounces which was the only thing I didn’t know. And that was solved with a quick google search.
Maybe the video would be easier for you, it clearly shows her dumping the gnocchi into the pan, which gets cooked in the sauce in the oven. No precooking required.
Hi Kelli! Sorry for the confusion. No need to pre-cook the gnocchi. And yes, add the tomato sauce in after the onions and garlic are fragrant!
This SOS series so far pales I’m comparison to the first…we have a couple vegetarian dishes that would barely pass as appetizers except that tofu is gross…followed by a salmon dish…salmon actually beating out tofu as one of five foods I don’t eat because *green faced emoji* and now we’ve got a dish that is essentially spaghetti, except gnocchi instead of spaghetti…groundbreaking really.
I’m trying to stay optimistic there will be at least one dish I can add to the back of my mind…but it’s not looking good 🙁
Amanda, I have to tell you how much I enjoy your comments on pinch of yum. I actually look at recipes to see your hot takes, it has given me a lot of amusement. Do you know that there are other food bloggers out there? Maybe you need a break from Pinch Of Yum, although I personally would miss your constant snarkiness!
This was fantastic. I loved finishing it on the oven with cheese bubbling on the top. I tweaked slighty using 2 cups of my own sauce I had on hand, and cream cheese…but it was great. Thanks for the recipe!
Yikes, this ain’t it sis.
Hi! What could I use instead of the tomato puree? Trying to decide if it looks more like tomato SAUCE or tomato PASTE… Thanks!
It is passata, more like tomato juice with crushed pulp, no seeds. Lovely stuff 🙂
We haven’t tested this, but crushed tomatoes would probably work well!
I made the recipe with tomato sauce and used a little more that the recipe called for, turned out amazing.
I made this last night for dinner and it was spectacular!
I modified the recipe and added 3 hot Italian sausages without casing. I also cooked it in a skillet on the stove then put it in a glass casserole dish to bake the time stated in the recipe. I barely had a single container for leftovers. This one is a winner and I will be making it again. Thank you again for your timesaving recipe.
Great idea to add in the hot Italian sausages! So glad the recipe was a hit!
Entire family loved this recipe! It has been added to our regular rotation. Super easy and delicious.
So glad to hear it, Laura!
This is DELICIOUS! I made the recipe exactly as written and added ground Italian chicken sausage (cooked separately). Served with a green salad and crusty bread. HEAVEN. Thank you!!
Great idea to add chicken sausage! Sounds like an amazing meal, Sara!
Super easy and delicious. My toddler was making “mmmm” noises all throughout dinner. I couldn’t find passata, so I used a can of plain tomato sauce and it turned out great.
So glad to hear it, Molly!
That is some delicious looking gnocchi. I’ll have to give this a go. Thank you for sharing.
We hope you love it, Corey!
What a delicious recipe! It was gone so fast!!
Came out perfect – the whole family loved it!
So glad it was a hit! Thanks for the comment!
I saw a comment whining about this recipe, but part of what I love about really simple recipes is that they’re more like templates. You can follow them as is, or you can choose your own adventure. I had a ton of CSA tomatoes hanging around so I roasted them and made a rustic sauce. It would not have occurred to me to to try baking it with gnocchi instead of doing my usual baked ziti if I hadn’t come across this recipe. So I tried that out and I also used it as an excuse to finally try out making mascarpone (usually I make ricotta because it’s easy and I always have everything on hand).
It was delicious! And again, I like the flexibility of it being something I could still make on a night when I had less time on my hands. Thanks for posting!
So glad you enjoyed it, Nicole!
This was DELICIOUS!! Huge hit in my house, and I seriously wouldn’t change a single thing in this recipe. Thank you for this SOS win!!
We love hearing about your SOS wins! So glad your family enjoyed it!
I made this tonight for some family and everyone loved it. Next time I think I’ll cut the mozzarella smaller or use the mozzarella pearls to ensure all scoops get some of the cheese. I’ll also start checking it a little earlier as some of my gnocchi were almost soggy feeling. But I’ll for sure be making it again!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Alyssa! Glad it was a hit!
So yummy! I have been searching for Delallo products locally and can’t find them easily. I have taken to placing orders on their site because we prefer their pasta! I impulsively ordered passata without a plan and here’s POY with a recipe. So amazing! Paired with garlic bread, I’m already looking forward to leftovers. I really think I could drink that pissata out of the bottle ❤️ Thanks for another great easy recipe!
You’re welcome! So glad you enjoyed it, Karen!
Made this tonight and I must say, it was amazing. Like, probably the best thing to hit the dinner table in quite a while, all with minimal effort. I used a hefty amount kale instead of spinach, and of course lots of extra garlic. This will be made again!!
Glad it was a hit, Laura!
Made this tonight. May have licked the skillet after dinner. It’s delicious, and feels fancy without the effort you typically have to exert for fancy! I highly recommend, and this recipe also strikes me as so customizable. You could add veggies, beans, meat, use pasta instead of gnocchi, etc. Thanks, POY! Another winner 🙂
This was so good! I improvised a bit—used Raos sauce with some stock, arugula from the farm share, and gluten free gnocchi (Rosa brand on Amazon). So very good!
Has anyone made with frozen gnocchi? Should I partially cook gnocchi from frozen in boiling water than finish in oven?
I have the same question! Anyone??
Hi Meg! We haven’t tested this recipe using frozen gnocchi, but yes, it should definitely work well. I’m just thinking you’d want to defrost it and drain it a bit to remove the excess water. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes!
You have quickly become my favorite resource for recipes! I add just about every emailed recipe to my list for the following week. This tuned out absolutely incredible! We all loved it, 1-year-old and 13-yeard-old (and his friend) included! I have been raving about your recipes on Facebook haha. This is sooooo delicious!!
So glad to hear it was a hit, Amber! Thanks so much for the comment!
I am standing at the stove eating this sauce with a spoon straight from the pan. Wow.
I’ve made this multiple times and love it every time. I’ve used Passata when I had it, and tomato sauce when I didn’t and it’s delicious either way. I typically put more than a handful of spinach in – ya know, to get my greens in 😜
This was delicious! It turns out, however, that my family is adverse to the texture of gnocchi (what is wrong with them?!) so I’ll get the leftovers all to myself – and I’m not complaining.
That’s a win for you! Left overs for yourself.
This recipe is a new family favorite! Because we’re in the newborn baby season of life, I made this even more SOS and just used a jar of delicious Rao’s sauce instead of making the tomato sauce. So so good!
This is sooooooo yummy! going to make it again for dinner with friends tomorrow. Going to add the chicken meatballs too!