Date Night Gnocchi

This Date Night Gnocchi is a simple 30-minute meal featuring chicken, butternut squash, and kale combined in a creamy alfredo sauce and topped with grated parmesan cheese. Impress your date with this stay-at-home date night dinner winner!

Sometimes cooking magic happens in my kitchen.

Let me set the pre-cooking magic scene for you...

The day is creeping closer and closer to 5pm. Around 5-ish the hubby will be home from work and almost as if a timer was set to go off the kiddos will begin asking "What's for dinner?" followed by "I'm hungry, I neeeeed something to eat RIGHT now!"

I, being the ever wishful dinner-planner-in-advance-wannabe, have yet again not given a single shred of thought to what we will eat for dinner before this moment. And as the kids go into auto-repeat with their dinner declarations, I begin pacing between the refrigerator and the pantry assessing what's in stock hoping the big dinner idea blank will vanish from my mind and be replaced by something phenomenal that can be made in 30 minutes or less to stave off the hangry family members.

Sound familiar?

Sometimes my fridge-to-pantry pacing goes on for a little too long, which only amplifies the hangryness. BUT not last night folks! Last night dinner inspiration came like a lightning bolt, the heavens parted, and I'm pretty sure I heard some angels singing. It was pure cooking inspo magic.

The what's-for-dinner blank vanished as quickly as it arrived and was replaced with something that I knew deep down in the depths of my food soul would be really, REALLY good. I opened the fridge and the pantry and BOOM! Ingredients came together in my mind and turned into reality on my plate. And just like that, a tasty, unforgettable dinner in 30 minutes. It WAS magical.

And I'm calling it Date Night Gnocchi.

Sounds dreamy, right?

YEESSSS. It is.

And this dreamy dinner all began with these aaawesome gluten free gnocchi that I recently found at the grocery store.

These gnocchi are SO good. They are better than good. They are dreamy and date night worthy.

Even though my gluten-eating days of long ago are now becoming a faded memory, I'm pretty sure these gnocchi are an identical taste twin to their glutinous counterpart. They are little pillowy potato dumplings of gluten-free bliss. And they make me oh-so-happy.

The ingredients that make this dish sing!

• Gluten- Free Gnocchi - Kids love eating these pillowy potato dumplings (and so do adults!) but you could always swap these little gnocchies out for traditional pasta.
• Chicken - Pan-roasted is the method I use for this recipe but grilled chicken would also be delicious. Not a fan of chicken? Just leave it out and add more veggies!
• Butternut Squash - A sweet, nutty, and creamy flavored squash. Sub pumpkin or sweet potato for another tasty variation.
• Kale - Even if you think you're a kale-hater try it in this dish! You may become a kale convert. But you can also substitute baby spinach in its place if you need. 😉

And don't forget that creamy alfredo sauce! Slightly indulgent? Yes, but it is date night after all! And just for good measure top it all off with some high-quality grated parmesan cheese.

When I served this meal to my family that magical cooking evening, I knew it was good because there was a moment of silence. The type of silence where everyone suddenly becomes strangely quiet just savoring the food because...it's THAT good. And then my hubby broke the silence and said, "Babes, you've got to put this on your food blog."

So here it is.

And I'm calling it Date Night Gnocchi because this dish creates the perfect opportunity for you to invite those you love to the dinner table for a shared meal, to take a step away from the fast-paced, rushed, social media filled moments of the day, and to truly enjoy tasty and delicious food.

Buon appetito amici. ♡

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📖 Recipe

Date Night Gnocchi

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5 from 6 reviews

• Author: Shannon Emery
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 servings 1x

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Description

A simple 30-minute dish featuring chicken, butternut squash, and kale combined in a creamy alfredo sauce and topped with grated parmesan cheese.

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Ingredients

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• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon all purpose seasoning mix for the chicken
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 cups butternut squash, cubed
• 1 ½ cups loosely packed kale, de-stemmed and chopped
• 2 (12 oz.) packages gluten free potato gnocchi (I use DeLallo brand)
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated

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Instructions

1. Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sprinkle with the seasoning. Sauté until the chicken is slightly browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the gnocchi and cook until they float to the top of the water (about 4 minutes). Drain and set aside.
3. While the gnocchi is cooking, add the butternut squash, garlic, and 1 tablespoon butter to the pan you used for the chicken. Sauté for about 8 minutes, just until the squash is fork-tender, but not mushy. Add the kale and sauté an additional 2-3 minutes.
4. To finish, add the cream, remaining 2 tablespoons butter, and parmesan cheese to the pan with your veggies and stir until the sauce begins to thicken. Once the sauce begins to thicken add the cooked gnocchi and reserved chicken to the pan and toss together for 2 minutes on medium heat.
5. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Equipment

Large Pot

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Large Skillet

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Notes

The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products I use or recommend.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: Boil, Sauté
• Cuisine: American Italian fusion
• Diet: Gluten Free

Keywords: gnocchi, gluten free dinner, easy dinner recipe, butternut squash, chicken recipe, gluten free recipe

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