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!
- 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.
Recipe FAQs
Anything! Gnocchi is super versatile and delicious with any type of sauce or add-ins that you would also typically serve with pasta. Serve it as a main dish or as a side dish.
Basic gnocchi is typically made from three ingredients - potato, flour, and egg. But other variations such as sweet potato, pumpkin, or spinach gnocchi are also delicious! It takes about 45-60 minutes to make gnocchi from scratch, so when I am short on time I love having shelf stable gluten-free gnocchi on hand!
Since gnocchi is actually a type of pasta it really just depends! But here is a great article to dive into this topic if you're interested.
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. ♡
More Tasty Date Night Dinner Recipes!
- Gnocchi Marinara with Sausage & Peppers for the second date 🙂
- Creamy Pesto Pasta with Chicken & Sun-Dried Tomatoes another 30-minute meal!
- Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with creamy polenta & roasted cherry tomatoes
- Chicken Piccata with Gnocchi - perfect for date night or a simple weekday supper
Did You Make This Recipe?!
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment and a star rating below! I greatly appreciate your feedback and it is also so helpful for other PMST readers who are thinking about making the recipe. Remember to snap a photo and tag @passmesometasty on Instagram so I can see!
Date Night Gnocchi
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
A simple 30-minute dish featuring chicken, butternut squash, and kale combined in a creamy alfredo sauce and topped with grated parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
Notes
The equipment section above contains affiliate links to products I use or recommend.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Boil, Sauté
- Cuisine: American Italian fusion
Keywords: gnocchi, gluten free dinner, easy dinner recipe, butternut squash, chicken recipe, gluten free recipe
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Mary
Wow! Simple and delicious, this one is a keeper. The whole family loved it - no fussing from the 2- and 4-year-old food critics! I used baby spinach instead of kale, but otherwise followed the recipe. Thanks for a winner dinner night!
Shannon Emery
Awesome! I'm so happy to hear that everyone loved it, especially since the youngest food critics are often the most difficult to please! Thank you for sharing Mary!
Luisa Bellissimo
Sounds delicious!
Thanks for the recipe!
Shannon Emery
Thank you Luisa! I hope you enjoy it!
Lea
Has anyone tried to make this without chicken? I'm trying to be meat free, but the chicken is such a staple in the dish!
Shannon Emery
Hi Lea! This meal would still be super tasty without chicken. You could also try adding some sautéed shiitake mushrooms if you feel like you need to replace the chicken with a meat free option. I hope you decide to give it a try without the chicken and love it!
Becky
I made this recipe for my husband's birthday, and promptly made it again a few weeks later because it was so good! The second time I made it without chicken instead added more squash (we had an abundance of squash), still filling and delicious.
Shannon
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! And Happy Birthday to your hubs!
Becca @ Fork in the Kitchen
This looks so delicious!
Shannon
Oooh Becca, it is!! Nom nom nom
michele
I'm going to look for the gluten free gnocchi.... I love and miss a good gnocchi! This recipe looks like it would be perfect for a girls night Im having in January! Thanks for sharing!
Shannon
Ooooh....A girls night with this gnocchi sounds fabulous! I hope you and your friends enjoy this recipe!
B
Very nice recipe. I made half of the recipe for the two of us and DH had two big helping.
Shannon
Thank you! I'm so glad to hear you both enjoyed it!
Jeri
This recipe is SO delicious! My whole family loved it, and it came together really quite quickly and easily. Thanks Shannon for another wonderful recipe!!
Shannon
Thank you Jeri!