Homemade Quick Gnocchi
What do you get when you mix instant mashed potatoes, water and flour? Some of the best and easiest Homemade Quick Gnocchi that you will ever eat! Who ever thought, right!?
When I was younger, my mom’s Italian friend would come over and they would spend the entire day in the kitchen making Gnocchi. You know when you try a dish that’s sooo delicious it stays with you and even though years have passed you can still remember the taste and the comfort of that particular dish? That was this gnocchi. The soft, potatoe-y pillows, smothered in delicious, homemade sauce was well worth the wait. And a wait was guaranteed because it honestly took the better half of a hands-on afternoon to make!
Gnocchi is still one of my favorite foods. I mean who doesn’t like Gnocchi? It makes for such a hearty and cozy meal and tastes amazing with just about any sauce. But let’s get real, most days we just don’t have an entire afternoon to spend in the kitchen preparing pasta 😉 You can understand my excitement when I came across this recipe on Allrecipes that uses instant mashed potatoes as the base for Gnocchi. #lifechanged
I know, I know. Instant mashed potatoes!? Are you serious? The potatoes in a box that you lived off of in first year university because all you had was a kettle in your room!? At first, I was a total skeptic but then I came across a box of organic mashed potatoes in the little organic shop near my house without any strange preservatives and only a small handful of ingredients listed on the box (potatoes, rosemary, salt and pepper). Long story short, this Homemade Quick Gnocchi’s fate was sealed. And to my surprise, the taste and texture of this Homemade Quick Gnocchi made with instant mashed potaotes was super close to the one my mom and her friend used to make way back when – without the hours spent in the kitchen peeling, boiling and ricing potatoes!
Now that I’ve fallen in love with instant mashed potatoes (well at least for the organic taters without any added questionable ingredients), I’m excited to see what other recipes they can be used as a shortcut in! Are you a fan of using instant mashed potatoes or are they banned from your kitchen forever (like I thought)? Wishing you a wonderful week!
If you do try this Homemade Quick Gnocchi or any other recipes of mine, it makes my day hearing about it! 🙂 Insta or Tweet it to me (@cearaskitchen with hashtag #cearaskitchen) or Facebook it to me via the Ceara’s Kitchen Facebook Page! Have a wonderful week!
Homemade Quick Gnocchi
- Total Time: 32 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Delicious Homemade Quick Gnocchi that uses instant mashed potatoes and comes together much quicker and easier than traditional Gnocchi. Serve these soft, pasta pillows with your favorite tomato sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic potato flakes (note: also known as dehydrated potato or instant mashed potatoes)
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup white flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place potato flakes and boiling water into a medium-size bowl. Stir with a fork until combined. Cover and leave to cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
- Add ½ of the flour with a pinch of salt and pepper to the potato mixture. Using your hands, combine the instant mashed potatoes with the flour. Add in the rest of the flour until a fairly stiff (and non sticky) dough is formed. You might not need all the flour and you might need a little bit more depending on the brand of potato flakes you used (*I used 1 scant cup of flour). If your dough is too dry and scraggly add a couple of drops of water. Lightly knead the dough for about a minute into a ball. Cover and leave the dough ball to rest for 15 minutes.
- Boil a large pot of salted water while preparing the gnocchi. Divide the dough into two. With the palms of your hands, shape each half of the dough into a long thin roll (about the thickness of your finger). With a knife, cut the gnocchi into bite size pieces (1.5 cm/ ½ inch wide). See photo of gnocchi for reference.
- Once the water has come to a rapid boil, place a few of the gnocchi into the boiling water. After about 60 – 90 seconds the gnocchi will rise to the top of the pot, remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon until all the gnocchi are cooked. Serve warm with your favorite pasta sauce.
Notes
Gnocchi can be easily, doubled, tripled etc. based on how many people you are serving!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 2 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Italian
My Grandmother, who came from Italy in the nineteen-twenties, was an amazing cook. She also made gnocchi with potato flakes, and they were fabulous,! I’ll be trying this recipe tonight.
Hello Cera……… Love the idea of instant mashed potatoes…….. Excited to try them this weekend for my family. We all love gnocchi. Can I freeze them.
Yes! Freezing them would work but make sure to freeze them BEFORE boiling them in water! I’d love to know how they turn out! Happy Cooking! 🙂
I so love gnocchi! How cool that you made this with instant potatoes, that certainly is a time saver! Pinned!
Such a major time saver 🙂 Thanks for the kind words and pin, Linda!
What a brilliant idea to use potato flakes! I remember eating vegan-friendly and flavored instant mashed potatoes in Germany, one of the cheapest staples I can find! I made carrot & potato gnocchi before, but it’s definitely a long process! I love fried gnocchi, have you tried it?
What a creative idea! I’ve always avoided those instant mashed potatoes on purpose, but now maybe I’ll have to give them a try 🙂
I did before too, Denise!! But this recipe definitely does them justice + they are such a time saver!! 🙂
I love making and eating gnocchi, mostly because they look like cute puffy white pillows 🙂
I love how they look like cute puffy white pillows <3
Hmmmm. . . not sure I’ve had instant mashed potatoes. Is that potato flakes? I have seen those on the shelves. Anyway – so interesting and fun idea! I love gnocchi,i too, and so does my family. Have a great weekend!
Yes, instant mashed potatoes and potato flakes are the same thing! 🙂 We are a big fan of gnocchi around here too! Have a great week, Lori!
What an awesome idea! I would have never thought to used instant mashed potatoes! What an awesome idea!
Thanks so much, Kelley 🙂
Wow how did I miss this recipe! These look so easy to prepare and delicious! Definitely on my “to make ” list!
★★★★★
Thanks so much, Mira!! Such an easy and delicious recipe 🙂 Hope you’re having a great week!
Made these little potato puffs last night with my love and they turned out delicious!! I was a little skeptical of the potato flakes when making the dough, but i just added a bit more water and then Bob rolled it out to perfection. We also made them a bit thicker than suggested, which was a good bite size. Great recipe Ceara! It was mine and Bob’s first time making gnocchi and then we sauced it up the way we like it. Hardest part was waiting for them to cool down in the fridge haha I just wanted to eat them. Keep sending the recipes!!
I am SO happy that you and Bob enjoyed them 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know!! The photo you sent me looks absolutely delicious!
Who knew homemade gnocchi was all along only 4 ingredients away?! This is absolutely genius, Ceara!
Thanks so much, Sarah!! 🙂 I could not get over how easy it was either!! Hope your week is going great!
Looks great honey! Now you have to try to create the spinach ones that we made. Wonderful!
I was thinking the same thing, mom! The spinach ones you used to make were simply wonderful!
When I saw these on Pinterest I was so sure that you must have forgotten some ingredients. I can’t believe how easy these are! I’ve never even considered making my own gnocchi but these are great! I’m sure my boys will go crazy over this recipe- like so many of your other ones 🙂
Thanks so much, Vanessa! I couldn’t get over how few ingredients are needed either. A lot of gnocchi recipes call for a lot of other stuff and egg but none of it is not necessary at all!! Let me know if you end up trying the gnocchi – I hope you are your family love it as much as we did 🙂 I’d recommend doubling or tripling the recipe though – this recipe only makes enough for two people 🙂
Wow, what a cook recipe you found Ceara!! Who knew instant mashed potatoes could be gnocchi?!! Super cool! They look so easy and delicious…my kind of recipe! I have never bought instant mashed potatoes in my life though, lol! I may try it sometime! Not really a gnocchi fan, but I do love how easy and simple this is and your red sauce looks super yummy on top!
Thanks so much, Brandi! I had never (well since my first year of university lol) bought instant mashed potatoes either but they somehow ended up in my cart at the organic shop! I was shocked by how yummy the gnocchi are with the instant mash – just as good as the original!! 🙂 Hope you are having a wonderful week!
oh Yum yum yum!!! these looks absolutely delicious! 😉 I have NEVER made my own gnocchi but this sounds so easy I will definitely need to try this! PINNED!
Yay! Let me know if you end up trying this recipe, Michelle! It’s so ridiculous easy! Thanks so much for the kind words and pin!! <3
Oh my gosh, this is genius, Ceara! I had no idea gnocchi could be made this easily! I love this shortcut hack and can’t wait to try this since I have always wanted to try making gnocchi but was always too afraid to try the traditional way. Pinned!
My thoughts exactly!! I can’t be bothered with the traditional way either – all the steps involved makes my head spin!! Hope you are having a wonderful week 🙂 Thanks for the sweet words and pin!
Whaaa! Who knew it was this easy to make gnocchi from scratch? I’m definitely trying this Ceara! Looks fabulous!
Thanks, Manali!!! It’s so ridiculously easy (and yummy!) to make Gnocchi from scratch 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!! Hope your week is going swell 🙂
I never knew you could make gnocchi like that, Ceara! Such a great way to make such a flavorful dish. Definitely trying this out! Sounds perfect for busy weeknights when I don’t feel like cooking. Gorgeous pictures, too! Pinned! Have a wonderful Monday!
Thanks, Gayle!! Meals like this are perfect for busy weeknights when cooking a big elaborate meal just isn’t in the cards lol!! You can also freeze the gnocchi before they are cooked for an even easier weeknight meal 🙂 Thanks for the kind words and pin!!
Hi Ceara, sorry to say, but why not using potatoes? Potatoes flake are terrible for you! It maybe easier but you are shortening your life, it is not healthy! That’s why a lot of people don’t know how the veggies looks like. I was so sad to see that a lot of people support it. Hope you do some research and maybe think of other easy healthier recepies. Please don’t take it in the wrong way, but we need people like you that are passionate about food to influence other people 🙂
Hi Lisa, I appreciate your concern! I don’t usually cook with dehydrated potatoes but use organic dehydrated potatoes once in a while for a quick and easy “shortcut” like in this recipe. I think healthy eating is all about balance, I strive to eat fresh fruit, veggies and delicious grains for the vast majority of my diet but I believe there’s room in any healthy lifestyle for shortcuts like this once in a while. If it wasn’t for canned beans, frozen veggies and certain other prepared goods it would be a lot more difficult to eat healthy on busy days or days when I don’t have time to food prep. I try to take into account all of this when preparing recipes!
Happy Monday Ceara, we’ll you have to live off instant mashed potatoes and the Ramon in college……haha. I can’t believe you made gnocchi out of instant mashed potatoes, how creative you are! I would have never thought of that. And honestly, I don’t think I knew what gnocchi was before this post. Thanks for sharing!
Haha!! Yes, instant noodles and mashed potatoes and, well, boxed Mac + Cheese were basically what I lived off of my 1st year of uni! I never though I’d have the instant mash back in my house but it makes such an awesome shortcut 🙂 Hope you are having a wonderful week! <3
Yum! I love gnocchi and we have been making a lot of sweet potato gnocchi recently. So good!
Thanks so much, Dannii! Sweet potatoe gnocchi sounds DELICIOUS!!!!!! <3