Ready in just 23 minutes, this one pot spinach artichoke gnocchi is the perfect weeknight comfort meal. A light cheese sauce made with blended cottage cheese and vegetable broth ensures this vegetarian gnocchi is super creamy.
A Meatless One Pot Meal for Busy Nights
This one pot spinach artichoke gnocchi is vegetarian comfort food at its absolutely finest. It’s creamy, cheesy, packed with a fair amount of protein, AND ready in less than 30 minutes. It’s perfect for weeknights when you can’t summon the energy or effort for anything more complicated than tossing things in a pan. You don’t even have to chop that much! Just the shallot, garlic, and artichokes need some attention.
Ready in less time than the traditional baked spinach artichoke dip, this easy vegetarian dinner features the same savory and cheesy flavors but in a lightened up version suitable for mealtime. The creamy sauce is made from a combination of just three ingredients: blended cottage cheese, vegetable broth, and lemon zest. Everything, including the gnocchi, cooks in the sauce which means each bite is packed with creamy, cheesy goodness. I hope you enjoy this easy one pot meal as much as I do!
Key Ingredients
Cottage cheese (either full fat or lowfat – your choice!) ensures this meatless meal is creamy and cheesy without being overly heavy and rich. I used a shelf stable gnocchi (found on the pasta aisle) but you can also use the fresh gnocchi in the refrigerated section. Just make sure to grab a pound total! I prefer using canned artichoke hearts packed in water for pure and simple artichoke flavor so avoid the marinated ones or the ones packed in oil if you can. Either whole artichoke hearts or the quartered ones work perfectly.
How to Make Super Creamy Spinach Artichoke Gnocchi
The cottage cheese sauce ensures this one pot meal is extra creamy! Make sure to blend the cottage cheese, broth, and lemon zest until super smooth. Once the shallots and garlic have cooked in the pan, pour the sauce right in and stir continuously until it starts to simmer.
Once the sauce simmers, the gnocchi and chopped artichokes can be added. At this point, the sauce might look a little watery or even grainy but don’t worry! Once you put the lid on and cook it for a few minutes, it will be nice and creamy. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and stir in the spinach and parmesan and cook just long enough for the spinach to wilt. Double check that the gnocchi is cooked through before enjoying! It should be soft and pillowy.
Change Things Up
- Make it gluten free – use gluten free gnocchi! I’ve seen it on the shelves as well as in the refrigerated section. Make sure to check the size of the package because you need a pound total (that might mean you have to buy two packages).
- Make it vegan – use 1 cup/ about 8 ounces of softened vegan cream cheese instead of cottage cheese and vegan parm or nutritional yeast in place of the parmesan. Instead of blending the sauce, you’ll cook everything together in the pan with the shallots and garlic.
- Add more protein – this whole recipe has about 60 grams of protein between the cottage cheese, gnocchi, artichokes, and parmesan which isn’t too shabby in my opinion! If you want to add more, add 1 can of drained and rinsed white beans or lentils along with the baby spinach. Or, spend a few extra minutes browning a couple of links of vegan sausage along with the shallots.
More One Pot Meals You’ll Love
I love the ease of a one pot meal, not to mention the speedy clean up! If you want maximum spring vibes, try this one pot lemon orzo with peas and asparagus. It’s bright, tangy, savory, and perfect for a weeknight. If you love orzo but want something with a tiny bit more protein, this one pot orzo with broccoli and butter beans is right up your alley. If you want to enjoy all the flavors of taco night without all of the components and mess, go for this creamy vegan tortilla soup. You can customize it with your favorite toppings!
One Pot Spinach Artichoke Gnocchi
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Ready in just 23 minutes, this one pot spinach artichoke gnocchi is the perfect weeknight comfort meal. A light cheese sauce made with blended cottage cheese and vegetable broth ensures this vegetarian gnocchi is super creamy.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 medium lemon, zested
- 1 cup low sodium vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large shallot, finely chopped
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 pound potato gnocchi
- 1 can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained and roughly chopped
- 2–3 ounces baby spinach
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish
- finely chopped parsley, optional for garnish
Instructions
Set a large skillet or saucepan/saucier over medium heat. Make sure to use one that you have a lid for. While the skillet comes to temperature, blend the cottage cheese, lemon zest, vegetable broth, and a pinch of salt until very smooth. This can be done with an upright blender or an immersion blender (my choice for easy clean up). Set aside for now.
Add the olive oil to the skillet and when it begins to shimmer, add the shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring regularly, until the shallot starts to turn golden (about 2-3 min), then add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute then add the blended cottage cheese mixture. Stir the sauce constantly. When it just starts to simmer, add the gnocchi and artichokes. Stir to coat the gnocchi in the sauce then cover the skillet or pan and cook everything for 5 minutes. Remove the lid then stir in the spinach and parm. Cook for another 2-3 minutes uncovered until the spinach is wilted and gnocchi is cooked through and pillowy soft.
Serve with extra parm on the side and a garnish of finely chopped parsley if desired.
Store leftovers in the fridge and enjoy within 3 days. The gnocchi will absorb the sauce as it cools down so I recommend adding a few splashes of water, broth, or milk to the pan when reheating leftovers.
Notes
- Either full fat or lowfat cottage cheese will work here!
- Between the cottage cheese, gnocchi, artichokes, and parmesan, this recipe contains approximately 60 grams of protein total. If you split it into 3 portions, that’s 20g per serving.
- The sauce might look a bit grainy once you add the gnocchi and artichokes but it will come together and be super creamy once everything finishes cooking.
- For a very light garlic flavor, use 1 clove. For a stronger garlic flavor, use 2 cloves.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 18 minutes
- Category: Dinner
WOW. So many of my favorite things all wrapped up together. I cannot wait to try this. It looks so good.
If you love spinach artichoke dip I have a feeling you’ll love this one!
One Pot Spinach Artichoke Gnocchi looks amazing! Creamy, cozy, and I love that it’s all made in one pot, total weeknight win, definately making them tonight!
Hope you enjoy it, Abi!
This was a great fast meal that I will be putting on repeat this spring! So creamy and delicious, I loved the cottage cheese sauce!
So happy to hear the you liked the cheese sauce! I’m probably a little late to the cottage cheese bandwagon but it made the sauce so lovely and light.
My kids love gnocchi, and this was a great way to introduce them to different flavors! I’ll definitely be making this again.
So happy everyone enjoyed it!
This sounds so good for a quick dinner! Love the cottage cheese idea for a lighter creamy sauce, definitely trying this soon.
Hope you enjoy it! The cottage cheese sauce really made this feel cozy and comforting 🙂
Literally every time I have spinach artichoke dip I think “I just want to eat this as a meal!” and this totally solves that craving. So delicious!
Exactly my thinking! So happy you liked this one 🙂
I loved all the flavors here. It has two of our favorite things, gnocchi and spinach artichoke dip, combined into one amazing dish. It was creamy and flavorful without being heavy. Love the cottage cheese in it. Thanks for another great recipe!
So happy you enjoyed this one!
I saw your recipe in the June meal plan that was sent to me. I knew I had to try this when I saw cottage cheese was one of the ingredients (I had a big tub of it that was nearing its best-before date). Oh boy, was this delicious! The texture and flavors were incredible!