10 Ways To Elevate Store-Bought Gnocchi

If you're interested in making your own pasta from scratch, you may want to start with gnocchi, that potato-filled, dumpling-like Italian specialty that provides the perfect starchy base for so many different recipes. It's one of the easiest types of pasta to make, even if you're a beginner. But you may not have the time or energy to make gnocchi from scratch every time you're craving it, and that's where store-bought gnocchi comes into play. Store-bought gnocchi cooks in a matter of minutes and can be boiled or cooked in other ways to create a crispier texture.

Of course, gnocchi prepared simply can be really delicious. We love pairing it with a basic marinara or tomato sauce or even combining it with a classic Bolognese. However, there are a ton of other, arguably more creative ways to utilize the ingredient in your cooking. We've compiled this list of 10 different ways to elevate store-bought gnocchi to give you the ideas you need to take your gnocchi dish to the next level. Once you read about these hacks, you may never look at store-bought gnocchi the same way again. Pick up a package of the stuff, and get ready for some seriously delicious meals.

If you're like a lot of people, your first instinct may be to use gnocchi in more traditional, pasta-focused recipes. But you can use it like any other starchy ingredient and incorporate it into a surprisingly wide variety of dishes. One of our absolute favorite applications for store-bought gnocchi is adding it to soup. This gives the soup more heartiness and makes it more filling, while providing the dish with a chewy, gummy texture that immediately makes any soup more appealing. Plus, it's an easy way to bulk up a soup if you're trying to feed a crowd.

You can replace just about any kind of pasta with gnocchi in a soup recipe or swap out rice for the pillowy dumplings instead, no recipe needed. However, if you want to prepare a recipe that's literally centered around dumplings, try this warming, comforting recipe for creamy pumpkin gnocchi soup with chicken meatballs. It may just become your new cold-weather go-to soup recipe.

Just about any food is going to taste better after it's been cooked in bubbling oil, crisping its exterior and giving it a golden brown color that makes your mouth water as soon as you see it, and gnocchi is no exception. That's why, when you're feeling extra decadent, you should try deep-frying your gnocchi for a less-classic but super-delicious treat. Boiled gnocchi tends to have that chewy gumminess we've already mentioned, but deep-fried gnocchi has a much different texture. It's a bit lighter than its boiled counterpart, with a fluffy airiness that's reminiscent of other deep-fried foods. At the same time, it offers a more complex and fattier flavor profile that makes it instantly appealing to anyone who already loves fried food.

Wondering what to do with your deep-fried gnocchi? Well, you can use it as you would with any other pasta dish, adding sauces and other ingredients as you see fit. Alternatively, you can prepare it quite simply, with a sprinkling of Parmesan and some cracked black pepper for a super-simple but ultimately extremely delicious, carb-heavy meal you'll want to indulge in time and time again.

Lasagna is arguably one of the most beloved pasta dishes of all time, with its thin, flat sheets of pasta. But what if you could take the spirit of that popular dish and combine it with the deliciously chewy texture of gnocchi? Well, you can — just replace the lasagna sheets with gnocchi instead. You'll get the same flavors you know and love from lasagna, along with gnocchi's signature texture. And since lasagna is already a time-intensive dish, it only makes sense to use store-bought gnocchi to cut down on the prep time. Plus, you won't have to layer the ingredients in the same way as you would for traditional lasagna, which further cuts down on the time it takes to make this meal.

Stick with a traditional combo of ragu and ricotta if you want to capture that typical lasagna taste, but don't be afraid to try different styles of lasagna, like mixed mushroom lasagna or lemony spinach pistou lasagna, for a more unique but equally tasty flavor profile. Regardless of which combo of ingredients you use, you're in for one of the tastiest gnocchi dishes of your life.

If you've ever made gnocchi at home before, you may have noticed that they have a lot more moisture than the store-bought variety. That's because store-bought gnocchi have to be somewhat dehydrated to ensure that they remain the shelf-stable pantry staple that they are. That means that they can be used in a variety of applications that you may not employ homemade gnocchi for, and it's exactly why store-bought gnocchi works particularly well for pan-frying. Without all that extra moisture, they crisp up easily, creating an arguably more interesting texture than boiled gnocchi.

First, heat some oil in a pan. When that oil is nice and hot — but before it starts smoking — throw in your store-bought gnocchi, ensuring that each piece gets nicely coated in the oil. You can add some salt immediately, but wait until the gnocchi has become nice and crispy before you add in other spices and herbs that could burn easily at high temperatures. The result is somewhat similar to deep-frying gnocchi, although you'll still retain that chewy texture for which gnocchi is famous. You can enjoy your pan-fried gnocchi plain with just a sprinkling of seasonings or add sauce for a more complete meal. Just be sure that you eat them quickly after adding the sauce, as that extra moisture can negate the crisp you achieved in the pan quite quickly.

We love a good sheet pan recipe, and store-bought gnocchi just happens to be one of our favorite additions. These recipes come together quickly, often with very little prep work required, which makes them ideal for nights when you're super busy or you just don't really feel like cooking. And since gnocchi taste so good when they're a bit crispy, it only makes sense to roast them alongside a variety of colorful veggies for a healthy and deeply delicious dinner.

Our mixed veggie sheet pan gnocchi recipe calls for red onions, broccoli, red bell pepper, edamame, and tomatoes for an especially colorful and fiber-filled plate. As the veggies cook, the gnocchi takes on a lovely, slightly crunchy texture that works nicely with the tender vegetables. Craving a meal with a little more protein? Then turn to our sheet pan Caprese chicken recipe, which pairs lean chicken breast with tomatoes, arugula, and — of course — mozzarella pearls for a quick dinner you'll want to go back to time and time again.

We've already discussed several ways to give your store-bought gnocchi a crispness or a crunchiness that makes it more texturally interesting than standard, boiled gnocchi, but an air fryer achieves similar results with even less effort on your part. We especially like using an air fryer for a few different reasons: Firstly, you can use less oil to get similar results to a pan-fried or deep-fried version of this dish. Sure, you'll want to toss the gnocchi in some oil before placing them in the air fryer, but you don't need to use a lot to achieve the crispiness you want. Secondly, it creates a dual texture that makes this gnocchi particularly interesting, with a crisp exterior and chewy, soft interior. That way, you get the best of both worlds in each bite. Plus, using an air fryer for this dish is a solid option when it's too hot to turn on the stove or the oven.

Like many of the crispier versions of gnocchi on this list, you can use your air-fried gnocchi in a range of different applications, including utilizing them as "croutons" to give your salad a unique twist or serving them as a snack. If you still want to include sauce with your gnocchi, consider using a drizzle instead of completely drenching them — that way, they'll still maintain that beautiful crispness you're going for.

Mac and cheese may be one of the world's most beloved pasta dishes, but it's not a hard-and-fast rule that you absolutely have to use macaroni. In fact, really any type of pasta can work in a mac and cheese recipe, including gnocchi. Sure, it may not be the most traditional preparation of the dish, but it's one that makes for a more interesting bite, especially if you find that your mac and cheese doesn't always have that al dente texture you'd want in a pasta dish. Prepare your mac and cheese the same way you normally would, but instead of stirring in macaroni, use boiled store-bought gnocchi instead.

The result will be a chewier, dense mac and cheese that's arguably even more filling than the standard. Experiment with different cheeses, seasonings, and toppings to give your gnocchi mac and cheese the kind of flavor you crave. Once you try mac and cheese with gnocchi, you may never buy another box of plain macaroni ever again.

If you're like many of us, you probably don't think of gnocchi as a snack but rather as the base to a lunch or dinner. However, you can easily transform store-bought gnocchi into a delicious and decadent snack simply by smashing them. Just boil your gnocchi as you normally would for a standard gnocchi dish, then, once they've cooled, use the bottom of a glass to smash each separate, individual piece of gnocchi. This will flatten the gnocchi out, creating more surface area that will crisp up once you place them in the oven or the air fryer.

The result of this process will be gnocchi "chips" that can be used to scoop up a wide array of sauces. We like to keep things simple with a standard store-bought pasta sauce, or you can switch it up with whatever other sauces you may be craving. Pesto can work especially well here, as can salsa, if you don't mind the cultural crossover. Acidic yogurt-based dips can be especially tasty, since they provide a bold counterpart to the more neutral and carb-heavy gnocchi. Just make sure to season them well before cooking, and you'll have a decadent snack that tastes way better than any average bag of chips.

There is perhaps no fat more delicious than brown butter. It may seem complicated to make, especially if you've never done it before, but it's actually not too tricky. Basically, you're just cooking the butter in a pan on the stove until the milk solids turn brown. It yields a much more complex flavor than plain butter while still offering that same rich fattiness that butter is known for. And it just so happens that gnocchi and brown butter are a match made in heaven.

The process for preparing brown butter gnocchi really depends on the kind of texture you're going for. If you're craving softer, chewier gnocchi, then it's a good idea to boil it beforehand. Since store-bought gnocchi tends to be on the drier end of the spectrum, adding in some extra moisture can help give the ingredient the springy texture you want. However, for those who prefer a crispier texture, pre-boiling the gnocchi isn't necessary — you can simply throw it into the pan of brown butter once it's bubbling away. Add some sage in for good measure, and you'll have an easy but ultra-elegant dish to serve to your family or guests (or to save all for yourself).

Dessert probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind when you think of gnocchi, but that doesn't mean it can't form the base of one of the simplest and simultaneously the most life-changing desserts you've ever had. Since gnocchi — including the store-bought stuff — has such a neutral flavor to it, adding sweet ingredients, like sugar and cinnamon, gives it a dessert-like flavor that surprisingly works really, really well. Just heat some butter up on the stove, throw in your gnocchi, and add in some sugar and cinnamon after it starts to get crispy. You'll be left with a decadent dessert that highlights the texture of gnocchi in a whole new way.

This is a super simple gnocchi preparation, so you don't have to stop with cinnamon and sugar if you really want to take your dessert to the next level. Top the dish with some whipped cream if you want even more richness in your dessert gnocchi, or cook some apples alongside the gnocchi for a more fruity, filling result. Who needs cake or cookies when you can snack on sweet gnocchi after dinner?