Make a roux with butter and flour. Soften the full mirepoix — celery, carrot, onion — then add garlic and dried thyme. Add broth and simmer. Add gnocchi and shredded chicken. Finish with half-and-half and spinach off heat. Total time: about 40 minutes. Official nutrition: 230 cal, 11g protein, 1,290mg sodium per 1-cup serving.

They skip celery. Celery is a foundational ingredient in OG’s Chicken Gnocchi Soup — it is part of the mirepoix (celery + carrot + onion) that forms the soup’s flavor base. Without it, the soup tastes noticeably sweeter and flatter because you are missing the savory, slightly bitter note that balances the cream. One full stalk, finely diced, is all it takes.

They skip thyme. Dried thyme is the primary herb in this soup. It does not announce itself the way basil or oregano would, but without it the soup has no herbal character at all — just cream, chicken, and starch. Three-quarters of a teaspoon of dried thyme is the right amount: present but not dominant.

They skip the roux. Adding cream directly to broth gives you a thin, slightly oily soup that separates as it cools. A proper roux — butter and flour cooked together for 1–2 minutes before the broth goes in — gives the soup its glossy, chowder-like body. It is two extra minutes that change the texture completely.

A roux is flour suspended in fat. When liquid hits it, the starch granules swell and link together, creating a thick, smooth sauce that does not break as the soup cools or reheats. The critical part is cooking the flour long enough — 1 to 2 minutes on medium heat — until the raw-flour smell disappears. Undercooked roux tastes chalky. You will know it is ready when the mixture looks like a smooth, slightly golden paste and smells faintly nutty.

Pour the cold broth in gradually while stirring constantly. Adding it all at once can cause lumps if the roux has cooled and solidified. Warm the broth slightly first if you have time — warm liquid into warm roux makes a lump-free base every time.

Use shelf-stable gnocchi, not fresh refrigerated gnocchi. Shelf-stable potato gnocchi (DeLallo, Rao’s, and store-brand Italian imports all work) holds its shape in cream soup better than fresh. Fresh gnocchi is softer and tends to dissolve around the edges after a few minutes in hot liquid. The shelf-stable version stays distinct — firm exterior, fluffy interior — long enough to serve properly.

Watch the float. Gnocchi are done when they float. In a cream soup this is harder to see than in a pot of salted water, but after 3–4 minutes most of them will have risen to the surface. Pull the pot off the heat immediately. Gnocchi left in hot cream soup beyond that point continue to absorb liquid and expand, eventually turning dense and gummy.

Do not add gnocchi until right before finishing. If you are building the soup in advance, stop before the gnocchi step, cool and refrigerate the base, and cook the gnocchi fresh in the reheated soup when you are ready to serve.

Once the half-and-half is in, keep the heat on low. Boiling a cream soup causes the dairy proteins to denature and separate from the fat — the soup does not become inedible, but it looks curdled and slightly grainy. Heat the soup through gently (2 minutes on low is plenty), and do not let it come back to a full boil after this point. Reheat leftovers the same way: low and slow, not a rolling simmer.

	Olive Garden	Homemade
Soup, Salad & Breadsticks combo (all day, unlimited refills dine-in)	$11.99 / person	—
Weekday lunch special (Mon–Fri, 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m.)	$9.49 / person	—
Full 6-serving pot	—	~$12–14
Cost per 1-cup serving	—	~$2.00–2.30

Olive Garden’s Soup, Salad & Breadsticks is a standalone combo — you do not need to order an entree — priced around $11.99 all day, or $9.49 on the weekday lunch special (Mon–Fri until 2:30 p.m.). Refills are unlimited when you dine in; takeout comes with one serving each. A home pot of this recipe costs about the same as a single combo but serves 6 generous bowls, and the leftovers reheat well. Add Olive Garden Breadsticks on the side (easy, 10 minutes) and the full meal costs under $18 and serves 4–6. Prices vary by location.

Nutrition note: Olive Garden’s official data lists Chicken Gnocchi Soup at 230 calories and 1,290mg sodium per 1-cup serving (the restaurant’s standard portion). This recipe already calls for low-sodium broth to stay near that figure; switching to regular broth would push sodium past 1,600mg per serving. To go lower still, skip the added 1/2 teaspoon salt and use unsalted butter.

Olive Garden rotates four soups on their menu. Here is how Chicken Gnocchi Soup compares to the other three — useful if you are deciding which one to order or which to make first:

Soup	Broth	Protein	Starch	Signature Veg	Cal / Serving	Sodium	Best For
Chicken Gnocchi	Cream	Chicken	Potato gnocchi	Spinach	230	1,290mg	Mild, cozy comfort food
Zuppa Toscana	Cream	Spicy sausage + bacon	Russet potatoes	Kale	220	790mg	Bold, smoky, slightly spicy
Pasta e Fagioli	Tomato	Ground beef	Pasta + white beans	Carrots, celery	150	710mg	Hearty, filling, Italian-style
Minestrone	Tomato	None (vegetarian)	Pasta	Mixed vegetables	110	810mg	Light, plant-based

Nutrition per 1-cup serving, per Olive Garden’s official data.

The biggest differentiator to know before ordering: Chicken Gnocchi has the highest sodium of the four — 1,290mg per cup, nearly double what Pasta e Fagioli carries. If you are watching sodium, the tomato-based soups are meaningfully lower. If calories are the priority, Minestrone at 110 cal or Pasta e Fagioli at 150 cal are the lighter picks.

Rotisserie chicken shortcut. Use 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken instead of cooking chicken breast from scratch. Pull the meat while the vegetables are softening and add it with the gnocchi. Saves 10 minutes and the dark-meat pieces add extra richness.

Extra-vegetable version. Add 1/2 cup frozen corn with the gnocchi (thaws instantly in the hot broth) and increase the spinach to 3 cups. Adds fiber and texture without changing the flavor profile.

Dairy-free. Replace the half-and-half with full-fat canned coconut milk. Use 1.5 cups, added gradually, to control the coconut flavor. The soup will have a very faint coconut note but will be creamy and thick. The roux still works the same way.

Gluten-free. Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in the roux. Confirm your gnocchi brand is gluten-free — most shelf-stable potato gnocchi contain wheat. Aldi’s season-specific versions and a few specialty brands are certified GF.

Fridge: Up to 3 days. The gnocchi absorb liquid as they sit, so the soup will be noticeably thicker on day 2. Add a splash of broth or water when reheating.

Reheat: Stovetop over low heat, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. 5–7 minutes from cold is enough.

Freeze: Freeze the base only — no gnocchi, no spinach. Both turn to mush after thawing. Freeze the soup through the broth-and-chicken step in airtight containers for up to 2 months. Cook fresh gnocchi directly in the reheated soup when serving.

These pair well with the soup or extend the meal into a full Olive Garden night:

• Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks — the butter-brushed, garlic-salted breadsticks that come with every bowl. The unlimited basket at home.
• Copycat Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana — the spicy Italian sausage and kale soup. Bold and smoky where Chicken Gnocchi is mild and creamy.
• Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli — OG’s tomato-based Italian bean and pasta soup. Lower calorie, higher protein from beef and white beans.
• Copycat Olive Garden Minestrone — the vegetable-packed tomato-based soup. The vegetarian option from the same menu rotation.
• Olive Garden Salad Dressing — make the full house salad at home. Romano cheese, distilled white vinegar, no seasoning packet.

See all Olive Garden copycat recipes →