Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Bacon & Parmesan is a quick, easy, and mouth-wateringly delicious dinner recipe. It’s super simple to prepare in just 15 minutes!
Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Bacon & Parmesan
So excited to share this super easy, ultra creamy pesto alfredo sauce, poured over dreamy, fluffy gnocchi and topped with crisp bacon and shaved parmesan. It’s warm, hearty, delicious, and perfect for busy weeknights. The combo of bacon, creamy basil pesto, and parmesan send this decadent sauce over the top!! It’s seriously too good to eat in public. Gnocchi are basically potato dumplings, so serve this to your meat-and-potatoes loving family for a sure-fire winner!
Here’s all you need — just a few simple ingredients you can keep on hand at all times: Heavy cream, basil pesto, chicken broth, potato gnocchi (find this on the pasta aisle), bacon, and salt and pepper. And YES, you can totally use fat-free half-and-half instead of heavy cream here! I’ve totally done it and you cannot tell the difference. So feel free to use the lighter stuff in honor of bathing suit season!
How to Make Creamy Pesto Gnocchi
To start, you’ll need some cooked, crumbled bacon. My favorite way to cook bacon is in the oven at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes. Comes out flat and evenly crisp ever single time. I then place the bacon between two paper towels to pat off any excess grease, chop the pieces that I need and freeze the rest. Bacon freezes wonderfully and is perfect for making ahead of time and pulling out of the freezer for later on busy weeknights.
Next, measure 1 cup of chicken broth in a slightly larger (at least 2-cup) measuring cup. I’ll explain why in a minute.
Pesto is another one of those things that freezes AWESOMELY. Whether you make it in huge batches at the end of summer or buy it at the store, I hardly ever have the need to use a whole jar of pesto at once. Fortunately, it freezes great and stays soft enough so I don’t have to worry about freezing it in batches. I just scoop out what I need straight from the jar. I always have pesto in my freezer for “throw together dinner” nights.
Scoop out 1/4 cup of pesto into the chicken broth. You’ll know you have 1/4 cup when the chicken broth rises from 1 cup to 1 1/4 cups. That’s why you needed a 2-cup measuring cup. Easy peasy! Now you don’t have to wash a second measuring cup. :)
Stir the broth and pesto together, breaking up the larger frozen chunks of pesto by pressing them against the sides of the cup, then set aside.
Next, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a large skillet.
Like so.
Dump in your gnocchi, arrange in one layer, and let cook for 5 minutes without stirring.
Until the bottoms are golden brown and toasty.
Next dump in your broth and pesto mixture…
Top with your cooked, chopped bacon…
And season generously with salt and pepper.
Stir to combine, and when the sauce comes to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until the gnocchi is soft and the sauce is thickened.
Then pour in your luscious cream.
Stir to combine, then serve up this creamy, dreamy, delicious masterpiece.
You can dig in as is, or go the extra mile and top with a little shaved parmesan to make it fahn-cy.
If you like, top this with some grilled chicken, rotisserie chicken, or heck, even some 5-minute chicken for a perfect hearty meal.
Hope you enjoy this one! :)
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Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Bacon & Parmesan
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Prep Time: 5 minutes -
Cook Time: 10 minutes
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Total Time: 15 minutes
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Yield: 4 servings 1x
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Category: Dinner
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Method: Stove
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Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
Method:
Cuisine:Description
Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Bacon & Parmesan is a quick, easy, and mouth-wateringly delicious dinner recipe. It’s super simple to prepare in just 15 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 (16 oz) package potato gnocchi
- 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- salt and pepper, to taste (I use 1/2 teaspoon each)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- shaved or shredded parmesan, cheese (optional)
Instructions
- Add pesto to chicken broth and stir to combine.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi in a single layer and cook for 5 minutes until toasted. Pour in the broth mixture, add cooked bacon, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
- When the sauce comes to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes until the gnocchi are tender and the sauce is thickened. Pour in heavy cream and stir to combine. Serve warm with chicken or a salad and bread. Enjoy!
I didn’t have any half-and-half or cream, so I added lowfat milk and then stirred some parmesan into the sauce at the end. It came out pretty salty, so I wouldn’t add any extra salt next time.
I made this tonight and it’s amazing! Tastes like restaurant quality food and easy to make and inexpensive now that i know you can freeze the pesto. Thank you so much, i will definitely be making this again
Hi, Kevin and Amanda. I just made the dish, I absolutely loved it. Next, I am going to try the Cheeseburger Gnocchi. After that, the Pulled Pork. Thanks, again.
Hi, just made this, absolutely divine! Would this dish be able to be frozen after it is made?
Sounds awesome, Amanda!
Made this last night and it was DELICIOUS. Will definitely make again. I added grilled chicken to the dish when I added the cream so that everything incorporated with the sauce and it was perfection. Thanks!
Where can one purchase potato gnocchi? I am GF/SF and all I see packaged are ones made with flour & wheat.
Is there a way to get pics with the recipes? I copy a ton of your recipes but would love to have a pic with the recipe too. Thanks so much!
Tried this tonight ising some frozen gnocchi (boiled first) and homemade pesto. It was actually a meal I used to use some up some odds & ends of the ingredients. Ot was a hit – including for my 4 year old! Great recipe but definitely not good for those on a diet!
I officially am not a gnocchi fan, because if the amazing sauce these were in couldn’t make me like gnocchi, nothing will. We will definitely be using the sauce recipe again with a normal pasta because it was so delicious. :)
Making this tonight with penne pasta and half and half and cannot WAIT. Thanks for the pesto tip and easy recipe!
May be a stupid question but do you boil the gnocchi before browning them? I’ve never bought gnocchi before so I have no idea. This looks amazing can’t wait to try it.
Hi Linda! I don’t! They cook in the sauce. :) Hope this helps! :)
This is different I’ll have to try it.
I made this last night along with the 5 minute brown butter chicken and it turned out amazingly good! Thanks so much for the recipe. I followed it exactly and it was pretty darn easy. Cooked the chicken first then moved on to the gnocchi then combined them. Really, really good. Certainly a keeper. I was also wondering about putting my newly opened glass jar of pesto in the freezer. Didn’t want to take a chance so it’s in the fridge for now. Thanks again Amanda, love your blog!
I can’t get enough gnocchi!! This looks perfect! Mmm :)
I love gnocchi and pesto together!
Ok, YUM. Yum yum yum. I need to make this right now.
I left a comment on the cliqueme yesterday but then realized I don’t know how those comments get ‘responded’ to! And I really want to know the answer to my question…………..SO…………does it matter if the jar the pesto is in is glass or plastic? I’ve been laboriously portioning out the pesto and freezing it in little packets. OH MY!!! How much easier to do it your way! I just don’t know about the jar. Also – 2nd question that I just thought of (LOL) – when you cook & then freeze the bacon, is it still crispy when you thaw it out to use as a garnish type topping? Thanks! :))
I make my own basil pesto every year and freeze it in half pint jam jars. This is enough basil to serve two for dinner. I grow my own basil and use pine nuts as my choice of nuts. I think the secret to successfully freezing basil pesto and maintaining the fresh green look is to pour a quarter inch of olive oil on the top after putting the pesto in the jar. Seal it and place in the freezer. The top layer of olive oil seems to keep the basil from oxidizing. I’ve had great success with my frozen pesto. Thaw and keep refrigerated.
I love gnocchi and I’m going to be dreaming about this version until I try it! Looks awesome!
Pesto skillet sounds so good. Love this!
I would add in some halved cherry tomatoes at the end. Yum – can’t wait to make it.
So creamy! I’m going especially gaga over the pesto and bacon! Mmmmm dinner perfection.
Comfort food at it’s best!! Love simple skillets like this!!
I have a red mark on my forehead from slamming my face into the screen. How embarrassing!
Love the gnocchi but the real gem is your stash of freezer pesto! And that it stays soft enough you can just scoop as needed! Need to do this!! pinned