Creamy Beef and Gnocchi
I absolutely love dumplings of any kind, and Iโm pretty sure most of the world agrees with me. Every food culture has a version of the dumpling, and gnocchi is Italyโs. Gnocchi is a dumpling made with mashed potatoes (a great use of leftover mashed potatoes, by the way), egg and flour. Theyโre super easy to make homemade (especially if you already have the leftover mashed potatoes), but theyโve become so popular in the U.S. in the last few years that they are also readily available pre-packaged in most grocery stores. They are usually found in the dried pasta section, but they can also be found in the refrigerated pasta section.
I always start by browning my ground beef with a diced onion and some salt and pepper. I like to salt and pepper my beef while itโs cooking because the salt and pepper cook into the meat and give it a great flavor. You can always add more salt and pepper later to your taste. I add the rest of my spices when the beef is close to finished, and I always drain my grease. I know some of you like to rinse your beef after draining the grease, so if you do this, wait until after you rinse to add the paprika and Italian seasoning so that you donโt rinse away the spices. I grew up with a grandma who added bacon grease to everything, so I think a little leftover grease adds a ton of flavor!
Once the meat is drained, add the rest of your ingredients. Bring all of this to a quick boil, then lower your heat to medium or medium low and let it all simmer together covered for about 5 minutes. Remove your lid and give it a quick stir (this is the point where I sample my gnocchi) and simmer a few more minutes until your gnocchi is cooked through. If youโve followed me at all, you know I love cheese, so I add more parmesan to the top when serving.
Now, I want to give you some tips for saving money and time on some of these ingredients. First, if you donโt have fire-roasted tomatoes on hand, you can certainly sub in regular canned tomatoes. Fire-roasted tomatoes really make recipes pop, so I tend to get a few cans when they are on sale so that I have them when I want to use them. If you have an Aldi grocery store, buy your spinach, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese there. I would love to tell you that I grate my own parm, but Iโm a busy dad and I need to get dinner on the table quickly, so I use the pre-shredded parmesan from the refrigerated cheese section, and it is significantly less expensive at Aldi than at Walmart.
My favorite part of this recipe is the spinach (I knowโฆseriously?)! Hereโs why I love it, though. When you add spinach to pasta dishes or soups itโs almost flavorless, and it cooks down and just blends into the dish. Spinach is one of a handful of vegetables that is actually healthier for you cooked than raw! When I add spinach I know Iโm getting a huge boost of green veggies without having to sit down and eat a salad. If your kids can handle a little more green, go ahead and add an extra handful of spinach. Between the tomatoes and the spinach, my kids are getting a serving of veggies that are masked in gooey dumpling goodness, and there are no dinnertime fights over eating vegetables.
Try this recipe at home and tell me what you think! I guarantee it will become one of your familyโs favorites, especially when you see how fast this comes together!
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
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I just used a 1lb pack of store brand gnocchi (any gnocchi should work).
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The gnocchi that I used in this dish were not frozen they were the shelf stable ones.
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The gnocchi are not cooked prior to going into the skillet they will cook in the sauce.
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If you donโt have the fire roasted diced tomatoes, regular diced tomatoes will work, too.
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If you donโt like diced tomatoes substituting tomato sauce should work.
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I used fresh spinach slightly torn/chopped.
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Italian sausage would also be good in this instead of the ground beef .
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 onion chopped
- 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
- 1 tsp each of paprika and Italian seasoning
- 1 TBSP of minced garlic
- 1 15 oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 handful of spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 pack of gnocchi
Instructions
- brown ground beef in a skillet over medium-high heat with onions
- season with salt, pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning
- drain grease
- add minced garlic, diced tomatoes, spinach leaves, beef broth, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and gnocchi
- bring to a boil, lower heat to medium-low, cover, and let cook for about 5 minutes
- remove the lid, stir well, and cook for a few more minutes or until gnocchi is cooked through
- serve and top with more Parmesan cheese
Got your cookbook for Father’s Day this year and decided to make this tonight for the whole family for dinner. They absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe! We are very much looking forward to more of your recipes and possibly another cookbook (fingers crossed with excitement).
Appreciate that so much!
Made this tonight and it will definitely be in my rotation. I did half the recipe but otherwise followed directions exactly. Thank you!
This dish was amazing! My husband is still raving about it! I didn’t change anything. We have left overs for another night! Thank you!
Made this with crumbled pork breakfast sausage, and it was SO GOOD! I have a kid who loves gnocchi so I’m always looking for new things to do with it. This was a hit, and I’ll make it the same way next time.
So easy and yummy!
This is a delicious, cozy meal – and so easy to make! I used Flora brand gluten free gnocchi (from Publix) and added a pack of white mushrooms and it was really good. I’ll be adding this to my rotation for sure.
Glad you liked it!
Easy and quick dinner. It taste really good, but for some reason I felt it needed a little more spice to it. I will keep recipe and definitely make again. Great quick recipe if you want to cook up something for one of your elderly sick neighbors or friends.
Another great recipe! I’m going to try adding mushrooms when I make it again tonight, since I just read it above. We love mushrooms, so can only add more goodness to an already great recipe!
Very easy to make. I added more spinach, red chili flakes and used Italian style tomatoes. Excellent!