Vegan gnocchi | Homemade gnocchi recipe

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Our vegan gnocchi is an authentic Italian gnocchi recipe that is the perfect comfort food. This is a really easy gnocchi recipe to make, you'll need just three ingredients and a fork.

Try them for a delicious homemade dinner in a simple tomato sauce, quick basil pesto, earthy mushroom ragu, or in a rich, "meaty" and fulfilling tempeh bolognese (our favorite).

Jump to:

• What are homemade potato gnocchi?
• What to expect
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How to make homemade gnocchi?
• How to serve vegan gnocchi?
• Storage
• Tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Variations for vegan gnocchi
• Recipe

What are homemade potato gnocchi?

Gnocchi, pronounced "NYOKEE", is a popular Italian first course, most often made from potatoes and flour, and sometimes with eggs in it, and often served with a meat-based sauce, or with a butter sage sauce.

Vegan gnocchi is actually an authentic Italian recipe, as a lot of people in Italy make gnocchi without eggs in it.

Having said that, there is a huge number of variations of fresh gnocchi, and an entire cookbook on the subject wouldn't be enough to cover them all.

So, to keep it simple, in this blog post I will teach you the basics of how to make the best homemade potato gnocchi with three ingredients: potatoes, flour, and salt.

I follow the recipe for Italian gnocchi that I learned growing up in Italy, and I share all the tricks I took in along the way, so you won't end up with a sticky blob of mashed potatoes.

All you need for great vegan gnocchi is Russet potatoes or red potatoes, all-purpose flour, and a fork. Let's make some "Nyokee", shall we?!

Ps. I don't include the recipe for the sauce in this blog post. My favorite sauce for potato gnocchi is this quick tempeh bolognese.

What to expect

Homemade Italian gnocchi might be different from the gnocchi we are used to eating outside of Italy.

Gnocchi should be very soft, silky, and delicate, and when you put them in your mouth they should almost melt.

You can press them between your tongue and palate, and they should feel really soft.

Ingredients & Substitutions

Which potatoes are best for homemade gnocchi?

In the US the best variety to make gnocchi is Russet potatoes. If you don't live in the US or can't find Russet potatoes, then red potatoes are also great.

In general, old potatoes are best to make gnocchi because they contain more starch and less moisture.

Avoid new potatoes, as they contain too much moisture and will absorb too much flour.

If you don't find russet, red, or really old potatoes, then it will be hard to make Italian gnocchi.

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You can, however, make a more "international" type of vegan gnocchi. To do that, double the amount of flour that I use. Also, double the kneading time.

This way you'll get a type of gnocchi that is easier to shape, and that has more bite (but it's not Italian).

You will also need flour and salt. I use all-purpose flour. Rice flour, gluten-free flour mix, and other flours work too.

Equipment

All you need is a clean surface, and a fork to both mash the potatoes, and to shape the gnocchi.

If you prefer you can also use a ricer to mash the potatoes, and a gnocchi board to shape them.

How to make homemade gnocchi?

Add the potatoes, whole and with the skin on, to a pot full of cold water.

Bring to boil and cook until the potatoes are soft. I check by inserting the blade of a small knife in one potato. If it slides in easily, they are done.

Depending on the size of the potatoes they can take between 20 and 50 minutes to cook.

It would be best to use potatoes that are similar in size so that they'll require the same cooking time.

Once cooked, drain the potatoes and peel them. Since they are hot, I hold them with a cloth with my left hand and remove the peel with a small paring knife with my right.

In a bowl, add the peeled potatoes and mash them with a fork until they are completely mashed. You can also use a potato ricer or masher to do this.

TIP: if you use a potato ricer to mash the potatoes, you won't need to peel them.

Just cut them in half instead, put them in the ricer with the cut facing down, and squeeze. The peel should stay in the ricer.

Now add the flour and the salt, and knead until the potatoes absorb all the flour and you get a compact but soft gnocchi dough.

Knead just the time to incorporate the flour with the potatoes. For more info, see the "tips" chapter below. You should not over-knead.

NOTE: depending on the type of potato, you might need to add more or less flour.

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How to shape gnocchi?

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, and roll each piece into long ropes, 2 cm thick (about ¾ inch), then cut the ropes into 1.5 cm (½ inch) bites.

Use a knife or a dough scraper to cut the gnocchi.

Now, you have three options to shape the gnocchi. You can either leave them as they are, smooth and looking like small cute pillows.

This is a popular version in Italy, as most people don't have time (or patience) to shape them further.

You can also roll them on the backside of a fork applying gentle pressure with your thumb, creating small ridges that will make the gnocchi look very pretty. The ridges will also grab more sauce.

Or you can use a gnocchi board that you can find online for a few dollars. It's definitely faster to do gnocchi with a gnocchi board than with a fork.

But personally, I like them more when they are made with a fork because they have deeper ridges that grab onto more sauce.

How to cook gnocchi?

Homemade gnocchi cooks very quickly, in plenty of salted and gently boiling water. Add them to the pot one by one.

They are quite delicate, so you should only cook one to two portions at a time, without overcrowding the pot.

When they float to the top, they are done. It should take about 1 minute. Since gnocchi is very soft, they might lose their shape if you drain them in a strainer.

It's best to scoop them out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and add them directly to the pan with the sauce.

How to serve vegan gnocchi?

Now you can serve them with a simple tomato sauce, quick basil pesto, earthy mushroom ragu, or in a rich, "meaty" and fulfilling tempeh bolognese (our favorite).

They are also great served with a simple melted vegan butter and sage sauce.

Storage

Can gnocchi be made ahead of time?

Yes, they can, as long as you follow some simple tips for storing them. The best way to store homemade gnocchi is to freeze them straight after you shaped them.

How to freeze homemade potato gnocchi?

To freeze homemade gnocchi my advice is to, first, put them on a tray lined with baking paper.

Freeze them like that, then after an hour or so, when they are hard, you can transfer them in a freezing bag to save space. Keep for up to three months.

How to cook them from frozen?

To cook vegan gnocchi from frozen, just add them to plenty of salted boiling water and cook till they float on top.

Cooked gnocchi can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a day. To reheat them, jump them on a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, or bake them in the oven with some extra dairy-free cheese on top.

Tips

• Use the right potatoes: the best potatoes for making homemade gnocchi are floury potatoes, rich in starch and low in water content.
  
  They will make for a dry, fluffy, dough. The best variety are Russet potatoes, red potatoes, and most types of very old potatoes.
  
  If your potatoes are really watery, then you can first boil them, then cut them in half and bake them in the oven at 180C (360F) for 20 minutes.
  
• Cook potatoes with peel on: this is done to prevent water from entering the potato. Do not cut the potatoes before cooking them.

• Peel and mash the potatoes while hot: be careful and do not burn yourself. To prevent myself from burning, I take a cloth on my left hand, put the potato in it, and peel it with my right hand. Alternatively, I stick a fork in it to hold the potato.
  
  Potatoes should be mashed while hot because as they cool down, the starches will go through a process called retrogradation, where they will make the potatoes sticky and hard to work with.
  
• Don't over-knead: over-kneading will activate the gluten network in the flour, making the gnocchi gummy and chewy.
  
• Cook immediately (or freeze): gnocchi should be cooked straight after you make them, because when they sit around, they loose their texture and shape. If you want to make them in advance, it's best to freeze them.

Frequently asked questions

Variations for vegan gnocchi

Sweet potatoes gnocchi: you can easily replace regular potatoes with sweet potatoes.

The recipe stays exactly the same, however, sweet potatoes are wetter than regular potatoes, so you might want to dry them in the oven for 20 minutes at 180C (360F) after you boiled them and before mashing them.

Ricotta gnocchi: to make gnocchi with ricotta you can first follow our recipe for making dairy-free ricotta at home from soy milk.

Then replace the potatoes with ricotta, and follow the recipe. Depending on how wet your ricotta is, you might want to add two to three tablespoons of additional flour.

Gluten-free gnocchi: you can totally make these with gluten-free flour such as rice flour or a gluten-free flour mix.

When you make gluten-free gnocchi you don't have to worry about over-kneading as there's no gluten.

Recipe

If you liked this homemade vegan gnocchi recipe, you might also like:

• homemade trofie with basil pesto
• homemade orecchiette with broccoli rabe
• lemon pasta
• vegan mushroom pasta

Buon appetito!

Nico