Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup with fennel and chard is just what the doctor ordered. We actually had snow today! Fall can be the most beautiful time of year with all of its autumn reds and golds and crisp chill. However, it can also be damp and dreary as it is today. What’s my cure? Soup, of course.
This Creamy Chicken Gnocchi soup ticks all of my boxes for the perfect weeknight dinner. All it needs is some delicious crusty bread like the wonderful olive bread that I bought at Publican Meat Market and maybe a glass of wine. While I enjoy baking bread almost as much as I do eating it, my apartment oven just doesn’t reach the kinds of temperatures to make truly crusty sourdough, pizza or other kinds of artisanal breads. So while other women may dream of jewels and clothes, I dream of a bread oven.
I came across this recipe on the kitchn.com website and knew immediately that I wanted to make it but with a few modifications. Why is this soup so great? It’s just the ticket when you want something homemade and delicious but with minimal time and effort. Because unless you choose to complicate it by first making your own broth and gnocchi, and shredding carrots yourself, everything is easily available in convenience packages in your supermarket. You could even buy a rotisserie chicken, although as it happens, I had roasted a chicken for dinner on Friday, so had the leftovers I needed.
I chose to use Rainbow Chard and fennel bulb in place of the original celery and baby spinach. The chard and fennel give a little sumpin’ sumpin’ to the soup that the milder celery and spinach won’t. And despite the seemingly generous amount of half & half cream, the soup is not at all heavy or overly rich. Just satisfying and delicious with a slight peppery bite nestled in the creamy broth.
Homemade doesn’t have to mean hours spent slaving over a stove. But you do have to buy quality ingredients. Find a brand of chicken stock that you like (and I always try to buy unsalted stock) and make sure to keep it on hand. A good stock is the basis of many a wonderful meal. And while I do make my own stock on occasion, I simply don’t have the freezer space to have it available whenever I need it. I’m using a fresh gnocchi, but there are also shelf-stable gnocchi or tortellini that you can keep on hand.
Once you have the ingredients together, the soup can be made in well under an hour. Any leftovers will keep in the fridge for several days and only requires a gentle reheating. So go ahead and make this Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup this week and beat the autumn drears.
For other delicious chicken soups:
Thai Coconut Chicken Soup with Rice
Aromatic Chicken and Vegetable Soup (Koli)
Kalguksu (or Korean chicken noodle soup)
Recipe
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup sliced fennel OR 2 stalks celery, sliced
- 4 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth (32 ounces), preferably unsalted or low sodium
- 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 pound refrigerated potato gnocchi (not frozen) Alternatively, you could use tortellini.
- 4 cups of torn Swiss OR Rainbow Chard OR 5-ounces baby spinach or escarole
- 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
Directions
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed 4 quart pot (or larger) over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion, carrot, fennel, garlic, salt and pepper and sauté, stirring occasionally until softened – about 5 to 8 minutes.
Stir in the broth, shredded chicken and thyme and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking for 10 minutes.
Up to this point, the soup can be made ahead, if you wish. Once you are ready to serve, make sure that the soup is simmering. Add the gnocchi and chard and cook until the chard is just wilted and the gnocchi cooked through – about 3 minutes. Now add the cream and quickly mix it through, immediately turning off the heat. The original instructions had you add the cream with the gnocchi, which I did, but it breaks the cream as you can see from the photos. The taste is fine, but it doesn’t look as nice and smooth.
Okay, now serve. Yep, it’s that easy. You’re welcome!
