How to Make Ricotta Gnocchi

I’ve been making gnocchi for almost 30 years. Let me show you how easy and delicious it is. Learn how to make ricotta gnocchi with a few hacks that will make you feel like a pro.

This truly is a delicious ricotta gnocchi recipe. It contains only four ingredients, and that includes salt. It is a quick and easy meal I serve regularly with various sauces or just plain old garlic and oil. Yum.

Below are the two questions I’m asked the most often about ricotta gnocchi.

Can I roll out the gnocchi before I’m ready to cook them?

You sure can! I usually make mine a few hours before I’m going to cook them. After I cut the gnocchi, I place them on a jelly roll pan and stick it in the fridge, covered with a clean kitchen towel. Easy peasy.

Can I freeze gnocchi?

You can indeed! I used to freeze freshly rolled and cut ricotta gnocchi all the time. I’d use 2 pounds of ricotta cheese to make them, then I’d freeze half of the pillows of happiness in a gallon freezer bag. Say you have unexpected guests for dinner; it’s so easy to reach in the freezer and pull out the bag, through the gnocchi into a large pot of boiling water and you can have the meal on the table within minutes! And they taste just as fresh as if you’d just rolled them.

These days, I usually use 1 pound of ricotta cheese for my dough. But if I’m cooking for company, I’ll double the batch and freeze whatever gnocchi I don’t cook.

I have perfected this ricotta gnocchi recipe over the years. My first memory of having gnocchi is when Christopher and I were first married and living in California. I ordered these delicious, squishy cuties in a nice cream sauce and I was in seventh heaven. I love all kinds of gnocchi, but I prefer the ones made with ricotta over the ones made with potatoes.

Helpful tips

• After you roll the dough in snakes and then cut the gnocchi into squares, don’t stress if they aren’t uniform in size.
• Some people roll their gnocchi and/or flip them over with their thumb, but I have found that it is not necessary. It’s a cosmetic preference. I say why do extra work when you don’t need to?
• Don’t overcook your gnocchi; as soon as they float to the top of the water, fish them out.
• You can roll and cut your gnocchi ahead of time. I place them in the fridge until I’m ready to cook them.
• Raw gnocchi freezes well and can be put in directly into boiling water.

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How to make ricotta gnocchi

Pre-step

Put water in a large pot, salt it, turn the heat to medium-high heat and bring it to a boil.

Step one

Gather the ingredients – ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, salt and all purpose flour. (1)

Step two

Get a big bowl and add the ricotta to it. Then add flour, parmesan cheese and salt. (2)

Step three

You can either use a spatula to mix the gnocchi dough or your hands, as I do. I like to feel the texture. You want your dough to be slightly sticky as it will absorb some of the flour you have to put on your work surface to roll it out. (3)

Step four

Sprinkle flour on pastry board. (4)

Step five

Take a ball of dough with your hands and roll it into a snake or thick ropes. You can see the size ball I use and the snake in the photo above. (5)

Step six

Use a butter knife or a bench scraper and cut the snake of gnocchi into little squares. (1-below)

Step seven

As you cut the gnocchi, place them on a medium jelly roll pan or baking sheet. You can either cook them now or place the pan in the fridge to cook them later (read tips above). (2-below)

Step eight

If the water is boiling, add the gnocchi three at a time into the water until all the gnocchi is in the water at the same time. Once the gnocchi floats (it takes around 5 minutes), take a slotted spoon, wire strainer, or skimmer to fish the ricotta gnocchi out of the water. (3-above)

Step nine

Place them into a serving dish. (4-above)

Little pillows of happiness

Aren’t they cute? Makes me want to pop a few in my mouth right now. They are squishy little pillows of happiness. Hey, that’s what I should call them from now on!

Me: “Christopher, do you want squishy little pillows of happiness for dinner?”

Him: “Huh?”

All done and ready for some topping like red gravy, oil and garlic or just plain butter. When I first published this recipe, I put vodka pasta sauce on my gnocchi. Yum.

But for this updated version, I prepared my gnocchi with sage sauce recipe.

Other popular pasta recipes

• Shrimp scampi
• Carbonara
• Pasta alla Norma

I hope you enjoyed this ricotta gnocchi recipe!

Please leave me a comment. How do you like to eat your gnocchi, and do you prefer ricotta or potato gnocchi?

And as always, may all your dishes be delish!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below. I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!