Homemade Gluten Free Gnocchi
This homemade gluten free gnocchi is soft, pillowy and perfect with a variety of your favorite sauces. It’s so easy and fun to make and requires no special equipment.
Gluten free gnocchi can be a bit hard to come by because traditional gnocchi is made with wheat flour. You can find some store bought options, but this recipe for homemade gluten free gnocchi will have you turning your back on the store bought stuff!
If you aren’t familiar, gnocchi is essentially a potato dumpling, but it’s served and prepared a bit like pasta – often with marinara or pesto sauce etc. Traditional pasta, on the other hand, is not made with potato.
If you’ve never made gnocchi before, try not to be intimidated! I’ll walk you through the whole process and you’ll have perfectly soft, tender and fluffy gnocchi every time – all without the gluten. If you love this recipe, try my homemade gluten free bread next.
Notes before we get started…
- You can prep the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it for up to one day. However, be sure to bring it to room temperature before shaping and cooking.
- Do not boil the potatoes instead of baking! Boiling them will create too much moisture and lead to gnocchi that is very mushy. Baking the potatoes allows them to dry out a bit which means we don’t have to use as much flour in the dough.
- Piercing the potatoes with a fork before baking will help them release moisture while baking, so don’t skip this step!
How to make gluten free gnocchi
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash your potatoes and add to a baking sheet. Bake for about 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool until easy to handle.
Peel the skins off the potatoes and either pass through a potato ricer, mash really well with a potato masher, or use an immersion blender to puree the potatoes. All methods work, you just want to make sure there are no large potato chunks regardless of what you do.
Add to a generously floured surface. In a small dish, combine the flour, potato starch and salt. Make a well in the middle and add in the egg in the center. Whisk the egg and then add the butter and incorporate all together until the butter has melted.
Add the flour mixture and use your hands or a bench scraper to fold all the ingredients together.
Form the dough into a ball. It should not be sticky, if it is, add more flour until it holds together without stickiness but does not seem dry. Since gnocchi is boiled, you want it to be able to retain its shape and not get mushy.
Cut the dough into about 4-6 pieces. Take each piece and roll into a long rope, about 1 inch thick. Cut the rope into bite sized pieces, about 1 inch in length. You can leave the gnocchi as is, or use a fork to roll it along the edge to create fork impressions.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add in the gnocchi. Let boil for just about 2 minutes. It is done when the gnocchi floats to the top.
Drain and repeat with any remaining gnocchi. Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy. I love my homemade pesto or pomodoro sauce.
How to store and freeze
Once prepared and boiled, this gluten free gnocchi will keep in the fridge for about 3 days. If you store it before cooking, it will keep for about 5 days.
To freeze, I suggest freezing before boiling. They will hold up much better that way. You can then boil the gnocchi right from frozen, it will just take a little bit longer to cook, but there’s no need to wait for them to thaw.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know when gnocchi are done cooking?
When they float to the top! You’ll boil the water with salt just like you would if you were cooking pasta, but after about 2 minutes the gnocchi will float to the top and you’ll know they are done. Drain as soon as they float to ensure they don’t get mushy.
Why won’t the dough hold together?
Make sure the potatoes are fully and properly mashed. You don’t want any lumps in the mix. Additionally, when you divide the dough into sections, it can help to squeeze it together with your hands before rolling into a rope to ensure everything is fully combined. You also want to ensure you’re using exactly 2 pounds of potatoes. Using more or less can change the final texture of the dough.
Can I make gnocchi without egg?
Traditional (non-gluten free) gnocchi is made without egg. However, because we are removing the gluten, we need something else to take its place and bind everything together, which is what egg will be doing in this case. I do not recommend leaving it out!
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If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out! As always, be sure to follow me on instagram and subscribe to my newsletter for more recipes!
Homemade Gluten Free Gnocchi
by: claire cary
This homemade gluten free gnocchi is soft, pillowy and perfect with a variety of your favorite sauces. It's so easy and fun to make and requires no special equipment.
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Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Wash your potatoes and add to a baking sheet. Poke a few holes in them with a fork. Bake for about 45-60 minutes or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork.
Remove from the oven and let cool until easy to handle.
- Peel the skins off the potatoes and either pass through a potato ricer, mash really well with a potato masher, or use an immersion blender to puree the potatoes. All methods work, you just want to make sure there are no large potato chunks regardless of what you do.
Add to a generously floured surface.
In a small dish, combine the flour, potato starch and salt.
Make a well in the middle and add in the egg in the center. Whisk the egg and then add the butter and incorporate all together until the butter has melted.
Add the flour mixture and use your hands or a bench scraper to fold all the ingredients together.
Form the dough into a ball. It should not be sticky, if it is, add more flour until it holds together without stickiness but does not seem dry. Since gnocchi gets boiled, you want it to be able to retain its shape and not get mushy.
Cut the dough into about 4-6 pieces. Take each piece and roll into a long rope, about 1 inch thick.
Cut the rope into bite sized pieces, about 1 inch in length. You can leave the gnocchi as is, or use a fork to roll it along the edge to create fork impressions.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add in the gnocchi, cooking in batches so you don't overcrowd the pot. Let boil for just about 2 minutes. It is done when the gnocchi floats to the top.
- Drain and repeat with any remaining gnocchi. Serve with your favorite sauce and enjoy. I love my homemade pesto or pomodoro sauce.
Notes
Traditional (non-gluten free) gnocchi is often made without egg actually. However, because we are removing the gluten, we need something else to take its place and bind everything together, which is what egg will be doing in this case. I do not recommend leaving it out!
Serving: 1cup / Calories: 315kcal / Carbohydrates: 66g / Protein: 9g / Fat: 4g / Sodium: 308mg / Fiber: 6g / Sugar: 3g