Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup
Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup is one big bowl of comfort food! It is made with simple ingredients including onion, carrots, celery, Italian sausage, and gnocchi, and is super simple to make in the Instant Pot!
After a bit of a cold snap and a fresh layer of snow in Minnesota, I wanted the coziest soup I could think of this weekend. I had approximately 7 minutes to figure out what this would be on my drive from yoga to the grocery store, and this Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup is what I came up with in my head.
Turns out, this sausage gnocchi soup was exactly what my soul and belly were craving - it is so, so delicious! Marc said he doesn't even like soup (wait, what?! who doesn't like soup!) but he would order this from a restaurant. I'll take that as a compliment. Soren had two big bowls and kept saying in the cutest way "I like gnocchi!" while eating it. I think I'll just make this over and over because I'll never get sick of hearing him say that.
Ingredients in Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup
This Instant Pot soup is super simple to make and has very basic ingredients. It starts with Italian sausage, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and dried herbs. The rest of the ingredients include chicken broth, half and half, gnocchi, spinach, and Parmesan cheese. A note on the gnocchi: I use the shelf stable kind that can be found in the pasta aisle. Fresh and frozen would also work!
The soup is thickened with cornstarch, which simply involves whisking it into a little of the half and half and adding it to the soup to simmer and thicken. Super easy! Also - if you want to lighten it up, you could use milk instead of half and half. It just won't be quite as rich.
How to Make Sausage Gnocchi Soup
I really can't emphasize how simple this soup is! First you'll brown the Italian sausage in the Instant Pot. While the sausage is browning, you can chop up the onion, carrots, and celery. You'll give the veggies a quick saute to slightly soften them and then season them with garlic and the dried herbs.
After this, the chicken broth is added and then you will cook in the Instant Pot for 6 minutes. This really infuses the sausage and herb flavoring into the broth.
After a quick release, you'll put the Instant Pot on brown/saute again and add the half and half mixed with cornstarch, gnocchi, and spinach and let the soup thicken up. The final step is to stir in some Parmesan cheese and serve it up. Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup truly is a delicious and soul warming soup!
Like this recipe? Check these out, too!
Instant Pot Chicken Gnocchi Soup from Mama Needs Cake
Instant Pot Sausage Gnocchi Soup
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage
- 1 white onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups half and half (or milk)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 lb gnocchi
- 16 ounces frozen chopped spinach
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Turn pressure cooker to brown/saute function.
- Add the Italian sausage and cook until browned, breaking it up into smaller pieces as it cooks.
- Add the onion, celery, and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes, until slightly softened.
- Add the minced garlic, dried herbs, and salt, stirring well to incorporate.
- Add the chicken broth, and stir to combine.
- Place the lid on the pressure cooker, close the pressure valve, and cook on HIGH pressure for 6 minutes.
- Carefully release the pressure from the Instant Pot.
- Turn the saute/brown function back onto the Instant Pot.
- In a bowl, whisk together ½ cup of the half and half with the cornstarch. Add to the soup. Slowly stir in the remaining 1 cup of the half and half. (The purpose of doing this is to make sure the cornstarch does not clump in the half and half and it's best to add it to a smaller amount of liquid)
- Add the gnocchi and spinach.
- Let the soup simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly thickened and gnocchi is softened.
- Stir in Parmesan cheese.
- Serve and enjoy!
I translated this recipe into stovetop, simmering it for longer periods of time to let the herbs really seep into the recipe. It was SO delicious. We'll be making it again!