Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage & Artichokes
This ultimate one-pan meal is as simple as it gets, packed with protein and fiber. The chewy, crispy pops of gnocchi, savory chicken sausage, and tender artichokes are a winning combo!
It’s rare that a “quick” or “simple” dish is actually either of those things. And if it is actually one (or by some miracle, both), then it’s most likely lacking that certain je ne sais quoi or oomph or pizzazz, ya know?
Like microwave mug cakes—the promise is a warm, fluffy cake in minutes, but they often turn out rubbery, dry, or weirdly spongy, because microwaves heat unevenly. Or a one-pot pasta where you throw everything (pasta, sauce, and water) into one pot for an easy meal. But the reality? The pasta is gummy, the sauce is watered down, and the whole thing is just meh. Prove me wrong!
But this one-pan meal for Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage & Artichokes is actually one of those rare unicorns that’s quick, easy, and wildly good! It’s comfort food, made simple. Healthy, protein and fiber-fueled, comfort food... With a bright lemony, spicy arugula-y, garlic parm twist!
This recipe was inspired by this sheet-pan recipe from Ali Slagle from the New York Times (and if you aren’t familiar with her or her recipes, you’re missing out!). But as you know, I’m always skeptical of these one-pan wonders. But this one…? It has over 5,000 five star reviews!!! So I had to make it. And drumroll… it did not disappoint. It was delightful! It’s fast, flavorful, and foolproof. Truly. The gnocchi gets crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside (shelf stable gnocchi??!), and the sausage adds a punch of savory richness. And it’s done in under 45 minutes with almost 35 of those minutes spent as inactive cooking time—MAJOR win in our book. So we quickly added it to our recipe inspiration list.
Now, here’s where it gets interesting… Because we’re a dietitian nutritionist team, and we’re always crunching the numbers for our patients/clients, for our recipes, and for our micro learnings, we set out to turn this simple, tasty cooking method into a meal designed specifically for women in their 40s and 50s—one that fuels your energy, curbs your cravings, and helps you manage your weight. And we had some work to do! In a nutshell, it needed more protein, more fiber, and less calories.
We knew though we would only share our version with you if we could keep it effortless and flavorful, like the original NYT recipe. Because again, saving time and up-leveling the nutrition in a recipe is only something you can really “celebrate” if you can keep it inspired and delicious, right? It's not either-or. It's both-and. At least for us.
The gnocchi - keeping!
The sausage - duh!
The parmesan - staying!
The roasted veg - yup!
The cooking method - the same!
With a few intentional shifts, we’re proud to say we cracked the code and are ready to share it with you!
Here’s the recipe including the option to download a PDF copy you can easily print if you want, including notes:
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Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage & Artichokes
By Carly Knowles, MS, RDN, LD & Carmen Shah, INHC - Registered Dietitian & Nutritionist team
This recipe comes together in under 40 minutes, with 25 of those minutes spent hands-off while the oven works its magic. As the chicken sausage cooks, its juices marry with the lemon, garlic, and parmesan. The artichokes add a hearty dose of fiber and buttery-flavor, while the arugula brings a fresh, peppery kick to balance everything out. Each (substantial) serving delivers 35 g of protein and 9 g of fiber, leaving you feeling satisfied and nourished. And you want to know the best part? Like that wasn’t already enough! You’ll only dirty one pan, making cleanup a breeze! 🏆
Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 (12 oz) container shelf-stable potato gnocchi
12 artichoke hearts (packed in water/drained), quartered
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
24 oz (~1.5 lbs) bulk mild Italian chicken sausage (or links with casings removed)
1 lemon zested and juiced
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
3 cups arugula
¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet pan, add the gnocchi and break apart any that are stuck together. Add the artichoke hearts, garlic, olive oil, and salt, and toss together until well combined making sure each gnocchi gets coated with olive oil.
Pinch off small pieces of sausage (the same size as each gnocchi) and place them on top of the gnocchi/artichoke mixture until evenly scattered across the sheet pan. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the sausage has browned.
Take the pan out of the oven, then add the lemon zest and juice, and sprinkle with grated parmesan. Stir everything together (I like using a metal spatula). Add the fresh arugula to the warm sheet pan and toss it with the other ingredients—the residual heat will gently wilt the arugula. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes (optional) and serve warm. Enjoy!
534 calories | 35 g protein | 8 g fiber | 31 g carbs | 35 g fat
This recipe is endlessly adaptable! Feel free to switch things up and create seasonal variations to keep it fresh. Keep in mind if you’re using a different volume of vegetables or ingredients than what’s suggested in our recipe, be sure to adjust the olive oil and/or lemon juice to keep the dish well-seasoned and the flavors balanced. Also, your cooking time will likely need to shift depending on the ingredient combination, so keep an eye on the more delicate ingredients like tomatoes and allow yourself more time for ingredients like squash.
Here are some of our favorite ideas for each season:
Spring
Fennel & Spring Onions – The mild aniseed flavor of early-spring fennel with the sweetness of spring onions would make a really great, earthy pairing.
Asparagus & Peas – Fresh asparagus paired with sweet peas would make a vibrant and light spring-y combo.
Summer
Zucchini & Cherry Tomatoes – Zucchini would work really well alongside juicy cherry tomatoes for a light, summer gnocchi.
Eggplant, Cherry Tomatoes & Basil – This combo is perfect for a summer ratatouille-inspired Mediterranean meal.
Fall
Butternut Squash, Leeks & Sage – These classic fall flavor combinations would work really well together.
Spinach & Shiitake Mushrooms – Fresh spinach with early fall shiitake mushrooms would make for a fantastic, earthy sheet pan combo.
Winter
Brussel Sprouts & Delicata Squash – Thinly sliced (or quartered) brussel sprouts with any variety of winter squash would make a tasty, hearty sheet-pan meal.
Broccoli & Kale (or just broccoli alone!) – Roasted broccoli is one of our favorites as is or alongside some large pieces of winter kale—yum!
Dairy-free swaps: Instead of using parmesan, you could use chopped pine nuts or walnuts. These will both toast up nicely in the oven and will provide more richness and texture overall. Alternatively, you can add them to the finished dish at the end as a topper or garnish. Yum!
I can’t find bulk mild Italian CHICKEN sausage: You have a few options here— 1) You can buy mild Italian chicken sausage links by the pound versus a specific number of links (ask your meat butcher to weigh them for you) and remove the casings. 2) You can buy bulk ground chicken and make your own Italian spice blend and mix it into the ground chicken—for a 1.5 lbs of ground chicken, add 1 ½ tsp ground fennel, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp sweet paprika, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp dried basil, ½ tsp dried parsley. 3) You can use mild Italian pork sausage (yum!) but know that your macronutrient numbers will inevitably change (there’s more fat and thus more calories in pork than chicken), so if that matters to you, then definitely run your numbers through a nutrition tracking app like Cronometer first.
Meat-free alternatives: In full transparency, we’ve never tested this recipe with meat-free options. Our recommendation would be to try tempeh first (crumbled or cubed), because it’s most likely to hold its shape and will still crisp up nicely. We recommend then using more olive oil since you’ll be missing the drippings from the meat that help flavor and “toast” the other ingredients. Your macronutrient numbers will change, mostly the protein (will go down) and carbs (will go up) and the volume of tempeh needed will increase overall if you want to meet the same macronutrient profile of the original recipe, fyi.
I don’t like arugula: You can use any leafy green you like! If you’re using a heartier green like kale, we recommend chopping it into thin ribbons first and then massaging it before adding it to the roasted gnocchi and artichoke mixture to give it a softer texture and bite. Or better yet! Add the chopped kale to the sheet pan part way through the cooking time to give it some time to soften in the oven.
Feeding kids/teens: I have one kids that devours a kale Caesar salad, for example, and one kid that won’t touch anything that’s not beige or white. Some kids/teens love gnocchi, others don’t. Depending on their preferences, you can simply deconstruct this recipe and serve each ingredient on their own or cook another type of pasta at the same time and make butter noodles or use a jarred sauce like Rao’s Marinara (one of our family’s go-to favorites) and then serve the sausage and veg on the side. Also, serving this recipe alongside store-bought garlic bread or toasted baguette with butter often does the trick ;-)
Can I use freshly made potato gnocchi instead of shelf-stable gnocchi? Yes, but you’ll need to reduce the cooking time significantly (because fresh gnocchi has more moisture and is softer), so plan ahead and choose the right vegetables to pair with a shorter cooking time—make sense? Instead of cooking your gnocchi for 25 minutes, roast them for only 10-12 ish minutes until lightly toasted. You can also opt to cook your veggies on a separate sheet pan so you can pull the gnocchi out of the oven sooner and still get adequate roasting time for your vegetables—highly recommended. Also, consider adding more olive oil so the fresh gnocchi crisp up more easily (in general achieving that roasted crispness will be more challenging for freshly made gnocchi).
Can I use sweet potato gnocchi (typically found at Trader Joes)? Mehhh, you could, but this is a whole new recipe now! The TJ’s brand frozen sweet potato gnocchi come pre-sauced, so there’s a whole new method needed to get the same results. If you’re committed to giving this a try anyway, we recommend adding less olive oil up front, lowering your oven temperature slightly, and stirring halfway through cooking since the sauce that’s included with the TJ’s gnocchi will melt part way through and will need to be mixed in. Leave us a comment and let us know how it goes!
Does this recipe batch well? Yes! However, shelf-stable gnocchi are already inherently chewier than fresh gnocchi, and then after roasting them in the oven, they get even chewier (which is really good btw!), but if that’s not the texture you’re going for, then batching this recipe and reheating them once again when you’re ready to eat your leftovers, then you probably don’t want to batch this recipe. Pro tip: If you do batch up this recipe, then make sure you reheat your leftovers one serving at a time until they’re piping hot—this is your best chance at “reconstituting” your gnocchi and achieving that original soft (but still chewy) texture. Consider drizzling a little more olive oil or lemon juice (or both) on top too—your leftovers might need a little punch before serving again.
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Jesse Remer <jesse@mothertreebirth.com>
Tue, Mar 25, 10:53 PM (11 hours ago)
to Carly
I’m in love with this recipe. I tried it yesterday and it was so delicious and made great leftovers. And the best news of all is that it didn’t spike my blood sugar at all yesterday or today. That was exciting news cause that’s the main goal for me right now And I got to enjoy a pasta like experience with no spike!