This pesto gnocchi gives you gourmet taste without the work! Dinner in 30 minutes with only 5 minutes of prep!
Sheet pan dinners continue to amaze me with how both simple and delicious they are and I think…. this pesto gnocchi just might be my favourite sheet pan dinner to date! I keep catching myself reminiscing about how tasty it was and planning on when I’m going to make it again…..
Let’s review why sheet pan dinners are so awesome:
- They’re ridiculously easy. The pan and the oven do all the work for you! Compared with sauteeing, there’s no need to hover nearby and stir. Just dump and go!
- Minimal clean up. With this recipe, the only prep dishes you’ll need to clean are the knife, cutting board, measuring cup, pan, and lifter. That’s FIVE measly dishes!
- They make eating veggies a treat. I don’t know why but roasting veggies just wasn’t a “thing” when I was a kid. I think if it had been, I would have been a lot more keen on eating them! Roasting veggies dampens the bitterness and brings out the sweetness locked deep down inside a veggie that you never knew was there!
And this pesto gnocchi is probably my favourite yet! Baking is the best way to cook gnocchi: you don’t even need to boil it first! You heard me right: NO BOILING NEEDED!
Why This Pesto Gnocchi is a Smart Choice
Healthy fats, slow acting carbs, and plenty ‘o veggies makes this a stellar nutritious meal! The only thing I think it could use is a bit more protein.
To bump up the protein you could add some chicken sausage to the pan, or once the pesto gnocchi has been cooked you could add some pan fried, chopped eggs, rotisserie chicken, or mozzarella cheese to your bowl.
Pesto Gnocchi on a Sheet Pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup prepared pesto
- 1 package 500g or 17.5 oz gnocchi
- 1 cup sliced red onion
- 1 cup sliced zucchini
- 1 cup diced eggplant
- 1 cup quartered cherry tomatoes
- Parmesan cheese optional for serving
- Fresh basil ribboned (optional for serving)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spread the pesto to cover most of the baking sheet.
- Dump the gnocchi (uncooked: no need to boil first!) and cut veggies. Move side to side to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir to combine with a spatula.
- Serve with parmesan cheese & basil for sprinkling (optional).
This is delicious and super easy! I would say it takes more than 5 minutes to cut up all those ingredients, but really it does come together so quickly. I tossed everything in a bowl before dumping onto a sheet pan for even coating. I also used a long thin Japanese eggplant, about the diameter of a zucchini; this was cut lengthwise and then sliced into semicircles so the pieces were about the size of the gnocchi, and the zucchini was chopped to half this size. The tomatoes I only cut in half so they were also about the size of the zucchini. Everything came out perfectly and even my anti-eggplant, anti-onion 4 year old admitted that it was delicious.
Thank you so much for your feedback! I am so glad you and your family enjoyed it!
This recipe is ridiculously easy and delicious. It’s become a weekly staple for me!
That’s fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
Loved the recipe. Turned out great. I boiled the gnocchi according to the package directions. It was unclear in your recipe, sorry I don’t mean to knit-pick. The whole family loved it. I’m still making your sourdough bread and getting quite renowned. Lol Thanks again
Hey Gwen! Thanks for commenting. I’ll update the recipe to be more clear. One of the reasons I love the simplicity of this recipe is that you don’t actually need to boil the gnocchi beforehand! Glad you loved it though. Try it next time without boiling!