You’re going to feel like a million bucks when eating this delicious Millionnaire Gnocchi! Pillowy gnocchi, melty herbed ricotta, fresh herbs, and surprise little crunches from the savory golden brown breadcrumbs you sprinkled on top.
Millionaire Gnocchi with Red Sauce, Herbed Ricotta, and Golden Crispies
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We couldn’t help ourselves at dinner… my husband and I couldn’t stop saying how ‘money’ this recipe is 🤣. Do not pass on the ricotta or the crispies…life changing!
Allison
Alert alert alert — the coziest, rich, deeply comforting, easy meets decadent, saucy, stunning, ding dang TREASURE of a dish is here for you.
Soft pillowy gnocchi swimming in a delicious and easy red sauce speckled with Italian sausage, dollops of zesty herbed ricotta melting into each creamy bite, surprise little crunches from the savory golden brown breadcrumbs you sprinkled on top. Wowowowowowow, we cannot get enough of this one.
There are a few extra steps involved to make each separate piece come together, but once they’re all in the same place at the same time, you will not regret one single extra chop or stir it took to make this darling happen. You’ll have to make your crispies (or perhaps you already have a jar made in your fridge because they are your new best friend?), you can mix together the herby ricotta while the sauce is simmering, the gnocchi is prepackaged but, hey, if you’re really feeling it this evening, you could also make your own!
Point being, shortcuts or not, this one is special and we think you’re going to love it.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Bring This To Life
The ingredient list for each separate part of this masterpiece is pretty simple and the lovely thing about that ricotta and those crispies is that they are simply dying to be plopped and sprinkled on other things so, make ’em here and have them ready for some other delicious fun this week.
For the gnocchi, you’ll need:
- Italian sausage
- can of whole peeled tomatoes
- onion, garlic, oregano
- pre-packaged gnocchi
For the love of your life herbed ricotta & golden crispies:
- ricotta
- garlic
- chives, parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage
- lemon zest
- panko breadcrumbs
- pre-packaged crunchy fried onions
- olive oil, salt & garlic powder
Get them all together and then let them party. Like, it will really be a party. Get ready.
How To Make This Incredible Gnocchi
Like we said, a few separate elements to bring this superstar combo together but pretty easy peasy to make it happen.
- Get your sauce going. Brown the sausage and break it up in the pan. Saute the onions, garlic, herbs and a can of crushed tomatoes. Get the sausage back in there and give her a lazy simmer for a bit on low!
- Make the ricotta. Mix together ricotta, garlic, lemon zest, and minced herbs to taste. Boom bam! Try not eat it all with a spoon before you get to your gnocchi.
- Make your golden crispies! Check out this post for more detail, but you’ll want to toast up some panko breadcrumbs with olive oil and herbs, mix in some crispy onions, and then just get ready to joyously crunch on them all the days of your life.
- Cook gnocchi. Prepare according to package instructions (or maybe you’ve made your own – wow, you!) and then add them to the simmering sauce to get them all coated and delicious.
- Dish, dollop, sprinkle & serve! You get it. Train’s headed to YumTown.
What a dream. WHAT A DREAM. Just, very excited for you to work this into your life.
Fill Out That Dinner Table
It’s fair if you just want to put this all in one giant bowl and have at it but if you MUST share with other people around your dinner table, it’s nice to round out the meal with a little simple green salad (why not sprinkle some crispies on that as well?), maybe a lovely warm hunk of no-knead bread, a small extra side bowl of that herbed ricotta?
However you’re serving it up, small dinner party with friends, a cozy night in for two, or maybe your toddler has very delicious and specific meal demands, this one is worth it.
Millionaire Gnocchi: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use homemade gnocchi?
Yes! Love that journey for you. You can find our homemade gnocchi recipe here.
How do I make the breadcrumbs?
So glad you asked because they’re really going to make this gnocchi DELUXE! Get the recipe here.
I’m out of ricotta. Any subs?
Ooo the whipped ricotta is kinda its own masterpiece, so we’d really recommend a quick grocery store run for this.
Millionaire Gnocchi with Red Sauce, Herbed Ricotta, and Golden Crispies
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 generous servings 1x
Description
You’re going to feel like a million bucks when eating this delicious Millionnaire Gnocchi! Pillowy gnocchi, melty herbed ricotta, fresh herbs, and surprise little crunches from the savory golden brown breadcrumbs you sprinkled on top.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Red Sauce
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage or meatless alternative
- 1–2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, minced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and red pepper flakes to taste
Herbed Ricotta
- 6–8 ounces of ricotta cheese
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- salt to taste
- minced herbs to taste (chives, parsley, and/or thyme)
Gnocchi
- two 16-ounce packages pre-cooked gnocchi
Instructions
- Brown the sausage: Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the sausage; break apart until well-browned and fully cooked. Remove sausage from the pan. If you want you can drain off excess grease from the pan (I often keep it for extra flavor).
- Simmer the sauce: Turn the heat down (so you don’t burn the garlic). Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic; sauté for a few minutes over medium low heat until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and oregano. Add sausage back in and simmer over low heat (think of it as a “lazy” simmer) for 30-45 minutes. Taste and season with salt and red pepper flakes.
- Make the ricotta: While the sauce is simmering, mix the ricotta ingredients in a small dish. Taste and adjust as you like.
- Cook the gnocchi: Cook gnocchi according to package directions (usually this involves a short boil). Add cooked gnocchi to the pan with the sauce. Bring to a low simmer to get the gnocchi and sauce bubbling and well-coated.
- Serve: Serve hot gnocchi topped with a dollop of herbed ricotta and a generous sprinkling of golden crispies. ✨ Heck to the yes.
Notes
If you don’t need a full 6-person batch of this gnocchi, just make one package of gnocchi with half of the tomato sauce, and freeze the other half of the sauce for later!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Simmer
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: gnocchi with red sauce, red sauce pasta, whipped ricotta recipe
More Gnocchi Recipes We Love
- Ridiculous Baked Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce (so cozy, so addicting)
- Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Broccoli Rabe and Garlic Sage Butter Sauce (making sweet potato gnocchi is a breeze!)
- Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup (gnocchi in soup gets a big YES from us)
January 12, 2022
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Dried herbs – yay or nay for the ricotta? What combos would be good if using dried?
For sure! You could try Italian seasoning, or a combination of basil, rosemary, thyme, and/or oregano.
We couldn’t help ourselves at dinner… my husband and I couldn’t stop saying how ‘money’ this recipe is 🤣. Do not pass on the ricotta or the crispies…life changing!
So glad it was a hit, Allison!
I rarely ever leave comments on people’s blogs but I had to this time! Just got done eating and omg….it was just amazing!
This looks amazing. Do you have a brand of gnocchi you recommend?
We love Delallo’s gnocchi! You can purchase it online, but I’ve also seen it at Target!
Thanks!!
Oh my goodness, you ladies nailed it! I’m going to town tomorrow to get the gnocchi. Everything else is ready and so yummy.
Hope you enjoy it, Karen!
This was so delicious! My kids (3 and 6) also loved it so that’s a huge win.
So glad to hear it, Lymor!
Thoughts on using cauliflower gnocchi? I have a few bags in the freezer and I’m not sure what to do with it.
Great idea! Let us know how it goes!
What about smoked ricotta? I live near an Eataly and thought it might be good – but don’t want to splurge on it if it won’t go well with the sauce and lemon! Thanks!
We think that’d be a great addition to this recipe!
Do you think this would freeze well fully prepared? I see you can freeze the sauce…..
Hi Jennifer! We’d recommend just freezing the sauce.
This was amazing! You will not be disappointed. Make the crispies!!
So glad you enjoyed it, Robin!
Thank you for this recipe! I made it tonight and it was delicious! I will definitely make it again!
So glad you enjoyed it!, LeAnne!
Wow! Ridiculously good. FWIW, used whole wheat gnocchi, fresh herbs, and part-skim ricotta.
Glad to hear it, Anjali!
Lots of prep for this one but so so worth it! Absolutely delicious with so many great flavors happening! Couldn’t find gnocchi so used homemade frozen noodles. Otherwise made it exactly as written and I’m so excited to have it for lunch tomorrow!!
This was incredible! The ricotta, with the brightness of lemon and herbs, was a standout, and the crispies. So delicious, thank you!
LOVED this for a little at home date night. So incredible and will be a repeat recipe for sure. My husband and I both thought the amount of lemon in the herbed ricotta was a bit too much for us (I only added zest of 1/2 the lemon and didn’t work too hard to get all the juice out)… so that will be our modification. Otherwise, delish!
Will try this soon. Very appealing!!
We use ricotta a lot and sometimes buy requezon at local Mexican stores. Same stuff.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that precooking shelf stable gnocchi that’s going to go right into a sauce isn’t necessary. Swish the can out with a little water (maybe 1/2 can?) and simmer as in the directions. Skip boiling gnocchi and plop them directly into the sauce. Simmer 3 minutes and Mmmmmmm….Thanks for the baller recipe ladies! (I had to chase my family out of the kitchen, they were dipping a spoon into the gnocchi and then into the crispies…haha)
So good! Everything you could want. I was hesitant – could anything beat POY Date Night Rigatoni? Possibly this – so so so good!!
We skipped the sausage and added the POY chicken meatball recipe instead to use up what we had in our freezer. So delicious and made incredible leftovers!
Italian Sicilian Girl approved!!! This was the bomb but most of your recipes are that’s why they’re on regular rotation. In our house everyone agrees that’s five people agreeing on the same meal is pretty impressive!!!!
Well, that was amazing!! I thought I didn’t like gnocchi, but for some reason I wanted to give this a chance. So glad I did!! I think the gnocchi I tried before was Trader Joe’s and frozen in sauce already. Yucky. I used De Cecco gnocchi and it was fantastic! It only cooks for about 2 minutes. We aren’t huge meat eaters and I wanted to save time for the sauce so I just used Rao’s Arrabbiata for a shortcut. Heated it in a pan and added the cooked gnocchi. The ricotta and the breadcrumbs are game changers. The zesty brightness from the lemon in the ricotta and the texture from the breadcrumbs are what makes this a millionaire gnocchi! I used dried herbs in both the ricotta and breadcrumbs (because fresh herbs here are $4 per small package… that adds up fast!), and it worked great! Dried Basil, dried parsley, and red pepper flakes in both. Definitely give this one a try!! Thank you so much for the recipe and helping me to give gnocchi another chance!
This recipe is wonderful, I have served it twice now for company. You can make ahead but don’t cook down the red sauce until you are ready to serve it, it will thicken too much but can be thinned with water. The crispies recipe makes enough, so you can make the recipe several times and not have to make the crispies recipe again. Also for 4 or 6 people you can probably get away with only half the ricotta recipe.
My husband and I loved this recipe! I’m not a big gnocchi or pasta person and I ate two bowls! The golden crispies were an awesome addition and I can’t wait to add them to other dishes! Thanks 🙂
Great recipe and really a nice one. Will surely try this
What a wonderful tasty dish. I used cauli crumbles and fresh basil. My plant based son and meat eater husband both loved it. Such a hit and it only took 30 minutes to make. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe.
I’m obsessed with this and have made it a few times. I’ve used jarred sauce too to make it even simpler. The ricotta and golden krispies are where it’s at!
Can you suggest a good packaged gnocchi? Everyone I have tried is heavy and gummy, nothing like the light almost melt on your tongue ones I had at a restaurant in S.F.
Sure can! We love DeLallo’s gnocchi! You can find it here: https://www.delallo.com/delallo-potato-gnocchi-16-oz/. We also have a post for making your own homemade gnocchi here, if you want to try it out. http://wvaea.org/how-to-make-homemade-gnocchi
The base recipe is excellent and fully customizable. I made changes to suit our dietary preferences and the dish came out so delicious! We don’t eat land meat so I used minced, browned vegetarian Italian sausage in place of meat based sausage in the sauce. And, we have some in our home who don’t fancy lemon so much so I cut out the zest in the ricotta and only used the juice. Lastly, we try to skip fried foods so for the crunchy topping I just made crunchy fresh bread crumbs using small diced whole wheat bread, garlic, olive oil and salt then browned in a pan until crispy. Lastly, we like our gnocchi on the chewy side so I pan roasted it instead of boiling it before adding to the prepared sauce. This dish won rave reviews in our home! Thanks for the great recipe!!