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This ground beef gnocchi recipe has a creamy tomato sauce and turns store-bought gnocchi into pillowy deliciousness. This one pan meal is quick and tastes gourmet!
You may also enjoy my Italian Sausage Gnocchi, Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce, or Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Gnocchi next.
Why you’ll love it
I have a ridiculous number of one pan gnocchi recipes on here, but this one might be my favorite. Beef and gnocchi is such a good combo! There’s also no need to pre-cook the gnocchi. It cooks right in the sauce, which is convenient and helps with cleanup.
This hamburger gnocchi recipe makes plenty of delicious sauce. The meaty tomato sauce sort of reminds me of a creamy Bolognese. Add in a splash of cream and freshly grated parmesan, and it’s a comforting yet simple meal that’s sure to go on repeat.
What you’ll need
- Ground beef – we’re using lean
- Onion and garlic – I like sweet (Vidalia) onions
- Italian seasoning – it’s my favorite blend of dried herbs to infuse flavor and comes in a single jar
- Canned diced tomatoes – they’re canned at the peak of ripeness for best taste
- Broth – I use chicken broth, but beef works too
- Heavy cream – to give the sauce that luxurious texture and taste
- Gnocchi – I use the shelf stable gnocchi that you can find in the dry pasta aisle. You can use the refrigerated kind as well.
- Parmesan – the final cheesy touch! Always freshly grate your own from a block.
Helpful tips
- Can I use homemade gnocchi? I don’t recommend it. The one pan method seems to be too much for the delicate pasta.
- Do I cook the gnocchi first/separately? Nope! It cooks right in the sauce. In fact, the starch releases and thickens up the sauce.
- Why isn’t the sauce thickening up? Just give it a little more time. On the other hand, if your stove runs hot, cook it over a lower heat.
How to make ground beef gnocchi
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cook the onions and ground beef in a pan until browned, breaking it up with a spoon as you go along. Discard the excess fat if there’s a lot. Stir in the garlic and Italian seasoning, and cook until fragrant.
Stir the tomatoes, broth, heavy cream, and gnocchi into the pan. Let it bubble, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Uncover, stir, then simmer until the sauce has thickened. Stir in the parmesan, and season with salt & pepper.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- I mince garlic easily with this garlic press (no need to peel the cloves first), and I store the rest in this cute garlic saver.
- A Microplane zester is perfect to grate the parmesan. It comes in several colors!
- Here’s my favorite cutting board for chopping the onion.
Substitutions and variations
- I’d be cautious substituting the cream for something lower fat because the tomatoes and heat are likely to curdle the sauce or at least make it grainy if you don’t use cream.
- Try swapping the chicken broth with white wine (e.g., sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio) for an elegant touch.
- Many of my readers like adding spinach in at the end for some greens.
- If you sub the parmesan with cheddar, you can give this dish Hamburger Helper vibes, or make my Homemade Hamburger Helper instead.
What to serve with ground beef gnocchi
- For a salad, I like to dress one up with this homemade Olive Garden Salad Dressing. You could also make my Creamy Cucumber Salad or Beet and Spinach Salad for a delicious change.
- A dinner roll or slice of Cheesy Garlic Bread nicely rounds it out.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover gnocchi for 3-4 days in the fridge in a covered container.
- Reheat over a low heat until warmed through. It’ll thicken up over time, so add a splash of broth or cream to revive the sauce if needed.
- I don’t recommend freezing this one.
More ground beef recipes
If you made this one pan gnocchi with ground beef, please leave me a star rating and review below! You can also tag me on Instagram if you made any Salt & Lavender recipes.
Ground Beef Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning or to taste
- 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
- 1/3 cup chicken or beef broth
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet over medium-high heat for 7-10 minutes. If there's lots of excess fat, spoon most of it out.
- Stir in the garlic and Italian seasoning.
- Add the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, cream, and gnocchi to the pan, and give it a good stir. Once the sauce starts to bubble again, cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes.
- Uncover the pan, stir it, and let it cook for another few minutes, or until the gnocchi has cooked through and is nice and soft and the sauce has thickened to your liking.
- Stir in the parmesan cheese and salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
- There is no need to pre-cook the gnocchi. It’ll cook right in the sauce.
- This dish would be excellent with fresh basil stirred in at the end.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on January 4, 2020. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Got very fussy eaters. Tried Gnocchi for the first time tonight. They couldn’t get enough of it. Very easy and quick to make. A big success. Will be making it again.
That makes me so happy!! Awesome! Thanks for commenting.
SUPER hearty, delicious and filling. I shamefully got up in the middle of the night and ate cold leftovers out of the Tupperware- it’s that good. I followed recipe exactly (except for extra garlic which I do with everything) and It turned out perfect. I’ll definitely make this again and again.
Lol that made me laugh about the cold leftovers 😀 And you and me both on the extra garlic.
I didn’t feel this got as creamy or as thick as I was hoping for. I had some ricotta in the fridge so I put a dollop of that in the bowl and the gnocchi over top…… yum! It added more flavor and creaminess making it delicious. Loved how simple and easy this recipe was.
So glad it worked out!
Don’t know where to start with this one. Perfection!! Fluffy gnocchi in a hearty beef and tomato sauce. Wow. We are an entire loaf of crusty bread with this one. Kids couldn’t get enough. Under 30 minutes, too!!
That’s awesome!!
Love!! ❤️ Making this tonight again for the third time. This is easy, comforting, and just delicious. It’s a new family favorite. Thank you!!
I am so happy to hear that, Kristen!!
This was so amazing and easy to put together. I am so happy I found you, your recipes and simple + delicious approach to food is something I have been looking for, for inspiration, for a very long time!! I also followed you in Instragram and I can’t wait to see what you make next 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed it!! I’m happy you found me! 😀
As soon as I saw this on my feed I had to make it for dinner last night! It was so easy to put together – I added shallots and some garlic powder and red pepper flakes to give it a little spice. Super easy with the shelf stable Gnocchi!
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed it, Vanessa! Thanks for letting me know!
This recipe was so delicious. I used a combination of cauliflower and potato gnocchi and my family could not decipher between the two. My husband was raving about it all night (and seriously that never happens)!
Definitely try it!
I am so happy to hear it!! Thank you!! ♥️
I just received a package of gnocchi in a gift basket and had no clue what to do with it. I can’t wait to try this. Looks like comfort food to me.
Awesome!! Let me know if you make it! 🙂
Love how quick and easy this recipe is! I think I bought a different gnocchi haha but that’s on me.
However, as I was nearing the end and tasting the sauce, i felt like it lacked quite a bit of flavor!!!! Oy vey! Where are the spices?! So I added in cayenne pepper, cumin, chopped up a jalapeño pepper for an extra kick, added more garlic/salt/pepper/Italian seasoning. THEN it was perfect!
Hi! Your additions sound delicious. I always kick up the garlic and salt myself. If I had added all those spices, I would have gotten complaints unfortunately, though. 😆 Glad you liked it as a base recipe and found a way to tweak it to your liking. ♥️
Gnocchi is the best pasta ever. If it’s on a restaurant menu, I order it. Especially love it with tomato/cream sauce. This looks amazing too. A nice combination. Looking forward to trying it out.
Thank you!! Let me know if you try!!