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This creamy spinach gnocchi soup recipe with parmesan cheese and mushrooms is easy to make, filling and warming, and very comforting. It’s ready in about 30 minutes!
Try my Easy Baked Potato Soup or Chicken and Wild Rice Soup next.
Why you’ll love it
My Creamy Mushroom and Spinach Gnocchi is one of my readers’ most beloved recipes, so I knew I had to create this mushroom and gnocchi soup with similar flavors! It’s a meatless soup that’s hearty with sautéed mushrooms, and the gnocchi cook right in the soup.
The star of this soup is the parmesan-infused creamy broth. It’s a little bit indulgent and total comfort food! Garlic, real cream, and Italian herbs shine. This mushroom gnocchi soup is rounded out with a pop of fresh spinach, and it’s on the table in half an hour.
What you’ll need
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing
- Onion, celery, and garlic – tasty base aromatics. I prefer sweet (Vidalia) onions.
- Flour – it thickens the broth
- Mushrooms – use cremini (sometimes referred to as baby bellas)
- Broth – for more savory depth. Use chicken or vegetable broth.
- Italian seasoning – my pantry is never without a jar of this tasty dried herb blend
- Gnocchi – find shelf-stable potato gnocchi in the dry pasta aisle
- Heavy cream – the texture and taste is unmatched for making the broth velvety and irresistible
- Spinach – to add in some greens
- Parmesan – always use freshly grated from a block for meltability
Pro tip
You don’t need to cook the gnocchi separately. In fact, the starch released by them helps to further thicken up the silky broth.
How to make spinach mushroom gnocchi soup
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
In a large pot, add the olive oil and melt in the butter. Sauté the onion and celery until softened/lightly browned. Stir in the flour until incorporated.
Add in the garlic and mushrooms, then sauté them until the water cooks off. Scrape up the browned bits. Pour in the broth, and add the Italian herbs and gnocchi. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently.
Stir in the heavy cream, spinach, and parmesan. Continue to simmer until the cheese has melted in and the spinach is tender. Taste, and season generously with salt & pepper.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Grate the parmesan cheese with a Microplane zester. It makes the perfect dusting of it for melting into the broth with ease!
- Easily mince the garlic with a garlic press.
- Here’s a Dutch oven I love for my soup recipes, and I store flour in an airtight pantry container for freshness.
Substitutions and variations
- I wouldn’t recommend using homemade gnocchi. It’s very delicate and is liable to fall apart in this soup.
- A few reader swaps include using kale instead of spinach, adding carrots to the veggie sautéing stage, and tossing in some crushed red pepper flakes for a gentle warmth.
What to serve with spinach gnocchi soup
- It’s delish served piping hot with some crusty bread like French bread or sourdough.
- You can definitely pair it with something more substantial (and delicious) like my Extra Cheesy Garlic Bread.
- Brighten up the meal with a fresh salad. Try my Easy Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad, this Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad, or change it up with a green salad and my Creamy Pesto Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store leftover gnocchi, spinach, and mushroom soup in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Reheat slowly over a low heat until warmed through.
- This soup won’t freeze well due to the dairy, and the gnocchi will change texture.
If you made this mushroom and spinach gnocchi soup, tell me about it in the comments below! You can also tag me on Instagram with all your S&L creations.
Parmesan, Mushroom, and Spinach Gnocchi Soup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 2 sticks celery chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 16 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced or chopped
- 4 cups chicken or veggie broth
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- 2 cups (packed) fresh baby spinach
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the oil and butter to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Once it's melted, add the onion and celery and sauté for 5 minutes (it's ok if the onions brown a bit). I like to cut up the mushrooms while it's cooking to save time.
- Stir in the flour and cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add in the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or so. Once the mushrooms start to release water, give it a good stir to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the chicken broth, Italian seasoning, and gnocchi to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring the soup to a boil. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat so it’s gently simmering for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the cream, spinach, and parmesan cheese. Increase the heat to medium and cook for another 5 minutes or until the spinach is tender and wilted, the cheese melts into the broth, and the broth has thickened up a bit.
- Season with salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately. If you wish, you can grate some extra parmesan cheese on top of the bowls.
Notes
- Serves 4-6 depending on how much people eat.
- I use the “shelf stable” gnocchi that’s found in the dry pasta aisle in my local grocery store.
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 April 27, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
I really can’t wait to try this!
I always packed my kids’ lunches, how do think this would hold up in a thermos? Annnnnd one more thing, have you tried this in a crockpot?
Thanks!
Hi! I haven’t used a Thermos since I was a kid, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work if you’ve tried similar soups in it. Sorry – I have not tried this in the Crockpot. If you do try, I’d probably add the spinach, cream, and gnocchi in during the last 30 min or so of cooking.
Interested in trying this soup! Sounds yummy but I can’t stomach eating mushrooms. I don’t mind the taste, it’s the texture that gets me. So what could I replace the mushrooms with? Sweet potato? Broccoli? Peppers?
Either way, I’m adding it to my next meal plan. Thanks for the recipe! I’ll puzzle out what to replace the mushrooms with one way or another lol
Hi Emily! Could you chop the mushrooms really small since you don’t mind the taste? Just a suggestion. I’m not really sure what else to replace them with tbh. Sweet potato sounds the best to me haha. Let me know if you try or if you come up with something else. I think peppers or broccoli could be good if you’re ok with the soup taking on those flavors, but it’s kind of hard for me to picture if they would work well or not. Do you eat meat? You could always replace the mushrooms with Italian sausage.
This soup is everything that I love about soups. Filling. Creamy. Flavorful. Delicious! My 3 year old son even tried it and winded up eating the whole bowl. Thank you for such a beautiful and simply recipe!
That’s awesome!! I’m so happy you two enjoyed it. 🙂
This soup is quite marvelous! It is my favorite comfort food.
Aww thank you!! So happy to hear that. 🙂
This turned out great, exactly like the photos above 🙌🏼 but I should have halved the ingredients, I felt there was too much cream. Interested to know if there’s anyone here who’s used coconut milk instead?
I also felt that this soup would taste just as good without the gnocchi!
Will make it again and try the variations – reduced quantity and reduced cream.
Thank you!
This was amazing!! I added a tablespoon of corn starch at the end of cooking to thicken the base. Will cook this monthly such an easy, yummy dish.
So happy you enjoyed it, Kristina! 😀
My daughter is a vegetarian and I stumbled upon this recipe looking for a replacement for a similar soup that uses Italian sausage. It is a huge hit and is now her request for her “favorite meal.” She loves spinach so we probably use an entire bag, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can tweak it however you like and it comes out delicious! She would never even eat mushrooms before this and now she wants it in everything.
Your comment makes me so happy!! 🙂
I am a gnocchi piggy and can’t tell you how great this recipe is! I didn’t have any fresh spinach so there was none in the finished dish. The sauce is outrageously delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. So good!
I’m so happy you liked it!!
This was great!!! my vegetarian daughter loved it Thank You
Wonderful! So pleased she liked it.
I’ve made this several times it’s so yummy. This time I added carrots with celery then a few minute later red & yellow pepper diced yum
Fantastic!! 🙂