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    Home » Noodles

    Roasted gnocchi with vegan almond pesto

    Updated: Mar 14, 2025 · Published: Mar 8, 2019 by Cadry Nelson · This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. · 30 Comments

    Jump to recipe
    Roasted gnocchi with almond pesto in bowl. Plus text, "roasted gnocchi with almond pesto" and "vegan."

    Roasted gnocchi has a wonderful added texture and bite that you can’t get from boiling alone. Toss it in a chunky vegan almond pesto for a fragrant, satisfying dinner.

    The meal only takes about 25 minutes to make, because it uses frozen gnocchi.

    Roasted gnocchi with vegan almond pesto in bowl with basil.

    Vegan almond pesto is tossed with crisp-on-the-outside, pillowy-on-the-inside roasted gnocchi.

    It’s everything you need to revisit a full mouthful of spring.

    Gnocchi is an Italian dish. These little potato dumplings are made with potatoes and flour (along with a variety of other ingredients).

    Obviously, gnocchi can be made from scratch. However, for a quick lunch or dinner, I usually buy pre-packaged gnocchi.

    (If you’d prefer to make it from scratch, there’s a recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance that I like. I haven’t tried roasting it afterwards, though.)

    I used to make gnocchi by boiling it alone. Those are the directions on the package. However, once I started roasting gnocchi, my boiling-only days were over.

    Roasting takes simple gnocchi up a notch by adding extra chewiness and bite. It leaves mushy, boiled-only gnocchi in the dust.

    Let’s face it, almost any dish is better with nutty brown spots from roasting.

    In this post:

    Jump to:
    • How to roast gnocchi
    • What sauce to serve with it?
    • Serving suggestions
    • FAQ
    • 📖 Recipe

    How to roast gnocchi

    Gnocchi boiling in pot.

    To make roasted gnocchi, first cook the gnocchi according to package directions by boiling it. When the pillowy gnocchi rises to the top, you know it’s ready.

    Drain the gnocchi. And then dry it on a clean kitchen towel.

    Gnocchi roasts best when it’s dry. If there are pools of water on your baking sheet, you’re not going to get the results you want.

    Roasted gnocchi on baking sheet.

    Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roast the gnocchi for ten minutes or until browned, flipping once halfway through.

    (Wait until it is brown on one side. Then flip it over, and continue cooking for the remainder of time.)

    That will give the pillowy gnocchi a crusty browned exterior that has a wonderful texture and bite.

    What sauce to serve with it?

    Gnocchi is terrific with marinara, of course. But for a brighter take on roasted gnocchi, I like to toss it in homemade vegan pesto.

    There are endless possibilities for pesto. You can use a variety of seeds, leafy greens, and add-ins.

    For this recipe, I made a chunky vegan almond pesto. It’s heavy on the nuts and low on the oil. So the nuts keep a lot of their crunch.

    If you’d like a smoother or more sauce-like pesto, you can add in fewer nuts and/or more oil. If you’re a fan of pistachios in pesto, try this pistachio pesto instead.

    I like to add miso paste to my vegan pesto for added cheesiness.

    For even more cheesiness, throw a Tablespoon or two of nutritional yeast flakes into the pesto. Or finish the dish with vegan parmesan.

    Serving suggestions

    Serve this roasted gnocchi with avocado caprese salad, an easy spinach salad, or red wine mushrooms.

    FAQ

    How do you pronounce gnocchi?

    Gnocchi is one of the most commonly mispronounced food words. If you’re American, it’s pronounced nok-ee or noh-kee. If you’re Italian, you already know how to pronounce it. Haha! (Italians pronounce it nyawk-kee.)

    How can you find egg-free gnocchi?

    You can find gnocchi in shelf stable packages in the center aisles of the grocery store or in the frozen section. While homemade gnocchi usually involves eggs, the store-bought variety is often vegan.

    Roasted gnocchi with almond pesto in black bowl.

    If you try this recipe and love it, let me know! Leave a comment and ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It truly makes my day and is such a help!

    📖 Recipe

    Roasted gnocchi with vegan almond pesto in bowl.

    Roasted gnocchi with vegan almond pesto

    Author: Cadry Nelson
    5 from 1 vote
    Roasting gnocchi gives those pillowy dough balls added bite and chewiness. If you’re a texture lover like me, it will become your preferred way of eating it! Toss the roasted gnocchi in a chunky vegan almond pesto for a meal that screams summer.
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 8 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 23 minutes minutes
    Servings: 2 people
    Course: Entree
    Cuisine: Italian, Vegan
    Keyword: dairy free, dinner, lunch

    Ingredients

    • 8 ounce package gnocchi
    • 1 teaspoon + 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Plus more, if desired
    • 1 ½ cups loosely packed basil leaves
    • ½ cup loosely packed cilantro rough stems removed
    • 1-2 cloves garlic depending on your preferences & clove size, minced
    • 1 Tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
    • ¼ cup roasted almonds
    • 1 teaspoon white miso paste
    • ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil gnocchi according to package directions and drain in a colander. Move the gnocchi to a clean kitchen towel to further dry. (Overly wet gnocchi won’t roast as well.)
    • Add drained, cooked gnocchi to a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Toss gnocchi in 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil and spread evenly across the baking sheet.
    • Roast in oven for 10 minutes, stopping once to flip the gnocchi for even roasting. (Only flip the gnocchi once one side is brown.) Remove from oven and set aside.
    • In a food processor combine the basil, cilantro, garlic, lemon juice, 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, roasted almonds, miso paste, and salt. Be careful about adding too much salt if you’re using salted almonds since miso is salty as well. Process until it is fully combined and like a paste. Stop occasionally to scrape down the sides.
    • If you’d like a smoother or saucier pesto, add extra virgin olive oil a Tablespoon at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency.
    • In a large bowl combine the roasted gnocchi with pesto and serve immediately.

    Notes

    Variations: This is a chunky, low oil pesto. If you like a thinner pesto, feel free to add extra virgin olive oil with the pesto ingredients, adding one tablespoon at a time until it reaches your preferred viscosity. In lieu of olive oil, water can be used instead.
    Feel free to use a different nut or seed instead of almonds. Walnuts, pistachios, or classic pine nuts are all delicious choices. Not a cilantro fan? Substitute more basil for the cilantro instead.
    This pesto is also wonderful over roasted broccoli or green beans.
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    Nutrition

    Calories: 323kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 499mg | Potassium: 199mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1220IU | Vitamin C: 7.7mg | Calcium: 102mg | Iron: 5.3mg

    Originally posted June 2013. Content updated March 2019.

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    About Cadry Nelson

    Cadry Nelson is the writer, recipe creator, and photographer behind Cadry’s Kitchen, and the author of Living Vegan For Dummies, 2nd Edition. Since launching her blog in 2009, Cadry has been making plant-based cooking approachable, and reimagining classic comfort foods. Her work has been featured in NBC News, Buzzfeed, Yahoo, Parade, VegNews, and more. She regularly appears on local TV shows, demonstrating to a broad audience how easy vegan cooking can be.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 1 vote

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    1. chris

      March 16, 2019 at 11:29 am

      5 stars
      this recipe is delicious! it took me a couple times to get the baked gnocchi just right. you mention this – but it’s crucial to make sure you dry off the gnocchi after boiling as much as possible before baking. the addition of almond to the pesto is fantastic!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        March 18, 2019 at 9:12 am

        Good note, Chris! And I’m so glad you enjoyed the dish. Thanks for the feedback!

        Reply
    2. Maggie Muggins

      June 30, 2013 at 12:49 pm

      I couldn’t agree more with that quote! I’m pretty sure if my past self saw me now, her jaw would drop, and it all happened so subtly. As you’ve probably noticed, I love basil, and this sounds delicious, elegant and simple, just how I like it.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        July 01, 2013 at 7:59 am

        Wouldn’t it be fascinating if we could meet ourselves at different ages? Some things stay the same, but throughout our lives there are subtle shifts always happening as we have new experiences.

        I’ve noticed your love of basil, and I couldn’t agree more. Whenever it arrives in the grocery store after a long winter, I can’t help but take in a long whiff and breathe in the smell of summer.

        Reply
    3. Louise Bloom

      June 20, 2013 at 9:12 pm

      I love pesto and I will definitely try your version. I think I would be having a hard time finding gnocchi but I will try to get one. Thanks

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 21, 2013 at 9:12 am

        That’s great, Louise! If you don’t find gnocchi in the frozen section of your grocery store, most of the time it’s shelved with the other pastas in shelf-stable packaging. Good luck!

        Reply
    4. Kristy

      June 19, 2013 at 12:15 pm

      The first time I ever had pesto was in a restaurant and I thought I was being very fancy and sophisticated for ordering something with such a fancy sauce. 😉

      I love the miso in the pesto- it adds so much flavor! And I’m going to hunt down this brand of gnocchi- the twins love it and I haven’t made it since going vegan. 🙂

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 19, 2013 at 2:02 pm

        Apparently all of us were very fancy! 🙂

        Yes, I first learned about adding miso paste to pesto with the Spork Foods cookbook, Spork-Fed. I love the depth that it gives even better than adding nutritional yeast flakes. It’s kind of funny, because I think miso soup is just okay, but in sauces and dips, I’m wild about miso paste.

        Good luck on finding the gnocchi!

        Reply
    5. Andrea

      June 18, 2013 at 9:52 pm

      Have you ever seen gluten-free gnocchi? I think I’ll google that right now.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 19, 2013 at 8:16 am

        No, surprisingly I’ve never seen that. It doesn’t seem like it would be too difficult to make since potato is such a big part of it in terms of binding and bulk. It just needs some kind of gluten-free flour then to make it a dough. If all else fails, you could make your own!

        Reply
    6. Debbie @ Live from La Quinta

      June 18, 2013 at 3:05 pm

      Perfect timing. My husband received a basil plant for father’s day (a few other things too 🙂 ), and I love making pesto. I was also in the mood for gnocchi…I had picked up a package from Trader Joes (without looking at the label, don’t ask me why), had a plan for dinner, then got home from work and THEN read the label. Um, not vegan. I hope I can find a vegan brand, or I may (horror of horrors) have to make them from scratch!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 19, 2013 at 8:14 am

        Aw! Too bad! Well, at least TJ’s has a good return policy. I’ve had a surprisingly hard time finding gnocchi locally that is both vegan and also doesn’t have a lot of unappealing ingredients. That’s why once I found Rising Moon in my Co-op’s freezer, I happily stopped looking.

        Making your own gnocchi isn’t that difficult, but it does add time. Sometimes it’s nice to just have it done already! I’ve never tried roasting homemade gnocchi. You’ll have to let me know how it goes if you do it!

        Reply
    7. luminousvegans

      June 18, 2013 at 9:28 am

      Lovely post. I love the idea of revisiting oldies that stir up such interesting memories. The pesto looks delicious and I love that Rising Moon brand. Your basil plant is doing really well!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:43 am

        Thank you! Food has a powerful way of linking to our histories and memories. It’s amazing how just a bite can transport you somewhere else.

        That was a “before” picture of my poor basil plant. It’s a lot more naked now. 😉

        Reply
    8. An Unrefined Vegan

      June 18, 2013 at 9:17 am

      This brought back a lot of memories of my early cooking days and of course, those many transitions we go through as the years pass.

      Wonderful combination of flavors – so summery – and I love gnocchi.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:40 am

        Apparently we’re both in a reflective mood right now. I so enjoyed your piece from today about the five best decisions you’ve ever made. I wanted some time to marinate on the topic before commenting, but David and I had a really nice discussion over breakfast about the best decisions of our lives so far. Good food for thought!

        Reply
    9. Jackie at Vegan Yack Attack

      June 17, 2013 at 10:01 pm

      This is so funny. I remember my first encounter with pesto, and it was from a jar that my mom had sitting in the back of the fridge for a while, years ago. I tasted it and fell in love, but nearly fainted at the oil content (I was a calorie counter back then). It really did seem fancy!

      I haven’t had homemade pesto in a while, and gnocchi even longer! This looks delish. 🙂

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:37 am

        Yay! Apparently I was not alone in thinking that pesto = fancy. Perhaps in the past 15 years it’s just become more common in the average kitchen.

        I think basil is the quintessential summer scent. Now that it’s here, you should get on that pesto making! 🙂

        Reply
    10. Caitlin Galer-Unti (@caitlingu)

      June 17, 2013 at 4:31 pm

      I’ve never had or even heard of roasted gnocchi but it sounds great, I want to try now! Yum. I actually just had gnocchi with pesto (I discovered that a large supermarket chain near me now does vegan gnocchi so I’ve been having it this week). Wish I had some left so I could roast it but I ate all the gnocchi!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:31 am

        I had never heard of roasted gnocchi either until I tested recipes for Terry Hope Romero’s cookbook, “Vegan Eats World.” After that, I couldn’t go back to making gnocchi any other way. It must be roasted! I hope you enjoy it the next time you refill your gnocchi supply! 🙂

        Reply
    11. Amanda (@PicklesNHoney)

      June 17, 2013 at 4:27 pm

      I love that quote from Gretchen Rubin. I was actually just thinking of it today!
      Your pesto recipe sounds fabulous. I only recently started liking pesto (crazy!) and now I need to make up for lost time. 🙂

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:29 am

        It’s so true, isn’t it? Each day feels like 24 hours like the one before it, and yet somehow every holiday and birthday I think, “How is it this time of year again?”

        I’m glad you got on the pesto train! Do you know what changed your feelings about it?

        Reply
    12. Kelly @ Vegan Iowan

      June 17, 2013 at 3:23 pm

      Brilliant! Gnocchi is one of my favorite foods, and I have 4 basil plants sprouting up in the backyard. Can’t wait to try this!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:27 am

        Excellent! Good luck with your basil plants! I always seem to eat all of the leaves on my plants before they really have a chance to get going! #veganproblems 😉

        Reply
    13. FoodFeud

      June 17, 2013 at 2:48 pm

      Looks so great! And roasted gnocchi? That is incredible! I’ve really been craving all kinds of pesto for the last week or so. Love the story, haha. I think one of my first fancy dinner parties, I made pesto-stuffed mushrooms and was impressed by how classy it looked.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:25 am

        I learned about roasting gnocchi when I was testing recipes for Terry Hope Romero’s book, “Vegan Eats World.” After the first time, I was totally hooked and knew I could never go back to just boiling it. You’re going to love it!

        I love it that I’m not the only one who conflated pesto with fanciness!

        Reply
    14. Barb@ThatWasVegan?

      June 17, 2013 at 2:46 pm

      I haven’t made a pesto since going vegan, but it’s always been on my list. This looks delicious, and like the perfect spring (and summer!) meal.

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:22 am

        With summer upon us, now is the time! I really enjoy miso in pesto to give added richness and depth in place of animal-based cheese. Other times I’ll add nutritional yeast flakes for additional cheesiness.

        Reply
    15. Becky

      June 17, 2013 at 1:57 pm

      Yum! I love gnocchi and pesto. I don’t think I’ve ever used almonds to make a pesto before, but I’m definitely going to try it once our basil plants take off!

      Reply
      • Cadry

        June 18, 2013 at 11:20 am

        That’s something that I like about pesto. You can mix up the greens/herbs that you use or try out different nuts and seeds. It seems like in almost any combination it works out!

        Reply

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