Sheet Pan Gnocchi

This gnocchi recipe very quickly has become our very favorite sheet pan dinner. We just can’t get enough. It’s easy, quick, and delicious — it’s hard to beat a dish like this. We love a good sausage and pepper combination, so I decided to make this gnocchi with the classic combo of sausage and peppers. 

If you haven’t baked gnocchi before, this will be a real treat. In the oven, the gnocchi become tasty little morsels of pillowy dough with a slightly crisp exterior. Baking them this way gives you a tasty and unique texture to the gnocchi, similar to pan-frying them.

• The perfect midweek or anytime meal. From start to finish, it only takes about 30 minutes. 
• You don’t need to pre-cook the gnocchi. In the oven, the bursting tomato sauce helps to cook them through. 

When It comes to baked gnocchi, that is one of the most popular questions I get. The answer is NO — you do not have to boil, or precook the gnocchi in this recipe. How is that possible? The tomatoes are a big part of this recipe. They pop while they roast, creating just a little bit of juicy sauce to help the gnocchi cook in. 

• Gnocchi: I use potato gnocchi or potato dumplings that can cook directly on the sheet pan. The ones I use are the shelf-stable gnocchi kind you can easily get in the pasta aisle at the grocery store. Feel free to use any brand you like; this will even work with cauliflower gnocchi.
• Sausage: Precooked sausage works best, like kielbasa.
• Peppers: Use whichever variety you like the taste of most. (Red ones are sweeter than green.) This recipe also works with other vegetables, like mushrooms or chopped asparagus or broccoli florets. For an added boost of veggies, you can easily stir in some baby spinach or baby kale right after the gnocchi comes out of the oven.
• Onion & garlic: I used a small yellow onion, but you can easily use a small red onion or shallots. Use as much or a little garlic as you like.
• Cherry tomatoes: I love cherry tomatoes, but grape tomatoes will work too.
• Balsamic vinegar: Use it to balance out the flavors of the sauce. 

1. Add everything to the sheet pan. Spread gnocchi directly from the package onto a sheet pan with tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onions. 
2. Season it. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt, pepper, pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning.
3. Roast it. For even cooking, toss the gnocchi and veggies halfway through cooking time.

Make sure you give all ingredients their own piece of sheet pan real estate. For things to really get golden crisp, they need to be hitting the pan (and not layered over top of other ingredients). If you have a very large pan, that’s great. If not, use two small sheet pans.