Baked Gnocchi with Sage and Cheese Sauce
My Baked Gnocchi with Sage and Cheese Sauce is a delicious departure from the sometimes heavy mac and cheese. A comforting dish of pillowy soft gnocchi bathed in a creamy, two-cheese sauce that’s flavored with natural earthy sage.
This dish is sure to warm you up from the inside out! For such a cheese-laiden dish, it is actually surprisingly light. That’s due to the soft, homemade gnocchi. Of course, you can also use your favorite store bought gnocchi instead.
You could almost call it gnocchi mac and cheese, which is what I like to refer to it as. Whatever you do call it, you will be calling its name with love and affection!
This really is the easiest, cheesiest baked gnocchi recipe that you’ll ever find. It’s like a gnocchi Alfredo! You don’t need to pre-boil the gnocchi because it cooks in the cheese sauce while it bakes in the oven.
Best cheese for Baked Gnocchi
When it comes to the choice of cheeses, my favorite is Italian Fontina for this recipe as it is a delicious cheese that melts very nicely. White cheddar, gruyere or any of your favorite, good melting cheese, however, will work. And don’t forget – Parmesan cheese is also a must!
How to Make Homemade Gnocchi
I always have a container of fresh, homemade gnocchi in my freezer. If you’re feeling adventurous, I have an easy tutorial, step-by-step and video guide. You can see that here > How to Make Gnocchi. You won’t believe how easy it really is.
It’s not either, it’s an Italian dumpling. But you will usually any gnocchi dish listed under ‘pasta’ dishes on menus and such.
Gnocchi around the world
It’s not only a dish served in Italy, gnocchi are served in France where they are known as ‘gnocchis à la parisienne’, in Croatia they are called ‘njoki’ and in South America, they’re called ‘nhoque’.
Cheese sauce without milk
What you will notice in the cheese sauce recipe is that I added chicken or vegetable stock, this is called this a ‘veloute’. Bechamel is made with milk or cream. Using stock is agreat way to add extra flavor to the cheese sauce.
The word ‘gnocchi’, derived from the Italian word ‘nocchio’, means a knot in wood. If you want to pronounce it like an Italian it’s basically nee-o-kki.
If you’ve made this Baked Gnocchi with Sage and Cheese Sauce, please leave a star rating. If you have a question or comment, you can leave it in the box below – I love to hear from my readers!
Baked Gnocchi with Sage and Cheese Sauce
A comforting dish of pillowy soft gnocchi bathed in a creamy, two cheese sauce flavored with earthy sage.
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup (236 ml) chicken stock or vegetable stock, warmed
- 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk
- Small pinch of salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 1 cup (90 grams) Fontina cheese, grated
- 1 cup (90 grams) Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for garnish
- 1 pound (453 grams) gnocchi (store bought packaged or frozen)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and whisk until flour turns golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add the warm stock and milk, continue to whisk until it thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt, nutmeg and sage.
- Add the fontina and Parmesan cheese and stir with a spoon until melted. Stir in the gnocchi (no need to pre-boil) and transfer to a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes until the top is bubbly and golden.
- Serve warm topped with grated Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
4 ouncesAmount Per Serving Calories 244Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 51mgSodium 411mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 8g
This nutrition calculation is provided by Nutronix that is only a guideline and not intended for any particular diet.
75 Comments on “Baked Gnocchi with Sage and Cheese Sauce”
I’m just wondering if you can use dried sage and nutmeg for this dish? If so will the flavours taste the same?
You can use dried sage and nutmeg, just use half of the dried sage, the nutmeg can stay the same.
Very tasty. I used Trader Joe’s gnocchi I was very happy with the result.
I love their gnocchi. Thanks for the feedback.
I am 3rd generation Italian American. 1st i will be giving this a try and making it often with variations. I’m thinking a pink sausage sauce for starters. Also, My grandpa used to make this soup that we all still make – & call grandpa soup. Think beef ribs and chicken thigh stock lots of vegetables and tomatoes rough cut cooked all day. Then drain for just the broth lots of orzo so not much broth shows in the bowl then covered in a snowstorm of fresh ramano & parm so it melts into oooey gooey goodness! I’m going to make it and substitute this gnocchi for the orzo! Thank you for the inspiration!
Thank you so much for sharing and enjoy
Yes this was amazing! I added some ground beef, onions, and peas to it and it was even better than what I thought it would be!!
I love all of the additions. Thank you for sharing.
This is now a recipe I make every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I changed up the spices a bit. It is a family favorite!
I love this, thank you for sharing.
Just finished making it. Amazing. I added sliced chicken sausage and squeezed a fresh lemon in to give it a little freshness because I’m so over winter right now and it was incredible. Thank you so much for sharing!
This sounds delicious, thank you for sharing.
This looks incredibly yummy and cozy! I want to make it for my husband’s big family…can the recipe be quadrupled successfully? Using store bought gnocchi?
I don’t see why you would not be able to quadruple the recipe and you can definitely use store-bought gnocchi. I hope everyone enjoys.
I did it, and everyone LOVED it!!!!! They scraped the pans. Thanks for a delicious crowd pleaser! The sage added a warm and interesting element.
This makes me happy, thank you for sharing.
This was so delicious! I made it gluten free by swapping in cup for cup brand gf flour. I used Parmesan and goat cheese and it was completely amazing
Thank you for sharing your gluten free tip
I didn’t weigh out the gnocchi so I added too much cheese sauce, but it was still delicious. 10/10 recommend
I’m happy you enjoyed it 🙂
I used Gouda instead of fontina and I subbed rosemary for sage. It’s absolutely divine.
They are two of my favorite cheeses, I need try next time. Thank you for sharing.
Hi,
How many people does this recipe cater for? Sorry, from Australia! Thanks in advance. 🙂
The recipe makes 4 servings
I made this for Easter. Being honest, I was a little nervous about this because I had never had fontina cheese, sage, and don’t like nutmeg, but this was DELICIOUS! When eating it, I topped it with some garlic salt. I will definitely make this again, and this is one of my new favorite recipes. If you are unsure about making this, go out on a limb and make it- I guarantee you won’t regret it.
I’m so glad you liked it. I love this sauce, works well with pasta too.
Fabulous. Tastes like it’s full of cream and it’s not. Only made the sauce. One recipe of sauce is enough for 2 pkgs of prepared gnocchi.
Thanks for the great feedback
Hi!
This recipe looks fabulous! I can’t wait to make it this weekend
Great, come back and let me know how you like it
I made gnocchi tonight. I didn’t have sage or fontina cheese. I added grape tomatoes & spinach to the sauce & I didn’t bake it, wonderful flavors. I will bake it next time & see how it differs in taste. I took a cooking class in Rome in July & it brought back memories. Thxs for the recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you adapted and used what you have. Thanks for the great feedback.
Is this feezeable ?
Pregnant friend LOVES gnocchi.
Hi Cass, I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not.
And when is the egg added?
Hi Carol,
The egg is added in step 9 after the potato is mixed with flour. Thanks for stopping by.
I was making these for lunches for my husbands coworkers and am feeding six people including me. I wanted to make sure that I made enough for everyone to be satisfied and for me to have some too, so I doubled the batch having never made gnocchi before. Whew! Such work, but totally worth it and will be able to have leftovers again.
Love this recipe! I made it with whole wheat pastry flour, while it doesnt look white and tasty/appetizing as yours do, they still taste great. I did, however, end up adding a lot more flour than was called for, and still think I should have added more. I was really worried about over-kneading it so I dealt with it. I think they still came out ok, but for the future, I was wondering how dry the dough should be? Or maybe I want to know if its normal to need double the flour you mentioned?
Just cooked this for dinner in Sydney Australia.
Delicious! I did also add fresh broccoli and some cooked Italian sausage to the mix.
Thanks for the recipe!
I love that you added vegetables Marilla. Thank you for the feedback.
im doing a big nye dinner and was wondering if I can make that ahead of time and letting it sit in those shaffing dishes
Hi Melinda. I think it would fine made ahead and this is the perfect dish to sit and be kept warm, that will keep the cheese nice and melted and warm. Good luck with your NYE party, I’d love to see pics 🙂
made this last night …. fantastic! can’t wait to try again with different sauces as well. great comfort food. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much Deb, glad you liked it 🙂
This looks like heaven in a bowl. And I have the same gnocchi board! Sadly I use a fork more than the board cause I prefer wider ridges
Gorgeous, Janette! The combination of the cheese, sage and nutmeg make this an absolutely perfect autumn dish. Thanks for sharing your recipe @ Spoonful of Foodies Free for All Friday, we’ll be sharing it on our social media sites today! 🙂
Thank you so much Katie.
adding these ingredients to my shopping list now! what chicken dish would you suggest to pair with this?
Thank you Miles’ Mom. You could serve a chicken piccata, or chicken cacciatore.
my mouth is watering will have to print this!!
Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Oooh, those look fabulous!
Ummm Ummmm Yummy looking! I have to makes these
Thank you Nicole, this one of my most popular.
Absolutely fantastic Janette! I love gnocchi and this recipe looks amazing =)
Hi Albertina, yes just prepare up to step 6 and bake off the next day. Thank you for visiting.
I’m only seeing 4 steps! Just do everything and bake off next day?
Yes, there are only 4 steps to this recipe as it is as simple as just making the cheese sauce and adding the gnocchi. I have not tried this method of preparing and baking the next day with the dish so I can’t say if this will work. I hope this helps answer your question.
COuld I prepare this a day beforehand and bake the night of the dinner?
It doesn’t say when to add nutmeg.
Step 5, stir it in the cheese sauce with the sage. Thank you for visiting.
It’s not sad, it’s whatever works for you and it’s much easier. Let me know how it turns out. Thank you for visiting.
I am making this tomorrow. Sadly I am using store bought gnocchi.
I’m so glad, thank you!
Turned out fabulously! Such great flavor. Thanks, Janette.
I have never made gnocchi, but that looks delicious. Thanks for the tutorial.
Thank you so much for visiting Tammy 🙂
Please try it Anna and let me know how it goes 🙂
Mmm, I love gnocci but never had it like this before. I must try it!
Thank you Tara 🙂
Divine, I love this!!!
This looks amazing!
Hi Sarah, thank you for stopping by, it’s so creamy and comforting
There isn’t any directions on cooking the gnocchi. It just says let them dry for 1 hour before cooking…then add cooked gnocchi to sauce. Can you update this because it sounds really good and I do not want to screw it up. Thanks!
Oops, all fixed now, I’ve added the cooking instructions. Thank you for your interest and happy cooking. Enjoy!!
Looks so comforting.