Chicken Gnocchi Soup
Olive Garden's cream soup rebuilt from powder, freeze-dried chicken, and shelf gnocchi.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 32 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 min
- water
- 600 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Shelf-stable potato gnocchi | 5 oz | the vacuum-sealed kind, not refrigerated |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried or canned chicken | 2 oz | foil pouch works too |
| Whole milk powder | 1/4 cup | |
| Powdered chicken bouillon | 2 tsp | |
| Instant mashed potato flakes | 2 tbsp | stands in for the flour roux |
| Dried mirepoix | 3 tbsp | dehydrated onion, carrot, celery |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Dried thyme | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/4 tsp | |
| Dried spinach | 1/4 cup | freeze-dried flakes rehydrate in a minute |
| Olive oil or butter powder | 1 tbsp |
Method
- Bring 600 ml of water to a boil. Dump in the dried vegetables, chicken, thyme, garlic, pepper, and bouillon.
- Simmer five minutes with the lid on. The mirepoix needs the head start or it stays crunchy.
- Add the gnocchi and cook four minutes, stirring so it does not weld to the bottom.
- Kill the heat. Whisk in the milk powder, then the potato flakes a spoonful at a time until it thickens.
- Stir in the spinach and the oil. Two minutes with the lid on and it is done.
The original is a roux soup: butter, flour, milk, and cream cooked into something that coats a spoon. None of that travels. Potato flakes do the same job with no fat to go rancid and no cold chain, and whole milk powder carries enough fat to read as creamy once it hits hot water.
Order matters more than usual here. Milk powder added to a hard boil will curdle and go grainy, so it goes in after the flame is off. The gnocchi is shelf-stable and already cooked, so four minutes is plenty — leave it longer and you get paste.
Packing
Everything dry except the gnocchi goes in one bag. Gnocchi rides in its own sealed pouch; the vacuum pack is already waterproof.
Variations
- Skip the chicken and use vegetable bouillon for a meatless version.
- A spoonful of parmesan powder pushes it closer to the restaurant original.
- Cut the water to 450 ml if you want it closer to a stew than a soup.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/web-stories/chicken-gnocchi-soup-olive-garden-copycat-recipe