Sheet pan gnocchi is one of my favorite vegetarian sheet pan dinners. For this recipe, I use roasted bell peppers, onion, spinach, and tender pillowy gnocchi. It’s both colorful and nutritious and it only requires about 15 minutes of hands-on time.
This sheet pan gnocchi recipe is colorful, nutritious, vegetarian (easily vegan if you want it to be) and a frequently requested meal in my home. A dinner made in 4 steps and 1 sheet pan? You bet I’ll make that all day every day. Well, maybe not every day, but you get the idea.
To keep this recipe super simple I use store-bought shelf stable gnocchi. You can also use homemade gnocchi if you happen to have some around. Then it’s as simple as tossing it onto a sheet pan with colorful bell peppers, an onion, cherry tomatoes and herbs and spices. I love the combination of basil, oregano, and thyme, but you could also just toss in some Italian seasoning to make it even easier. I stir some baby spinach in at the end for an even bigger vegetable boost, and finish with parmesan cheese, which is optional, of course.
This dinner is so weeknight friendly, but also beautiful enough for company and it makes excellent leftover desk lunches if I do say so myself.
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Gnocchi: These delightful little potato dumplings are like soft pillows of deliciousness. They are perfect for soaking up all the flavors from the vegetables as they roast. My favorite brand is called Pranzo and I buy it at Trader Joes. I prefer shelf stable gnocchi to frozen potato gnocchi in this recipe. The frozen gnocchi was still good, it was just a little chewy for my taste.
- Red bell pepper: Bursting with vibrant color red bell peppers add a delightful and subtle sweetness to this sheet pan gnocchi. They are a fantastic source of vitamin C. If you don’t have any, use store-bought or Homemade Roasted Red Peppers. If you use store-bought just stir them in at the end with the spinach to warm through.
- Yellow bell pepper: With its sunny hue and mild, slightly tangy flavor, the yellow bell pepper brings a touch of sunshine to your plate.
- Red onion: Red onions bring a burst of roasted sweetness and a lovely pop of color to this vegetarian recipe. If you don’t have a red onion, substitute a yellow or white onion instead.
- Cherry tomatoes: Juicy and sweet, cherry tomatoes break down in the oven creating moisture and light sauce for the gnocchi.
- Garlic cloves: A kitchen staple, garlic, adds a fragrant and savory note that enhances the flavors of your favorite recipes.
- Olive oil: The liquid gold of the Mediterranean Diet, olive oil is not just a cooking essential but a flavor powerhouse. Here it’s used to roast the vegetables while adding healthy fats and a rich flavor.
- Dried oregano: This versatile herb brings a touch of earthiness and warmth adding a delightful Mediterranean flair.
- Dried basil: Fragrant and slightly sweet, dried basil adds an aromatic touch to any recipe. If you have fresh, go ahead and add it after you’ve dished up the sheet pan gnocchi into individual servings to protect the delicate flavor.
- Kosher salt: This coarse-grained salt enhances the flavors of all the other ingredients.
- Dried thyme: With its earthy and slightly floral flavor, dried thyme adds a comforting and aromatic touch.
- Red pepper flakes: For those who love a little heat, red pepper flakes are the perfect spice to add a kick to your dishes. A pinch of these fiery flakes can add a wonderful zing to this recipe. Add as much or as little as you’d like.
- Freshly ground black pepper: The unsung hero of seasoning, freshly ground black pepper adds depth, complexity and an earthy warmth to roasted vegetable dishes like this one.
- Baby spinach: Tender and vibrant, baby spinach adds a nutritious boost to any meal. Its delicate flavor and vibrant color enhance the beauty of even simple weeknight dinners.
- Parmesan cheese: Parmesan brings a nutty, savory punch to any dish. Grated over pasta, sprinkled on salads, or shaved over roasted veggies, it adds a touch of richness and umami that takes your recipes to new heights.
What is the Best Gnocchi for Sheet Pan Gnocchi?
I tested this recipe using 3 different kinds of gnocchi (potato, sweet potato, and cauliflower) stored in 3 different ways—shelf stable, frozen, and homemade.
My favorite way to make this recipe is using shelf stable gnocchi and my favorite brand is Pranzo. It’s made in Italy and I can find it at Trader Joes. It cooked into beautiful, pillowy bites lightly coated with the sauce created by the roasting vegetables. I don’t know the science behind it but the shelf stable gnocchi just cooked to a texture I preferred for this sheet pan gnocchi recipe.
I also tried this recipe with frozen sweet potato gnocchi and frozen (regular) potato gnocchi. Both worked fine, the gnocchi cooked, but they were chewier than I preferred. If that’s what you have, go ahead and use it. I had one kid that liked the chewier gnocchi and one who didn’t.
I actually preferred the frozen cauliflower gnocchi in this recipe over the frozen potato gnocchi. They were a bit larger than the potato gnocchi, but the texture was more tender than the frozen potato gnocchi in this sheet pan recipe.
If you are an expert gnocchi maker, then by all means, make it from scratch. We have a lovely recipe for How to Make Homemade Potato Gnocchi.
If you want to try your hand at Homemade Ricotta Gnocchi we have a recipe for that too and even though I didn’t test ricotta gnocchi in this specific recipe, I’m sure it would be amazing. However, if you opt for homemade gnocchi I would still boil it first (it only takes two minutes) before roasting it on the sheet pan with the vegetables.
Ultimately, my go-to gnocchi for this recipe is shelf-stable store-bought gnocchi. It cooks well. Saves me tons of time in the kitchen on a busy weeknight when I’m running kids from one place to the next.
How to Make Sheet Pan Gnocchi
This recipe couldn’t be easier and it only dirties a knife, cutting board, and a sheet pan. It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to throw it together, and could even be prepped the night before. Let it roasts in the oven for 40 minutes and dinner is served. This recipe is so easy a teenager could do it!
- Preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Mix everything together: On a large sheet pan add the gnocchi, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, thyme, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Use your hands to combine everything together. Make sure everything is well coated in the spices and oil.
- Bake: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. Five minutes before the gnocchi and vegetables are finished, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Add the spinach and stir to combine. Return to the oven for the remaining five minutes, just until the spinach is wilted.
- Serve: Serve with shaved parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Ways to Make this Sheet Pan Dinner Your Own
When I first made this recipe it was a total clean out the refrigerator situation. I used what I had and then improvised. You can and should feel free to do the same. Here are a few more ideas to make this sheet pan gnocchi your own.
- Use in Season Vegetables: Use thinly sliced fennel, cubed butternut squash, and kale for a fall inspired version of sheet pan gnocchi. In the spring use asparagus and radish and for summertime try zucchini and green beans–check out our Pesto Gnocchi with Summer Veggies for more summertime inspiration.
- Experiment with Gnocchi: This recipe calls for a pretty standard potato gnocchi, but you could also use cauliflower gnocchi, butternut squash gnocchi, or ricotta gnocchi.
- Swap the Seasonings: I have an Italian vibe going in this recipe, but you could also head over to France and sprinkle these veggies with a little Herbs de Provence. You could also go Greek, add a little lemon zest, some Greek oregano and a touch of rosemary.
- Change up the Cheese: I used Parmesan cheese, but I’ve also made this and served it on top of a bed of ricotta drizzled with olive oil when I’m feeling fancy. Or pile everything onto a platter and put a gooey round of burrata right in the center. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh herbs. Or crumble the whole shebang with goat cheese. It will melt and get creamy as it warms.
What to Serve With Sheet Pan Gnocchi
The beauty of sheet pan gnocchi is that it’s a complete meal in one dish. But when dinner is this easy, you might as well make dessert!
While the gnocchi and vegetables are roasting in the oven, prepare cinnamon-scented Baked Apples. As soon as the sheet pan dinner is cooked to perfection remove it from the oven and place the baked apples in it.
Let it bake while you enjoy dinner. Or keep it super simple and just make a colorful fruit salad to wrap up the evening.
More Easy Sheet Pan Dinner Recipes
Meat and Poultry
Sheet Pan Paprika Chicken and Vegetables
Fish and Seafood
Mediterranean Sheet Pan Baked Shrimp and Veggies
Browse all Mediterranean recipes.
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Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients
- 16 ounces gnocchi, store bought or homemade
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 to 4 handfuls baby spinach
- Parmesan cheese, to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Mix everything together: On a large sheet pan add the gnocchi, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion, cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, thyme, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Use your hands to combine everything together. Make sure everything is well coated in the spices and oil.
- Bake: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, stirring halfway through. Five minutes before the gnocchi and vegetables are finished, remove the sheet pan from the oven. Add the spinach and stir to combine. Return to the oven for the remaining five minutes, just until the spinach is wilted.
- Serve: Serve with shaved parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Notes
- Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including olive oils, honey, jams, and spices.
This is so delicious and super easy to whip up after a long day at work. My family devoured it. I love this new recipe that will definitely be on heavy rotation in our house. Thanks again for making dinner easy. I love TMD and cook recipes from this site at least half the week!
So freaking good! I would have never thought to make gnocchi this way but it’s so good.
This is one of our favorite, healthy weeknight Dinners. It is so simple to make and so very delicious. I have forwarded this to many of my friends, along with my recommendation to follow The Mediterranean Dish!
TMD recipes make up 85% of my weekly meal plan.
Fantastic! Added 1 cubed zucchini and some mushrooms. Left out the spinach since I used a zuke. Dolloped some pesto on the servings and served with Field Roast sausage.
Love those adaptations, Bianca! Thanks for sharing!
I didn’t like gnocchi until now. This is very good and a new favorite for me.
I added some broccoli as I needed to use it. I don’t care for it by itself and this was a perfect recipe to toss it in.
Yay! So glad we made you a gnocchi fan!
Oh my! Super easy and absolutely delicious. I made it pretty much according to the recipe, I just added an extra clove of garlic or two. The only thing I will do differently next time is to add extra spinach because we love spinach.
Love that idea! Thanks for sharing, Holly!
I got home late tonight and did not feel like cooking. Tried this recipe – it was quick to assemble and delicious! Adding the spinach in the last 5 minutes was a great touch. I was skeptical about roasting the gnocchi – it was pleasantly good – a little crispy on the outside and dreamy soft on the inside. Defintely going to be a regular part of our meals -a nice side to any meat dish!
So glad you enjoyed it, Sharon!
This was fantastic! My family devoured it. It was also so simple that my young daughter tried it herself.
I was pretty honest to the recipe except added half a zucchini and a few quartered mushrooms (both of which needed to be used up). As part of my “find a new vegetable based recipe a week”, this is a CRACKING start to increasing my no meat repertoire. Ten out of ten we absolutely loved this one!
OMG!! This is so good! I threw some chicken sausages on the pan for the people that wanted meat but you don’t need it.
Made this with what I had on hand — so made quite a few subs — and it was fantastic: used eggplant, a mix of campari and cherry tomatoes, shallot instead of red onion and feta instead of parmesan. Lined the baking sheet with foil, stirred a few times while cooking, added the feta with about 15 minutes left. The gnocchi came out tender on the inside, crispy on the outside and clean up was a breeze. A+!
Oh wow, this was really good. Definitely a keeper!
this was out of world so nice
Thanks, Maud!!
Absolutely loved this dish! I only had frozen gnocchi so I cooked it first. I roasted some reduced fat feta with all the vegetables. Stirred after 15 minutes then roasted another 10 minutes. Removed and stirred in the spinach and gnocchi. Roasted another 5 minutes and it was done. Full of flavor! The feta I used was a chunk not crumbled. I made sure everything had done olive oil on it when I mixed it all together before roasting. I did not measure anything. I cook a lot so I eyeballed what I knew would be ok. I made 2 pans. Will definitely make this again!! My entire family loved it! Wish I could post a pic with this review. So colorful.
Thanks for sharing your process here, Kathy! So glad you loved it!
Just want to clarify something. I’m heading to Trader Joe’s today and will pick up the gnocchi you recommended. When making this, I don’t have to boil the gnocchi first? Just combine with the veggies and roast?
Hi, Camille! I’m Summer and I wrote this recipe. You are correct. You don’t need to boil it first, just toss it on the sheet and mix it up with the vegetables. Happy cooking!
Easy and delicious! Roasting the vegetables in a sheet pan gives a delicious flavour. A bonus that the gnocchi doesn’t require any pre cooking and it’s all made in a sheet pan.
Thanks, Claudia! So glad you enjoyed it!