Rich, creamy tomato sauce plus crispy sausages and soft, pillowy gnocchi make this gorgeous tomato sausage gnocchi a seriously comforting, speedy, family-friendly weeknight meal with the added ease of only one pot to wash up.
Creamy Tomato Sausage Gnocchi, at a Glance
⏰ Total time: 25 minutes
🍽 Servings: 4
🛒 Key Ingredients: Gnocchi, sausages, canned tomatoes, sour cream, onion, garlic
🧠 Skill level: Beginner-friendly
🔥 Cooking Method: One pot, stove top
🥗 Perfect For: Weeknight dinners, casual entertaining or dinner parties
💕 Why You’ll Love: An easy, comforting, crowd-pleasing dinner that’s quick enough for busy weeknights, and impressive enough for simple entertaining.
A Weeknight One-Pot Wonder
Quick, low-maintenance weeknight meals that need minimal prep (and effort!) are always welcome after a busy day. And this lovely one-pot gnocchi ticks all those boxes.
- Quick and easy – it takes just 25 minutes from start to finish.
- Cozy and comforting – perfect weeknight comfort for busy evenings.
- Made in one pot – you don’t even need to cook the gnocchi separately.
- Easy to prep ahead so you can save even more time.
There’s just something about the creamy, smooth tomato sauce combined with crispy sausage and soft gnocchi that is so satisfying, especially in colder months.
Plus, anything that can be made in one pot is always a bonus – less washing up AND all the flavors meld perfectly, creating something even more delicious.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Gnocchi. I’m using regular, shelf-stable gnocchi you can find in the pasta aisle, but fresh gnocchi would also work.
- Sausages. Here I’m using a mixture of regular pork sausages and chorizo, for more flavor, but you can really use whatever you have to hand. Or, use plant-based sausages to make it vegetarian.
- Sour cream. I love the acidic tang this brings to the gnocchi, but you could also use cream (single, double, heavy, or half and half), crème fraîche, or a plant-based alternative.
- Tomato passata. Also known as tomato puree in the USA, this beautifully smooth sauce is a bit of a shortcut ingredient here, as there’s no need to wait for it to break down into a sauce in the pan. You could use canned crushed or plum tomatoes, but you’ll need to cook them down a little longer.
- Chilli flakes. We’re only using a little, so it’s not much and doesn’t make the dish too spicy, but you can skip them if you’re worried or not a fan of chili in general.
It’s optional, as I know it can be divisive, but I also love adding a little fish sauce. It brings a lovely savory depth and doesn’t taste fishy at all, I promise.
How to Make the Gnocchi
- Remove the skin from your sausages, then add them to a high-sided pan with a little olive oil and your diced onion.
- Cook, stirring, until the onion starts to soften and the sausages are cooked and starting to get crispy. At this point, add the garlic and chili flakes.
- Add wine, then the tomato passata and sour cream.
- Mix to combine into a sauce, then add the gnocchi.
- Stir so that the gnocchi is covered in the sauce, then lower the heat, pop on a lid and let the sauce simmer until the gnocchi is cooked through.
- Stir through half the basil leaves, and the parmesan, then divide between plates.
- Serve with more basil and parmesan on top and enjoy while hot and luscious.
Watch How to Make the Gnocchi
Tomato Sausage Gnocchi FAQs
You can either make the whole recipe and reheat it later (though the texture of the gnocchi won’t be quite as nice as it is just after cooking), or make the sauce up until adding the gnocchi, and then finish it later.
To reheat the gnocchi, add a little water just to help the sauce loosen up a bit, then you can pop it in the microwave at 30-second intervals until piping hot, or reheat it in a small pot over low heat. If you make the sauce in advance, it’ll be fine stored in the fridge for 3 days.
Yes! I like using passata because it cuts the cooking time of the sauce down, but crushed, chopped, or plum tomatoes work great too.
If you do use them, you’ll need to cook them in the sauce for longer, until they start to break down (about 10 minutes longer than in the recipe).
I love the combination of smoky chorizo and regular pork sausages, but you can use any sausages you like – ‘nduja would also be great.
Or, use your favourite plant-based sausages to make the recipe vegetarian.
Like this recipe? You might enjoy these quick pasta ideas
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
25 Minute Creamy Tomato Sausage Gnocchi
Ingredients
Method
- Cook the onion and sausages.Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to a large, high-sided skillet over medium heat, then add your diced onion, salt, and de-skinned sausages. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break up the sausage meat into small pieces, then cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the onion has softened and the sausages are brown and starting to look a little crispy. At this point, add your crushed garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes, then stir again.
- Add the wine and passata.Pour in ¼ cup of wine, then let it bubble up for a minute so the alcohol evaporates. Add the tomato passata, tomato paste, sour cream, and fish sauce if you're using it. Stir to combine into a cohesive sauce.
- Add the gnocchi and simmer.Add your gnocchi to the sauce, then stir so that they're all covered. Bring to a simmer, then pop the lid on your pan, lower the heat to medium-low, and let the gnocchi cook for about 5 minutes.
- Finish the gnocchi.After 5 minutes, the gnocchi should look a little larger and should be almost cooked through. Remove the lid, then give the gnocchi another stir. Scatter over half the basil leaves and half the parmesan cheese, then stir through the gnocchi so that the cheese melts into the sauce.
- Taste, garnish, and serve.Give the gnocchi taste, then add a little salt if it needs it (this can depend on the saltiness of your sausages). Divide the gnocchi between plates, top with the remaining basil and parmesan, then serve while hot.
Delicious! The right amount heat and very fresh.
I will add less sour cream next time. It didn’t need quite so much and I would prefer a looser sauce.
I don’t eat pork and I used chicken sausage instead and it was perfect.
This sauce would work nicely with other pasta or even over polenta.
Really tasty and just as quick as you said! Yummy