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Chicken Gnocchi Soup Instant Pot

A creamy soup with tender bites of chicken, leafy spinach, Parmesan cheese, gnocchi and crumbly bacon bits.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 medium carrots shredded or diced
  • 3 celery ribs chopped
  • 5 cups chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts, boneless
  • 1 medium potato diced
  • 2-3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 Tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 1 12 oz can evaporated milk* warmed
  • 1 lb gnocchi fresh (I used cheese gnocchi)
  • 1 cup fresh spinach roughly chopped
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 8 pieces bacon, divided cooked and crumbled

Instructions

  1. Turn your Instant Pot to the saute function. Add the olive oil and once heated a bit, add the onion, celery and carrots.  Cook about 2 minutes; stirring often.

  2. Pour in the chicken broth. Then add the chicken, potato, garlic, poultry seasoning, Italian season, basil,  bay leaf, pepper and salt. 

  3. Cover the Instant Pot and turn it to the manual setting (on high pressure for 12  minutes.  Let the pressure release on it's own, and then manually release any remaining pressure by moving the valve to vent.

  4. Remove the lid. With tongs, remove the chicken and place on a cutting board. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Remove the bay leaf from the soup. Add the chicken back into the pot.

  5. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch and 3 Tbsp of water until smooth. Turn the instant pot to the saute feature, and then stir the cornstarch mixture into the Instant Pot to thicken.  

  6. Warm the evaporated milk in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir in the warmed milk and the uncooked gnocchi.

  7. Add the spinach to the soup and stir. Stir in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and half of the bacon.

  8. Ladle into bowls and serve with extra parmesan and reserved bacon for topping .

Recipe Notes

I prefer saving a few calories with the evaporated milk, and I have found you get the same creaminess and flavor with evaporated milk.  If you prefer you may substitute half and half or heavy whipping cream for the evaporated milk.  Your choice!

 

The soup will thicken overnight. If you prefer a thinner soup, you may need to add a little chicken broth the next day.