Easy Gluten Free Gnocchi Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I substitute for flour in gnocchi? ›

A simple mix of white rice flour and sweet rice flour does the trick. And the sweet rice flour is important. Made with only white rice flour, the gnocchi were too soft. A half cup of sweet rice flour, which is ground from glutinous, short-grain rice, added a nice bite without making the gnocchi gritty.

Peel potatoes and pass through a ricer or food mill into a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in egg; mix well. Whisk potato starch, sweet rice flour, and salt together in a bowl. Sprinkle over potato mixture; stir until a soft dough has formed.

Try not to knead it as kneading will develop the gluten and make your gnocchi chewy. Keep some flour in a cup for dusting the board and your hands as you work to stop the dough sticking. Cut your dough into 6 pieces and roll them each into fat ropes about as thick as your thumb.

Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.

While the primary ingredient in gnocchi is potatoes, flour is typically used as a binder in traditional gnocchi so this makes them definitely NOT gluten-free. However, if you need to eat gluten-free and you love gnocchi, not all hope is lost!

Nutritional Value

Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.

While it's technically categorized as an Italian dumpling, gnocchi is the perfect substitute for pasta. TJ's cauliflower version is gluten-free, like most gnocchi varieties, but it's also egg-free, making it uber allergy-friendly.

Unlike potato gnocchi, Roman gnocchi (Gnocchi alla romana), are made with semolina instead of potatoes and flour, that's why they are also called Semolina gnocchi. Roman gnocchi are shaped differently than potato gnocchi.

Making homemade potato gnocchi is surprisingly straightforward, incredibly rewarding, and worth it! Boiled, mashed potatoes form the smooth base of gnocchi; an egg is added to give structure to the dough.

Why did my homemade gnocchi fall apart? ›

Gnocchi can disintegrate for a few reasons. You might not have added enough flour or egg, or you may have overboiled them.

Some gnocchi recipes recommend floury potatoes instead, such as Idaho potatoes or Russet potatoes, but I don't always agree. They're too mealy. Tipo 00 Flour is a soft, fine milled flour from Italy. It's a must-have for light and tender gnocchi and homemade pasta.

The Best Potatoes for Gnocchi

Step one: Start with Yukon Gold potatoes. Russets will do, but Yukon Golds have more of the nutty flavor of the yellow-fleshed boiling potatoes used by the Italian and Provençal cooks who have mastered gnocchi.

The secret to the lightest, most tender potato gnocchi is to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. A baked potato is dryer than one that has been boiled, which means you avoid having to add more flour to the dough to account for excess moisture, a practice that leads to over-kneaded, tough gnocchi.

Substitutes for Potato Flour

Potato flakes can be substituted for potato flour using a 1:1 ratio. If you're using potato flour as a thickener, you can substitute two tablespoons of tapioca flour for every one tablespoon of potato flour. For gluten-free baking, try this all-purpose gluten-free flour blend.

If you don't have potato starch, you can substitute it with cornstarch, which is more easily accessible.

All-Purpose Flour + Leavening Agent

All-purpose or white flour is arguably the simplest replacement for self-rising flour. That's because self-rising flour is a combination of white flour and a leavening agent. In baking, leavening is the production of gas or air that causes the food to rise.