Main Dishes
Crispy Chicken Thighs & Feta Gnocchi Bake
Prep
10 minutes
Cook
1 hour
Yield
4
This Gnocchi Bake combines cherry tomatoes, feta, and crispy chicken thighs to make an easy, comforting meal for the whole family.
Life can get so busy. I know I’m constantly on the go it feels like. Whether it’s traveling for work, on set shooting new content, or any other of the many demands of having my own business. That means when it comes to making dinner, sometimes I need something comforting and easy. This Gnocchi Bake is just that.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Gnocchi Bake
- Minimal Dishes: Who wants to spend hours after a meal doing the dishes? Not me! This meal is like a casserole and uses minimal dishes for quick cleanup
- Healthy: This dish has chicken thighs for a lean protein source, and you can easily toss in some veggies on the tray to bake it up and amp up the nutritional value
- Comforting: Gnocchi to me is just such a comforting dish. This meal will warm you up, and feed your soul
🍲 Ingredients
Chicken Thighs – For this recipe, I used chicken thighs but you could use any cut of chicken such as drumsticks or breasts. Chicken thighs can be cheaper than breasts, and are still an excellent source of healthy protein. Some people even say the thigh is way more flavorful and juicy than the breast too!
Gnocchi – Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling made of potatoes, flour, and egg. They are little pillows of perfection and can be so easy to use as a base in any pasta dish instead of traditional noodles.
👩🍳 How to Make Gnocchi Bake
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Make the sauce by whisking together the olive oil, ketchup, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, chili flakes, red wine vinegar and dried oregano. Set aside.
- To a baking dish add the chicken thighs and half of the ketchup sauce, mix together to coat the chicken thighs well and spread them out in the baking dish. When the oven is preheated, bake the chicken thighs for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven. Remove the chicken thighs to a plate. Scrape up any browned bits in the pan and then add the gnocchi. Add the rest of the ketchup sauce, crumbled feta cheese, pressed garlic, cream and chicken broth and toss with the gnocchi. Nestle the block of feta cheese in the middle and then nestle / place the chicken thighs back in the pan as well (not on top of the feta block).
- Bake for 20-30 more minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 165F and the block of feta cheese is softened (you can press down on it easily with the back of a spoon).
- Remove the chicken from the pan and then stir / toss everything together in the pan with the softened block of feta cheese until combined. Serve the gnocchi alongside the chicken thighs and garnish with fresh basil and a few fresh halved cherry tomatoes if desired.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- If you love gnocchi, try this Creamy Truffle Mushroom Gnocchi
- If you love crispy chicken thighs, try our Greek Chicken and Lemon Potatoes
- Get creative and add in your favorite veggies to this Gnocchi Bake
🗒 Variations
- Meat: You can add in a variety of different protein sources here other than chicken thighs. Try chicken breasts or drumsticks. You can also use this recipe as a base and roll up some homemade meatballs in place of the chicken
- Veggies: Try adding in veggies that bake to perfection such as eggplant, zucchini, or red onion
🗒 Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. This can be a great recipe to meal prep for the week.
🤔 Common Questions
Yes! This is one of the best parts about gnocchi because, unlike traditional pasta you have to boil it first, you can just toss it right in the oven.
Make sure to double-check the ingredient list because there is flour in some gnocchi and you cannot guarantee it’s made with gluten-free flour.
Crispy Chicken Thighs & Feta Gnocchi Bake
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp regular or coconut sugar
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
For the gnocchi
- 500 g store-bought potato gnocchi
- 50 g crumbled feta cheese
- 3 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1/2 cup light / 10% cream
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 150-180 g block of feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Make the sauce by whisking together the olive oil, ketchup, salt, pepper, garlic powder, sugar, chili flakes, red wine vinegar and dried oregano. Set aside.
- To a baking dish add the chicken thighs and half of the ketchup sauce, mix together to coat the chicken thighs well and spread them out in the baking dish. When the oven is preheated, bake the chicken thighs for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven. Remove the chicken thighs to a plate. Scrape up any browned bits in the pan and then add the gnocchi. Add the rest of the ketchup sauce, crumbled feta cheese, pressed garlic, cream and chicken broth and toss with the gnocchi. Nestle the block of feta cheese in the middle and then nestle / place the chicken thighs back in the pan as well (not on top of the feta block).
- Bake for 20-30 more minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 165F and the block of feta cheese is softened (you can press down on it easily with the back of a spoon).
- Remove the chicken from the pan and then stir / toss everything together in the pan with the softened block of feta cheese until combined. Serve the gnocchi alongside the chicken thighs and garnish with fresh basil and a few fresh halved cherry tomatoes if desired.
Notes
- Try serving this with our easy Maroulosalata aka my Mamas Salad
- If you love gnocchi, try this Creamy Truffle Mushroom Gnocchi
- If you love crispy chicken thights, try our Greek Chicken and Lemon Potatoes
Loved the recipe, I am not a fan of raw tomatoes. I coated whole baby tomatoes in olive oil and place them on top of the dish after all steps were completed before the second baking time. I loved the results. My entire family enjoyed the dinner and the clean-up was so easy.
This makes me so happy, thanks hunnie!