Why You Should Never Boil Store-Bought Gnocchi

Gnocchi, the northern Italian potato dumpling dish, can seem intimidating and time-consuming to make at home. Even worse, unlike fresh or dried pasta, pre-packaged, store-bought options leave something to be desired — especially when you're following the package instructions that say to boil the dumplings. That's why we're here to tell you to throw those directions away.

Although boiling store-bought gnocchi is speedy (it usually only takes a few minutes), it tastes distinctly stodgy. Unlike boiled pasta that you can often eat forkful after forkful, boiled gnocchi has a heavy consistency that will wear you out while you're eating and feel heavy afterward. Plus, as the potato and flour starches start to break down while boiling, your dumplings can get a little mushy, which isn't appealing to anybody.

Your best bet? Pan-frying gnocchi in a little bit of olive oil, butter, or both. While this method takes a little more time (around 10–15 minutes), the heat and fat will crisp the outer edges of your dumplings as they cook through. By the time they're golden brown, you'll have perfect potato bites that are pillow-soft on the inside and delightfully chewy on the outside. Once cooked, you can season and sauce the gnocchi directly in the pan before plating. With just a few more minutes and more direct heat, your store-bought gnocchi will transform from slimy to sublime.

For an even-more-hands-off approach, you can also roast store-bought gnocchi on a sheet pan. Like with pan frying, you can roast refrigerated or even frozen gnocchi. Scatter the gnocchi over your sheet pan without parchment paper or aluminum foil (this will help your gnocchi crisp up), and make sure none of the dumplings have clumped together (or you'll just steam them). Then, add a light drizzle of olive oil. Since there's more room to maneuver on a sheet pan, you can add other proteins and veggies to create a one-pan meal. Try sliced sausages, peppers, onions, broccoli, or even Brussels sprouts — just don't crowd your pan.

In the oven, you can either broil your sheet pan gnocchi for five minutes or, particularly if you've added more ingredients, roast them for closer to 25 minutes. You'll know they're ready when they reach a dark golden brown. While the sheet pan method won't provide as much crisp as pan frying or deep frying gnocchi, you'll still add a deliciously firm consistency to what could be a mushy mess.