Olive Garden Chicken Gnocci Soup

I have never tried this soup from the Olive Garden, so I can’t verify if it tastes like the original or not. What I can tell you is that it tasted wonderful and I will be making it again. This soup calls for half and half. I lightened it up a bit by subbing in skim milk in place of part of the half and half. You could save even more calories by using fat free half and half. I thought this soup was really good, it made me feel like I was cheating 0n my diet. I added salt and pepper to taste. Next time I would add in more spinach.

 

Olive Garden Chicken Gnocci Soup

Source: CopyKat Recipes

  

1 cup chicken breasts, cooked and diced (you can use a rotisserie chicken)

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons flour

1 quart half and half (I used 2 cups of half and half and 2 cups of skim milk)

1 (14oz) can of chicken broth

1/2 cup celery, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup carrots, finely shredded

1 cup onion, finely diced

1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (I omitted)

1/2 teaspoon thyme (I omitted, didn’t have any on hand)

1/2 teaspoon parsley

freshly grated parmesan cheese

salt to taste

1 pound of potato gnocci (found in gourmet section of most grocery stores)

 

Sauté the onion, celery, and garlic in the butter and olive oil, over medium heat when the onion becomes translucent, add the flour, and make a roux, let the butter and flour mixture cook for about a minute before adding 1 quart of half and half (I omitted the olive oil to save on calories and it turned out just fine). 

Cook gnocchi according to package directions.

Into the roux add in the carrots and chicken. Once the mixture becomes thick add the chicken broth. Once the mixture thickens again, add the cooked gnocchi, spinach, and seasonings, simmer until soup is heated through.

*This made 10 one cup servings for me. With my adaptations this recipe is 5 Weight Watcher points per cup.

** I have a update on this recipe, as of 1/2011. We went to the Olive Garden for lunch and I tried this soup. I didn’t really care for it at all. I much prefer the homemade version!