Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage, Thyme, and Sage is the ultimate Autumn comfort food. This one-pan recipe takes only 40 minutes to make! Simple and quick enough to make on a busy weeknight. Creamy and flavorful to become your family's new favorite Fall dinner!
Butternut Squash Gnocchi
What can be better than potato gnocchi smothered in a flavorful creamy sauce that is incredibly easy to make? Let me introduce you to the creamy butternut squash gnocchi made with spicy Italian sausage, fresh sage, and thyme. This incredibly easy recipe comes together in just 40 minutes. It's a delicious Autumn comfort food that will make any cold evening warm and cozy.
Note: the 40 minutes total preparation and cooking time assumes that you have already prepared the butternut squash puree in advance. I recommend that you roast the butternut squash and puree it in advance.
This recipe was inspired by my butternut squash tortellini - another Fall favorite recipe that you might like.
What type of gnocchi to use?
I used potato gnocchi, a Delallo brand, made with 85% potatoes. They work beautifully in this recipe.
Do you need to pre-cook the gnocchi?
You don't need to pre-cook the gnocchi for this recipe. Just add the uncooked gnocchi directly to the sauce (heavy cream + chicken broth). The gnocchi will cook in the same pan with the sauce and the sausage. This saves you one more pan to clean and minimizes the cleanup.
What type of sausage to use with gnocchi?
- Italian sausage. I used 3 links of spicy Italian sausage. You can also use sweet or mild Italian sausage.
- Remove the casings. I removed the casings and sliced the sausage. You don't have to remove the casings and can slice the sausage links with casings on, but I really prefer the texture of the sausage without the casings so I recommend this step!
How to make butternut squash puree
Making butternut squash puree is easy - I have a very detailed tutorial here: how to make butternut squash puree. You will only need 1 cup of it, and it's likely you will have much more than that after roasting and pureeing the butternut squash. So, make sure to prepare it in advance. This will reduce your cooking times drastically.
1) Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
2) Cut the squash in 2 halves, scrape out the seeds and the fiber out of each half.
3) Place the squash on the baking sheet cut side down.
4) Roast the butternut squash in the preheated oven at 375 F for about 30 minutes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool. Flip the squash so that the cut side faces up to speed up the cooling.
5) Once the butternut squash is cooled, peel it, and scrape out the flesh to a plate.
6) Place and process butternut squash flesh in the food processor (or blender), working in batches, if necessary.
7) Process it until very smooth and almost creamy.
Now, you have the butternut squash puree ready to use in this recipe. You will need only 1 cup of it.
How to make butternut squash gnocchi (the directions)
Cook sliced sausage in a large, high-sided skillet for about 5 minutes.
To the same skillet with sausage, add uncooked potato gnocchi.
Add heavy cream and chicken stock.
Bring to a boil on medium heat and stir everything well. Cover with lid, and allow the gnocchi to cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat, while the sauce boils.
Now, add butternut squash puree and minced garlic.
Stir everything well and cook on medium heat until the gnocchi are cooked through and the sauce thickens.
Add fresh sage and fresh thyme. Season with salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper.
How to store and reheat butternut squash gnocchi
Because the sauce is made only with heavy cream, chicken broth, butternut squash puree, and without any cheese, this recipe is incredibly easy to store and reheat. It's also a great dish to make ahead.
- Fridge. Store butternut squash gnocchi in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Freezer. Freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Reheat in the microwave oven. Reheat the refrigerated butternut squash gnocchi in a microwave oven for about 1 minute. Taste and reheat for 30 seconds more, if needed.
- Reheat on the stovetop. You can also reheat this in a large, high-sided skillet on the stovetop on low-medium heat. When using this method, add a small amount of heavy cream, or half-and-half, or milk to thin out the sauce when reheating.
What to serve with butternut squash gnocchi
Because this recipe features a rich and luscious cream sauce, a slice of bread or a simple salad will work the best.
- Bread. Serve this with a slice of warm Italian bread, garlic bread, or olive bread loaf. If you want to venture out and make your own simple loaf - try this easy bread recipe made in a bread machine.
- Simple salad. Serve this pasta with a simple spinach salad with pine nuts and Parmesan or cranberry spinach salad with cashews and goat cheese. Or, pair the pasta with the colorful and easy-to-make arugula salad with apples, cranberries, and pecans.
Delicious butternut squash salads
If you like all things butternut squash, serve this sausage gnocchi with a delicious Autumn salad:
- Fall Salad with Butternut Squash, Arugula, Dried Figs, and Almonds
- Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Pecans, Cranberries, Pomegranate Seeds, and Poppy Seed Honey-Lime Dressing
Other butternut squash main course recipes
If you enjoyed this creamy butternut squash gnocchi with sausage, you might like other Fall-inspired main courses, such as these:
- Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta with Sausage and Spinach
- Creamy Ground Turkey Pasta with Butternut Squash and Spinach
- Autumn Chicken Dinner with Roasted Vegetables (Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts)
Creamy Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Sausage, Thyme, and Sage
Ingredients
- 12 oz Italian sausage casings removed (I used 3 sausage links)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 oz potato gnocchi
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup butternut squash puree
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
- salt and coarsely ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Remove sausage from casings and slice it.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat in a large, high-sided skillet.
- Add sliced sausage and cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes on one side, without turning, to get the sausage slices browned. Flip over to the other side and cook for 2 more minutes.
- To the same skillet with sausage, add uncooked potato gnocchi, heavy cream, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil on medium heat and stir everything well. Cover with lid, and allow the gnocchi to cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat, while the sauce boils.
- To the same pan with gnocchi and sausage, add butternut squash puree, and minced garlic. Bring the sauce to a boil on medium heat, reduce to low-medium heat, stir everything well. Cook for about 3 or more minutes. Make sure the gnocchi are cooked through, the garlic is cooked to your liking, and the sauce thickens. Cook longer if you would like a thicker sauce. Remove from heat.
- Stir in half of the fresh sage and half of the fresh thyme. Season with salt and freshly ground coarse black pepper.
- Tip: use your best judgment about the salt. If the sausage is salty enough, you might not need to add any extra salt.
- When serving, top with the remaining half of the fresh sage and the remaining half of the fresh thyme.
Notes
- The total cooking time does not include the time required for roasting the butternut squash and making the butternut squash puree. I recommend that you do that in advance.
- Because you will be roasting whole butternut squash, you will have more than you need (1 cup) for this recipe. Refrigerate or freeze the leftover butternut squash puree in an airtight container.
- If using dried thyme, use ½ teaspoon of dried thyme (not powdered) or ¼ teaspoon of powdered dried thyme.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Delicious! I did make a few adjustments-I doubled the chicken broth and purée, subbed coconut milk for the heavy cream and doubled that. I left the sausage, gnocchi, and spices as written. It came out amazing! I will probably add some diced onions next time.
Heather, thank you for this super helpful feedback! Glad the recipe worked well with coconut milk as a dairy-free substitution for heavy cream.
Soooo delicious and the perfect cozy meal for fall. Made it gluten and dairy-free by using GF gnocchi and using a homemade cashew cream in place of the heavy whipping cream. Made the butternut squash purée in a blender; I did have to add a little bit of water to the blender bottle so that the squash would purée, but chicken stock could’ve thinned it out as well.
Julianne, thank you for sharing how you made it GLUTEN-FREE and DAIRY-FREE. So helpful to other people who might want to try this recipe!
Great recipe! Even my hubby liked it and he’s super picky. I’ll definitely be making this again. Thanks for the recipe!!
Stacy, I am so glad you both loved the recipe! 🙂
Wow!!! This was delicious!!! I added mushrooms and used Half and Half instead of cream. A keeper!
Beverly, thank you for this feedback! ❤️ Love the addition of mushrooms!
This was absolutely delicious. A rich and tasty dish that I will definitely be making again. It was a phenomenal toast to Fall. Thank you for sharing this treasure.
Cheryl, I am so glad you loved this dish. Thank you for sharing this wonderful feedback! ❤️
I LOVE this recipe and every time I make it for people, they're obsessed. So am I. But I have someone coming for dinner this weekend that can't have gluten. What are your thoughts on gluten-free gnocchi with this recipe?
Mel, I've actually tried this recipe with gluten-free gnocchi - and I am just not a fan. Gluten-free gnocchi are usually made mostly with potatoes and they taste too potato-ish to me.
Amazing! I made it as written and just… wow! Such a warm and comforting recipe for fall! I’m already looking forward to making it again! Thank you for sharing such a lovely recipe!
Melissa, I am so glad you loved it! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and the 5-star rating! ❤️
Hi. I have not tried this recipe yet but was wondering if it could be turned into a soup? How would I do that? Thank you it looks delicious.
Donna, if you want to turn this into a soup, simply add (gradually) more half-and-half and chicken stock on medium heat, stirring, until the soup is of desired consistency. In my opinion, this soup should be on a thicker side. In that case, you can add extra butternut squash puree to thicken it.
Wow! This is out of this world good…like my eyes rolled back good. It’s the perfect fall comfort dish - and the fresh thyme and sage deepen the flavors so well: rich, creamy and flavorful. I’m definitely making this for a family get together this Saturday. I followed the recipe as is just added a bit more gnocchi, sausage and purée because I wanted to use it up. Thank you for this one!
Robyn, thank you very much for taking the time to share such a positive and thoughtful comment. ❤️ I really appreciate it! ❤️
The flavors were absolutely delicious! I double my sausage and had to adjust my broth to just cover the gnocchi when it was added to the pot. I used frozen butternut squash which I thawed overnight in the fridge.
Kat, thank you for your helpful feedback (about thawing frozen butternut squash overnight in the fridge). Glad you loved the recipe! ❤️
The puree some recipes have have brown sugar should this puree be plain?
Loved this recipe! Perfect for Fall & my husband is a gnocchi lover. My only change was in roasting the squash. I cubed, tossed in a bit of olive oil and the same herbs and seasonings from the recipe. It added a really good caramelized taste.
I still puréed what was called for and had great leftover roasted cubes for another meal.
I actually turned this idea into a vegan recipe! Instead of the sausage I used a sliced vegan sausage. I substituted the heavy cream for a cashew cream I made. I also decided to sauté some onions and fresh sliced mushrooms with the sausage. And, of course instead of chicken broth I used vegetable broth. It turned out to be fabulous and I will definitely be making this again and again! Thk u so much for the idea!
Can you use canned butternut squash?
Delicious! Will be making this again, maybe even going to make the thanksgiving table this year!
I loved this recipe!
I swapped the cream for coconut milk and used Italian chicken sausage. I also added a diced onion which I sautéed before adding the sausage.
A few handfuls of kale were also a welcome addition!
I made it last week for family and it was such a hit that I made it again this week for a potluck. There were no leftovers and everyone loved it!
Thanks for the recipe inspo!