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.
Amazing!! The only thing I changed was adding the garlic with the sausage to get some more flavor.
Larissa, I am so glad you loved this recipe - thank you for your review!
Looking forward to trying this recipe this week with my own home grown squash. I happen to have kielbasa and plain country sausage on hand. Would either of those work?
Lisa, any kind of sausage should work well here, as long as it's a savory sausage. Enjoy your squash harvest with this delicious recipe! ❤️
Loved this recipe!!! Such great flavours!!
Catch you batch cook and freeze (prior to adding the Gnocchi)?
Yes, you can freeze this! The sauce has no cheese, so it should freeze and reheat pretty well.
Thaw overnight in the fridge, and reheat on low-medium heat, on a gentle simmer.
It has heavy cream, it will curdle if frozen.
This recipe is super tasty but the sauce is verrrry thick and would benefit from some sort of acid with it, maybe some white wine, or onions cooked down in wine?
Ally, I like the idea of adding white wine to deglaze the skillet after cooking the sausage.
You can also try using half-and-half instead of heavy cream next time to make a thinner sauce.
Enjoy! 🙂
Made this for a fall themed dinner party, and it was a huge hit! I used sage and rosemary sausage, and added leeks and kale to brighten the recipe up a bit.
Jess, I am so glad this recipe was a success! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this wonderful feedback, and I love the addition of leeks and kale! ❤️
This was delicious. I used gluten free gnocchi instead of regular gnocchi. This was exactly what I needed on a cool night! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Jessica, I am glad you enjoyed this reicpe with GF gnocchi! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your review. ❤️ Happy Holidays!
suggestions for making this dairy free? would it work to substitute coconut cream for the heavy cream?
Bing, unsweetened coconut milk would work great as a dairy-free substitute! You can also use pretty much any other dairy-free milk (such as oat or almond milk) but in a smaller amount since oat or almond milk have thinner consistency. Enjoy! 🙂
I’ve made this twice and both times followed the recipe almost exactly (the 2nd time I used gluten free gnocchi) and both it turned out amazing both times! This is a great recipe in our fall/winter rotation. Thank you so much for sharing!
Jodi, I am so happy to hear this recipe made it into your regular dinner rotation!❤️ Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback - it means a lot to me! ❤️
There is some disagreement about the thickness of the sauce. Here’s my experience:
I used a high power blender and ran the squash in it for several minutes until it was silky smooth. I then also used more liquid than the recipe called for. The sauce is still VERY thick and hearty. It may be the potato starch from the gnocchi being released, in which case a shorter cook time may prevent that.
I also tried this recipe with an extra sage country sausage (because I don’t have fresh sage available), and it was excellent. A little parsley can also lighten up the dish a little if you find it too heavy. Finally, if you’re wanting to cut down on the fat, you can use less cream and a little more stock. Don’t worry, the squash will still provide that smooth mouthfeel and richness.
Jeff, thank you for this thoughtful feedback - it's very helpful to me and others. ❤️ I also use a high-speed food processor to puree the butternut squash which turns it into a silky smooth texture (with no chunks, strands, or clumps).
Made this for dinner tonight and it is amazing!!!
Angie, I am so glad this recipe was a success! 🙂
Okay I really want to like this but I agree the amounts are way off! It was stodgy and thick - skip this recipe.
Emma, did you use the food processor to finely process cooked butternut squash so that it turned really creamy and smooth. Because, if you didn't, I agree - the sauce would be stodgy, thick, and not so pleasant in texture.
This recipe was absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making it on a regular occurrence!
Janet, I am so glad you loved this dish. Thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback! ❤️❤️
Flavor is spot on. However, I would label this more as a pasta sauce then soup. I followed the recipe exactly and it’s not liquidity at all. I would add maybe a quart more of chicken broth to make it soup like and not thick like a pasta sauce.
Sara, I am glad you enjoyed the flavor! ❤️ This is meant to be a pasta dish. But, yes, you can definitely turn it into a soup by adding more chicken broth like you mentioned.
Amounts totally off, this seems AI generated
Sarah, there is nothing AI about this recipe. I can assure you of that.
Wow Sarah... I'm pretty blunt & offer my comments when necessary for constructive criticism, to be helpful, or rave about a recipe. Yours isn't and you could've simply scrolled on.
We don't even know if you actually made it, or if you're just paranoid & brainwashed that people can longer create something w/o AI.
Thank you, Annie, for your support! ❤️ At the time I made and posted this recipe (October 2021), AI wasn't even a thing!
This absolutely hit the spot!! I will be making this over and over again.
I’m a huge fan of Fennel seeds and I added it in there and it was sooo good!
Shannon, thank you for your rave review! ❤️❤️ Good to know that fennel seeds work well in this recipe!
I made this with only 1 minor alteration. I added about 1/2cup of coarsely chopped onion to the sausage when it was mostly cooked. I thought that it would help soak up some of the fat from the mild Italian sausage. Other than that , I followed the recipe to a T. It had great flavor and texture, it was a pleasant surprise. I will definitely be making this again.
David, thank you for your thoughtful feedback! So glad you loved this dish. I love the addition of chopped onion!