Light and Fluffy Italian Homemade Gnocchi

These homemade Italian gnocchi are light, fluffy and pillowy. I have been making this recipe since the 1970s in Rome, with no eggs and minimal flour, so the gnocchi are smaller than the classic ones, need no indentation and let the potato flavor stand out.

Jump to:

• My secret ingredient
• Choosing the Potatoes
• Cooking them
• Top tips
• Sauces you can use
• Making them chunkier
• Fancy type of gnocchi
• FAQ
• 📋Light and Fluffy Italian Homemade Gnocchi

Gnocchi have always been part of my Italian kitchen.

Growing up in Rome, my mother taught me this recipe for Italian gnocchi, which she learned at her amateur cooking class at the Cordon Bleu in Rome, and I have been using it since the 1970s.

In Italian cooking, there are really two ways to make gnocchi, with egg and without. 

This recipe uses no egg, and I strongly prefer this eggless approach because for me, it's all about the taste.

Making gnocchi this way lets the pure potato flavor shine through.

It also creates a lighter, more versatile texture that perfectly complements different sauces.

For a special meal, I serve them with my creamy truffle gnocchi sauce with Parmesan, which we usually have as a starter for our Christmas lunch.

You can change the flavor and color of your gnocchi by using different potatoes or add other vegetables.

You can make this same recipe using purple potatoes, sweet potatoes or chestnuts gnocchi.

While potato-based gnocchi is the most common, other variations exist in the Italian cuisine like ricotta cheese gnocchi, breadcrumb gnocchi, and semolina gnocchi.

You can read more about the origin of gnocchi in my article on the types of Italian gnocchi.

My secret ingredient

To make fluffy and light homemade gnocchi I have 1 special secret: keep the flour in the dough to a minimum, but not too little, otherwise the gnocchi will dissolve when boiling.

Once the potatoes are mashed and completely cold, I add most of the flour and I add more only if necessary. Find the measurements in the recipe card.

Choosing the Potatoes

Use old big potatoes with thick skin that are rich in starch and don't have too much water. 

Choose potatoes for mash like Russets, Yukon golds, Desiree, and in France Amandine, Chérie or Pompadour.

Tricks for making them fluffy

Unfortunately, there is an undesirable consequence for not adding too much flour to the dough, humidity.

Once the gnocchi are ready on the tray and you try to pour them in the boiling water, they will be stuck to the tray and mash as soon as you touch them.

Any humidity in your kitchen will soften the gnocchi, they will soak the vapour from your boiling pot of water while they are laying on the table before they reach the pot.

To avoid this problem I make sure that:

1. Once I shape the gnocchi I put them on a well-floured tray and add more flour on top.
2. I make sure the kitchen is well aired and does not have too much humidity.
3. I don't let them rest for too long, usually, I make them only 1-hour max 2 hours ahead, no more.

Time-saving tricks

Have you noticed that my gnocchi do not have an indentation?

They do not need it.

The indentation helps the sauce stick to the gnocchi, but because my gnocchi do not have a lot of flour they absorb the sauce anyway. 

They are smaller and soft and will melt in your mouth.

But if you like the shape and have time on your hands, use a fork and add the indentation.

Cooking them

The gnocchi are cooked in hot salted boiling water, but they do not get drained like pasta or vegetables.

Once cooked they float in the boiling water, you can then remove them with a strainer ladle.

That is why it does not matter how much flour you are pouring over the shaped gnocchi to keep them loose on the tray.

The flour will drop to the bottom of the boiling water, and when you drain the gnocchi with the ladle the flour will remain at the bottom of the pot.

Top tips

Follow the recipe below and remember:

Dos:

• Boil the potatoes with their skin for max 20 minutes
• When making the dough add just enough flour until the dough is smooth
• Once the gnocchi are ready, cover the prepared gnocchi with a lot of flour so they will not stick to the tray

Don'ts:

• Don't peel the potatoes before boiling them
• Don't use a blender to mash them otherwise they will become waxy
• Don't mix the mashed potatoes with the flour when they are still warm

Making them chunkier

If you want to use a rich sauce, you can make chunkier gnocchi by adding some semolina flour in the mix.

Here you can find the recipe for chunkier homemade Italian gnocchi with cherry tomatoes sauce.

You will find it also in the video below.

Fancy type of gnocchi

If you want to make something very special, you can mix other vegetables with the potatoes and change the colour and flavour.

Here I mixed some cooked chestnuts.

Other vegetables often used are sweet potatoes and squash, and why not try pumpkin.

You can experiment what you fancy, on 1 kilo of potatoes substitute 100 gr with your favourite vegetable.

Though make sure it is a dry vegetable otherwise you will have to add too much flour.

You can find the recipes here:

• Italian Homemade Vegan Chestnut Gnocchi With Butter
• Authentic Italian Homemade Vegan Sweet Potato Gnocchi
• Italian Homemade Vegan Purple Potato Gnocchi
• Pumpkin Gnocchi With Cinnamon and Brown Butter

For a complete view of all the gnocchi recipes, check the web story: 9 Gnocchi recipes made from scratch

Happy homemade gnocchi making!

FAQ

Looking forward to hearing your fluffy gnocchi experience in the comments below. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.

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