Instead of the usual turkey or ham (or even one year, a fish fry), my mother decided to make soup as the main entrée for the Thanksgiving meal. But not just any soup; my favorite soup from Olive Garden: Chicken Gnocchi. For years, every time we visited the fine Italian establishment, I would faithfully order the Chicken Gnocchi soup and slurp unlimited bowls until I had to be rolled out of the restaurant. My mom found a duped recipe online and figured it was worth a shot.

I must admit, my standards are pretty high in regard to soup, especially one originating from Olive Garden. However, I was fairly impressed with how close my mom was able to get her soup to taste like the original. Now, it’s no spot-on match, but it’s still a good soup and I’d take it over any of her casseroles (sorry, mom).

Here are the ingredients:

3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1 stalk of celery, chopped

1/2 white onion, diced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon thyme

16 ounces potato gnocchi

2 cups half and half

1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add celery, onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté for 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent.

Add chicken, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and thyme, bring to a boil, then gently stir in gnocchi. Boil for 3-4 minutes longer before reducing heat to a simmer and cooking for 10 minutes.

Stir in half and half and spinach and cook another 1-2 minutes until spinach is tender. Add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Recipe credited to lecremedelacrumb.com.