Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet Freezer Meal

Nothing says love like a home-cooked pasta dish after a hard day at work or school. Come home to a dinner that can be ready in fifteen minutes or less when you make our Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet Freezer Meal. No fuss, very little mess, and almost no time in the kitchen at all.

Using freezer meals is so easy and has such huge rewards! Batch cook freezer meals like this Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet on the weekend and thaw one each night to dramatically reduce your time in the kitchen on busy weekdays. We have a fantastic and growing collection of freezer meal recipes inside our Freezer Meals 101 club, where you can access all of these recipes first. Want more proof? Try this Beef and Bacon Goulash freezer meal recipe.

Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet Recipe

Ingredients for Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage, browned. You can use pork sausage, chicken sausage, or turkey sausage
• 500 g fresh potato gnocchi
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz. diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• pepper
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

Ingredients to Add on the Day of Cooking

• 3-4 cups fresh spinach. Baby spinach will have fewer stems.

Assembly Instructions for Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet

1. Brown the sausage, chop the onion, mince the garlic, and shred the cheese.
2. Place the cheese into a medium resealable freezer bag.
3. Then, place all of the other ingredients into a large resealable freezer bag.
4. Seal the bags and staple them together above the seal.
5. Freeze for up to six months.

How to Cook Your Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet Freezer Meal

1. Thaw your freezer meal bag in the refrigerator overnight.
2. The next evening, pour the contents of the large bag into a skillet on medium-high heat.
3. Cover and cook for 5-6 minutes.
4. Next, stir in the spinach until wilted.
5. Top with cheese and cover for an additional 3-5 minutes to allow the cheese to melt. 

Can I use homemade gnocchi for this recipe?

Yes. Fresh gnocchi is best for this recipe. You can use homemade or store-bought gnocchi. If you want to use a package of shelf-stable gnocchi, you may have to increase the cooking time.

Do I need to pre-cook the gnocchi?

No. For this recipe, you do not want to precook the gnocchi. It should be frozen with the freezer meal and cooked in the skillet with everything else. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it all cooks in one pan, so clean-up is minimal.

Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet Recipe Ideas

Make it creamy. If you prefer a creamy sauce, stir 1/4 of the heavy cream or half and half into the dish after removing the skillet from the heat. The other contents will heat the cream without the risk of curdling it as it would over direct heat.

Add more sauce. You could make it more saucy with your favorite pasta sauce or tomato sauce. Or choose to go half and half with a red pasta sauce and some heavy cream or alfredo mixed in.

Change it up with veggies. Other ingredients that would work well in this dish include broccoli or broccoli rabe, diced red bell peppers, drained sun-dried tomatoes, diced summer squash, or sliced mushrooms. These can be added to the skillet to sauté a few minutes before adding the contents of the freezer meal bag.

Bring on the heat. Spice things up with red pepper flakes. Alternatively, you can sauté a hot chili pepper such as habenéro pepper first and then add the freezer bag ingredients.

Wait till later to add gnocchi. If you don’t have gnocchi when you are making your freezer meals, you can always leave that out and add gnocchi at the time of cooking.

Try different types of sausage! You can use mild, medium, or spicy Italian sausage. I recommend buying it without the casing, but if you can’t find anything else, just remove the casings when you brown the sausage. You can slit the casing with scissors and squeeze the sausage out. Chorizo is another option.

Change the protein. If you aren’t a sausage fan, you could use pepperoni slices, chicken, or ground beef instead.

Adapt the liquid amounts. Should you use a brand of tomatoes without as much liquid in the can, you may need to add a little water at a time until the pasta is cooked.

Try different herbs. Instead of basil, you could use an Italian spice blend or Herbs de Provence.

Keep it safe. Make sure you let your sausage cool completely before adding it to your freezer bags. You can spread it out on a sheet pan and pop it in the freezer to cool more quickly.

How do I store Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet leftovers?

You can refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days. We do not recommend freezing the leftovers because the cheese will change in texture.

Options of Reheating Sausage Gnocchi Skillet

Reheat a serving in the microwave for one to two minutes until heated thoroughly.

Another option is to reheat it on the stovetop on medium heat and add more broth as necessary.

What to Serve with the Sausage and Gnocchi Skillet

This one-dish meal is perfect by itself. Crusty garlic bread or a nice light salad are tasty complements to the rich gnocchi. You can always purchase garlic breadsticks and a bagged salad to keep things easy. Sautéed fresh green beans or Brussels sprouts would work perfectly as well.