This scrumptious gnocchi with tomato sauce is easy enough for a weeknight, but also perfect for special dinners. Full of flavor and on the table in about 30 minutes!
Pasta is so versatile! I mean, I regularly make pasta as a quick weeknight meal, but I'm also totally pleased to have pasta for a holiday or date-night dinner.
Special dinners warrant taking your pasta up a notch, in my opinion. You know, with little tweaks like making your own sauce or using varieties of pasta that aren't your norm. And the great thing is that even with these little upgrades, a pasta dinner like this one is still super easy to throw together.
This tomato gnocchi is my new go-to all-occasion pasta dinner. Using gnocchi as our pasta makes it extra special, but the cool thing is that gnocchi cooks up just as easily as any old type of pasta. The gnocchi tomato sauce packs a flavor punch thanks to a bit of red wine, zesty red pepper flakes, and fresh basil. This is an all-around show stopping meal.
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What You'll Need
- Olive oil. I don't recommend substituting another type of oil, as olive will give your red wine tomato sauce the best flavor.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Red wine. Use a full-bodied dry variety of red wine, such as cabernet or zinfandel. Not all red wines are vegan, so check with Barnivore to ensure that the one you select is.
- Canned tomato sauce.
- Canned diced tomatoes. You can use tomatoes that are packed in juice or sauce — I don't find that it makes a big difference in this dish.
- Sugar. This helps balance out the acidity of the tomatoes and wine, but you can leave it out if you're absolutely opposed to added sugar. Be sure to use organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan.
- Dried oregano.
- Red pepper flakes. These add a tiny bit of heat to the dish. Feel free to skip them for a mild sauce, or use more than the recipe calls for if you'd like an extra kick.
- Potato gnocchi. We're using shelf-stable gnocchi, sold in the pasta aisle of most supermarkets. Most varieties of shelf-stable gnocchi that I've come across are vegan, but be sure to check the ingredients to be sure.
- Salt & pepper.
- Fresh basil leaves.
How to Make Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
- Heat some olive oil in a medium pot, then add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, making sure to stir it often to prevent burning. Once the onion becomes soft and translucent, stir in some minced garlic and cook it with the onion for about a minute.
- Stir in the wine, bring it to a simmer, and let it cook until it reduces by about half. This should take 3 minutes or so.
- Stir in the tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring the sauce up to a simmer and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until it thickens up a bit.
- Tip: Feel free to cook the sauce longer if you'd like — up to a full hour! The flavors will mellow with a longer simmer. You can add a splash of water here and there if it becomes too thick at any point.
- While the sauce simmers, cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Shelf stable gnocchi only take about 2 minutes to cook, so you can get started on this when the sauce has 5 to 10 minutes left to go!
- Tip: I used to always splash (and end up getting burned) when adding gnocchi to boiling water. But not anymore! My trick: transfer the uncooked gnocchi to a plate, then back away a bit and gently slide the gnocchi into the pot.
- Take your sauce off of the burner, stir in some basil, along with salt and pepper to taste.
- Drain your gnocchi into a colander when it's done boiling, then transfer it to the pot with the sauce. Stir up your gnocchi and tomato sauce and serve right away! I like to top mine with a sprinkle of vegan Parmesan cheese.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover gnocchi with tomato sauce will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yup! Just use a vegan and gluten-free variety of gnocchi, such as that made by De Lallo.
Try leaving it out and adding a tablespoon or two of balsamic vinegar at the same time as the tomatoes.
Yup! Just cook your onions and garlic in a small amount of water instead.
Many brands of shelf-stable gnocchi are vegan, including De Lallo, De Cecco, and Wegman's brand. Always check the ingredients list to be safe though. Frozen gnocchi is more likely to be made with eggs in my experience.
More Gnocchi Recipes
- Fried Gnocchi with Mushrooms
- Vegan Gnocchi with Creamy Lemon Garlic Sauce
- Creamy Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
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Gnocchi with Zesty Red Wine Tomato Sauce
This scrumptious gnocchi with tomato sauce is easy enough for a weeknight, but also perfect for special dinners. Full of flavor and on the table in about 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup dry red wine
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can tomato sauce
- 1 (14 ounce or 400 gram) can diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 (16 ounce or 454 gram) package shelf-stable potato gnocchi
- Salt & pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
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Coat the bottom of a medium pot with the olive oil and place it over medium heat.
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When the oil is hot, add the onion. Cook the onion for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft and translucent.
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Stir in the garlic and cook it with the onion for about 1 minute, until very fragrant.
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Stir in the wine and bring it up to a simmer. Let it cook until reduced by half, about 3 minutes.
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Stir in the tomato sauce, tomatoes, sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
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Bring the sauce to a simmer and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.
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When the sauce has about 10 minutes left to cook, begin bringing a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi and cook it according to the package directions.
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Drain the cooked gnocchi into a colander.
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When the sauce has finished simmering, remove the pot from heat.
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Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in the basil. Stir in the gnocchi.
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Divide onto plates and serve.
That’s a lot of sodium! Was the sodium from the gnocchi or the tomatoes/sauce?
It's actually both. You could reduce it a bit by using reduced sodium tomato products. I haven't come across reduced sodium gnocchi, but you could always use a different type of pasta, or make your own. Here's a recipe I have bookmarked: https://www.thecuriouschickpea.com/homemade-vegan-gnocchi-recipe/ - just reduce the sodium as much as you'd like!
I’m new to gnocchi so I was wondering if frozen would work in place of shelf stable.
Yup! It will work just fine. I just specified shelf-stable gnocchi in the recipe because I have a hard time finding vegan frozen gnocchi.