I finally get to make a recipe I read long ago on an English site: fried potato gnocchi. You might say: “Fried?”. Yes, let’s call them quasi-fried—not deep-fried, but cooked in my trusty air fryer that I’ve been using since the first models came out years ago. The first one retired (my son took it) and I bought a newer, larger one.
Oh my, they turned out so good! I’d even say almost better than air-fried fries. I made just a test portion and they were gone before I could finish taking pictures. They’re quick to prepare, and you can also bake them in the oven as my reader Loredana did: you’ll find her method below.
I used vacuum-packed ready-made gnocchi—here in the Netherlands I find De Cecco—and I think these are better than fresh ones, which can be softer and risk falling apart during cooking. And you only need
Some other tasty, light side dishes thanks to the air fryer:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Minute
- Cooking time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 1
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz potato gnocchi (better if vacuum-packed ready-made ones)
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (1 measuring teaspoon)
- to taste dried thyme (or other spices to taste)
- 1 pinch salt
- Points per serving = 5 WW points
Tools
- Oil sprayer
- Air fryer
Preparation
First, weigh 3.5 oz of gnocchi, which is perfect for 1 person.
Here are the few ingredients needed for this recipe. I suggested using 1 teaspoon of oil to avoid messing with your Weight Watchers points; after all, not all my readers track them.
I used an oil spray and for me 10 sprays correspond to half a teaspoon of oil. So the points for the serving would be 4.5, possibly less since some oil remains on the hands and in the bowl.
Add salt, oil and dried thyme to the gnocchi and mix well with your hands so all the gnocchi are coated.
Cook the seasoned gnocchi directly in the air fryer basket at 356°F–392°F for 10 minutes, which is enough for a single portion. If you make more portions I suggest not putting more than about 14 oz (400 g) of gnocchi into the basket. Shake the basket from time to time during cooking.
In this recipe you see photos of my old air fryer, which was smaller and less powerful, so I set it to 392°F. Now I have a Philips XXL that is more powerful and 356°F is sufficient.
Cook the gnocchi for 10 minutes and then check if you need to leave them a few minutes longer: at the end they should be nicely golden.
For oven cooking I leave you the instructions and the photo of this version made by a dear reader and friend, Loredana Berto, whom I thank for collaborating.
Loredana mixed 5.3 oz (150 g) of potato gnocchi with 1 teaspoon of oil, salt and parsley in an earthenware dish. She baked it in a fan (convection) oven at 428°F for 15 minutes and then used the grill function for another 15 minutes.
The tip is to check the gnocchi often in the last quarter hour to avoid burning. And here’s the result: they turned out great!
And here our fried potato gnocchi in the air fryer are ready. I placed lemon slices as a garnish but next time I will squeeze some over them: the gnocchi took a bit of lemon flavor and were delicious.
I didn’t think they would be this good. Also, 3.5 oz seemed a little but you get a nice small bowlful.
They’re crispy on the outside but remain firm inside, so you have to chew—they don’t go down like fried chips, if you know what I mean. Those who are on a diet will certainly understand!
Let me know if you liked this recipe below in the comments or on Facebook.
Enjoy your meal!
by Giovanna Buono
Notes
Source: Air Fried Crispy Gnocchi
