crockpot chicken gnocchi soup

Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup – easy, comforting, lots of vegetables, no heavy cream. Perfect with crusty bread and a green salad.

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SCALE 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups mirepoix (just a simple mixture of chopped onions, celery, and carrots)
• 1–2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1–2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• 2 12 ounce cans evaporated milk
• 2 1lb. packages DeLallo mini potato gnocchi (about 4 cups)
• 6 slices bacon
• 2–3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 ounces fresh baby spinach

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the chicken, mirepoix, basil, Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, salt, and broth in a crockpot or slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken directly in the crockpot.
2. Add the cornstarch mixture, evaporated milk, and gnocchi. Stir and replace cover. Cook another 45 minutes – 1 hour until the soup has thickened and the gnocchi has softened.
3. While the soup is thickening, cut the bacon into small pieces and fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels and wipe most of the bacon grease out of the pan, leaving just a little bit for the spinach/garlic. Add the garlic and saute for one minute. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Remove from heat. Add the bacon and spinach to the crockpot. Stir to combine.
4. Add any additional liquid as needed (I added about a cup of water once it started to thicken) and season again with salt and pepper as needed.

NOTES

Be sure to taste and adjust with salt/pepper before serving. It may need more depending on the saltiness of your broth.

You can use something other than evaporated milk, but I found that evaporated milk has the creaminess of half and half or heavy whipping cream without actually needing to use up all my good half and half in the soup. 

The leftovers do soak up a lot of the moisture, so you might need to add more evaporated milk depending on how soupy you want it and/or how long you’ll be keeping it around.