Slow Cooker Gnocchi in Creamy Pork Sauce
I made this slow cooker gnocchi for Sunday dinner the week before Christmas and everyone absolutely raved about it. It was so incredibly easy to make and is the perfect cold-weather dinner now that winter seems to have finally arrived. A pork shoulder is simmered in crushed tomatoes and some simple seasonings; once it is so tender it’s falling apart, cream and gnocchi are stirred into the mixture. A sprinkling of grated cheese and some parsley, a loaf of crusty Italian bread, and dinner is served.
I saw the original recipe over on Bev Cooks and made a couple of adjustments…
I doubled her recipe, which I’ve reflected below, because we typically have at least five people for dinner on Sundays and we love to load up on leftovers for the week.
Secondly, her recipe called for diced tomatoes, but I much prefer a thicker, richer tomato sauce without big chunks of tomatoes, so I opted to use crushed tomatoes instead.
This turned out absolutely amazing and will be stashed away as an easy go-to slow cooker meal in my rotation.
Four years ago: Chicken Noodle Soup
Six years ago: Rugelach
Slow Cooker Gnocchi in Creamy Pork Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 to 5 pound (1.8 to 2.3 kg) bone-in pork shoulder
- 56 ounce (1.59 kg) canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ cup (119 g) heavy cream
- 2 pounds (907.18 g) dried gnocchi
Instructions
- Spray a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the diced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker and top with the garlic. Place the pork shoulder on top of the onion and garlic. Pour one can of the crushed tomatoes over the pork and around the sides. Sprinkle the Italian seasoning all over and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the second can of crushed tomatoes over. Cover and cook on low for 11 hours.
- Remove the bone and the layer of fat on the pork and discard. Stir in the heavy cream and then stir in the gnocchi. Cover and cook for an additional 1 hour on low. Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Fabulously easy, and the best of comfort food for a winter dinner. I tweaked this only a little- adding ricotta cheese instead of the cream and adding some basil and rosemary in addition to the Italian seasoning. Will definitely be making this again! 😍
Delicious! It been a family favorite for years.
We made this for dinner this evening. We had a ton of extra liquid (from the meat?) it was almost overflowing the slow-cooker crock. I poured it into a pan to reduce it before I added it back to the slow-cooker, which gave everything a really meaty flavor. And we couldn’t find dried gnocchi so we had to use frozen. But even with all the minor inconveniences this was totally worth it. Delicious!
You could try finding the dried gnocchi online. Amazon probably has it and can often be delivered in 1 or 2 days.
This was wonderful and so easy to make!
I was wondering how large a serving size is. All nutritional information is there but there isnt any serving size reference.
Your recipe here, which sounds delicious, calls for a bone-in pork shoulder, but I already have a boneless Boston Butt pork roast on hand to prepare today. Can I use that instead and will it be tender enough? Are there any modifications that I will need to make? Thank you for your assistance :)
is there a way to adapt this for a pressure cooker??
Hi Shelley, I’m sure there is, but unfortunately I’m not at all knowledgeable about pressure cookers :(
Is it possible to translate this to be prepared stove top? (only my 2 quart crock pot is currently operational which seems too small)
Hi Charlotte, I don’t think you could make this effectively on the stovetop. If you couldn’t use a slow cooker, I would recommend a Dutch oven or other heavy covered pot in the oven at 300 or 325 for a number of hours until the pork is falling apart tender.
Are you able to freeze the leftovers or do you keep them in the fridge? If the latter, how long do they keep?
Hi Pegy, I’ve never tried to freeze this, just kept in the refrigerator (up to 4 days). If you need to freeze it, you may need to add more liquid when you thaw/reheat.
This was so good! I had some gnocchi and a pork roast in the freezer, and I’m super glad I did. It was really convenient to just let the pork go in the slow cooker all day and then add the gnocchi a few minutes before we were ready to eat. I’ll definitely be making this one again!
This looks amazing! I saw that someone asked about substituting half-and-half to make the dish a little healthier. I was thinking of perhaps using full-fat sour cream. That would keep the dish creamy; what do you think?
Hi Jodi, I think it would thicken up the dish more than heavy cream would; if you try it, let me know how it goes!
Hi Michelle,
I made this dish last night but for some reason it didn’t work….
It began really well, the meat smelt amazing every time I walked into the room and I was SO looking forward to eating it.
But it was the gnocchi that didn’t cook even though there were plenty of juices to cook it in.
It went on 2 hours and still it wasn’t cook.
I ended up putting it on the stove and cooking it there but it still wasn’t cooked enough in the end.
Can you tell me what could have gone wrong please?
Maroula
Hi Maroula, I’m so sorry this didn’t work for you. I can’t imagine why gnocchi wouldn’t have been cooked after 2 hours and then on the stove. I’d think they’d be beyond mushy at that point! It doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong.
Could I use half-n-half to cut some of the fat/calories for this recipe?
Hi Carrie, You can, but your sauce just might not be as thick.
A delicious recipe that I just made for Valentine’s supper in 2017. Thank you for sharing such a fantastic recipe. My husband loved it.
Looks amazing! Can’t wait to try.
Can you use a pork loin and it still work okay?
Hi Valerie, A pork loin is a much leaner cut of meat than the pork shoulder, so it may not end up as tender or flavorful.
I made this tonight and it was incredible! So easy and so delicious!
If I wanted to cook it on high instead of low would I just cut the cooling time in half?
Hi Syd, If you want to cook this on high, do 7 hours.