This low carb and keto-friendly version of gnocchi is just 2 ingredients and doesn’t require any special flours. The gnocchi are easy to make and come out soft, chewy and cheesy.
I love eating gnocchi but rarely make it at home. This gnocchi is much easier than traditional gnocchi and they come out soft, pillowy and chewy.
Ingredients
- Mozzarella Cheese
- Egg Yolks
Mozzarella Cheese
Make sure to use pre-shredded low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese. The majority of pre-shredded mozzarella cheeses you find at the grocery store are usually low moisture and part-skim so it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Because mozzarella has so much moisture in it, you want to stick with a low moisture mozzarella.
You also want to use a pre-shredded one because these are treated with a little bit of starch to keep the cheese shreds from sticking together. (You can check the nutrition label to make sure you aren’t using one that adds a lot of starch or carbs). I try to stick with a pre-shredded mozzarella that uses only a minimal amount of starch. Just a little bit helps the pasta hold together. For this recipe I used Costco’s Kirkland shredded mozzarella cheese.
How to Make the Gnocchi Dough
- The dough is made by first melting the cheese and then mixing in the egg yolk.
- The dough is then left to chill for about 30 minutes until you can roll it out.
- Once the dough is rolled out into logs, you cut off chunks with a sharp knife. You can leave the chunks as they are, or you can use the back of a fork to make the gnocchi’s signature grooves.
- The pasta is then boiled in water briefly until just cooked. The gnocchi will puff up and slightly lose their shape as they cook, but they should retain some of the ridges.
Sauces to Serve with Gnocchi
Gnocchi is often served with a butter sauce or pesto. Because these gnocchi are so heavy and made almost exclusively from cheese, I decided to use a lighter sauce so I used marinara sauce. Rao’s is my favorite no sugar added marinara sauce.
More Keto Pasta Recipes
Keto Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese
- 2 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Add cheese to a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat at 30 second intervals, stirring in between using a spatula, until cheese is uniformly melted and resembles dough. (Mine took about 1 minute 30 seconds). Let cheese cool slightly if it is too hot to touch.
- Add in egg yolks. Fold egg yolks into the dough until the egg yolks are completely and evenly incorporated. This can take a few minutes but you should see the egg yolk slowly work itself into the cheese dough, You want to work it in until the cheese dough is almost uniformly yellow in color. The dough will be very sticky. Split dough into two dough balls and place into fridge to cool for about 30 minutes.
- While dough is chilling, prepare whatever sauce you plan on serving your gnocchi with. Keep sauce warm so it is ready when your gnocchi is done.
- Once chilled, the dough should be easier to work with. Place dough on a flat surface lined with parchment paper. Roll dough out into logs, 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut off chunks of dough (about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide). If desired, press one side of the dough chunk onto the back of a fork and roll the dough off the fork to create ridges/grooves.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Working quickly, add all the gnocchi and reduce water to a gentle boil. You want it bubbling but not as vigourouslyas a full rolling boil. Cook gnocchi for about 1 minute. Keep very careful watch because if you cook too long the dough will melt and lose its shape. Gnocchi should puff up and float to the surface. Once they have all floated to the surface, remove from heat and rinse them under cold water a few times before draining and placing onto plates. You don't want to fully cool the gnocchi down, but rinsing them under cold water will help them set. Your gnocchi should still be very warm. If desired, you can press the back of the fork onto any pieces that lost their ridges during cooking. Serve with sauce of your choice.
Notes
- Make sure to use pre-shredded low moisture part skim mozzarella cheese. Regular mozzarella cheese has too much moisture and will fall apart. Pre-shredded cheese is also treated with a tiny bit of starch which will help the gnocchi hold its shape during cooking. A lot of pre-shredded mozzarella cheese is low moisture and part-skim so this should not be hard to find.
- Make sure to only use the egg yolks, no egg whites.
- Be careful not to cook your pasta too long or it will melt. The pasta should be done a few seconds after it floats to the surface.Â
- Also be careful not to cook at a full boil because the vigorous bubbling may cause the gnocchi to melt and lose their shape.
- I used Rao's marinara sauce. I also have a garlic butter sauce and pesto sauce that would pair well, which are linked in the body of the post under "Sauces to Serve With Gnocchi"
- Nutrition is for the gnocchi without any sauce.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
i like that its only 2 ingretiens and its so good
We’re happy you enjoyed the recipe!
As a single person, should I just halve the recipe and make 1 serving, or is there some way to sucessfully reheat this? It seems like microwaving would simply result in gooey cheesy mess. Thanks!
You could try keeping the plain gnocchi in the fridge and them warming them in the sauce that you plan to use. They should warm up pretty quick. We haven’t tried this so can’t say for sure how it will work – let us know if you try it.
Hello I really love your recipes usually they’re right on the money. You’re three ingredient apple bread I make it all the time, instead of using unsweetened applesauce I use like the apple banana squeezies for the kids oh my God it comes out delicious and I always use the sweet and condensed milk instead of the regular milk except when I make it for the dogs then I use the regular milk and I use the applesauce and whole wheat self-rising for the dogs they love that recipe. But now this recipe yet didn’t really work out however I made your dough after it chilled I cut it and molded into balls in bread crumbs and put it in the air fryer for 7 minutes at 300° and sometimes it varies dependent of course on your air fryer. And basically they came out exactly like mozzarella sticks and I dip them in tomato sauce, love. Thanks so much and I hope you put some more 4 ingredients or less recipes up and more things I could do with applesauce. Thank you!
We have lots of Recipes with 4 Ingredients or Less you should try!
I made this but instead of boiling (because when I boil, it turns into a cheesy glob) I actually put the little pieces on a cookie sheet on a silicone baking sheet and baked them at 425 until golden they started to get a little golden and then served with the sauce. They were delicious little cheese puffs and worked great.
Thanks for sharing your tips!
The gnocchi did not float, were only in the water 5 seconds before they turned to bottom dwelling melted fragments of cheese with odd white floaty flakes. The dough had a nice consistency before boiling, but as soon as it hit the water to boil this recipe failed.
We’re sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe. Did you use pre-shredded cheese? We find that works best to hold the shape of the gnocchi.
Im trying the Keto diet i need different recipes that i can cook and stay on track. Im diabetic and LUPUS so i really need to change my eating habits. So please help me with this.
We share lots of keto recipes which you can find here on the site. You can also get our email notifications when we post new recipes so be sure to sign up for that.
They. Look so easy