
So, do you fall in the pro-mushrooms or anti-mushrooms camp?
In my experience entertaining and cooking for people for years, most people tend to passionately fall in one camp or the other. Which means that I rarely find myself cooking mushrooms when people are coming over, just to be safe. But when it’s just me — or me and Barclay (thankfully I’m dating pro-!) — eating dinner together, I find myself tossing mushrooms into a recipe as often as possible. Can’t get enough of ’em!
That said, for the first twenty years of my life, my mom will be the first to tell you that I was firmly in the anti-fungii camp. Whenever she would try and cook recipes with a can of cream of mushroom soup, I would dissect my plate for the entire first half of the meal, trying to pick out those microscopic mushrooms. And of course, I wouldn’t even come near any dish where mushrooms were left whole and easy to spot. No way, Jose.
But I still remember — yes, of all the moments in life, weirdly this memory stuck with me — that all changed one night at Chili’s. I had just moved to Kansas City after college, and was out with friends for a late dinner after church, and a friend had ordered some steak fajitas. Knowing how much I love steak, she offered me a few bites, and I reached over and picked up a piece of steak with my fork. But once I took a bite, I realized it was definitely not steak, and instead was the biggest bite of a portobello mushroom I’d ever had in my life. And — much to my surprise — I loved it!!!
Ever since that night, I’ve been very happily in the pro- camp, happily taste-testing any new mushroom I come across. And I love tossing as many of them into a dish as I can — like in this tasty gnocchi recipe! I decided to go the “descriptive” route and name it Toasted Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Basil and Parmesan. But let’s be real, this is totally a Mushroom Lovers’ Gnocchi. :)

I randomly came up with this one awhile back when I was craving mushrooms galore, and wanted something hearty besides pasta. I always keep a few boxes of gnocchi in the pantry, so I grabbed one of those, and decided to make something happen.
Well, first, I took a quick walk down to our enormous Asian market in my neighborhood to grab some mushrooms. They always have about 10 different kinds for sale, which I love experimenting with. But for this recipe, I kept it simple and just picked up a carton of shiitakes and baby bellas. (Feel free to use whichever a mix of any kinds you like, though!)

Then I sauteed them with some butter while the gnocchi cooked. Then added the gnocchi and lots of garlic to the pan and sauteed it until it got nice and toasted and browned. Then came some white wine, then some basil, then some Parmesan, and…
…voila! This delicious dish was the result.
It only took about 20 minutes to make, it’s wonderfully rich and hearty (trust me, you meat-eaters won’t miss a thing!), and it’s full of the most delicious, rich, fresh, savory flavors. I loved it so much I made a second batch later that week, just to “test” it — and by that, I mean eat so much of it — one more time. And it’s definitely a winner.

So if you are pro-mushrooms and love them as much as I do, I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try. Enjoy, friends!
Toasted Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Basil and Parmesan
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This recipe for Toasted Gnocchi with Mushroom, Basil and Parmesan is quick and easy to make, nice and hearty, and full of rich and delicious flavors.
Ingredients
- 1 pound (uncooked) potato gnocchi*, homemade or store-bought
- 8 ounces baby bella or white button mushrooms, sliced
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup julienned or roughly-chopped fresh basil leaves, loosely-packed
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Instructions
- Cook gnocchi according to package directions in a large stockpot of generously-salted boiling water. Drain, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, as the gnocchi is cooking, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft and slightly browned. Then add in the cooked gnocchi and garlic and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant and the gnocchi is lightly toasted and browned around the edges.
- Carefully add in the wine, and give the mixture a good stir. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half.
- Remove pan from the heat, stir in the fresh basil and Parmesan until combined.
- Serve immediately, garnished with extra Parmesan if desired.
Notes
*If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, be sure to use cook or purchase GF gnocchi.




I made this and had a few modifications with what I had – as I only had dry basil, and only had baby bella mushrooms, and after I added the wine for the few minutes, I added a dash of half n half. This recipe was delicious and I’ll be making it again for sure! Thank you!
Loved this! I didn’t do exact quantities as didn’t have scales but flavours went together wonderfully!!
Just made this! Delicious!
I LOVE gnocchi and this application was a delight. I will say that I have toasted the gnocchi without 1sr boiling and I think I might do it this way next time. I feel like it toasts better that way.
My only regret = not buying enough shitake mushrooms.
My hubby said this dish was restaurant quality. Can’t wait to make this again!!!
Hi! I’m trying to watch what I eat, and this recipe caught my eye! How many calories would you say are in this meal?
Quick, easy and delicious.
Love this recipe! You can change up the mushrooms or add in extra veggies and it turns out yummy every time. One thing I highly recommend is to pan fry the gnocchi instead of boiling it. I just add uncooked packaged gnocchi to a skillet with some butter and sautéed them until light golden brown. It’ll change the way you make gnocchi from now on, so delicious and such a wonderful texture. Give it a try!
We tried this tonight. Due to Covid-19, we had to make substitutions (king oyster mushrooms for white cap mushrooms, white wine vinegar for dry white wine). Otherwise we followed the recipe and it was absolutely delicious. It was the first time in a while that my husband and I had a meatless meal, and we can see how easily this could be gluten- and dairy-free as well. This is a treat and could easily become a regular in our dinner routine!
We are super picky about gnocchi, it’s normally too mushy for our taste. This was EXCELLENT and I can’t stop thinking about it, want to make it every night now.
Such a simple, delicious recipe, and easy to make vegan too. Thank you!