One Skillet Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Gnocchi
Food should bring us comfort, joy, and pleasure, this Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Gnocchi provides all of that and is the ultimate comfort dish. The drive to get comfort from food isn’t a bad thing either, it’s a drive to take care of yourself.
Food is more than just fuel. Of the many things food can provide us, comfort may be one of the most important in times of stress and anxiety. Food has the ability to conjure up memories of good times with family and a sense of security and feeling that you are being taken care of.
Turning to food for comfort is a form of emotional eating. The term ’emotional eating’ usually brings up negative connotations but emotional eating is not a bad thing! Eating is supposed to be emotional. You should have a connection with food, otherwise, we would lose out on a lot of the positive things food has to offer besides nutrients.
Know that an emotional connection with food is part of a healthy relationship with food, it should bring us comfort, joy, and pleasure. The drive to emotionally eat is a drive to take care of yourself. We get in trouble when it might be our only coping mechanism or we feel shame for doing it. Being aware of what our feelings and emotions are that drive us to reach for food as an emotional release is key. Once you are aware of what you are thinking/feeling around food you can start to identify what your true emotional needs are that food cannot meet like companionship, acceptance, happiness, respect, etc.
Choosing food as a way to soothe emotions is still a viable choice and making it a conscious choice brings intentionality to the act rather than mindless eating as a way to numb feelings.
Some of my favorite ways to show myself compassion and cope with emotions are through food:
- Baking cookies or bread. Both the act of baking is a distraction and the reward of eating are enjoyable.
- Using it as an excuse to gather with friends and family.
- Ordering pizza in after an exhausting week.
- Cooking a recipe that reminds me of dishes my mom made growing up like ricotta stuffed shells.
- Making comfort food…. thus this recipe was born.
The best thing about this Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Gnocchi is how easy it is to make- one pan is all you need.
I boiled and then shredded the chicken but you also have the option of baking it and shredding it or using a rotisserie chicken as well.
Fresh basil would be a great addition to this dish as well. Oh, and let me emphasize one more time how easy this dinner really is, it doesn’t look it but trust me on this one.
Other feel great recipes to check out are this Lentil, Sausage, and Kale Soup or these Dark Chocolate & Butterscotch Cookies!
One Skillet Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Gnocchi
Difficulty: Easy5
servings10
minutes20
minutes30
minutesOne skillet sun dried tomato chicken gnocchi dinner that comforts and is easy to make!
Ingredients
2 cups shredded chicken, baked, boiled, or rotisserie
1 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup sun dried tomatoes
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
12 oz. gnocchi
2 cups shredded chicken, baked, boiled, or rotisserie
2 cups baby spinach leaves
½ cup grated Asiago cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh basil, chopped (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350. Place 5-6 oz chicken breast on sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in oven.
- While chicken is baking, in a large skillet over medium heat, drizzle olive oil and sauté garlic and sun dried tomatoes until garlic becomes aromatic and fragrant.
- Add in chicken broth and heavy cream to skillet. As the sauce begins to cook add in uncooked gnocchi, cover pan and cook for additional 5 minutes until gnocchi cooked through and fluffy.
- Once chicken is cooked through remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes and then shred.
- Remove cover and mix in shredded chicken and spinach leaves, cooking an additional 3 to 5 minutes until spinach is wilted.
- Sprinkle with asiago cheese and cook until melted, serve and enjoy!
