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Homemade gluten-free vegan (egg-free) gnocchi
I am really excited to share this recipe with you! I have been working on it for months. But it was worth it because finally, I have perfected it. These gluten-free vegan gnocchi are now my go-to recipe when I make homemade gnocchi. Just 3 simple ingredients (water and salt not counted), some love and ready are delicious gnocchi which do not fall apart or are sticky.
Chickpea flour and tapioca flour
When I started experimenting with a homemade gluten-free vegan gnocchi recipe, I made the dough with rice flour and cornstarch. And the result was pretty decent. I mean it was OK but not perfect. The version with chickpea flour and tapioca flour is so much better. The rice flour version kinda turned out a bit sticky after cooking. I mean it’s normal that gluten-free gnocchi are a little bit sticky. Since I am a perfectionist I wasn’t 100% satisfied with the result and kept experimenting.
Chickpea flour and tapioca flour are the perfect combo. I’ve used these flours already before in my homemade gluten-free tortillas. So many people rave about the recipe btw. And this amazing flour combination makes the homemade gnocchi firm. At the same time, the gnocchi are soft and flexible. They only tun out sticky when you cook them for too long. Two to three minutes is enough and the gnocchi are done. You will see it once they float on the top of the water.
Protein-rich recipe
Another reason why I love using chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo bean flour) is, that it’s protein-rich. These homemade gluten-free vegan gnocchi actually contain more protein than store-bought wheat based gnocchi. Isn’t that amazing?! And they are SO MUCH healthier than store-bought gnocchi since they don’t contain any preservatives and other scary ingredients.
These homemade gnocchi are:
- Vegan
- Egg-free
- Gluten-free
- Protein-rich
- Healthy
- Easy to make
- Perfect for all kind of gnocchi dishes
Frying the gnocchi
You will need to cook the gnocchi in salted water for about 2-4 minutes (or until they float on top of the water). You can serve them immediately (however, they will still be a bit soft at first) or you can fry them in a pan with a little bit oil until they are golden brown and crispy!
How to serve
I love them fried because they taste so delicious when they are crispy. They taste great with roasted chickpeas or mushrooms, with vegan cheese sauce and even plain! You can also serve them with tomato sauce like these homemade Gnocchi All’Arrabiata.
Freezable recipe
These homemade gluten-free vegan gnocchi can be frozen. I always make a bigger quantity of gnocchi and then freeze half of the batch (I freeze them BEFORE cooking). It’s convenient to have them in the freezer as it saves so much time.
If you make this recipe and maybe even take a photo of it, then I would love to see it. You can DM it to me on Instagram. Don’t forget to tag me in your Insta caption + photo with @elavegan and use the hashtag #elavegan and I will gladly check out your post.
Homemade gluten-free vegan gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 lbs (1 kg) potatoes (e.g. Yukon Gold), peeled and chopped
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups (180-240 g) chickpea flour
- 1 cup (120 g) tapioca flour + more for dusting (*see recipe notes)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe. Check the video in the blog post for easy visual instructions.
- Peel and chop potatoes, transfer them to a pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until tender, drain. Transfer back to the pot and mash with a potato masher (don't use a food processor or blender).
- Add 1 1/2 cups of chickpea flour and the tapioca flour and knead with your hands until a dough forms.
- The dough might still be a bit sticky but it should be fine to handle. However, if the dough is too sticky then add more chickpea flour and knead again. It depends on the type of potato whether you will need 1 1/2 cups or 1 2/3 cups or up to 2 cups of chickpea flour.
- Cut the dough into equally sized pieces and dust with a little bit tapioca flour.
- With your fingers, roll each piece to strands. Use a knife to cut the dough into 1-inch pieces and form them to small balls with your hands. You can roll every ball over the back of a fork if you want ridges on your gnocchi (this step is optional). Watch the video above to see how easy it is.
- Add the gnocchi to a pot of salted boiling water. Once the gnocchi rise to the surface (after only 2-4 minutes), remove them with a slotted spoon.
- You can now serve them with a sauce of choice OR fry them for a few minutes in a pan with a little bit of vegan butter or vegetable oil. They will turn crispy and even more delicious. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use arrowroot flour or cornstarch instead of tapioca flour. I had the best result with tapioca flour though.
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Can you share your recipe using rice flour? I know you mentioned in the beginning the chickpea/tapioca was more successful but we are low food chemicals on an elimination diet
Hi Rebecca, the last recipe with rice flour I have written in my notes is the following one. Please note that I haven’t tested it any further in the last 3 years, and the chickpea flour version turned out much better. Therefore, please experiment with it.
600 g potatoes
80 g rice flour (white)
60 g potato starch
2 chia eggs (2 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 6 tbsp water)
Salt
Hello! This recipe looks great. Can you clarify whether you are using actual tapioca flour (cassava) or tapioca starch? I’m assuming it’s the starch because of the starches you mention can be substituted in the notes. However, I don’t want to use the wrong one and end up with a mess. Thank you!
Hi Dee, tapioca flour and tapioca starch are the same. I am not using cassava flour. 🙂
Hello, can i use different flour instead of the tapioca?
Yes, and it’s actually mentioned in the recipe notes:
Will try them this week! thanks ELA
I’ am paleo a d like your re ipes
I made this yesterday and it was fantastic! At proper pasta shops in Italy they don’t need egg and neither does this recipe. Soft, pillowy gnocchi and super quick and easy to make. I served mine with a homemade rocket pesto and can’t wait to make this again with a marinara sauce. Thank you!
Awesome! I am so glad it turned out incredible! Thanks for your amazing feedback. 🙂
Although not vegan, I added an egg and it turned out phenomenally! Rolled just like it was made with regular flour! I will be making this again!
Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hallo Ela,
ich liebe deine Rezepte!! Jetzt hätte ich ein frage: Kann ich bei Kichererbsenmehl einfach Kichererbsen im Mixer zermahlen & bei Hafermehl Haferflocken & etc.? 🙂
LG, Benita
Hallo Benita, bei Haferflocken geht das auf jeden Fall, so mache ich es immer. Bei Kichererbsen musst du schon einen extrem guten Mixer haben, der die klein bekommt, ansonsten rate ich eher dazu gekauftes zu kaufen. 🙂
LG, Ela
Made this few nights ago and it worked out great. After boiling all the pieces I fried them in batches which removed any gumminess and gave a nice flavour (no chickpea flour taste). Every piece held together perfectly and I’ve tried freezing and unfreezing leftovers with success. Will use this recipe again!
That’s awesome, Lea! I am glad they turned out amazing and that you were able to freeze and unfreeze leftovers! Thanks for your great feedback.
Had to add more than 1 extra cup of flour and the dough was still extremely wet and could not be formed.
Hey, Kaylee! Did you use potatoes that were quite watery instead of Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes? I never used more than the amount of chickpea flour indicated in the recipe even when using a different potato type that contains less starch. So many people tried this recipe with success, so I guess something must have gone totally wrong.
I was so skeptical… Gluten free gnocchi with chickpea flour? But they turned out delicious!! I had to use corn starch but will fur sure be buying tapioca for the future when I will make them. Will make a bigger batch for freezing. I was also surprised by how quickly these are made! Thaaank you for this recipe!
My pleasure, Laura! I am very happy they turned out great! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Hi Ela,
I printed out this recipe a couple days ago and I finally took the time to make them. And it was a lot quicker and easier than I thought. I fried them after boiling, they turned out nice and crispy. Added some tomatoes and fresh avocados and they were delicious!!! Gonna make them next week again 🙂 Thank you for the amazing recipe,
That’s awesome, Monika! I am so glad they turned out delicious. 🙂
Thanks for your feedback!
Made this recipe for a vegan gluten-free friend during her cancer treatments. Unfortunately the gnocchi become very mushy when boiled and tasted weird probably because of the chickpea flour. I should have read the reviews first but was quite disappointed cause I made a double recipe for her to freeze 🙁
Did you add the gnocchi once the water reached a hard boil? If it was just simmering, the gnocchi might become a bit mushy (which is normal though because we are not using all-purpose flour). They will firm up once they cool and after frying, of course. Please watch the video to see how I make them.
You can also prepare them differently like my German Schupfnudeln. Fry them first, then steam with a little water in a pan covered with a lid. Check the instruction for further information: https://elavegan.com/german-schupfnudeln/
The recipe has great reviews (also check the reviews on my German site and on Pinterest) and if done correctly, the gnocchi turn out amazing, considering the fact that they are vegan (no eggs) AND gluten-free! Check the photo reviews on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/541206080221738545/activity/tried
One German reader also wrote that you can replace part of the chickpea flour with lupin flour (Lupinenmehl) and another reader replaced part of the chickpea flour or potato flour.
Hi Ela, for few days I wanted to make homemade Gnocchi and your recipe ia just perfect match with what I have at home. Only thing that concerns me – my gnocchi taste kind of weird because of the chickpea flour, is this normal?
Hello Antoniya! Once the gnocchi are cooked, they don’t taste weird to me. Did you check if your chickpea flour is still good or does it smell weird? 🙂
Hello, is tapioca for the same as tapioca starch or cassava flour?
Thanks for the recipe! I’m looking forward to trying it!
Hi Daniela! Tapioca flour is the same as tapioca starch but not the same as cassava flour! 🙂
Hi can the gnocchi be frozen before of after boiling??
Hey! You should freeze them before boiling! 🙂
After reading so many gnocchi recipes and trying other recipes with cassava flour, I made a tweak here. Instead of boiling the potatoes, I baked them until fork tender, scooped out the flesh (saved the skins for stuffed potato skins!) and decreased the chickpea flour down to 1 cup (less moisture with a baked potato) and tapioca starch to 1/2 cup. They are so much less likely to be gummy if you mash dry baked potatoes than making boiled potatoes. I boiled a test batch and they were perfect! They crisp up perfectly in a pan too. Thanks for a great recipe. The whole fam gobbled it up and I’m looking forward to making the next batch for the freezer.
Sounds awesome! Thanks for your helpful comment. 🙂
I am not sure what happened but mine turned out gummy and were not the same colour. Disappointed since they are time consuming to make. I made sure to not let them boil too long. It’s too bad because they look delicious
Did you use the exact same ingredients measured in grams? It’s strange that you say yours had a different color because chickpea flour is yellow, so your dough shouldn’t have a different color! Maybe your chickpea flour is somewhat different?! I have tried the recipe so many times and it works every time without problems. Also, so many others have tried it with success.
Hi! I’m planning on making this recipe this week, but I had a question. Do you know what would happen if I only used half the tapioca starch as the recipe? I’m trying to lower the carbs in the recipe.
Hi Ada, I am not sure how the gnocchi will turn out if you change the recipe.
Hi! My family comes to visit and they asked me to make them gnocchi! However, this alone is not enough for the whole family. Which side-dish could go well with this recipe?
Thanks in advance!
I love to serve them with Mushroom Stroganoff: https://elavegan.com/vegan-mushroom-stroganoff-gluten-free-recipe/
Turned out great, thanks! Been craving GF/DF gnocchi for a while and it’s nearly impossible to find it pre-made. Grateful for your recipe!
Have you tried refrigerating the dough to finish making the gnocchi the next day? Or do I need to freeze it? I have about half of it left and wanted to make the rest tomorrow.
Hi Emmy, I am glad you like the recipe. 🙂
I haven’t tried refrigerating the dough to finish making the gnocchi the next day, however, I believe it should work.
Can these also be made using sweet potatoes? Or maybe half and half? Thank you for the awesome Vegan recipes… Can’t wait to try your nut free vegan Alfredo 🙂
Hi Tania, please check the comment above yours from “Brigitte”! She wrote this:
“I used your recipe but used it with baked sweet potato instead. Since sweet potatoes seem to have more moisture, the dough was a bit too wet. To compensate, I added dehydrated potato flakes (effectivey, potato flour)instead of the other flours, until it reached the right consistency. I refridgerated them while I prepared the sauce – about half an hour. I then boiled them for 4 minutes, and tossed them into the waiting cast iron pan of just-made garlic sage butter sauce. I let them continue to cook until the one side caramelized, sprinkled them with some parmesan and chopped chives, and served straight from the pan. It looked pretty and tasted delicious!”
I used your recipe but used it with baked sweet potato instead. Since sweet potatoes seem to have more moisture, the dough was a bit too wet. To compensate, I added dehydrated potato flakes (effectivey, potato flour)instead of the other flours, until it reached the right consistency. I refridgerated them while I prepared the sauce – about half an hour. I then boiled them for 4 minutes, and tossed them into the waiting cast iron pan of just-made garlic sage butter sauce. I let them continue to cook until the one side caramelized, sprinkled them with some parmesan and chopped chives, and served straight from the pan. It looked pretty and tasted delicious!
Sounds great! Thanks for sharing, Brigitte! 🙂
Great recipe, thank you! These are delicious. I had them with a Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce and they were spectacular. Can’t wait to make some more.
Wonderful! I am glad you loved the recipe, Lisa. 🙂
what else is in the picture of the finished dish? looks like some kind of creamy/cheesy sauce, roasted chickpeas?
Yes, roasted chickpeas and my easy vegan cheese sauce: https://elavegan.com/easy-vegan-cheese-sauce-recipe/
Hi Ela, I this recipe today I used leftover mashed potatoes that were seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Then followed your recipe, they were delicious ?. Thanks for sharing your recipe
So glad it turned out delicious! 🙂
Hello Ela !
I made this recipe yesterday and this went nicely ! I didn’t have enough chickpea flour so I put as much as tapioca starch.
It was pretty easy to make the dough. After that I separate it in 5 pieces and start working on the first one. I did all the process from rolling, cutting in small balls and rolling the balls for the two first part and it went very easily. When I started the third one, I was not able to roll the dough as if it was too dry. Maybe I waited to long to roll the others pieces ?
I managed either way to make balls and formed the gnocchis. I fryed them directly as mentioned in the precedent comment and it was good ! We liked so much eating it last night and there is a left over for my husband lunch today 🙂
Thanks a lot !
Sounds great, Laura! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Hi Ela!
Great recipe. I would highly recommend frying them over boiling to anyone else debating which way to cook them. They fry up really well and hold up beautifully. I ran into some stickiness/bland flavor when I boiled.
Thank you again!!
Thank you, Maggie! 🙂
Can they be frozen before cooking?
Yes, and it’s actually mentioned in the blog post. 🙂
I made these last night – my first time ever making gnocchi – and they were so Yummy!! I used Yukon gold potatoes and Bob’s Red mill Gluten free all-purpose baking flour (which has chickpea and tapioca, as well as fava bean flour, potato starch and sorghum flour) and it still turned out great! My man LOVED them, and I froze the other half to eat later. I think they were a bit more dense/ less pillowy and airy because of the different flour used, so next time will definitely try just chickpea and tapioca. But still very happy with the result! Served them with a caramelized onion and sage sauce and it was perfect.
That’s awesome, Lindsay! Caramelized onion and sage sauce sounds wonderful. 🙂
I am so happy that you posted about the Bob’s Red Mill GF flour, I just bought it because my niece just found out that she is sensitive to not only gluten, but corn & rice as well & she loved gnocchi! Then I found this recipe, but didn’t have those flours….So, off I go to try this recipe with the Bob’s flour. Thank you 🙂
This was a labor of love & worth it! It was my 1st time ever making gnocchi or pasta in general. I used what I had on hand. Used yukon gold potatoes. Same amount of besan flour in place of the chickpea flour, ottos cassava flour in place of tapioca flour, and I added 1 tsp of potato starch for good measure. The dough came together. I sprinkled in some more flour to make it less sticky. Mine did not roll out as easily as yours from ur video, since i used different ingredients. But it still did roll & came together! Next time i wont make the pretty fork imprint, just to save on time.
Make sure u have enough water in ur pot when boiling, so u can see them float up easily & I did it in smaller batches. I fried them in a lil oil for 5-10mins after boiled. These were pillowy lil bites of heaven! I added homemade pesto to half of it & a marinara to the other half. Cant wait to make ur red sauce next time, but not spicy bc I can’t hang lol.
Thank you Ela for your vegan/GF recipes!! Sending love from Philly USA! (I had sent u a video of my husband setting a trapped bunny free, via IG lil bit ago)
Aww, you are such a sweetheart, Tay! Thanks so much for your thorough feedback, I really appreciate it. I am sure it’s very helpful for other readers.
Much love to Philly!
PS: I loved the bunny video! 🙂
u are so welcome! and thank u. yes, I made this review in case others didn’t have certain ingredients like me. I’ll make more reviews in the future, bc I just love your recipes and your whole vibe! 🙂 glad u loved the video too!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I never made gnocchi. I followed your recipe…made my own chickpea flour. They turned out perfect. I was a bit intimidated but your recipe is a winner. Thanks.
So glad you liked the gnocchi recipe, Sherrie! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe! I’m not vegan but I was looking to cut back on wheat flour and eggs. I appreciate the experimentation because I wouldn’t have the patience.
You are very welcome! 🙂
So lovely Ela! Thank you for sharing your creativity. Trying for the second time ~ first time was amazing! Question, has anyone tried freezing the gnocchi before cooking? I tried and then cooked from frozen, but mush resulted 😛
I added spinach and brassica tops mmm! I also baked instead of fried the gnocchi as I found they liked to stick to the pan and i’d end up losing the crispy part to the bottom of my pan.
Thanks for your feedback, Nicole! I would suggest to let them thaw first but they turn out better made fresh! 🙂
I made these gnocchi with a cream sauce with peas, asparagus and mushrooms. They were delicious. I put the recipe on my blog, but of course gave you proper credit! Thanks for helping so many of us!
Awesome! I am so glad you loved my recipe! 🙂
Hi Ela! I just made these gnocchi. They were excellent (I doubled the recipe and between my husband and I, we finished nearly all of the gnocchi in one sitting..)
I baked the potatoes instead of boiling and it worked out great too.
Love your recipes. Keep them coming.
That’s awesome! Thanks so much for your great feedback! 🙂
Hi , can we use store bought gluten free flour instead of chickpea flour and tapioca flour ?
Not sure and it really depends on the flour mix. I was tweaking the recipe for months, so I cannot say if it works with any other flour mix.
About how many potatoes do I use? I buy my potatoes in 5lbs and dont have a scale. I cant wait to try!
One small/medium potato weighs about 150-200 grams and a large one approximately 300 grams. So it really depends on the size. 🙂
Can u convert the potatoes to cups?
That’s not really possible, sorry. It’s important to measure the ingredients in grams or oz for this recipe.
How long should I boil them from frozen?
It’s best to let them thaw first and then boil for a few minutes. 🙂
Hey Ela,
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. I froze a few batches, first was frozen and all stuck together, it was hard to pull them apart. Learnt. Second batch we let thaw, but it almost all turned into liquid. What are your steps at freezing and thawing them?
Hello! It works best to freeze them on a baking tray (in a single layer). Once they are solid, you can transfer the gnocchi to a container or freezer bag. You can cook them without letting them thaw but it’s also possible to let them thaw for some minutes (not for too long, otherwise, they get mushy). It’s important that the water reaches a hard boil before you put the gnocchi into the water. Hope this helps!
Excellent! I just made these for tea. They’re easily the best GF vegan gnocchi I’ve had and so easy to make! Thanks v much
Yay! That makes me so happy! Thanks for your feedback, Helen! 🙂
I love your recipes! This was great and so was the mushroom stroganoff! Thankyou 🙂
Great! I am happy you liked this recipe, Megan! 🙂
Hi Ela! Great blog! My child is allergic to potatoes what can I use as substitute?
You could try using sweet potatoes but the result will be different as you probably will need more flour.
Hi this recipe looks amazing can’t wait to try it! I’m trying to eat oil free is there any other way to toast up the gnocchi that wouldn’t involve frying them?
Hm, that’s a difficult question. You could try to bake them in the oven for some minutes, but they probably won’t get crispy without oil.
Could you use an air fryer?
Hi! The tapioca you have used is the dry or wet one?
Hi! It’s tapioca flour, so it’s dry. You can watch the video above the recipe. 🙂
Your gnocchi are perfect ela! Love that they are made with chickpea flour!
Thank you, Jess! Isn’t chickpea flour incredible? 🙂
Much love, Ela
A wonderful recipe that I was able to her right the first time. A quick question though, when you freeze the uncooked gnocci do you defrost them before cooking or cook from frozen?
Cheers!
Hello Cyn! Both methods work, however, I prefer to cook them from frozen. If you defrost them, they will get very soft and won’t look as pretty anymore. I hope this helps! 🙂
Here you say you prefer to cook from frozen, but lower down the comments when someone says cooking from frozen didn’t work, it turned to mush, you say you prefer to defrost first before cooking. Which is it?
Hello Charp! I tried both versions and prefer cooking from frozen. It never turned to mush when I tried this method. Defrosting works too but the gnocchi will be quite soft and won’t look as pretty. 🙂
Gnocchi is one of my favorite comfort food ????
Yours look super delicious too!
Lots of love,
Bianca ❤️
Thanks a lot, Bianca! Yes, gnocchi is great comfort food for sure. ????
Hi! What kind of potato do you used? I want to try tonight! Thanks for sharing
Hi Vanessa, I’ve made the recipe with Yukon Gold (all-purpose potato type) but once also with waxy potatoes (I had to use a bit more flour). Both worked fine. 🙂
Can you use any other flour?
You can give it a try but the result will be different.