How to make gnocchi without gluten, eggs, or dairy! This gluten-free gnocchi recipe relies on just 3 simple ingredients (plus salt and water) for a simple, flavorful appetizer or main! Once shaped, boil, then fry or bake the vegan gnocchi to perfection!
Gluten-Free Gnocchi (Without Egg)
Just like so many potato-related recipes (like German potato dumplings, Schupfnudeln, and creamy mashed potatoes), this gluten-free gnocchi is hearty and comforting. More so, making homemade gluten-free, vegan gnocchi is surprisingly simple and less time-consuming than you’d think; just cook the potatoes, add the flours, roll, cut, shape, and cook!
Best of all, these little potato dumplings are gluten-free, egg-free, and vegan while still wonderfully pillowy. Once prepared, enjoy them immediately by boiling or pan-frying in just minutes. Alternatively, store them in the freezer for later, so you can enjoy the potato pasta/dumplings whenever the cravings hit!
What is Gnocchi?
Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling/ potato pasta (named after ‘nocchio’- which means a knot in wood or ‘nocca’ meaning knuckle) made up primarily of potato. In a classic gnocchi recipe, the potato is combined with wheat flour, egg, cheese, and sometimes semolina or cornmeal.
Obviously, as someone who eats neither dairy, eggs, nor wheat, that leaves me gnocchi-less. However, after months of recipe testing, I’ve finally found the perfect gluten-free, vegan gnocchi recipe. It’s light, doesn’t fall apart, and tastes delicious!
By substituting the wheat flour for chickpea flour (garbanzo bean flour) and tapioca flour (as I did for these homemade gluten-free tortillas), this vegan potato gnocchi is soft and flexible, yet firm enough not to be ‘sticky. Plus, the chickpea flour helps to add extra nutrients to the dish, including being protein-dense!
Best of all, though, this gluten-free gnocchi is freshly made with no preservatives, additives, tons of salt, etc. Instead, all you require is just a few wholesome ingredients!
The Ingredients
- Potatoes: I recommend using Yukon Gold potatoes or other floury potatoes that are dry and starchy – like Russet or Desiree’s (this will depend on where you live).
- Chickpea flour: Also called garbanzo bean flour. This flour is protein-dense and packed with vitamins and minerals.
- Tapioca flour: Also called tapioca starch. Alternatively, use arrowroot flour or cornstarch, though I’ve had the best results with tapioca.
- Sea Salt + Water
Read the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information.
How to Make Gluten-Free Gnocchi Without Egg?
I recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients for this vegan gnocchi recipe.
Step 1 – Boil the potatoes
- First, peel and chop the potatoes before transferring them to a large pot with salted water. Bring to a boil and then cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, or until tender. Then drain the cooking liquid and mash the potatoes using a potato masher or ricer.
You can save the starchy cooking water to add to stocks, soups, etc. Store in the fridge for 2-3 days
Step 2 – Make the dough
- Then, add the chickpea flour and tapioca flour to the potatoes and knead the mixture with your hands until a dough forms.
The dough may still be a little sticky at this point, but fine to handle. If it’s too sticky, add a little more chickpea flour (1 tbsp at a time) and knead again – but try not to add too much, or the vegan potato gnocchi will become tough. Depending on the potatoes used, you may need anywhere between 1 ½-2 cups of flour.
Step 3 – Shape the gnocchi
- Roll the dough into a ball and then separate into 6 pieces and roll into 1-inch logs/ropes dusted with a little additional tapioca flour. To cut the gnocchi, I like to lay all the ‘ropes’ next to one another and use a long, sharp knife to cut across all the ropes 1-inch apart.
- Next, roll each piece into a ball/pillow shape and optionally roll it over the back of a fork or use a gnocchi board for the ‘ridges’ (for the sauce to cling to). Dust with a bit more tapioca flour if needed.
Step 4 – Cook the gnocchi
- To cook the vegan potato gnocchi, add them to a pot of salted boiling water (make sure it’s at a hard boil) and cook for 2-4 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Then remove with a slotted spoon.
- For fried gnocchi, you can transfer the boiled gnocchi to a pre-heated skillet with a little oil. Fry until golden-brown and slightly crispy. Alternatively, mix with the sauce of your choice – and serve!
How to Make Ahead and Store
Make ahead: This recipe makes a huge batch, but fortunately, the gluten-free gnocchi can be frozen. Lay the uncooked gnocchi on a tray (with space between) and freeze until solid. Once frozen, transfer to a large freezer bag/container for 2 months. You could also store the gnocchi covered in the fridge for 1-2 days.
You can then cook the gnocchi from frozen – but do so in smaller batches. Or allow it to thaw for a few minutes (not too long, or they’ll go mushy) first.
Store: Once prepared, this vegan potato gnocchi is best while fresh within a few hours. However, any leftovers could be stored for an extra day or so in an airtight container in the fridge.
Reheat: Reheat the vegan gnocchi either in a skillet (for crispier results) or the microwave until heated through.
How to Serve Gnocchi?
Like pasta, the options for serving this gluten-free gnocchi are plentiful. Here are just a few of my favorite suggestions:
- Combine the crispy gnocchi with roasted chickpeas, mushrooms, and drizzle with vegan cheese sauce.
- With tomato sauce like this gnocchi all’Arrabbiata
- Creamy mushroom Stroganoff
- Alfredo sauce
- Pesto or this kale avocado sauce
- Fried with butter (dairy-free) or olive oil, garlic, and fresh herbs (like sage or basil)
No matter what sauce you use, it’s easy to pack in tons of veggies. Just chuck them in the pan and sauté until tender, then sprinkle with some vegan Parmesan. Delicious!
FAQs
How to pronounce gnocchi?
Gnocchi is pronounced in two main ways: nyow-kee (American pronunciation) with a long ‘o’ vowel sound and nyoh-kee/noh-kee, with a short ‘o’ (Italian/British).
Is gnocchi gluten-free/ vegan?
As mentioned before, traditionally, gnocchi is made with potato, wheat flour, egg, and sometimes cheese. So they are neither gluten-free nor vegan. However, this version omits all dairy, eggs, and gluten for delicious vegan, gluten-free gnocchi!
Can I use sweet potato?
I haven’t tried. Though a reader has below and stated, the dough ended up wetter, and so they added dehydrated potato flakes until it reached the correct consistency.
How long to boil potatoes?
This will depend on how large you cut the potato pieces. If you leave the potatoes whole, it can take between 20-35 minutes. For large pieces (like halved or quartered potatoes) 15-25, smaller 1-2 inch pieces around 15. Just check as you go until they’re fork-tender.
Can I use GF AP flour?
I haven’t had brilliant results with other flours. However, readers have reported success using Bobs Red Mill all-purpose GF flour – though slightly more gummy/dense.
Recipe Notes and FAQs
- Bake the potatoes instead: Instead of boiling, you can oven-bake the potatoes. Scoop out the flesh from the potatoes (and save the skins for stuffed potato skins) and reduce the amount of chickpea flour (as they will naturally be less watery when not boiled). Alternatively, boil the potatoes whole (skin on) – then use a ricer to filter out the skins.
- Adjust the flour if needed: It’s hard to control precisely how much water is absorbed by the potatoes while cooking. So the amount of chickpea flour will vary somewhat. Just add the flour until it feels right – when you can handle and shape it without It being super sticky.
- For slightly firmer gnocchi: Immediately after boiling, the gnocchi will be at its ‘gummiest.’ If you’d prefer them firmer, either pan fry until crispy OR allow them to cool for a bit before enjoying (or prepare several hours in advance).
More Vegan Potato Recipes
- Hasselback Potatoes
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- Pan-Fried Potatoes (Bratkartoffeln)
- Vegan Hash Browns
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Oven-Baked Wedges
- Vegan Potato Salad
If you try this simple gluten-free gnocchi recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in re-creations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan and #elavegan – I love seeing them.
Gluten-Free 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 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 the 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, then drain really well. Transfer them 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 into 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 (e.g. Mushroom Stroganoff / check the post for more serving suggestions) 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, potato starch, or cornstarch instead of tapioca flour. I had the best result with tapioca flour, though.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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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!
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️