Pasta is one of those foods that almost everyone loves. It comes in various shapes and sizes—penne, spaghetti, ravioli, gnocchi and more—each suited to different dishes.
We could be here all day debating whether gnocchi is considered a pasta or a dumpling, but we can all agree that it's delicious and you'll find it near the dried pasta in the grocery store.
We can also all agree that packaged gnocchi is a great weeknight dinner shortcut. It cooks up in minutes and is delicious topped with marinara, pesto, brown butter and sage sauce or just tossed in butter and topped with some (or a lot of) cheese.
But the gnocchi moment that most recently caught our eye turned the tender little nuggets into what looks like the perfect TV snack: crispy air fryer gnocchi. Content creator @ballehurns shared the recipe on TikTok and it looks absolutely amazing.
@ballehurns gnocchi popcorn 🥔
♬ The Swan (from Carnival Of The Animals) - Camille Saint-Saens
How Do You Make Air-Fryer Gnocchi?
To make this, you need one package of store-bought gnocchi (around one pound), olive oil, nutritional yeast, chili powder, dried parsley and sea salt. Coat the gnocchi in the oil, then toss it in the seasonings. Then, you will lay it flat in an air fryer and cook at 325 degrees until they're golden brown and crunchy, which should take 25 to 30 minutes.
Once it's done cooking, your gnocchi will be golden and crunchy and Balle says it's "kind of like popcorn." That is incredible! She then dips her popcorn gnocchi in marinara sauce and we can't wait to try this.
One thing we love about it, other than how easy it is to make, is that you can change up the seasonings and dipping sauces depending on your mood. We'd love a lemon pepper popcorn gnocchi with ranch dressing and think that cheese sauce might also make a next-level dipping sauce.
People were very impressed with Balle's snack, with many commenters saying they thought it was simple and creative. We agree! This is going to be an easy late-night snack.
Another person commented that a restaurant close to them makes this type of gnocchi, but they top it with Nutella. That wouldn't have been our first thought, but we can definitely see this being done with cinnamon and sugar or other dessert toppings.
This article was written by Angel Albring from Parade and was legally licensed through the DiveMarketplace by Industry Dive. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
