These gluten free and keto ricotta gnocchi are a classic favorite here at gnom-gnom! Expect pillowy-soft gnocchi, perfect to pair with a classic marinara or a refreshingly simple mediterranean yogurt sauce.
Gluten Free & Keto Ricotta Gnocchi
Pillowy-Soft!
These keto ricotta gnocchi, sans the wheat flour, are different from the original. But (and it’s a big but!) I like to think they’re just as good. And given that the Italian work gnoccho literally translates as lump, gnocchi are actually made out of a wide variety of ingredients (not just potato and flour); so I’m still confident in calling these guys gnocchi (😜!).
Also, while traditional ricotta gnocchi are boiled in water and sometimes subsequently lightly fried in sage butter, these go straight for the frying (grain-free flours turn to mush in water!). This way you’ll get a nice bottom crust, a pillowy-soft center and ridiculously aromatic results (on account of the sage).
And the ideal pairing? A fresh mediterranean yogurt sauce. It’s for real one of the best sauces for these guys, creating a beautiful and refreshing contrast against the cheesy gnocchi. The other highly suggested pairing is steamed spinach, and if you’re looking for even more freshness add-in a handful of cherry tomatoes.
Oh, and these guys also freeze great. So think meal prepping ideal.
The Flours
These keto ricotta gnocchi, aside from the cheeses and egg, also require a mixture of almond flour, coconut flour and a touch of xanthan gum.
In terms of brands, for the almond either Anthony’s or WellBees work great. Both are super fine grinds. And for the coconut, we always favor Anthony’s (honestly best taste by a mile!)
The Method
Making these keto gnocchi couldn’t be simpler. All the ingredients are mixed together until they form a (rather sticky!) ball, refrigerated for an hour, formed into rounds, flattened with a fork, and cooked in sage butter.
I also find that these work best when fried only on one side, forming a bottom crust and keeping the rest pillowy-soft. You will, however, want to baste them with the sage butter throughout cooking. Couldn’t be simpler really.
Gluten Free & Keto Ricotta Gnocchi
Ingredients
For the keto ricotta gnocchi
- 128 g almond flour
- 14 g coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 210 g ricotta cheese
- 75 g Parmesan cheese freshly grated
- kosher salt to taste
- 1 egg lightly beaten
For the sage butter
- 3-4 tablespoons grass-fed butter as needed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil for cooking
- 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- 8-10 sage leaves
- black pepper freshly ground to taste
For the mediterranean yogurt sauce (two servings)
- 140 g Greek-style yogurt
- 1 clove garlic ran through a press
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2-1 teaspoon red wine vinegar to taste
- kosher salt to taste
- black pepper freshly ground to taste
Serving suggestions
- spinach steamed
- cherry tomatoes
Instructions
For the keto ricotta gnocchi
- Add almond flour, coconut flour and xanthan gum to a medium bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Add ricotta and parmesan to a large bowl and mix with a spoon until well combined. Add in flour mixture and mix well. Season to taste with salt and mix in the egg. The dough should be sticky, but form into a ball easily. If it doesn't (different moisture levels in cheese etc), feel free to add in more almond flour a little at a time. Wrap in cling film (saran wrap) and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Remove dough from the fridge and form into rounds (roughly 1 inch big). The dough will be soft and still lightly sticky, but should form into rounds with ease. Place in a tray and press down with a fork to lightly flatten them. Freeze for 15 minutes before frying, and the gnocchi can be frozen at this point for up to two months.
- Heat up butter and oil in a skillet or pan over medium/low heat. Once warm, add in garlic slivers and sage leaves. When the garlic is just lightly golden, add in the chilled gnocchi flat-side down along some freshly ground black pepper. Move the pan around to keep them from sticking, basting them throughout the cooking. They will be fragile, so handle with care. When ready, the bottom will have formed a deep-golden crust (see pictures), about 4-5 minutes.
- Serve right away atop a bed of steamed spinach, yogurt sauce and a handful cherry tomatoes (optional).
For the mediterranean yogurt sauce
- Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Hi! Mine were cold inside 🙁 How do you make sure they’re hot if theyre going straight from freezer to pan?
The best gnocchi we’ve had in the last two years of eating and cooking keto… we have shared this recipe with all our keto community,
Len you’re too kind that’s wonderful to hear!
HI, can you boil these first to toss through a sauce later? or do they fall apart?
They’ll fall apart
I made these tonight to serve with low-carb cream of chicken soup and it was absolutely delicious! It really satisfied my craving for one of my favorite fall comfort foods, chicken and dumplings.
Awesome to hear Lisa thank you for reporting back!
psssst! Check out the dumplings on the site, they’re one of my favorites!
I can only find the fried dumplings – can you post a link?
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I’m a few months into Keto and doing a lot of experimenting with new recipes. Your site has been so helpful. I didn’t have the ingredients for your sauce, so I substituted the following:
– MUSHROOMS – cook chopped onion (and/or garlic) with a slice of chopped bacon, butter or olive oil, add sliced mushrooms until tender. Pinch tarragon, salt and pepper.
– SAUCE – “awesome sauce” – sweat onion (and/or garlic) in olive oil and butter, add Italian tomato puree or crushed plum tomatoes. Cook 5-10 mins with fresh basil, butter, salt, pepper. Combine with golden brown gnocchi. It was sooo delicious!
P.S. I did not have Xanthan Gum, so I substituted a Tablespoon of Barlean’s Flax/Chai/Coconut energy blend. Worked fine!
Next time, I’ll take a pic and post on Instagram!
Louise thank you for sharing your sauce sounds wonderful!! xo!!
Second time I try this and they are so good! This time I was out of parmesan so I used a bit of shredded mozarella and it worked fine (I have an eye as to the consistency of the dough should look like now). I also love the fact you can just freeze a batch for later – if you can resist not eating everything in one go that is! Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe 🙂
Ooooh good to know they work great with mozzarella too Rosangela! Thanks so much for sharing! xo!
I’m not a huge ricotta cheese fan. Could something else be used in its place, such as cream cheese or plain yogurt? Also, I see that they can’t be boiled, but I’m thinking of preparing them according to this recipe and then adding to bowls right before serving chicken gnocchi soup. I have missed being able to make this since going Keto.
I imagine cream cheese would work, it’s basically ricotta that’s been smoothed in a food processor. I may be premature in saying that since I haven’t made this recipe yet. I am planning to tomorrow night using the homemade cream cheese I have in the fridge. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂
You def won’t get the same results though- they behave VERY differently when cooked xo!
Good to know! Fortunately it is very easy to make ricotta. We don’t have a source for organic ricotta and cream cheese in my area so I have to make my own with organic milk. It can be a pain since a lot of keto dishes call for cream cheese or ricotta, but it’s worth it.
These are fantastic. I had to pull a last minute switch. I used Asiago instead of parm. I also used sauce vs your yogurt sauce because I had limited ingredients. Growing up Italian, I have missed gnocchi! The family gobbled it down! Thank you!!!
These were great! Followed the recipe exactly and had no issues whatsoever with them being fragile. They were even great cold the next day! We do not fancy steamed spinach so we ate these along side and atop fresh spinach and lightly sauteed cherry tomatoes. The pairing worked for the entire family.
It was quite a treat to be able to find this recipe in myfitnesspal as well, thank you a bunch for taking the time to input that information!! I love your sight!
One question: Do the macros include the yogurt sauce?
Super awesome to hear Tonya! Tbh I think the recipe was entered into myfitnesspal by a reader (but what a fantastic suggestion, I didn’t even know this was a thing!!). The macros don’t include the yogurt sauce if I recall correctly (as it’s an optional add-on) xo!
Just curious if these can be used to do a keto baked mac and cheese over the cauliflower options I have seen. Going to try your recipe very soon! Lokks delish!
I am going to try these tonight! I was wondering if the gnocci could be sprayed with oil and baked rather than basting in butter? Just wondering, I’ll try it your way first! Thank you!
Hi Matthew! I’m not sure if they would hold up to baking or if they will melt
Can I use psyllium husk instead of xatham gum?
Quick questions: 1) is the caloric count for the gnocchi alone or with the butter or yogurt sauce? 2) Have you done them quickly boiled, vs. pan fried?
Looking forward to trying it!
I always have so many leftover egg yolks from bread baking. – Could these be made with just yolks?
Made these last night for my husband and I. They were the first keto thing that we agreed was great, not just “pretty good for a keto dish.” I will make these over and over again. Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you Erin, this is so awesome to hear! 🙂
I just can’t get past that almond flour feel (it was the same with the bagels). They would be delicious if I could get used to almond flour! Still, the gnocchi is pretty amazing considering it’s Keto. BUT, the chocolate cake was insane, very well hidden. Thanks for all of these life saving recipes (1000x better than any others I’ve tried!)!!!
LOl thank you Syma! What type of almond flour are you using? If it’s very finely ground there shouldn’t a feel to it, maybe try another brand? So happy to hear you found the chocolate cake insane ( I LOVE it too!) xo!
How can I convert the recipe from grams to teaspoons , cups, etc.?
Click on US Cups below the ingredients xo!
Hi – am just getting ready to make these but have read through the comments. One comment questioned sweetener. I did not see any sweetener needed in the recipe. Have I missed something??
Hi Laurie! SO weird, I just saw that! I’m thinking it was someone asking a general question about sweeteners (in a very weird place)… I dunno! No sweeteners here though, hope you enjoy and let me know if you need anything xo!
These sound amazing! And major kudos to you for providing buttons at the top of the page to jump to the recipe and print it! Love your site and will definitely be frequenting it!
Thank you Julie and lol! Yup the buttons are a MUST, I use them all the time! 😉 xo
Amazing,,,,,, you hit it spot on.
So happy you enjoyed Donna! And thank you for reporting back xo!
Hi there! Could this be made with alternative sweeteners? We’re not keto by exact definition, we do eat low carb for medical reasons. I try to stick to more natural sweeteners in moderation vs using artificial. Do you have any suggestions, even if it slightly raises carb count? Thanks! Excited to try this recipe!
Hi there Tricia! Just keep in mind that both erythritol and xylitol are natural sugar alcohols (they’re not artificial like aspartame!). To keep the texture it’s usually best to add something powdered (so maybe raw cane sugar powdered?). Otherwise things like maple syrup and honey will work too, but they will change the texture slightly (they’ll still be delicious though). Hope you enjoy! xo
We have a coconut allergy in the house. Do you think these will still work with just subbing more almond flour in place of the coconut flour?
Hi Brenda! I haven’t tried myself, but I’m fairly certain that all almond will work too. Just keep in mind that coconut flour absorbs A LOT more moisture than almond, so it’ll perhaps be a good idea to drain the ricotta cheese very well and add a bit more xanthan gum. Also cook one first to see how it holds its shape, you can always add more almond flour as needed. xo!
Loved these!
That’s awesome! So happy you loved them Sherry!
Made this for the first time! We are new to Keto. They were great! We didn’t have time to make the yogurt sauce so we just ate them like a snack! Thank you for all your wonderful and simple recipes! They are much appreciated at our house!
So happy you’re enjoying the recipes Tiffany! Xo!
I’ve been craving gnocchi like crazy since switching to the LCHF way of eating. Is there a way to do these traditionally boiled? Or will the dough fall apart?
Hi Bree! I’m sorry I missed your comment earlier, unfortunately can’t boil these guys (remember they aren’t grains) xo!
LOVED these so much thank you! Very different from potato gnocchi, but very very good!
My husband is allergic to nuts, is there something else I can use in place of the almond flour?
Hi Karen! In all honesty I don’t think you’ll get the same results here for anything else. Having said that, there will be a recipe coming soon were you’ll be able to sub with sunflower seed flour (sunflour). xo
Horrible…fell apart and had the consistency of cornmeal. Nothing pillowy or soft about them.
Hi Jamie! I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy them at all! All I can think of that would give them the consistency of cornmeal is that your almond flour may not have been fine enough (if it’s a very fine grind it simply blends with the mix). Other than that if they fell apart your ricotta cheese may have been too wet and just needed more flour. The flours hold the cheeses together while cooking, preventing them from melting away (though they’re still fragile at first). xo
AMAZING recipe! Very different from normal potato gnocchi, and I’ve never tried regular ricotta ones so I cannot compare. But these were a BIG hit with the entire family thank you!
Hi Lorna! So happy you enjoyed! They have less of a bite than the regular ricotta gnocchi (which are very different from potato ones also). xo and thanks for reporting back!
Amazing recipe thank you! We loved the contrast with the yogurt sauce!
So happy you enjoyed and thank you for reporting back guys! xo
SO delicious and easy thank you! Hubby was very impressed!