How to Prepare Gnocchi With Veggie Noodles
Potato gnocchi with vegetable noodles is a dish that feels both comforting and refreshing. The soft, pillowy gnocchi bring that classic Italian comfort food vibe, while the colorful vegetable noodles keep things light and vibrant.
Together, they strike a perfect balance—hearty enough for a satisfying meal but bright enough to feel fresh and wholesome. This combination also makes it easy to load up on flavor and nutrition without sacrificing the cozy, indulgent qualities of traditional pasta dishes.
What makes this recipe fun is its versatility. You can use zucchini, carrots, or even sweet potatoes as your veggie noodles, creating a colorful base that pairs beautifully with the tender gnocchi.
Toss them in a simple sauce, such as garlic and olive oil, or opt for a richer sauce, like tomato or creamy cheese. The textures play off each other perfectly—the chewy bite of gnocchi against the crisp-tender noodles creates a satisfying mouthfeel that keeps every bite interesting.
Whether you’re cooking for family, entertaining guests, or just craving a weeknight meal that feels special, potato gnocchi with vegetable noodles is a dish that delivers. It’s quick to prepare, visually stunning, and endlessly adaptable to the ingredients you have on hand.
Quick & Easy Meals
Quick & Easy meals are those that you can prepare very quickly with minimum fuss. Sometimes they are made from scratch but often they are made with already prepared foods and served with other ingredients you make yourself.
In this case, the pasta and pink sauce were from Carlinos but the veggetti zoodles sauteed in garlic and a little olive oil were made by me and my daughter. What was missing, I was told later, was garlic bread, either made from scratch or store-bought.
Veggetti Zoodles
If you haven’t seen or tried veggetti zoodles, I encourage you to go out and purchase a Spiral Vegetable Slicer. They come in all shapes and sizes and are made by different manufacturers but we have been happy with the Veggetti models.
We started with a simple handheld model but for Christmas, Santa brought us a super duper hand-crank version. Santa has been warned not to gift any more plug-ins for the kitchen, thus the hand crank. At first, I thought my wife was not thrilled with Santa for bringing another kitchen gadget that needed someplace to store but after her first experience cranking out zoodled yellow summer squash, I think she cheered up.
As you can see in the video above, the Veggetti Spiral Vegetable Slicer turns vegetables like zucchini and summer squash into pasta-like strands that you use instead of regular pasta. You can “vegetti” carrots, squashes, and other vegetables too. It’s a great way to cut down on refined carbs and get kids to eat more vegetables.
To prepare, all I did was heat up a large saute pan, add a little oil, and then 1 teaspoon of garlic. As soon as the garlic started to brown, I added the zoodles, seasoned with salt & pepper, and cooked for 3 to 4 minutes until tender and cooked through.
The only mistake I made besides not serving garlic bread was not making enough vegetable noodles. I thought two large summer squash would be enough but four would have been better. They lose some of their moisture when sauteed and cooked down.
The Difference Between Zucchini and Yellow Squash
Did you know that zucchini comes in yellow (golden) and can look similar to yellow squash but they are not the same? I usually think of zucchini as green but there is golden zucchini, not to be confused with the summer squash shown in my video.The biggest difference is in shape. Zucchini, green or yellow, are straight from one end to the other. Yellow squash on the other hand has a flat bottom and taper towards the neck. You probably have seen some yellow squash with a curved or crooked neck.
They both have soft white flesh and are mild-tasting but yellow summer squash can have more seeds than zucchini. Best of all both can be used interchangeably when making vegetable noodles.
Gnocchi and Pink Sauce
I purchased two types of gnocchi at Carlinos, their basic potato gnocchi and their sun-dried tomato, garlic & basil gnocchi. If I were to do this again, I would stick with one or the other and it most likely would be the plain potato gnocchi so it doesn’t interfere with the wonderful flavor of the sauce.
If you want to make homemade gnocchi, be sure to check out How to Make Gnocchi Matarozzi Style. This is a fabulous recipe from our friend Angie’s grandmother who taught it to her son, Angie’s dad. It describes what gnocchi is, gives a little history, and offers an easy-to-follow recipe.
Pink Tomato Sauce
If you want to make some of your own pink sauce to serve on store-bought or homemade gnocchi, please check out my post below for instructions on making a basic tomato sauce. All you have to do is add a little pink of cream to turn it into a pink tomato sauce.
Basic Tomato Sauce Recipes of Celebrity Chefs
How Do Some of My Favorite Chefs Prepare Their Basic Tomato Sauces?
