Quick and Easy

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Chili Crisp & Baby Bok Choy From Hetty McKinnon

November  1, 2022
4.6
14 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog. Prop Stylist: Molly FitzSimons.
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Sheet pan dinners have so much promise: an entire meal prepped in one swoop, roasted and caramelized hands-free—all with just one pan to clean. But many cook unevenly or turn out sleepy and one-note in their haste. Not here: This recipe—created by To Asia, With Love author Hetty McKinnon—is the most flavorful, joyfully textured sheet-pan dinner I’ve ever made, thanks to hardworking ingredients, brilliantly paired by Hetty. Ready-to-rumble packaged Italian gnocchi form the toasty-chewy base, the hot umami pop of Chinese chili crisp takes care of the seasoning, and a scallion sour cream brightens it all.

A few more tips: Gnocchi packages vary—if you end up with slightly more than this, feel free to add it to the pan, or save it to crisp up for a quick meal later in the week. This meal doesn’t really need anything else, but it is great with cold beer or seltzer and cucumber wedges to dunk in the scallion sour cream.

Excerpted from Simply Genius: Recipes for Beginners, Busy Cooks & Curious People (Ten Speed Press, September 27, 2022).

Hear more about this recipe from Hetty herself on our podcast The Genius Recipe Tapes.Genius Recipes

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Sheet-Pan Gnocchi With Chili Crisp & Baby Bok Choy From Hetty McKinnon
Ingredients
  • Gnocchi
  • 1 pound (450g) baby bok choy (about 4)
  • 1 to 2 bunches scallions
  • 28 ounces (795g) shelf-stable, frozen, or fresh gnocchi (about 4 cups)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons chili crisp, such as Fly By Jing brand, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, divided
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted white sesame seeds
  • 1/2 small lime or lemon, for serving
  • Scallion Sour Cream
  • 3/4 cup (175ml) sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
Directions
  1. Get ready to roast: Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) with an oven rack positioned in the lower third. Rinse the bok choy well and, on a large cutting board with a chef’s knife, slice them lengthwise into halves or quarters—aim for something that looks roughly like the photo above. Rinse and trim the tops and bottoms of the scallions. Finely slice 3 and set them aside for the scallion sour cream and garnish. Cut the rest of the scallions in 2-inch (5cm) lengths and set aside with the bok choy.
  2. Roast the gnocchi: To a sheet pan, add the gnocchi, breaking up any clumps, plus the olive oil, 1 to 2 tablespoons well-stirred chili crisp (according to your spice tolerance), 1⁄4 teaspoon of the salt, and a good turn of black pepper. Toss with a wooden spoon to coat the gnocchi, set the pan in the lower third of the oven, and roast for 15 minutes.
  3. Make the scallion sour cream: In a small bowl, whisk together about two-thirds of the finely sliced scallions, the sour cream, olive oil, salt, and lime juice. If the cream isn’t thin enough to drizzle, stir in a tablespoon of water at a time until it is.
  4. Add the greens: In a large bowl or tray, stir together the baby bok choy, 2-inch (5cm) scallions, sesame oil, the remaining tablespoon of chili crisp, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt.
  5. After 15 minutes, remove the pan from the oven with oven mitts, carefully stir in the greens, and even everything out to a single layer. Return to the oven until the white bulbs of the baby bok choy are tender when you slide in a fork and the gnocchi are golden underneath, another 10 minutes or so.
  6. Eat: Drizzle with the scallion sour cream, scatter with the remaining finely sliced scallions and sesame seeds, and serve with half a lime to squeeze over top.
  7. Store: Leftover gnocchi and sauce keep well in separate sealed containers in the refrigerator for a few days. Crisp up leftover gnocchi in a little olive oil in a nonstick or cast-iron skillet.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

Recipe by: Genius Recipes

17 Reviews

Gini July 23, 2023
Not a review but a question. This recipe looks terrific but My husband and I do not like very hot spicy foods. We do like a medium hit of heat so Is there a substitution for the chili crisp? Would adding some red pepper flakes work ?
rox L. July 23, 2023
Yes it would and also add some olive oil in place of the oil in the chili crisp & pinch of salt/pepper.
Suz April 30, 2023
5 stars Amazing flavor but surprised everyone doesn’t report burnt gnocchi which is the result I got from following recipe cook times that add up to 40 min. Checking other recipes for roasting these ingredients the total time should be 25-30. My 2nd try I roasted gnocchi for 7 min, stirred & added greens and cooked 18 more min stirring again mid way through. Total 25 min. Perfection. Weirdly the recipe indicates “Cook time:25 min” at top so the 40 min instructions make no sense.
Hollis R. March 23, 2023
I love everything about this recipe, but I’m going to substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream, add lime zest and dried mint to the yogurt, a couple splashes of Ramp Chardonnay Vinegar to the greens, and of course use the Laoganma Spicy Chili Crisp to which I’m addicted.
NXL January 31, 2023
Oh my gosh! These flavors are fantastic! Just the right level of spice. Got lucky to find chili crisp at Publix. Don't know how common it actually is, but I had never heard of it. Couldn't find bok choy, though, so substituted Napa cabbage. Also, since I live in a motor coach and my convection oven is pint-sized, I have adapted many sheet pan dinners to the outdoor griddle. Worked perfectly!
witloof January 16, 2023
The scallions for the sour cream are listed in the ingredients for the main recipe.

This looks wonderful, can't wait to try it.
witloof January 16, 2023
Oh, wait, you also add scallions to the sheet pan. What is the quantity for the sour cream, please?
witloof January 16, 2023
found it! Never mind!
Jeanette December 8, 2022
This was a huge hit with my family--they all rated it 5 out of 5 and asked to have it again soon. I used a bit more bok choi and a little less gnocchi to shift the veg to starch ratio to our liking.
Elizabethdx November 8, 2022
Delicious! I was a little unsure about the gnocchi because I was using it from the refrigerator, so I baked it for about 10 minutes before adding the greens and was very pleased. Already looking forward to making this recipe again.
Claudia October 31, 2022
Made this for lunch. Used brussel sprouts, since our grocery store didn’t have any bok choy. Absolutely loved it. This is a great canvas which invites to several substitutions and variations. Will definitely be added to the regular menu rotation.
Kathryn B. October 30, 2022
So unusual and easy. Followed recipe exactly (but used Momofuku chili crisp because that's what I had). Video says to use frozen gnocchi so I will try that next time, because there will be a next time. Definitely going into the rotation.
NewbieCook October 29, 2022
Amazing! I created an account just to leave this review. I used Sanniti potato gnocchi from Amazon. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding a little olive oil to the gnocchi as suggested in the video. The video was really helpful!
Denise C. October 26, 2022
I can’t wait to try this, it looks amazing.
And then I’m going to try it again with sliced fennel instead of bok choy!
(Just to keep it Italian!)
toast October 26, 2022
My gnocchi burned. How can the recipe call for "shelf-stable, fresh [which will probably be refrigerated], or FROZEN" gnocchi but only give one cooking time? Probably would have worked if my gnocchi had been frozen but the recipe should give different cooking times for fresh and frozen.
Kristen M. October 31, 2022
Hi toast, I'm so sorry to hear it. In the video above, I used shelf-stable gnocchi and it was just barely golden after 15 minutes (and I was vigilant with my oven thermometer to make sure they didn't burn on camera!). The timing can work for any of the gnocchi options as long as they're not crowded on the sheet pan, but the texture will be different. But, as with any recipe, lots of things can vary in our own kitchens—if your oven runs particularly hot on the bottom, or you're using a thin or dark baking sheet, for example. Again, I'm really sorry for the disappointment—I've burnt gnocchi on the stovetop a few times myself, which is especially bad when there's extra semolina from the package sitting around waiting to burn.
cfoley12000 August 19, 2023
My shelf stable gnocchi (Gia Russ’s brand) started out dry and ended up toasty/dry/chewy instead of crispy/moist/chewy which is what I was really hoping for. The oil did not add moisture and enable crisping. I suspect that boiling them and draining them first would make a difference. I’m also curious to try frozen dumplings.