by This easy 30-minute healthy Creamy Pumpkin Vegan Sausage & Chickpea Gnocchi is bursting with layered savory, warming flavors and comes together super quickly and as a one pot vegan dinner! Simply cook up the fragrant garlic, onions and mushrooms with the vegan sausage then whisk together a silky smooth sauce with canned pumpkin, add the gnocchi and canned chickpeas and enjoy your new favorite easy and healthy pasta recipe!
I know, I know, a comforting, creamy vegan gnocchi that comes together in just 30-minutes that’s equal parts delicious and healthy sounds too good to be true, but I promise you, it’s seriously as good as it sounds!
The flavor combination of fresh sage and thyme, garlicky goodness and silky pumpkin sauce paired with hot Italian (vegan!) sausage is seriously out of this world.
A Vegan Comfort Food Dinner That’s Actually Healthy!
Since I’m a Registered Dietitian, you already know that I tested this pumpkin gnocchi recipe to make sure it’s a high-protein vegan meal AND packed with fiber, thanks to the veggie sausage and chickpeas!
Not to mention that it’s packed with veggies, from the kale to the mushrooms to the pumpkin! It’s basically the most comforting, decadent, easy main meal that’s still healthy, which is really all we can ask for!
To avoid having that inevitable can of half-used pumpkin lurking in the back of your fridge that’s bound to go bad after making this (it can’t just be me!), why not try my 20-Minute Pumpkin Curry Soup (with Canned Pumpkin!) next?!
Some Notes For the Perfect Pumpkin Gnocchi Recipe
I tested this easy pasta recipe a few times to make sure it’s the absolute perfect one top vegan dinner, and here are some hot tips!
It’s SO important to make sure you actually like the taste of the vegan sausage you’re using, since it adds a meaty, slightly spicy flavor to the pasta! I used Beyond Meat Hot Italian Sausage, but pick whatever vegan sausage you like best! Or, you can totally use real sausage if that’s what floats your boat.
Make sure you’re using plain canned pumpkin, just like we use in my super easy Pumpkin Spice Muffin Tops, not pumpkin pie filling! Otherwise, you’ll have a pretty weird-tasting sauce.
Using dried sage and thyme rather than fresh? Use about 1/3 of the dried amount as recommended for fresh! So that would be 1/3 tsp dried thyme and 2/3 tsp dried sage. This conversion can be done pretty much anytime you’re using a dried spice rather than fresh.
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30-Minute Healthy Chickpea & Vegan Sausage Gnocchi with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 2 tsp fresh sage, chopped
- 225 g cremini mushrooms, chopped
- 2 vegan sausages
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk, plus more as needed
- 1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste
- 500 g gnocchi
- 1 cup kale
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 lemon, juiced
Equipment
Instructions
- Start by adding your olive oil to a large pan and letting it heat up over medium heat. Add the diced onion, minced garlic, sage and thyme to the pan and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Push aside the onion and garlic mixture and add the sausages and mushroom to the pan alongside the onion and garlic. Cook the sausages on all four sides, for about 2 minutes on each side, until they're evenly browned. Sauté the mushrooms until the water has evaporated.
- Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside on a plate. Add the chickpeas, puréed pumpkin, soy milk, veggie broth, salt and pepper to the pan.
- Mix together until the soy milk and veggie broth are fully mixed into the pumpkin to make a creamy sauce, then add to the gnocchi to the pan. Add the lid and let the mixture come to a gentle simmer and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until the gnocchi is soft.
- Meanwhile, chop your cooked sausage into disks and add back into the pan with the sauce for the remainder of the cooking time.
- Once the gnocchi is fully cooked through, add the chopped kale, lemon juice, and nutritional yeast. If the sauce has thickened too much for your liking, feel free to add an additional splash of soy milk. Stir everything together in the pan and let the kale wilt, then serve and enjoy!
