Cozy, comfort food just got a whole new level of yum. This healthy, creamy Vegan Skillet “Chicken” and Dumplings is brimming with nourishing ingredients: peas, carrots, green beans, chickpeas and corn all bathed in a luscious gravy that is perfectly seasoned and full of soul warming goodness. Delicious, dense gnocchi dumplings will keep you full and satisfied for hours. Your family will think you cooked over stove all day creating this rich and deeply wholesome dish.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Hi there! Ameera here.
Growing up, Mom made a lot of what I call “homestyle” or “down-home cooking” meals. Basically, meals that are super comforting, flavorful, hearty, satisfying, and most importantly delicious.
Mom could whip up anything out of virtually nothing and make it taste amazing! I loved that she always encouraged me at a very young age to cook and bake. I find it richly rewarding.
Herbs and Spices
One of the best lessons she taught me was how to use herbs and spices. She always encouraged me to smell everything. She told me that one of the keys to great recipes is a robust herb/spice list of ingredients. She felt the use of herbs and spices are an art form, especially when pulling them together cohesively.
Too little, and you won’t have enough flavor or dimension, too much and you can end up with bitter notes at the back of your palate that build with each bite.
Balance and great quality are the key to spices and herbs.
Penzeys Spices
Yes, yes, yes, I am sure you are quite sick of hearing about Penzeys spices! LOL And this is not a sponsored ad. Their herbs and spices are just such high quality that they sell themselves.
The reason I go on and on about quality herbs and spices is because IT DOES make a difference in your cooking. High quality herbs and spices just make your dishes taste better! It’s that simple!
French Thyme and Bay Leaves
We always have Penzeys French Thyme and Bay Leaves in our pantry to name a few. They are so aromatic and provide such a wonderful flavor without any bitter notes. Among tons of other herbs and spices, those two are a total must – YUM!
I’ll let Mom tell you more!
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Robin here!
I loved this dish. The gnocchi make for the perfect little potato dumpling, and well . . . gnocchi is called a potato dumpling after all, so it just works!
This dish is so easy to make, please don’t look at the list of ingredients and make the mistake of thinking that this dish is complicated, because it isn’t. We promise. It’s just packed with flavor!
When cooking Whole Food Plant Based, understanding and knowing the role that herbs and spices play when not using oil to carry flavor is the name of the game.
We hope you give this deliciousness a try! We just know you are going to love it!
If you try this cozy dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products used:
- Large ceramic/enamel lined or nonstick skillet or large Dutch oven
- Medium stock pan for boiling the gnocchi
Vegan Skillet “Chicken” and Dumplings
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 25 Minutes
- Total Time: 40 Minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Cozy, comfort food just got a whole new level of yum. This healthy, creamy Vegan Skillet “Chicken” and Dumplings is brimming with nourishing ingredients: peas, carrots, green beans, chickpeas and corn all bathed in a luscious gravy that is perfectly seasoned and full of soul warming goodness. Delicious, dense gnocchi dumplings will keep you full and satisfied for hours. Your family will think you cooked over stove all day creating this rich and deeply wholesome dish.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients, and gluten free.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 large yellow onion, fine diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 celery ribs, diced (about ½ cup)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 3 Tablespoons GF flour (or thickener of choice)
- 1 cup vegetable broth *
- 1 cup water (or broth)
- 1 cup unsweetened plain plant milk
- 1 Tablespoon tamari *
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 – [ 1b. package ] frozen Classic Mixed Vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn) *
- 1– [ 15 oz. can ] chickpeas, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 12 oz. to 16 oz. package ] gnocchi *
Herb/Spice Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 Tablespoons dried minced onions
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¾ teaspoon ground mustard powder
- 2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried crushed thyme leaves *
- ¼ teaspoon dried crushed rosemary leaves *
- ¼ teaspoon dried ground sage
- 1 ¼ to 1 ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/- to) *
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (+/-)
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric *
- 1 bay leaf
- Pinch nutmeg – optional *
- Pinch poultry seasoning – optional *
Optional Toppings:
- Fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Place a pot of water on to boil for the gnocchi.
- Place the Herb/Spice Ingredients (except the bay leaves) into a small bowl, whisk to mix. Set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel-lined Dutch oven or similar large and deep nonstick skillet, add the diced onion and celery; sauté over medium heat until they are soft, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. (see notes on celery) Add a tablespoon or so of water if the onions and celery start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, then sprinkle the flour over the sautéed veggies and cook for about one minute. Then sprinkle the Herb/Spice Ingredients over the mixture, stirring constantly for 30 seconds to release their fragrance.
- Next add water, veggie broth, plant milk, tamari, nutritional yeast, and bay leaf, stir well to incorporate. Increase the heat to a boil, then immediately lower to a simmer. Simmer and stir constantly to thicken, then simmer for 5 minutes. Taste test the gravy, adjust spices as needed.
- In the meantime, boil the gnocchi according to package directions. Drain, set aside until ready to add to the skillet.
- Add the frozen veggies, chickpeas, and cooked gnocchi, simmer until well heated through, about 3 to 6 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Serve with freshly chopped parsley.
Notes
*Gnocchi Substitutions: You can substitute gnocchi for your favorite pasta. Or if you prefer, you can substitute the gnocchi for 2 cups boiled, small cubed potatoes. If adding raw potatoes directly into this dish, add at Step 5, then increase your cooking time by an additional 20 to 30 minutes, largely depended upon the size of the raw cubed potatoes. Keep in mind the longer cooking time could need more broth. Adding in more broth will require an increase in additional herbs/spices. Keep in mind the more gnocchi, pasta, or potatoes added, the less “broth” there will be. If you want a lot of creamy broth, use less gnocchi, pasta, or potatoes .
*Chickpea Substitutions: You can substitute any bean you wish with this recipe. You can also substitute the chickpeas for soy curls, baked cubed marinated tempeh, or baked cubed marinated tofu. Measure out 1 to 1 ½ cups soy curls, hydrate according to package directions, then chop into small bitesize pieces and add in at step 5 to allow the soy curls to absorb the flavors. Or you can measure our 1 to 1 ½ cups baked cubed marinated tempeh or baked cubed marinated tofu and in at step 7. Keep in mind the more soy curls, tempeh, or tofu added, the less “broth” there will be. If you want a lot of creamy broth, use less soy curls, tempeh, or tofu.
*Celery: If you are not a huge celery fan or it bothers you to crunch on celery, make sure when you are sautéing the onions and celery that you get it tender before moving on to the next step. We suggest adding a couple tablespoons of water or broth and placing a tight-fitting lid on the skillet. We didn’t mind the tiny bit of crunch from the celery, but we could see how that might bother some folks. Take a tiny taste of the cooked celery during the onion/celery sauté process in Step 3. Your sautéed celery end-product will most like be that level of tenderness. If it bothers you, continue to sauté until it reaches your level of tenderness.
*Vegetable Stock: We use Pacific Organic Low Sodium Vegetable Stock. We love this brand because it is Whole Food Plant Based compliant, as it does not contain MSG, has no oil, and does not contain any highly-processed ingredients.
*Tamari: We used San J Tamari Soy Sauce, Gluten Free, Reduced Sodium. You can substitute the tamari with reduced sodium soy sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, or Braggs Coconut Liquid Aminos.
*Gluten Free Gnocchi: We like Difatti Gluten Free Gnocchi and Delallo Gluten Free Potato and Rice Gnocchi.
*Dried Crushed Thyme Leaves: Dried and crushed thyme leaves are not the same as ground thyme. Ground thyme has a powdery consistency. Whereas dried and crushed thyme leaves have some texture. You can use either in this recipe. We used dried and crushed thyme leaves, so if you are using ground thyme powder, scale back to about half of the amount or less used and check for flavor consistency. Add more if preferred.
*Dried Crushed Rosemary: Dried and crushed rosemary is not the same as ground rosemary. If using a ground rosemary powder, then scale back the amount to 1/8 teaspoon to pinch.
*Turmeric: The turmeric in this recipe is to add color only. If you are not a turmeric fan, then leave it out.
*Nutmeg: Nutmeg add a tiny hint of dimension. It’s barely discernable, but if you have it on hand and are a fan, add it.
*Poultry Seasoning: We would normally add a lot more poultry seasoning; however, when we tried several kitchen tests of this recipe with poultry seasoning, the marjoram in the Poultry Seasoning was too prominent for our taste, resulting in a bitter note at the back of the palate. We opted to use a pinch instead. It adds just a hint of extra flavor. If you have it on hand, add a little pinch or more to taste.
*Vegetables: Use frozen or fresh vegetables. We used frozen for this recipe. It worked perfectly. If using fresh, you may have to cook the veggies longer to reach the desired tenderness.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days.
*Nutritional Information: Is calculated using the gnocchi and chickpeas.
This post contains affiliate links, and we may receive a very small commission if you purchase through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures! For more information, see our disclosures here.
hi,
this was amazing!!! i can’t wait to make it again. Thank you so much for this recipe. Definitely comfort food.
Hi there Julie 🙂
Yaaaayyy!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and are looking forward to making it again! We truly appreciate your kind words and taking the time to write!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This looked fantastic but was really bitter. I must not be a fan of thyme and rosemary. The frozen vegetables were also still crunchy after the time listed. I picked out the gnocchi and simmered for several more minutes to soften the frozen vegetables then added the gnocchi back. I’ll try this again and play with the spices since I love the concept of this recipe.
Hi there MJ 🙂 Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We believe the bitterness could be coming for your spices, which the bitterness can be propionate if they are older spices or you used powdered thyme and rosemary instead of crushed leaves as powdered spices would create a more intense flavor. Additionally, if your veggies were still crunchy, it sounds that they were larger than the veggies we used and needed to be cooked longer. We do mention in our notes about vegetables and cooking times – we have lots of great tips and tricks listed in… Read more »
I bought the stuff to make this tomorrow! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Hi there Tiffany 🙂
Awesome! We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made it exactly like the recipe and it came out perfect! Delicious!
WOOT! We are so thrilled you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your awesome feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This was delicious. Couldn’t find gnocchi so substituted potatoes. Had leftovers the next day and added rigatoni. Will make this again. Will add jalapeños as we like spicy. Thanks.
Hi there Diane 🙂
Yaaay!!! We are so thrilled to you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your adjustments with us. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I feel like I say this every week, but you two really have your flavour profiles on point! This was phenomenal!
It was also my first time using gnocchi. Fun and easy ingredient!
Thanks for another wonderful recipe.
Hi there Sandra 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We truly appreciate you giving our recipes a try! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed this recipe and enjoyed having gnocchi for the first time – yay! We truly appreciate you and your continued support. *hugs*
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Delicious! Just made it. Thank you!
Hi there Annette 🙂
Yippee!!! We are SO glad that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Seems like this could be done in a crockpot, any reason why it shouldn’t be done in a crockpot? Sounds yummy and would love to try!
Hi there Jenny 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us and for your interest in this recipe. We think this recipe would work in a crock pot; however, we do not have any liquid adjustments or timings for you.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This recipe is an absolute knockout! I can’t get enough! My husband said I have to make this every week, and he’s an Omni 🙂 THANK YOU for another amazing recipe.
Hi there Jill 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so glad to hear that you and your Omni Husband enjoyed this recipe, and that your husband wants to eat it every week – *doing a happy dance*! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful feedback with us! We truly appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I made this today. It was delicious – so flavorful. I only had cauliflower gnocchi in my pantry, so I used that. Can’t wait to try again with potato gnocchi.
Hi there Kristen 🙂
Yaaaayyy! We are so happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing your delicious adjustments and wonderful review. We appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Hi ladies! Made this today and was sooo good! Also made a trip to the Penzey store
here in Columbus which I didn’t even know about but do now, thanks to you! Is that where you shop as I see you are in Ohio also. Love your recipes!
Hi there Susan, fellow Ohioan 🙂
Woo hoo! We are SUPER excited you enjoyed this recipe. Super excited you found the Penzey store! We appreciate you sharing your wonderful review. Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Just made this for dinner. Good and also filling. I used 10 oz bag of veggies so would possibly increase the broth. Served it on hot spilt biscuits to simulate chicken pot pie. It was a winner. Thanks
Hi there Cindy,
YAYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for leaving us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
This gravy is so good. I’d love to make it for mashed potatoes or for an actual pot pie. I didn’t care for the gnocchi in it surprisingly. I would have preferred potatoes, but the gnocchi is easier. I kinda knew I wouldn’t like the chick peas but gave it a go, anyhow, since they add some fiber and protein. I definitely want to make it again without them and with potatoes. Pretty easy and quick recipe.
Hi there Liz,
YAYYYY!!! We are happy that you enjoyed the gravy! We are so happy that you want to make this recipe again! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us an awesome review of this recipe!
-Ameera and Robin
Two of my sons came over this summer to replace my storm door. I told them I would make lunch. I make this recipe, and they eat all but 2 servings. They both loved it. I will make this again. I found Gnocchis at my Costco.
You web site has become my go to for recipes.
I made your Italian Spaghetti Sauce. One reason I did is when you said your dad gave you thumbs up. And boy, it is so good. Your recipes are GREAT!
Hi there Elizabeth,
YAYYYY!!! We are so happy that you and your sons loved this recipe. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us an awesome review. We sincerely appreciate it.
-Ameera and Robin
Sub for the nooch??
Hi there Joanne,
Thank you for your question. We don’t have any substitutions to offer that we have personally tested. Some individuals have substituted white miso paste and/or tamari (in smaller quantities) and have been happy with the results. I hope this helps.
-Ameera and Robin
Thanks – hopefully someone else sees this and can advise on amount to substitute.
My first recipe from your site. This is absolutely delicious and I’m so excited to have this to eat all week for my meal prep!
Hi there Lindsay,
YAYYYY!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
This was an excellent weeknight meal! Curious if you could just throw in the uncooked gnocchi towards the end and make it a one pot meal, but I followed the instructions as written and it was great.
Hi there Amanda,
WOO HOOO!!! SO happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Not sure, we were worried that the gnocchi would release too much starch if we added it in. If you test it, let us know. Thank you so much.
-Ameera and Robin
The taste was superb! Spot on! Has anyone frozen ? I am cooking for one.
Hi there Susie,
YAYYY!!! So happy that you enjoyed this recipe. Yes, it freezes well. Thank you for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin