Ree Drummond’s 16-Minute Dinner Is a Perfect Skillet Meal

Refrigerated gnocchi is a staple in my house, and I make it often for dinner. It only needs a few minutes of boiling, and it can be pan-fried or simmered in simple sauces. I’ve got a handful of favorite recipes for making gnocchi shine.

Recently, I was excited when a friend recommended Ree Drummond’s Gnocchi with Chorizo and Corn as a weeknight favorite in her house. She even insisted that it only took 16 minutes to make. I balked but immediately added the recipe to the week’s meal plan.

My family fell in love with this creamy, spicy skillet gnocchi. My 10-year-old exclaimed that it tasted “just like chili-mac but better.” The best part? It actually took only 16 minutes to make.

How To Make Ree Drummond’s Gnocchi with Chorizo and Corn

Ree’s recipe starts with sautéing chopped onions, garlic, and bulk chorizo in a skillet. (You can make this skillet even faster by using pre-chopped onions and frozen crushed garlic, such as Dorot.) To that, you add jarred roasted peppers, fire-roasted corn, and canned green chiles. Finally, heavy cream and chicken broth are added, and the whole thing is set to simmer.

While the sauce cooks, quickly boil and drain the gnocchi. Then, dump the gnocchi into the sauce along with grated Monterey jack cheese and a knob of butter. Serve it in a bowl with chopped green onions sprinkled on top.

The sauce is aromatic and spicy, with enough creaminess to be decadent. Ree doesn’t call for it, but having made this skillet a few times now, I love a dollop of sour cream and some extra hot sauce for good measure.

My Tip for Making Ree Drummond’s Gnocchi with Chorizo and Corn Even Faster 

My one little quip with the recipe is that a proper pot of boiling water takes at least 15 minutes to come to a boil. While the hands-on cooking time is definitely under 20 minutes, you need to allot some inactive time for boiling water—or skip it entirely. 

Ree’s recipe calls for refrigerated gnocchi, which doesn’t actually need to be boiled first. My favorite brand, Rana, even includes directions for pan-frying the gnocchi with a bit of olive oil. So when it comes to making this recipe a true 16-minute meal, I skip the boiling entirely.

Instead, after adding the cream and chicken stock to the sauce, I add the gnocchi directly to the skillet. Make sure it is evenly coated with the cooking liquid, and let everything simmer together. The gnocchi will cook up tender and have even more flavor from cooking directly in the sauce.

This is a perfect skillet meal—a great way to serve gnocchi on a weeknight, and it makes a complete meal with the chorizo, peppers, and corn in the sauce.