Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi with Butternut Squash Sauce & Roasted Vegetables (Vegan, GF)

I have a confession to make. I am madly and unforgivably ADDICTED to Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi! If you haven’t had a chance to try this bag of gluten-free and vegan goodness that contains only 5 ingredients then consider this blog post your PSA to go out and buy it now. I’ve been working on testing how to best cook this gnocchi and, in addition to providing you with that, I have created an amazing fall recipe for you using this gnocchi. Get ready for The perfect Fall Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi recipe complete with a vegan butternut squash sauce and roasted vegetables. YUM!

Ready for all the Gnocchi and Fall Flavors: Jump to Recipe

So here’s the first tip to cooking TJ’s cauliflower gnocchi: don’t follow the package instructions! Seriously, cooking the gnocchi in a pan with water leads to some seriously mushy gnocchi. Because these gnocchi don’t have any gluten, potato, or eggs, they’re lacking a lot of the structure that holds a traditional gnocchi together. When I first started cooking the gnocchi, I pan fried it and this was REALLY good. However, what I didn’t like was how much oil I had to use to prevent the gnocchi from sticking to the pan. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the pan frying method and do this from time to time, but it’s not my go to anymore. What I’ve found I love even more is baking the gnocchi and just using a little bit of cooking spray/oil.  As a bonus, this method allows you to roast any vegetables on the same pan at the same temperature for a quick and easy dinner! If you want to cut down your oil even more I bet you could even bake on parchment paper, though I personally haven’t tried that strategy yet.

Now while I love gnocchi with a good tomato sauce, I found that a thicker sauce really goes well with these gnocchi too. Pesto is an awesome choice, but for this fall flavored recipe I wanted to incorporate all the good squash that are in season. So, I took some butternut squash, seasoned it with delicious chili oil, and roasted it right along with all the veggies. Blend the squash with with some soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, salt, and a little water and you will have the perfect healthy and filling sauce to pour over your gnocchi and vegetables.

What I really love about this recipe is that it really highlights all the best flavors of Fall. Whatever you do, definitely don’t skimp on the sauce! Hope you enjoy this delicious and healthy cauliflower gnocchi dish. I absolutely love hearing about your cooking experiences with the recipes on SGTO, so please don’t forget to share your experience with this recipe in the comments below.  Oh and PS, while I’d love if Trader Joe’s was a sponsor, unfortunately this blog post is in no way sponsored by them or this product. I just really wanted the chance to create a recipe with a product I have been absolutely loving lately. I’ll see you back here next week for something sweet & pumpkin flavored!

-TSG

In case you are looking for some of the tools & ingredients used in this recipe, I’ve put a few of my favorites for you here:

1. Part of the inspiration behind this recipe came from this Chili Beak Hot Spicy Chili Oil.It’s the perfect amount of spicy and adds so much flavor to this dish. You can substitute for any chili oil in the recipe, but this is the brand I recommend.
2.  As mentioned, I have an ongoing partnership with Imperfect Produce which is where I’ve been getting all my in season produce these days. I am a forever fan because of their mission to reduce food waste. Use code “SGTO” at checkout for 50% off your first order and get your butternut squash for this recipe from them today!

Print Recipe

Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi with Butternut Squash Sauce & Roasted Fall Vegetables (Vegan, GF) Yum

Cuisine

Comfort Food, Dinner

Keyword

Gnocchi

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Roasted Vegetables & Gnocchi

• 2 bags Trader Joes Cauliflower Gnocchi *also can be replaced with 5 cups of any other frozen gnocchi
• 3 cups broccolini *stems included, chopped into 3-4" inch length pieces
• 1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms
• 1 cup chopped brussel sprouts *halved or quartered depending on size
• 2 tsp chili oil
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp avocado oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• cooking spray to lightly spray baking sheets

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped butternut squash * cut into 1" squares
• 1 tsp chili oil
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup soaked cashews *soaked for 30 minutes- 1 hour in hot water*
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 3/4 cup water
• salt & pepper to taste (recommending using at least 1 tsp salt)

Cuisine Comfort Food, Dinner Keyword Gnocchi Servings servings Ingredients Roasted Vegetables & Gnocchi 2 bags Trader Joes Cauliflower Gnocchi *also can be replaced with 5 cups of any other frozen gnocchi 3 cups broccolini *stems included, chopped into 3-4" inch length pieces 1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms 1 cup chopped brussel sprouts *halved or quartered depending on size 2 tsp chili oil 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1 Tbsp avocado oil salt & pepper to taste cooking spray to lightly spray baking sheets Sauce Ingredients 2 cups chopped butternut squash * cut into 1" squares 1 tsp chili oil 1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 cup soaked cashews *soaked for 30 minutes- 1 hour in hot water* 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 3/4 cup water salt & pepper to taste (recommending using at least 1 tsp salt)

Instructions

1. *Please note that before preparing the main ingredients you will want to soak your cashews for 6-8 hours in room temperature water or 30 minutes-1 hour in boiling hot water. This softens them enough to become smooth when blending the sauce*
2. Begin by spraying two large sheet pans with cooking spray and preheating the oven to 400F. Spraying the pans is very important so the gnocchi and other vegetables do not stick.
3. On one sheet pan, add your chopped butternut squash. Top with the sauce ingredients including the chili oil, garlic powder, and lemon juice and mix until squash evenly coated. You will mix the cashews, nutritional yeast, and water from the sauce ingredients in later.
4. On the second sheet pan add your broccolini, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts and coat evenly with the chili oil, avocado oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt, and pepper under the roasted vegetable ingredients. Once evenly coated, add the two bags of frozen gnocchi to the same pan, toss to combine, and evenly spread out over the pan. *Important: make sure vegetables & gnocchi are spread out to cook evenly*
5. Add both pans to the oven and bake the vegetables and gnocchi for 15 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, briefly remove the pans and stir the ingredients on both sheet pans. Add back to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes until the vegetables and gnocchi are browned and crisp, but not burnt.
6. Remove the ingredients from the oven and let cool. While the vegetables are cooling, add your soaked cashews to a blender or food processor and blend about 1 minute. Next, add in the roasted butternut squash, nutritional, yeast, and water. Blend until a thick but smooth sauce is formed. If you want a thinner sauce, add more water at this time and continue to blend. Season with salt and pepper to your liking.
7. Add the cauliflower gnocchi and vegetables to a bowl and top each bowl with sauce. If you have any leftover sauce, you can store in the fridge for 3-5 days or in the freezer up to 1 month. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

*If you want an even easier preparation, skip soaking the cashews and roasting the butternut squash and use any store bought sauce. Won't be quite the same, but tastes just as good!*

*To prep ahead of time, soak your cashews the morning before you want to cook this. The cashews turn out best when soaked at room temperature for 6-8 hours, however soaking in boiling hot water for 30 minutes- 1 hour is a good work around if you are short on time*

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