The Only Way We Cook This Trader Joe’s Freezer Find—Don’t Follow Package Instructions

Follow our lead and you will be rewarded with pillowy, never mushy, gnocchi.

A few years back, cauliflower was in its prime. moment — And boy did this little cruciferous vegetable get all the benefits. It was everywhere at once. Cauliflower rice, pizza crust, mashed potatoes, “steaks,” “wings,” you name it and cauliflower was in it.

We had a lot of fun until we were forced to squeeze out the cooked cauliflower through a cheesecloth. The result was the most crumbly cauliflower pizza crust ever. Then just when we thought the cauliflower hype was over, in 2018 Trader Joe’s introduced their frozen Cauliflower GnocchiWe were infatuated with the vegetable again.

To put it simply, this product is iconic — it has a cult-like following and is still one of the top vegan/vegetarian products Customers. These are Italian dumplings that are soft and pillowy made from just cauliflower, potatoes starch, extra virgin oil, sea salt, and cassava flour.

Gnocchi to us is aspirational. We have only ever had it in fancy Italian restaurants, where the prices and portion sizes are too large. Trader Joe’s has brought it down to earth by making it affordable, accessible, and delicious with minimal preparation required. It’s honestly just a bonus that it’s gluten free and made from cauliflower. We were quick to jump on board and fell in love. Many, many years later, we’re still on the same ride.

The one problem we have with Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi is the cooking instructions.

Trader Joe’s provides three methods for cooking the gnocchi: in a pan cooked with a little water and then browned with oil or butter, boiled, or microwaved. Gummy, mushy gnocchi can stick to the pan if you use the pan method. It requires that we are on our best behavior, adding water, steaming, stirring and making sure they don’t stick. Stressful! It is simpler to boil or microwave, but it produces soft, one-dimensional Gnocchi with no texture or crisp.

We didn’t give up. After a lot of experimentation, we figured out the best way to cook Trader Joe’s Cauliflower Gnocchi: It can be baked. Here’s how:

Turn your oven up to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the frozen gnocchi onto the baking sheet. For an extra crispy look, spray them with nonstick cooking spray. Toss them with some olive oil. Bake them for 20 to 22 minutes, until they’re golden brown on the outside.

And that’s show biz baby! It’s the easiest method to get perfectly cooked gnocchi. They’ll be crispy on the outside while remaining soft and chewy on the inside. Here’s some inspiration for gnocchi (our favorite type of inspo).

These are our favorite ways to enjoy Trader Joe’s baked cauliflower gnocchi

• Creamy Pesto Gnocchi: Mix Trader Joe’s Vegan Kale, Cashew & Basil Pesto with cashew cream or coconut milk and pour it on the baked gnocchi.

• Garlic and Oil GnocchiUsing olive oil, garlic, salt, Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest, toss the baked pasta in olive oil.

• Twice Baked & Cheesy GnocchiAfter baking the gnocchi bake them. Stir it in with your favorite tomato paste and place it in a pan. Broil the gnocchi until golden brown.

• Veggie Dumpling Soup: Make the baked gnocchi simple by combining it with the other ingredients. vegetable soup.