Sausage & Broccoli Gnocchi with Lemon Sauce (A Summer Pasta Favorite!)
Some dinners are just pure comfort—easy to pull together, nostalgic in flavor, and exactly what you need after a long day. This sausage and broccoli gnocchi with lemon sauce fits that bill. It’s my grown-up, gnocchi-filled twist on a dish my mom used to make when I was a kid—hers with rigatoni and all the love only a mom could put into a simple weeknight dinner. It was always one of my favorites, and this version brings in all the same cozy vibes with a slightly lighter feel and a citrusy brightness that just screams summer.
This pasta is everything I want in a summer dinner: a balance of hearty and fresh, comes together in 30 minutes, and doesn't require turning the oven on or making a mess of a thousand dishes. You boil the gnocchi and broccoli in the same pot, brown your sausage (or ground pork!) in a skillet, and toss it all together in a lemony, garlicky pasta water sauce that’s so much more than the sum of its parts. Add a sprinkle of parmesan, and dinner’s on the table before you know it.
Sausage and Broccoli Gnocchi Pasta
This is a take on a dish my mom used to make for us growing up. It's fresh and the perfect summer pasta dish
Ingredients
- 16 oz gnocch
- 12 oz italian sausage or 1 lb ground pork (seasoned like sausage)
- 2 heads of broccoli, chopped into florets
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 T olive oil
- 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Set a large pot of water to boil
- Heat a medium to large skillet to medium heat. Brown your meat. If using sausage, remove from casing and cook until browned and cooked through. If using pork, season with salt, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, and fennel seeds, and cook until browned and cooked through, adding half of your minced garlic once some of the fat renders.
- Salt the water with 1-2 T, then add your cut up broccoli florets (I try to chop them to be about the same size so they cook at the same rate). Boil for 4-5 minutes, or until a fork inserts easily into the stalk, then remove into large serving bowl
- Bring the water back to a boil, then cook your gnocchi to package directions (or until they start to float).
- While that's cooking, quickly assemble your sauce in your serving bowl. Toss in the minced garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and olive oil with the broccoli. Add in your cooked sausage, stir to combine
- Once gnocchi is done, add them to the bowl with some of the reserved water. Grate fresh parmesan over top, and toss everything together. Add more "gnocchi" water if needed to create your sauce
Nutrition Facts
Calories
307Fat
22 gSat. Fat
8 gCarbs
15 gFiber
5 gNet carbs
10 gSugar
4 gProtein
15 gSodium
555 mgCholesterol
47 mgThe nutrition information is based on estimates and is not definitive.
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If there was one dish my mom made growing up that I consistently asked for, it was her rigatoni with sausage and broccoli. It wasn’t fancy, but it was flavorful, filling, and felt like a hug in a bowl. She’d boil the broccoli until tender, toss it with sausage and pasta, and then magically coat it all in a lemony sauce that was both light and savory. I never asked how she did it, just kept showing up for seconds.
As an adult, I wanted to recreate that same feeling—but add a little twist. Enter: gnocchi. Pillowy potato pasta that’s the perfect vehicle for a lemony sauce and bite-sized bits of sausage and broccoli. It takes the same pantry staples and nostalgic flavors and levels them up just a bit. Still easy, still fast, but feels a little more special.
Here’s what I love about this recipe:
One pot and one skillet. Minimal cleanup.
Quick cooking. The whole thing comes together in under 30 minutes.
Customizable. Swap gnocchi for rigatoni or your favorite pasta. Use pork, turkey, or chicken. Add red pepper flakes for heat. Make it yours.
I like to start by prepping all my ingredients because once you get going, it comes together FAST. Chop your broccoli into bite-sized florets so everything cooks evenly. For the protein, my mom always used Italian sausage links—removed from the casing and browned until crispy. It added such a rich, savory flavor to the dish and was the perfect pairing for the lemony sauce.
These days, though, I often swap in plain ground pork and season it myself to mimic those sausage flavors. It’s a little leaner, easier on the wallet, and works perfectly if you're trying to be a bit more conscious about fat and calories. I mix in garlic powder, fennel, dried oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper—nothing fancy, but it gives you that familiar sausage taste with more flexibility. It’s a small switch that still delivers big flavor, and honestly, it makes the dish feel a little lighter, which I love for summer dinners.
The gnocchi and broccoli get boiled in the same pot—broccoli first so it has a little more time to tenderize, then add the gnocchi for the last couple minutes. Drain and save a good scoop of that starchy pasta water. That’s the secret to the sauce.
In a big bowl (or even back in your skillet if you’re trying to save dishes), you’ll make a quick sauce with lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, grated parmesan, and that reserved pasta water. Whisk it all up and toss in your cooked sausage, gnocchi, and broccoli. Season to taste and give it one more grating of parmesan if you’re feeling generous (you should be).
The lemon adds such a fresh brightness, balancing the richness of the meat and the comforting chew of the gnocchi. It's light but still satisfying, which makes it the perfect summer meal. My husband and I have this in regular rotation, and every time, we finish our bowls and say, "We should really make this more often."
It’s also a great meal prep option—just store everything together and reheat gently with a splash of water. The lemony flavor holds up, and the gnocchi reheats surprisingly well.
Whether you’re reliving childhood dinners or just need a quick and delicious weeknight dinner, this one checks all the boxes. Comforting, quick, and just fancy enough to feel special without any extra effort.
