Air Fryer Reference
Crispy Gnocchi
appetizer · fresh
- Temperature
- 400 °F
- 204 °C
- Total time
- 12 min
- One 16-oz / 450-g package shelf-stable potato gnocchi (2 generous portions or 4 side portions)
- Shake at
- 6 min
- shake once
- Internal temp
- —
- use visual cue
Doneness
Each gnocchi pillow is deeply golden with a tight blistered crust and audibly firm when stirred; interior, when one is broken open, is fluffy and steaming, not gummy.
Oil & seasoning
Toss in a bowl with 1 tbsp olive oil + salt BEFORE loading — gnocchi crisps from external oil contact, not internal steam. Spraying after loading misses the underside.
Season with: salt, black pepper, garlic powder, Italian herbs, grated Parmesan (tossed on AFTER the cook).
Watch out for
- Use shelf-stable vacuum-packed potato gnocchi (the kind on the dry-pasta aisle), NOT fresh refrigerated gnocchi. Refrigerated gnocchi is wetter and sticks to itself in the basket; the result is a fused gummy clump.
- Do NOT boil the gnocchi first. Going raw straight into the basket is what makes the 'crispy gnocchi' technique work — boiling first turns them into the soft texture you'd get from a saucepan, and they refuse to crisp on the outside.
- Shake the basket at 6 minutes, not flip. Individual gnocchi are too small and round to flip cleanly — shaking redistributes the pile so the pale undersides face up.
- Toss with grated Parmesan AFTER the cook, not before. Cheese tossed at minute zero scorches in the convection airstream and turns the gnocchi black-flecked.