The beets cook first, then get blended smooth with the cottage cheese and egg before the flour goes in to bring the dough together. The dough is sticky by nature as beets carry a lot of moisture, and patience with the flour is important: add as little as possible to keep the gnocchi tender rather than dense. After a rest in the fridge, the dough rolls into logs and gets cut into long gnocchi, which go back into the cold for ten minutes to firm up before cooking.

The sauce is as simple as the dish deserves: half a cup of the golden beet cooking water, Parmigiano Reggiano stirred in until melted, salt and pepper, the gnocchi returned to the pan until coated. Parsley goes on at the end. The whole dish is golden, the gnocchi, the sauce, the color of the bowl, and it is the kind of recipe that proves gnocchi is not just a potato dish waiting to happen.

Why This Recipe Works

Golden beets are milder and sweeter than red beets, they add flavor and color without the earthiness that can make red beet gnocchi taste one-note. Blending the beets with cottage cheese and egg before adding the flour means the base mixture is already smooth and homogeneous, producing a more even-textured dough than folding chunky beet pieces into flour would achieve. Cottage cheese adds protein and moisture without the heaviness of ricotta, which is why the finished gnocchi are lighter than their potato counterparts. Cooking them in the beet water rather than plain salted water deepens the color significantly, the starch released by the gnocchi also slightly thickens the water, which carries more pigment and clings to the surface of each piece as it cooks.

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Key Ingredients in This Recipe

Key ingredients to make Golden Beet Gnocchi with Cottage Cheese

You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.

Golden beets – the core ingredient that gives the gnocchi this beautiful warm sunny color.
Egg
Cottage cheese – a little extra protein.
All-purpose flour – for the binding.
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese – part of the sauce.
Salt & pepper
Parsley

Watch this short video below to see how quickly and easily this recipe comes together, so you know what to expect before you start.

How to make the Golden Beet Gnocchi with Cottage Cheese

Step 1 - Cook the beets until they are soft when piercing with a fork. Cool them and peel the skin off.

Step 1 – Prepare the beets. You can do this by roasting them in the oven ‘naked’ or wrapped in aluminum foil. I decided to cook them in water on the stove as I want to re-use the water to cook the gnocchi in order the emphasize the color.

Cook the beets until they are soft when piercing with a fork. Cool them and peel the skin off. You can do this ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you start making the gnocchi.

Step 2 – Transfer the cooled beets with the cottage cheese and the egg into a blender and blend until smooth. The tiny cottage cheese balls will blend into a smooth mixture. Make sure you drain the cottage cheese as much as you can.

Step 2 - Transfer the cooled beets with the cottage cheese and the egg into a blender and blend until smooth. The tiny cottage cheese balls with blend into a smooth mixture.

Step 3 – Combine flour and salt in a bowl and add the beet mixture to this and mix. Mix with a spatula and/or your hands.

Transfer the ‘dough’ onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes. The dough will be sticky, so you may need to add a little bit more flour. Try to add a little as possible.

Step 4 – Form a ball of the dough, wrap it in saran wrap and place it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Step 5 – Transfer the gnocchi ‘dough’ back onto your floured surface, cut the ball in 4 parts and roll each out into a log or tube. Cut the gnocchi from that log. You can cut them short and chubby, form them into a ball or make them in a random shape; I cut long gnocchi. You may want to toss them with a little bit of flour to make sure they don’t stick together. Place the gnocchi onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Place the baking sheet into the fridge for about 10 minutes, so the gnocchi firms up.

Step 6 – Heat up the water in which you cooked the beets. This is nice and golden and will help color the beet gnocchi more intensely.

When the beet water boils, use a slotted spoon and add the gnocchi in batches. Cook until the gnocchi float to the surface and transfer the gnocchi to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Step 6 - Heat up the water in which you cooked the beets. Use a slotted spoon and add the gnocchi in batches. Cook until the gnocchi float to the surface and transfer the gnocchi to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Step 7 – This is the last step of the recipe. Golden beets are rather delicate in flavor, so you want to give that flavor just a little bit of support. You can do this by baking the gnocchi in butter, but I prefer to make a quick and light Parmesan sauce. Discard all the gnocchi cooking water, except of 1/2 cup. Pour that back into the pan, add about 1/4-1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and stir until dissolved. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the gnocchi, stir and allow the sauce to coat. Sprinkle with parsley and serve in bowls or on plates. Grate some extra Parmigiano Reggiano cheese over the gnocchi and enjoy!

Bowl with golden beet gnocchi, sprinkled with parsley and grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Storage Note

Homemade fresh gnocchi are best cooked and eaten straight away, but you can do some prep work ahead of time, but you can do some prep work ahead of time; cook the beets and make the cheese sauce in advance, then make and cook the gnocchi fresh when you’re ready to serve.

Alternative and Substitutes

Golden beets – red beets are the most likely alternative to the golden ones and how beautiful would that be. Find my Red Beet Gnocchi with Ricotta recipe here.
Cottage cheese – ricotta cheese is your substitute for cottage cheese.
Parmigiano Reggiano – a likely alternative would be Pecorino Romano.
Parsley – sage, thyme or dill. I would stay away from rosemary as it would totally overpower the beets.

Other Recipes with Beets to Try

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