A quick and healthy meal perfect for busy days! Easy Weeknight Spinach Pesto recipe comes together in just under 30 minutes. An absolutely comforting dish with fluffy gnocchi, herby pesto and sprinkled with parmesan.

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Want to know a secret about me?

One of my favorite things in life to do is evoke emotion.

Saying this fact out loud or seeing it in writing looks and sounds so odd, so I don’t say it too often for fear of being misunderstood.

Yes, I can play devils advocate when needed. When I have, it has never been with the intent to cause pain but rather to draw attention to something I feel needs attention.

This kind of emotion stirring, I am good at, but it is not the love that I am speaking of.

My passion falls more in line with things like creating tender moments that brings tears to people’s eyes or making someone burst out laughing.

I also adore movies that elicit lots of tear jerking moments like one of may favorites, P.S. I Love You. (Ladies, if you haven’t seen it and need a good cry, this is your movie. It’s just so darn good!!)

In case you can’t tell, I also LOVE food.

It is no surprise then that I am constantly on a quest to merge my two passions together, evoking emotion with food and really good meals.

Honestly, is there anything better at the end of a hard day than coming home to a comforting dinner that is both quick and healthy?

This Easy Weeknight Spinach Pesto Gnocchi recipe falls within all these categories in addition to being one of my favorite simple dinner ideas.

Commonly Asked Questions

How do I cook with pesto without ruining the dish?

This is such a great question! #1 rule for cooking with pesto is Don’t Cook It. With most pasta dishes, the pasta is cooked, drained and then the pesto is added off heat.

For this pesto gnocchi dish once the onion, garlic and spinach are cooked, turn off heat and add pesto.

Pro Tip: When cooking this recipe, start with boiling the water on high heat first. This should allow the water to be at a full boil by the time the pesto is added to the spinach and onions. The gnocchi will only take a few minutes to cook and the residual heat from the gnocchi will help in melting the parmesan.

I don’t like store bought pesto. Do you have a good recipe for it?

I totally understand! My familie’s all time favorite pesto is my Toasted Walnut Pesto. Toasting the walnuts adds such a wonderful deep nutty taste. Just make sure to use a high quality product like this.

Why do I need to heavily salt the pasta water? Doesn’t that make for too much sodium?

Authentic Italian chefs are intensely passionate about heavily salting the water. For many this seems a little shocking. The challenge is, without the water being heavily salted the pasta tastes flat. The good news is that most of the sodium remains in the water while beautifully flavoring the gnocchi.

Pro Tip: Bring the water to a rolling boil before adding the salt. Also, break apart the gnocchi before adding to the boiling water. This makes adding the gnocchi just a little easier in preventing the splashing of hot water.

I want to cook at home more. Do you have more simple dinner ideas?

I love how you think! Here are some of my favorite quick, easy and healthy dinners perfect for weeknights:

One Pan Panko Chicken and Green Bean Salad

Zesty Chicken Pasta Salad

Simple Angel Hair Pasta

Instant Pot Greek Chicken Wraps

More Fun Pesto Recipes:

Steak Fajita Skewers with Cilantro Pesto– The View From Great Island

Creamy Pesto Vegetable Pasta– The Fed Up Foodie

Parsley Infused Pesto Socca Pizza– Reluctant Entertainer

Roman Pesto Pasta– The Fed Up Foodie