High Protein Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Crispy Chickpeas, Peppers and Almond Romesco
Gnocchi, chickpeas, peppers and tomatoes roast on one pan, then half the vegetables blend with toasted almonds into a smoky Spanish romesco sauce.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
High Protein Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Crispy Chickpeas, Peppers and Almond Romesco is a vegan dinner recipe made with chickpeas, red bell peppers, cherry tomatoes. It takes 55 minutes of hands-on time, serves 4, and each serving has 575 calories, 16 g of protein and 11 g of fiber.
The trick here is that the romesco never needs its own cooking: you roast twice the peppers and tomatoes you need, then blitz half of them with toasted almonds, roasted garlic and smoked paprika while the gnocchi finishes crisping. Chickpeas go on the pan first and dry-roast for 15 minutes before anything else joins them, which is what gets them crackly instead of steamy. Spread everything in a genuinely single layer across two pans — crowding is the difference between golden gnocchi and pale, gummy gnocchi.
A protein boost + cuisine (Spanish romesco-style almond pepper sauce instead of balsamic-roasted brassicas) take on our Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts, Shallots and Balsamic.
Ingredients
Sheet pan
- 1 can240 gchickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted very dry
- 2 238 gred bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups298 gcherry tomatoes
- 1 lb454 gshelf-stable potato gnocchi, uncooked
- 4 cloves12 ggarlic cloves, left whole in their skins
- 3 tbsp41 golive oil
- 1 tsp2.3 gsmoked paprika
- 1 tsp6 gfine sea salt
- ½ tsp1.2 gfreshly ground black pepper
Romesco
- ½ cup72 graw almonds
- 2 tbsp27 gextra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp15 gsherry vinegar, red wine vinegar works too
- 1 tsp2.3 gsmoked paprika
- ¼ tsp0.5 gred pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp1.5 gfine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 3 tbsp45 gwater, to loosen
To finish
- ¼ cup15 gflat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp15 glemon juice (optional)
Kit: two rimmed sheet pans, food processor or blender, parchment paper
Tips
- Shelf-stable vacuum-packed gnocchi is what you want — refrigerated or frozen gnocchi carries more moisture and tends to go gummy on a sheet pan.
- If your food processor is small, blend the romesco in two batches rather than overloading it; the almonds need room to break down.
- Almonds go from toasted to bitter fast. Pull them the moment you can smell them, and move them off the hot pan immediately.
Swap ideas
- Use a 12-oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained, in place of roasting fresh ones for the sauce
- Cuts about 10 minutes and gives a softer, sweeter romesco with less char.
- Swap half the almonds for hazelnuts
- Moves the sauce toward a Catalan salvitxada — rounder and nuttier, slightly less bright.
- Replace the chickpeas with a 14-oz block of firm tofu torn into bite-size pieces
- Gives craggier, chewier protein pieces; roast for the full 15 minutes first, as tofu needs the head start too.
- Stir a handful of baby spinach into the hot gnocchi before plating
- Wilts in residual heat and adds greens without another pan.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
575kcal per serving
Everything else · 4 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 3.3 g 16%
- Sugars
- 8.3 g
- Sodium
- 1371 mg 60%
- Potassium
- 751 mg 16%
- Calcium
- 116 mg 9%
- Iron
- 3.5 mg 19%
- Vitamin C
- 88 mg 98%
- Vitamin B12
- 0 µg 0%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt, Peppers, sweet, red, raw, Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average, Signature Select Potato Gnocchi (UPC 021130507276), SmartLabel Nutrition Facts, serving 1 cup (140 g), Garlic, raw, Oil, olive, salad or cooking, Spices, paprika, Salt, table, Spices, pepper, black, Nuts, almonds, Vinegar, red wine (USDA SR Legacy). Used as a proxy: FDC has no SR Legacy or Foundation entry for sherry vinegar, and the branded sherry vinegar entries have inconsistent, mostly rounded-to-zero label data. Sherry vinegar is also a wine vinegar at about 6-7% acidity., Spices, pepper, red or cayenne, Beverages, water, tap, drinking
Method
Heat the oven to 425°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment. Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then roll them dry in a towel — any surface water will steam them instead of crisping them.
Toss the chickpeas with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, the smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Spread them on one pan with the whole unpeeled garlic cloves tucked to one side and roast for 15 minutes, until they rattle loosely and are starting to wrinkle.
Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking often, until fragrant and lightly browned in spots, 5–6 minutes. Tip them onto a plate to stop the cooking.
Toss the gnocchi, peppers and cherry tomatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add half the peppers and half the tomatoes to the chickpea pan, and spread the gnocchi with the remaining peppers and tomatoes in a single uncrowded layer on the second pan.
Roast both pans for 20–22 minutes, swapping their positions halfway, until the gnocchi are puffed and golden at the edges, the peppers are blistered and the tomatoes have burst. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skins.
Build the romesco: put the toasted almonds and roasted garlic in a food processor and pulse to a coarse meal. Add the peppers and tomatoes from the chickpea pan along with the extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Blend to a rough, spoonable sauce, adding water a tablespoon at a time until it drops easily from a spoon. Taste and add salt or vinegar as needed.
Spread the romesco over a warm platter or four shallow bowls, pile the gnocchi, chickpeas, peppers and tomatoes on top, and finish with parsley and a squeeze of lemon. Serve right away, while the gnocchi edges are still crisp.
Storage: Keep the romesco separately in a jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. The roasted gnocchi and chickpeas keep 3 days airtight in the fridge; re-crisp them in a 400°F oven or air fryer for 6–8 minutes before saucing, as microwaving turns the gnocchi soft.
Questions
- How much protein is in high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco?
- Each of the 4 servings has 16 g of protein, 11 g of fiber and 575 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco take to make?
- 15 minutes of prep and 40 minutes of cooking, so 55 minutes of hands-on time.
- Can you make high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco ahead?
- Keep the romesco separately in a jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. The roasted gnocchi and chickpeas keep 3 days airtight in the fridge; re-crisp them in a 400°F oven or air fryer for 6–8 minutes before saucing, as microwaving turns the gnocchi soft.
- What can I substitute in high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco?
- Use a 12-oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained, in place of roasting fresh ones for the sauce — cuts about 10 minutes and gives a softer, sweeter romesco with less char.. Swap half the almonds for hazelnuts — moves the sauce toward a catalan salvitxada — rounder and nuttier, slightly less bright.. Replace the chickpeas with a 14-oz block of firm tofu torn into bite-size pieces — gives craggier, chewier protein pieces; roast for the full 15 minutes first, as tofu needs the head start too.. Stir a handful of baby spinach into the hot gnocchi before plating — wilts in residual heat and adds greens without another pan..
- Does high protein sheet pan gnocchi with crispy chickpeas, peppers and almond romesco contain gluten or tree nuts?
- Yes — the ingredient list includes gluten and tree nuts, in some cases as an optional ingredient you can leave out. Check the labels on the products you buy if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published September 21, 2026 ·Spanish
