Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe

This Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipe makes tender homemade pasta with delicious seasonal ingredients. The sweet flavor from the potatoes in this tender pillow-like pasta is an interesting twist. The gnocchi is easy to prepare for the home cook and your family will certainly appreciate your efforts.

Don't buy expensive fresh pasta at the specialty or grocery store. Save money and make it from scratch yourself!

The fresh gnocchi makes a nice meatless meal or hearty side dish.

How to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Let's make this easy homemade pasta for dinner tonight! Follow along here for step-by-step directions or jump down to the printable recipe card.

The recipe makes 2 servings (but is east to double or triple up).

Prep Time: 25 mins | Cooking Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

Here is everything you will need to make the homemade gnocchi.

• 1 large sweet potato or yam
• 1 egg
• 2 ounces of cheese
• 1 cup all-purpose flour + ¼ cup for molding
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 sprigs of thyme
• ½ tsp. black pepper
• ½ tsp. coriander
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Wash sweet potatoes in cool water and pat dry with a towel. Cut the root vegetable into finger-thick circles. Bake the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes until soft. or steam them. Alternatively: microwave the whole sweet potato until tender.

Peel the skin off the potato slices.

Place sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.

Add salt, pepper, egg, grated cheese. Stir. Pour in the flour. Knead until a soft, tender, slightly sticky dough forms.

Roll out a piece of dough on a floured surface into a sausage a finger thick.

Cut into 1-inch pieces and shape with a fork, vegetable slicer or gnocchi board. These strips are important; they hold the sauce in them when serving.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a pinch or two of Kosher salt, then drop in the gnocchi. Boil for 2-3 minutes (they will float when done). Drain in a colander and transfer to a plate. For the sauce, heat the butter or olive oil with the spices. Pluck out the bay leaves and pour over the gnocchi. Sprinkle with grated cheese and thyme leaves to serve.

Serving

The fresh gnocchi would also serve well with a fresh sage brown butter sauce, in a rich chicken broth, garlic butter or a cream sauce. My Tomato Garlic Confit would also be nice tossed with these gnocchi or my Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Sauce.

This dish would pair well with Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breasts, Blackened Salmon or Apple Stuffed Pork Roast, as well as many other entrees.

It can also serve as the main course. Accompanying it with some Focaccia Bread and Broccoli Rabe or a Roasted Beet Salad will make a complete meatless meal.

Consider my old-fashioned Sour Cream Cookies or Italian Ricotta Pie recipe for dessert.

Storing

The sweet potato gnocchi can only be stored raw for the short term, a day at the very most. This is not so much a food safety issue, more a textural one. These little pasta pillows are delicate.

If you want to store them longer, boil them off and place the cooked gnocchi in an airtight container, They will then last a couple days in the fridge.

For longer storage freeze the gnocchi. I recommend separating then with layers of parchment to avoid ending out with clumping. The frozen sweet potato gnocchi will last up to 3 months.