This easy sweet potato gnocchi recipe is pillowy, flavorful, and only has four ingredients. Lately, I've been on a homemade gnocchi binge trying to find the easiest, healthiest, tastiest gnocchi recipe out there. There is a time and place for ricotta in my gnocchi, and I discovered through trial and error that I enjoy ricotta more in the white potato gnocchi than sweet potato gnocchi.
I just feel like there is too much going on with the sweet potato and the ricotta, that it makes it difficult for a flavorful sauce. And while I can appreciate simple sauces, I really enjoy flavorful sauces with this pillowy sweet potato gnocchi recipe.
Also, I've been trying to find ways to add more veggies to what I cook at home (aside from my homemade strawberry banana smoothie). My daughter is having a hard time with textures right now, so this recipe is a big win in that arena too!
My First Gnocchi Experience
The very first time I tried gnocchi, was in China, which, is not the normal place you'd imagine experiencing such a dish. I was working all around China and just so happened to be passing through Beijing. Anytime I went through a big city, I checked to see if there were restaurants that served CHEESE. My biggest craving while working in China was cheese and bread (that's the Middle Eastern part of me).
Well, long story short, I stumbled across a restaurant with a waiter that told me I needed to try the homemade gnocchi with a creamy cheesy white sauce. Ever since that day, I've been hooked on gnocchi.
To make matters worse, I decided to try making homemade gnocchi myself. Holy cow- it's not difficult, and it tastes so good!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Sweet Potatoes: I use orange sweet potatoes for this dish because they are very soft and tender. I don't recommend using white sweet potatoes.
- Flour: I use white all-purpose flour because it's what I have on hand.
- Egg: I like to use free-range organic chicken eggs.
- Salt: I use flaked sea salt, but any type of salt works in this recipe.
Tips and Tricks
- Allow the sweet potatoes to cool once they have been cooked and drained. The sweet potatoes will be too hot to handle straight away.
- Flour the working surface where you will be making the pasta dough.
- The dough is a little sticky, so don't panic because this is normal. Just keep flouring the surfaces and your hands while working with the gnocchi dough.
- Homemade potato gnocchi cooks relatively fast compared to box pasta. The gnocchi is finished when it floats to the top.
- Cook the gnocchi in small batches (about 20 pieces) in boiling water, for the best results. Because the cooking time is only a few minutes, it doesn't add too much extra cook time.
Making the Right Size Gnocchi Pasta
The hardest part in this recipe is preparing the gnocchi pasta shape. I've found these tips to be helpful:
- On a floured surface, roll out the gnocchi pasta dough into a 1" thick rope (about 2.5 cm).
- Cut every 1" (about 2.5 cm) down the rope.
- Flour a fork, and lightly indent the top of the gnocchi with the fork.
- Flour the little pieces of gnocchi so they don't stick together
Eat Pasta Like the Italians!
Although this sweet potato gnocchi recipe is probably not what you would find in an authentic Italian restaurant, it has the Italian spirit. What I mean by that is my take on authentic Italian food is simple with few high-quality ingredients.
Amazing Gnocchi Pasta Sauces
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Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This dairy-free sweet potato gnocchi recipe is made without ricotta with only 4 ingredients: egg, salt, flour, and sweet potatoes. If you are a gnocchi fan, you will really like this easy and healthy recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes)
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- extra flour for working surfaces
Instructions
- Peel, chop and boil the sweet potatoes.
- Drain the sweet potatoes and allow to cool down.
- Mash the sweet potatoes really well with a potato masher or fork. Make sure the mashed potato is smooth without chunks.
- Lay the mashed sweet potatoes on a floured surface. Top with the flour. Make a little crevice and add the cracked egg. Add the salt.
- Mix the egg with the flour using a fork.
- Mix the sweet potatoes, flour, egg, and salt using your hands.
- Make a log, and cut the dough into 5 equal sections.
- Roll out the section individually to form a long 1" (2.5 cm) rope. Cut every 1" (2.5 cm) to make gnocchi pieces.
- Flour a fork, and lightly press on top of the gnocchi pieces to form an indentation.
- Flour the gnocchi pieces lightly.
- In a large pot, boil water with some salt.
- Add about 20 to 25 gnocchi pieces into the boiling water. Remove the gnocchi with a strainer once it has floated to the surface (about 2 to 3 minutes).
- Continue cooking the gnocchi until all gnocchi pieces have been cooked.
- Serve with your favorite sauce of choice.
Notes
- This gnocchi dough recipe can be batch prepared and frozen. Don't cook the gnocchi that's going to be frozen. Flour the gnocchi pieces individually prior to placing it into a freezer-friendly storage bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- This sweet potato gnocchi recipe can be reheated the following day.
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 30 gnocchi pieces
- Calories: 225 calories
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 80 mg
- Fat: 2 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 2 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 47 mg
Keywords: sweet potato gnocchi recipe, sweet potato gnocchi without ricotta
Kylie Archer says
Such a great gnocchi!The kids and I loved it!
Lily says
Great!
Valerie says
I LOVE gnocchi made with white potatoes and ricotta, it's one of my favorites ever to eat. I like it super simple with butter, salt and pepper. I've never had sweet potato gnocchi, it sounds easy enough to make.
Lily says
If you like white potato and ricotta gnocchi, you will LOVE this!
Michelle says
I've only tried once to make sweet potato gnocchi and it was an absolute failure! Thanks to all your excellent tips I now know exactly where I went wrong. I'm going to give it another try now that I have your recipe!
★★★★★
Lily says
Awesome! Yea sweet potato is a bit tricky because it's really soft. But the taste is amazing!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
I keep meaning to try making gnocchi again (my first attempt) years ago was a failure). I've read all your tips (thanks) and feel ready to have another go.
★★★★★
Lily says
Let me know how it turns out!
Hamad Ali says
Wow it was really easy. Nice recipe.
Shelley says
So funny that the first time you tried gnocchi was in China! But I adore it, too - and homemade gnocchi is just simply unparalleled! What a wonderful idea to use sweet potato - nutritious and fantastic flavor! I could totally see serving this as part of a Thanksgiving feast!!
★★★★★
Lily says
I agree! Thanksgiving has to have sweet potatoes somewhere in the mix otherwise it's not Thanksgiving