These warmly spiced pasta pillows make a lovely entrée or side dish.
Gnoc, gnoc. Who’s there? Sweet potato gnocchi, that’s who! What a wonderful and easy dish to have in your repertoire, whether you need a quick weeknight dinner, an elevated side for a dinner party, or an orange food for Halloween!
Often championed as being healthier than regular potatoes because they have more vitamin A, fiber, and antioxidants, sweet potatoes also boast gorgeous color and their characteristic sweetness. When you combine cooked sweet potatoes with warm spices like nutmeg and cinnamon and then create a dough, adding flour and egg, you get these perfectly cloud-like dumplings that just taste like fall.
Homemade pasta can be tricky sometimes, but that is not the case with sweet potato gnocchi. Once you’ve baked, cooled, peeled, and mashed the potatoes, the dough comes together quickly and easily. And it’s really fun to roll out the kneaded dough into ropes that you’ll slice into bite-size pieces and pop into salted, boiling water. Before you know it, you have homemade sweet potato gnocchi that your family and friends will love.
Best Sweet Potatoes For Gnocchi
The most common types of sweet potatoes found in grocery stores are Garnet, Jewel, and Beauregard. These three have varying shades of reddish skin but all possess the deep orange flesh we are accustomed to in a sweet potato. Any of these will work in this gnocchi recipe, but the choice you make might depend on taste. Beauregards have the sweetest flavor, with Jewels coming in next and Garnets last on the sweetness scale (but they are all sweet potatoes, so they are all sweet). Their textures are similar, too. Although not always available, Japanese sweet potatoes are also a good choice for gnocchi: some have orange flesh, but others are white or purple inside. Japanese sweet potatoes are generally considered sweeter than the American-grown ones described above. So choose the one that best suits your taste!
FAQs & Tips
How Do I Store Leftovers?
Cooked and cooled sweet potato gnocchi can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Can I Prep This Ahead?
Yes. You can prepare sweet potato gnocchi through step 5, place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet that’s been dusted with flour, and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them into a freezer-safe bag, and they can remain in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Should I Use A Potato Ricer To Mash The Sweet Potatoes For Gnocchi?
You certainly can. Potato ricers are known for making very smooth mashed potatoes—sweet or white—so if you have one, definitely use it in this recipe. That said, you can also achieve the right consistency for the gnocchi dough by using a hand-held potato masher or even a fork.
Will This Recipe Work With White Potatoes?
Sort of. Most gnocchi recipes call for making a dough out of mashed potatoes, flour, and egg. Our hesitation in saying ‘absolutely’ for the exchange of white potatoes for sweet in this recipe is about measurements. So it’s best to check a standard gnocchi recipe before switching potato varieties.
Serving Suggestions
One of my favorite pairings, because both include cinnamon, is sweet potato gnocchi and Indian Spiced Drumsticks. And keeping with the sweet and savory combo, I’ll usually drizzle some Spiced Maple Syrup over both. Delish!
Tossing sweet potato gnocchi simply in some melted Homemade Butter and topping with a bit of grated Parmesan and some fresh chopped parsley creates an incredibly tasty dish. As an entrée, it goes beautifully with so many sides, such as Ratatouille or Savory Vegetable Crisp, but these pasta pillows make an equally terrific side dish. The sweet and savory gnocchi pair perfectly with Turkey Meatloaf as well as with traditionally autumn-inspired mains like this Grilled Pork Loin.
You know how I love a themed dinner, so here are the orange things I make on Halloween: Carrot And Ginger Soup followed by Honey-Glazed Salmon, sweet potato gnocchi, Kabocha Squash, and Roasted Beet And Orange Salad. And Candy Corn Halloween Parfaits for dessert. So spooky, so good!
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2-3 medium sweet potatoes about 20 ounces total
- 1 large egg
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prick sweet potatoes with a fork and bake until tender, about 45-50 minutes.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven, let cool slightly, peel, and mash the flesh until smooth.
- In a large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potatoes, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Gradually add flour until a soft dough forms. If sticky, add 1 more tablespoon of flour at a time until dough is easier to work with.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a long rope, about 1/2 inch in diameter, and cut into 1-inch pieces.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook gnocchi in batches until they float to the surface, about 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Serve as desired.
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