Summary:
Sweet potatoes and flour are all you need for this simple recipe. With just 2 ingredients, you’ll make soft and pillowy homemade sweet potato gnocchi that rivals any store-bought gnocchi.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 large sweet potatoes (totaling at least 1 pound)
- 1/2 cup
all-purpose flour (Note 1)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook Sweet Potato: Prick each sweet potato a few times with fork. Microwave until fork-tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle, 15 to 30 minutes.
- Mash Sweet Potato: Prepare clean working surface. Slice each sweet potato in half and use spoon to scoop out insides, discarding skins. Use
potato masher to mash insides. Measure amount of mashed sweet potato and use 1 cup for this recipe. - Form Dough: Spread out mashed sweet potato in thin layer on working surface. Evenly distribute flour over sweet potato layer. Starting at one end, use fingers to mix sweet potato and flour to form dough, making your way to other end as flour and sweet potato are incorporated into dough. Do not knead any further after dough ball is formed (Note 2).
- Form Gnocchi: Divide dough ball into 4 pieces. Take one piece and form into long log about 1/2 inch wide, rolling on working surface if too sticky. Cut log into pieces about 1 inch long, which will become individual gnocchi pieces. Optionally, use fork to press grooves into each gnocchi. Repeat for remaining dough pieces, ending up with about 40 total gnocchi pieces. If making ahead of time, cover and refrigerate (Note 3).
- Cook Gnocchi: Boil water in large pot. Add gnocchi to boiling water and cook until gnocchi floats to surface and is cooked through, a few minutes. Use slotted spoon to transfer gnocchi to plate and serve with sauce (Note 4).
NUTRITION
| Makes 2 Servings |
| Amount Per Serving: |
| Calories 330 (2% from fat) | |
| Total Fat 1g | 1% |
| Saturated Fat 0g | 1% |
| Cholesterol 0mg | 0% |
| Sodium 90mg | 4% |
| Net Carb 64g | |
| Total Carb 72.5g | 24% |
| Dietary Fiber 8.5g | 35% |
| Sugars 15.5g | |
| Protein 8g |
PHOTOS
NOTES & TIPS
(1) Flour. I haven’t tested alternative flours. If you’re interested, several readers have shared their experiences with other flours in the Comments section below. (2) Kneading. After a dough ball is formed, you should not knead further or the dough may get too sticky. For visual guidance, please refer to the step-by-step photos on this page. (3) Making Ahead. Refrigerate the uncooked gnocchi in an airtight container. When ready to serve, boil the gnocchi according to the recipe’s instructions. (4) Serving. Sweet potato gnocchi pairs well with a variety of sauces, such as homemade pesto. My favorite sauce is a homemade spicy chipotle sauce, as shown in photos on this page. To make this sauce, you’ll need:- 2 chipotles in adobo, diced, with 2 teaspoons of adobo sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 6 ounces grape tomatoes, sliced (about 1 cup sliced)
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
I love this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing. I substituted garbanzo flour for the regular flour and it worked like a dream. I tried that because I saw all the questions about gluten free flours. I thought the recipe was so easy it wouldn’t even cost me much to try, and a new family favorite was born. You rock, Julia. I really appreciate this new and fun meal.
Hi!! These were so stinking easy and my whole family enjoyed! Would definitely make a double batch next time though! I even created a coconut cream, sage, brown sugar and butter sauce to go with it, and steamed asparagus on the side. Thank you for the recipe!
I made this but I boiled my sweet potato so for 1 cup potato I had to use 2 cups flour and 1tsp corn starch. They turned out GREAT though! For the sauce I used vegan butter and browned it in a pan with sage, nutmeg, garlic, and nutritional yeast. It was awesome!
Hi Julia, I made this today and it was divine! Soft plump, pillowy yumminess! But I’m going to admit I had to add about 4 – 5 tbsp more flour. I was terrified to do so because you’d warned so strongly against it but with the original proportions i just had ‘slop’. Since my gnocchi turned out so excellently I’m going to venture to suggest that sweet potatoes vary, flours vary and you probably need to just work a little intuitively when making this recipe!
Agreed! Thanks for sharing your feedback, Jane.
This recipe has become a family favorite. We’ve made multiple times (and for guests) and it’s always been well received. We make a vegan butter/sage/pine nut sauce on top. Thank you!
I’ve never made gnocchi before but this recipe was amazing and easy to follow! Mine were a a bit too soft to shape much with the fork, but the taste and result was great.
omg i made them and they were AMAZING !! im not a vegan but they were fenomenal recomend 100% and WILL MAKE AGAIN
Had anyone made this gluten free? If so what flour worked…gluten free mix, almond, coconut…. and can you still boil or do you need to pan fry? I would like to try and make them tonight and I am gluten free.
I was just wondering this myself, I was thinking of buckwheat flour. I’ve been reading good things about it.
I made this with standard grocery store GF flour and it worked perfectly! Substitute 1 1/4 cups gf flour for every 1 cup of glutenous flour
That’s great to know. Thanks for sharing!
If you use coconut flour you need 1/4 of the flour. Coconut flour is extremely absorbent.
I tried to boil the gnocchi in a pot of salted water, and they just disintegrated:/ so we fried them in a skillet with coconut oil, but a healthier option would’ve been boiling. Do you know what I could be doing wrong?
Hi Sammy, I think refrigeration of the formed gnocchi prior to boiling would help. It will harden the gnocchi and help keep its shape.
OMG I love gnocchi. It’s such a comfort food and love this twist on it with sweet potatoes. My mouth is watering.
Is the sauce you make real spicy?
Hi Brie, it is on the spicier side, so you might want to only use 1 chipotle if you like things a bit milder.
Is there a way to make this without a microwave?
Hi Beth! Yes, you can cook the sweet potato in the oven instead — just bake until tender.
Thank you…was wondering the same thing.
Tried this tonight and it was soooo easy to make! Thanks for the quick dinner! Such an easy and delicious meal. 🙂 Thank you!
Awesome, glad you liked it!! 🙂
This sounds amazing! You make gnocchi sound so easy to make too, which is wonderful. And I love the sound of the chipotle sauce.
Can you sub in a different kind of flour for all-purpose? Like almond flour?
I haven’t tried with a different kind of flour, let me know if you do!
Hi ladies,
This does NOT work with almond flour. They looked fine until I put them into the water and then immediately disintegrated. So sad!
Maybe saute them in the skillet if you use almond flour.
I am going to try it that way. I will let you know how it turns out.
Did you try frying them in the pan with almond flour? Or has anyone tried this with gluten free flour?
I’m going to try gluten free flour this week, along with the tip of putting in the refrigerator first. I’ll report back 🙂
What about rice flour ?
Rice flour works fine
You need to use a superfine ground almond flour and refrigerate before cooking.
You can use other fours. I have used rice flour, finely ground almond flour and coconut flour. For coconut flour you use 1/4 the amount of flour needed because it is extremely absorbent.
Delicious, my eyes cannot stop looking at it. I am a huge fan of sweet food. Sweet potato gnocchi, wow sound fantastic for me to try. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! ! They look so delicious! 🙂 Gotta say that I have never tried making gnocchi myself! Looks like it’s the highest time to start! 🙂
Thanks Julia! It’s such a fun and rewarding experience too 🙂