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A cooking project that is much easier than you think, this Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi is a dish everyone will be blown away by. Little clouds of sweet potato gnocchi are hand made, cooked, and then pan-seared in a spinach brown butter sauce that will be your new go-to dish when you need a meal to impress.
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Gluten-Free Sweet Potato GnocchiI’m not going to tell you that making your own gnocchi is a meal that can be made in less than 30 minutes, but I am here to say that it isn’t complicated once you get the hang of it and makes for such a fun hands-on cooking project. My version is of course, gluten-free and made a bit lighter without the use of ricotta cheese that so many sweet potato gnocchi recipes call for. And don’t worry, I’m sharing all my tips for making gnocchi at home and the best way to make this gnocchi shine!
Sweet Potato Gnocchi Ingredients
- Sweet Potatoes
- Almond Flour
- Tapioca Starch
- Egg
- Salt
We don’t recommend making any substitutions for this recipe. There are so few ingredients added that it’s hard to make swaps and have the recipe come out successfully.
Steps to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Let’s walk through all the steps needed to make Sweet Potato Gnocchi.
- Roast and mash sweet potato.
- Make the dough: mix together sweet potato, almond flour, tapioca flour, egg, and salt.
- Roll out dough into logs, and then cut into gnocchi pieces.
- Make classic gnocchi indent with fork. This is optional.
- Boil the gnocchi until they float!
- Pan-sear the gnocchi to give a nice crust on the outside. This step is optional, but really makes a difference in the final outcome of the gnocchi.
- Serve the gnocchi. We give instructions to make a brown butter sauce, but you can also serve it with your own homemade or storebought preferred sauce.
Options for Sauce to Serve with Gnocchi
Our recipe includes a brown butter, sage and spinach sauce that goes wonderfully with the gnocchi. I’ve also served this with homemade marinara or meat sauce. But really, you can get creative here and serve it with a homemade sauce you think will pair wonderfully. And of course, feel free to use a store-bought pasta sauce as well! You can also spice up this homemade Vegan Cheese Sauce and serve it with that!
Watch the video here:
If you like this sweet potato dish, check out these other recipes:
- Sweet Potato Chili
- Kale and Sweet Potato Stuffed Turkey Breast
- Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
How to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
For Sweet Potato Gnocchi:
- 3 medium-large sweet potatoes
- 2 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 1/3 cup tapioca starch more for dusting
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoons oil
For Browned Butter Sauce with Spinach:
- 1/4 cup grass-fed butter
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Carefully, pierce holes in sweet potato with a fork. Place sweet potatoes on a sheet pan and bake until sweet potatoes are fork-tender, about 45 minutes. Cut open the sweet potatoes, and remove the flesh. Mash together well until smooth. Measure out 3 cups of sweet potatoes. Set aside any remaining for another use.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together the 3 cups mashed sweet potato, almond flour, tapioca flour, egg, and salt. The dough should be slightly sticky but not so sticky that you can't roll it into balls in your floured hands. If it is too sticky, add in a tablespoon more tapioca flour at a time.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper down to work on and sprinkle it with tapioca, and sprinkle some tapioca on your hands.
- Gather the dough into balls (about 1 1/2 inches or so), and feel free to sprinkle with more tapioca flour as needed.
- Roll it out into long logs, sprinkling with more tapioca as needed to prevent sticking and cut into 1” pieces.
- Roll 1” pieces over a fork lightly to make an indent, or skip this step and leave the gnocchi as is.
- Fill a medium pot with water and a big pinch of salt and bring to a boil.
- Work in batches, place gnocchi into the boiling water. Do not overcrowd the pot.
- Your gnocchi is done cooking when they float to the top and stay there for 20 seconds or more.
- Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a dish. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add gnocchi in batches, and cook until lightly golden. Flip the gnocchi and continue to brown on the other side. Remove gnocchi to a plate, and repeat with any remaining batches.
- Once all gnocchi is browned. Add butter to the pan. Cook until the butter browns slightly. Add in spinach, sage, sea salt, and pepper and cook until spinach wilts. Add gnocchi back to the pan to heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve gnocchi with a shaved parmesan cheese, if desired.
Hi Lexi, have you tried freezing them before cooking to have at a later time?
I made these again tonight using the mixture of flours and they were wonderful! Thank you for a fabulous recipe.
I made these tonight and I don’t know if I made them wrong but they were still sticky after I made sure they floated for a good 20+ seconds. Plus they were still wet and chewy. I don’t know if I was expecting something different but I just wanted to ask and see if I did something wrong? They were good and would like to try again, just want to make sure I do them right next time. Thanks!
Hi Marissa, they definitely shouldn’t be sticky. They shouldn’t be sticky going in! Did you copy the ingredients exactly?
Made these tonight and mine did exactly what yours did. They were very sticky and wet and gummy after cooking. I followed the recipe exactly. Was not happy with these at all.
Yes, I used only coconut flour and look forward to trying them again using almond flour. They were a big hit with my husband as he is anxious for me to make another batch!
I made these using coconut flour and served them with the spinach / butter sauce. To my surprise – they were fairly good! I am new to cooking with these types of flours so I don’t yet know something should feel. The gnocchi were a bit dense and had a grain like texture. Is this to be expected or did I do something wrong? I can’t wait to give this recipe another try as I think that with practice – it will be a real winner! Thank you!
Hi Melanie! Did you use all coconut flour and no almond? That would be why it’s grainy! Glad you liked 🙂
Is it 3 cups of sweet potato after they are mashed? And, can I substitute coconut flour for almond flour?
Thank you.
Yes, 3 cups mashed.
is this 3 cups sweet potato cubed or 3 cups when mashed?
Made these last night and they were amazing! Thank you! I added mushrooms to the spinach butter sauce. We loved them so much that we made the leftovers into dessert with a little honey and cinnamon. Yum!
I made these tonight and they were amazing!! Thank you!
Cooked this up two nights ago & it was so much fun making the gnocchi. I don’t cook elaborate meals often but I have recently switched to the Paleo lifestyle (loving it) & I miss pasta so had to make this asap. It was easy and tasty & made me look like a rockstar in the kitchen.
Incredible. That spinach/butter sauce sounds to die for.
I’m not gluten free so I bake with whole wheat flour, will that work for this recipe so I don’t have to buy different flours that I’ll hardly ever use?
OMG this looks freaking AMAZING!!!! Definitely trying it out! *bookmarked*! xx
Come try the gluten free pastas here in Australia. It’s like eating barbie doll hair.
I’ve made gnocchi once before and it took forever but so worth it- Trying this out, cheers Lexi!
Mmmm these sound awesome! My husband LOVES sweet potato and I love Gnocchi!!! Perfect combo!!
Yum girl this sounds amazing! I was just thinking about gnocchi since I haven’t had it in awhile. Certainly trying this recipe!! Great job 🙂
I’m drooling over these!! Can’t wait to make them!!
I’m still having a hard time finding tapioca flour at the stores by me. Could I use potato starch? Thanks!
This sounds INCREDIBLE! So creative…can’t wait to try!
OMG this looks AMAZING! Well done you!
I’ve only made gnocchi once and it wasn’t quite light enough. I can’t wait to try your recipe.