Supple, earthy, bite-size morsels of sweet potato gnocchi that can be made at home? Believe it or not but these delicious gnocchi are relatively easy to prepare. Traditional gnocchi pale in comparison to these flavourful gnocchi, which can be paired with a simple sauce of butter, extra virgin olive oil, a few basil leaves, and a ton of Parmesan cheese!
Gnocchi (pronounced “NYO-kee”) means ‘dumplings’ in Italian. Small, fluffy morsels of pasta, prepared by hand with love…and a little bit of patience! Gnocchi have always been reminiscent of my childhood, of spending Sundays at my Nonna’s house, who spent the majority of her time in the kitchen, preparing everything from scratch for the family.
Nowadays, gnocchi seem to have a reputation for being pretentious-thanks to expensive Italian restaurants who have been overpricing this simple Italian classic on their menus. Consequently the mainstream assumption is that they are also difficult to make-but in reality they’re neither!
Anyone can make gnocchi. Just a little mixing and kneading yields these tender, pillowy morsels, rustic enough to serve the family, yet elegant enough to serve at a dinner party.
But, I’ll be honest with you. This is definitely not the recipe you want to take on on a busy school night. Although they are easy to prepare, the recipe requires time and a little bit of patience. That said, if you have a stash of these stored in the freezer then you are good to go on a busy weeknight. Just remove from the freezer, throw in a pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes, and voila! Dinner is served!
I made the mistake of preparing these in a rush so uniformity and aesthetics went out the window. If you have the time you can be more precise about the shape of the gnocchi, by running a fork over them to get those signature grooves.
I’d like to think that this recipe is my tiny contribution to modern Italian cuisine (at the home chef level, of course). To prove my point, I lived in Italy for almost four years, and have traveled (and eaten) extensively all over the Boot. And not once have I seen sweet potato gnocchi on a menu, nor served in a home. It’s quite possible one might find this recipe contradictory-traditional in terms of preparation, yet not-so traditional in terms of ingredients. But, who cares? A little sweet potato never hurt anyone, don’t you agree?
If you try this recipe (and love it!) be sure to snap a pic and tag me onInstagram with #bitesforfoodies so I can see your creation!
I have a question. How long do you fry them after boiling them? The recipe doesn’t say
Oops! Just enough to heat them through and coat with the butter and other flavours. About 5 minutes or so!
I’ve had sweet potato gnocchi with butter sauce and sage and they were amazing. Could you substitute sage for the basil in this recipe?
Definitely! I love sage!
Could you bake the sweet potato instead of boiling it?
Yes, definitely! Just make sure it is completely smooth before making the gnocchi!
Whoa – sweet potato gnocchi! That looks amazing! Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods.
I just made this recipe tonight. It was AMAZING!!! I think this will be a recipe I will make often. My husband loved it too and I’ll make my son taste it Tomorrow. Thank you so much for posting the recipe.
You made them! Awesome! I didn’t know if my instructions were detailed enough, but I now I know they were! Thanks so much for the feedback Majken!
This dish looks so amazing. I have never known about gnocchi but now that I do I will be adding it to my list of dishes to try. It looks easy enough for even me to make!
I have only had gnocci a few times. This recipes sounds fabulous. I love sweet potatoes!
I adore a good gnocchi. However, I’ve never made them myself. And, sweet potato is a new flavor for me. It looks heavenly and simple enough to make soon.
Thank you Laura! The sweet potato definitely add a unique flavour to the gnocchi.
Holy gnocchi! I have not had good gnocchi for as long as I can remember. And, I am a HUGE fan of sweet potato. This is a must-eat! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Lol! Glad to hear you are so excited about this recipe!
Wow this sweet potato gnocchi looks delicious and I’m happy to find a recipe that I can eat. I am a vegetarian but I do eat dairy and eggs. Thank you for the detailed instructions on how to prepare this as my cooking skills are top notch.
Perfect! And thanks 😉
I’ve never had gnocchi before but I’ve always wanted to try it. It looks like such a delicious dish to try. This looks like something my family would enjoy. I’ll have to save it for later for a new dish night.
Great!
I’ve had gnocchi but I had no idea it could be made with sweet potatoes…this sounds delicious!
Wow! This sounds delicious! We love goncchi in our house – I never thought to make it with sweet potatoes! My kids would love it I bet. I love how easy it sounds to make! That’s the best part! 🙂
This looks really good and sounds easy enough to make! I need to get better about making some dishes with sweet potatoes. I really thing that my kids would love this for a dinner in our house.
Perfect I bought some sweet potato and thinking what should I do with it. Way back home my mom always fried it with brown sugar or boiled. Your recipe for sweet potato I must say sound fancy and it looks delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe this weekend.
I love sweet potato with cinnamon and brown sugar…YUM!!!
I have never had Gnocchi. It sounds delish, I actally never realized it was made of sweet potato. I need to try this recipe asap.
Pasta and Italian inspired dishes are my favorite! I’m pretty sure I could eat them every single night of the week. Gnocchi has always seemed complicated to me, but you have me dying to try your version. I love your idea of keeping some in the freezer.
Whenever I make these, I always store a batch in the freezer. A weeknight dinner doesn’t et any faster than this!
This looks so good! I once tasted a potato gnocchi and it was good. It would be great for me now to try it hands on 😀
I find that the sweet potato just gives them some extra depth of flavour.
5 minutes cooking time? I can’t believe that something so good is so easy to cook! Your simple ingredients make this an unpretentious yet delicious recipe. I can’t wait to try this! 🙂
Yes!! One of the fastest dinner ideas EVER! lol!
I love gnocchi but I Have never made it. the Sweet Potato flavor sounds amazing!! You make this recipe look so easy. I need to try it myself.
This looks and sounds fabulous. two of my favorite things, put together for one meal. I’m not much of a cook, but I have to try this one out for myself. Yum!
These actually don’t require much ‘cooking’ at all so I’m sure you would have no issues making these!
This looks very good. Sweet Potato is my favorite and I often wonder what else I can do besides the obvious recipes. I have never had gnocchi but I would try anything sweet potato
I’ve managed to add them in a few other recipes on the Blog 😉
I’ve never had sweet potato gnocchi before and this looks so savory. Yes, I’d agree that I’d never attempt this on a busy school night. Thanks for sharing recipe. I love gnocchi.
You’ve never tried sweet potato before?? You have to..they are delicious! You could also make these with regular potatoes.