Sweet Potato Gnocchi
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Sweet Potato Gnocchi is what I make when I want dinner to feel like a bit of an occasion without shopping for anything unusual. Three sweet potatoes, a tub of ricotta, and some flour turn into a plate of soft, pillowy dumplings tossed in brown butter and thyme.
The thing that puts people off making gnocchi from scratch is ending up with dense, gluey dumplings, and that almost always comes down to a wet potato. I roast the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them so they dry out, which means less flour and lighter gnocchi. It’s the one step that makes this easier than it looks.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Roasting the sweet potatoes instead of boiling them keeps the dough from turning gluey, so the gnocchi come out soft instead of dense.
- The dough is just sweet potato, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and flour, so there’s nothing unusual to buy for it.
- The raw gnocchi freeze well on a tray, so you can make a big batch now and cook only what you need later in the week.
- Three sweet potatoes and a few staples stretch to eight servings, so it feeds a full table without a big shop.
- Brown butter and fresh thyme give a plate of cheap dumplings a nutty, savory finish that tastes like a proper dinner.
- It works either as a meatless main or as a holiday side, so one recipe covers a weeknight and a spot on the Thanksgiving or Christmas table.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
Sweet potatoes. You want three medium ones, pierced and roasted whole until very tender, which takes about an hour. Roasting matters here because it drives off water that boiling would add, and a drier potato is what lets you use less flour. After roasting, scoop the flesh, mash it smooth, and measure out 3 cups; getting that amount right is what keeps the dough in balance.
Ricotta. Two cups of ricotta keep the gnocchi tender and light rather than heavy. If your tub looks watery, spoon it into a sieve for a few minutes first, since extra liquid in the ricotta works against you the same way a wet potato does.
Parmesan. Two-thirds of a cup of grated Parmesan brings a salty, savory backbone to what is otherwise a sweet, mild dough. Grate it fine so it disappears into the dough.
All-purpose flour. The card gives a range, 3 ½ to 4 ½ cups, and that range is deliberate. How much you need depends on how wet your potato and ricotta are, so add it gradually and stop as soon as the dough holds together and is no longer sticky. This is the single ingredient that decides whether the gnocchi are light or heavy.
Egg and salt. One egg binds the dough so the gnocchi hold their shape in the water, and two teaspoons of salt season it from the inside. Beat the egg first so it works through the dough without streaks.
Butter and thyme. A cup of unsalted butter and five tablespoons of chopped fresh thyme make the sauce. Unsalted lets you season the sauce yourself, and fresh thyme holds up in hot butter far better than dried.
How to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Scroll down for the full recipe card containing a full printable recipe and measurements in both US customary and metric units.
This comes together in seven stages, and none of them is hard, but the dough rewards a light hand. Work gently and add the flour slowly.
Roast the Sweet Potatoes
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork, set them on a baking sheet, and roast for about an hour, until they’re very tender all the way through. Let them cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh, and mash it smooth. Measure exactly 3 cups into a large bowl..
Make the Dough
Add the ricotta, Parmesan, beaten egg, and salt to the mashed sweet potato and stir until it’s combined. Then work in the flour half a cup at a time, kneading gently after each addition. Stop as soon as the dough is smooth, soft, and no longer sticky, using just enough flour to get there. Overworking it or forcing in extra flour is what turns gnocchi dense.
Shape the Gnocchi
Flour your work surface lightly and divide the dough into eight portions. Roll each one into a rope about ½ inch thick, then cut the ropes into ½-inch pieces. If you want the ridges that hold sauce, roll each piece over the back of a fork or a gnocchi board. Move the shaped gnocchi onto a parchment-lined sheet dusted with flour so they don’t stick.
Boil the Gnocchi
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and work in batches so the pot isn’t crowded. Drop in a batch and wait for them to float, which takes about 2 to 3 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon as they rise and set them on a lightly greased sheet while you boil the rest.
Make the Brown Butter Thyme Sauce
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and let it cook for 4 to 5 minutes, swirling now and then, until it turns golden and smells nutty. Pull it off the heat as soon as it does, because it goes from nutty to burnt quickly. Stir in the chopped thyme and season with salt and pepper.
Sauté the Gnocchi
Heat a clean skillet over medium-high heat, add a little brown butter and half the gnocchi, and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, untilgolden and lightly crisp. Keep them in a single layer so they crisp rather than steam. Hold the first batch in a warm 300°F oven while you crisp the second.
Serve
Plate the gnocchi, spoon the rest of the brown butter thyme sauce over the top, and finish with freshly grated Parmesan. Serve them warm, while the edges are still crisp.
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
I’ve made this more times than I can count. Here are some tips that make it turn out great every time.
- A wet potato is the most common reason gnocchi turn gummy, so roast the sweet potatoes rather than boiling or microwaving them; roasting drives off the water that would otherwise force in more flour.
- Measure the mash to 3 cups instead of guessing by the number of potatoes, since sweet potatoes vary a lot in size. The flour amount is balanced against that 3 cups.
- Add the flour slowly and stop early. You’re looking for a dough that just stops sticking to your hands, not a firm one; every extra cup past that point makes the gnocchi heavier.
- Handle the dough as little as you can. Kneading develops the flour, and developed flour is what makes a chewy, dense gnocchi instead of a light one.
- Boil one or two test gnocchi before you cook the whole batch. If they fall apart, work in a little more flour; if they’re dense, you’ve likely added too much, and the next batch of dough can go lighter.
- Watch the butter closely once it starts to color. It turns nutty and then burnt in the space of a minute, so pull it off the heat the moment it smells toasty.
Recipe Variations
- Swap the thyme for fresh sage if you want the classic sage-and-brown-butter pairing; it drops in without changing the timing or the amounts. Thyme is what’s written into the card and what I tested, so treat sage as a reliable substitution rather than a tested one.
- Japanese sweet potatoes, with their drier, paler flesh, will pull in less flour than the orange kind, so add it even more slowly if you cook with them. I haven’t tested that version here, and the change to the flour is enough that I’d treat it as its own experiment.
- For softer gnocchi, toss them in the brown butter straight from the boil and skip the pan-crisping altogether. That’s a texture preference rather than a change I’ve tested separately, and it leaves the rest of the method alone.
How to Store Leftovers
Get cooked gnocchi into the fridge within two hours of cooking, or within one hour if your kitchen is warmer than 90°F, and don’t leave them out to cool all the way down first. In an airtight container they keep for 3 to 4 days at or below 40°F, and they reheat best in a hot skillet with a little butter until they’re steaming and hot through, to 165°F. Freezing them after they’ve been cooked tends to make them mushy, so freeze the raw gnocchi instead.
Making the gnocchi ahead is a little different from storing leftovers. To get ahead, freeze the shaped gnocchi raw on a floured tray, then bag them and boil straight from frozen, adding a minute or two. You can also keep the shaped raw gnocchi in the fridge for a few hours before boiling, with a light dusting of flour to keep them separate.
What to Serve With Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Brown-butter gnocchi is rich, so it does best next to something green and sharp. A crisp green salad with a lemony dressing, or a tray of roasted broccoli or Brussels sprouts, cuts through the butter, and warm Garlic Bread is there for anyone who wants to mop up the sauce. If you’re building a bigger holiday spread, our 21 side dishes to round out a big family meal has plenty of salads and vegetables that sit well beside it. I’d save a second heavy, cheesy dish for another night, since the gnocchi already carries the plate.
FAQs
Almost always it’s too much moisture, too much flour, or both. Roasting the sweet potatoes rather than boiling them keeps the flesh dry, and adding the flour slowly and stopping as soon as the dough holds together keeps the gnocchi light. Overworking the dough will also make them dense, so handle it gently.
Yes, and it’s a good dish to get ahead on. Shape the gnocchi, freeze them raw on a floured tray, then bag them and boil straight from frozen, giving them an extra minute or two in the water. You can also keep shaped raw gnocchi in the fridge for a few hours before cooking.
The ricotta is a lot of what keeps these tender, so leaving it out changes both the texture and the flour balance and isn’t a straight swap in this recipe. If you want to try it, treat it as a different recipe rather than a simple substitution.
More Warm, Filling Dinners to Try at Home
If this one earns a place in your rotation, here are a few more from-scratch dinners in the same vein.
- Gnocchi Soup keeps the pillowy gnocchi and simmers them with chicken and spinach in a creamy broth, all in one pot in about 30 minutes.
- Mac and Cheese is another from-scratch plate, baked with cheddar and Parmesan under a golden breadcrumb top.
- Shrimp Alfredo tosses shrimp and fettuccine in a creamy Parmesan sauce and comes together in under 30 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Gnocchi:
- 3 medium sweet potatoes pierced with a fork
- 2 cups ricotta cheese
- ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 3 ½ to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour as needed
For the Brown Butter Thyme Sauce:
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 5 tablespoons fresh thyme chopped
- Freshly grated Parmesan for serving
- Salt and pepper to taste
Video
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Place the pierced sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast for about 1 hour, or until very tender. Let them cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh and mash until smooth. Measure 3 cups and transfer to a large mixing bowl.3 medium sweet potatoes
- Add ricotta, Parmesan, egg, and salt to the mashed sweet potatoes. Stir until combined.2 cups ricotta cheese, ⅔ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons salt
- Gradually mix in the flour, ½ cup at a time, kneading gently after each addition. Use just enough flour to form a smooth, soft dough that’s not sticky. Do not overwork the dough.3 ½ to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- Lightly flour your work surface. Divide the dough into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a long rope about ½ inch thick. Cut into ½-inch pieces. Optional: Roll each piece over the back of a fork or gnocchi board to make ridges. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet dusted with flour.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Work in batches to avoid overcrowding.
- Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Once they float to the surface (about 2–3 minutes), remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Let it cook for 4–5 minutes, swirling occasionally, until it turns golden brown and smells nutty. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped thyme. Season with salt and pepper.1 cup unsalted butter, 5 tablespoons fresh thyme, Salt and pepper
- Heat a clean skillet over medium-high heat. Add a portion of the brown butter and half of the gnocchi. Sauté for 5–6 minutes, or until golden and lightly crispy. Transfer to a warm oven 300°F (150C) while you sauté the remaining gnocchi.
- Plate the gnocchi and drizzle with the remaining brown butter thyme sauce. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and enjoy warm.Freshly grated Parmesan
Notes
- Roast the sweet potatoes rather than boiling them, and measure the mash to exactly 3 cups; a wet or mismeasured potato throws off the flour.
- Add the flour half a cup at a time and stop as soon as the dough stops sticking; too much flour makes the gnocchi dense.
- Handle the dough gently and boil a test gnocchi or two before the whole batch.
- Pull the butter off the heat the moment it smells nutty, as it burns quickly after that.
- To get ahead, freeze the shaped gnocchi raw on a floured tray, then bag them and boil straight from frozen, adding a minute or two.
Thank you.
You are more than welcome 🙂