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Gluten Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Parmesan

Making gluten free sweet potato gnocchi is one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Homemade gnocchi tastes so much better than store bought and its a lot easier to make than you might think.  Grab a glass of wine, put on a rom com or your favorite PVR’d tv show, and let’s make some sweet potato gnocchi.

I love watching my shows that I have PVR’d all week while I spend a few hours of the day cooking something that I wouldn’t have time to make on a weekday like this sweet potato gnocchi or this butternut squash ravioli, or this short rib ravioli…   Its a form of therapy for me.

Plus then I get to gather around a table later with my family or some friends and have a delicious meal while catching up and having some fun and that’s really what its all about isn’t it?

sweet potato homemade gnocchi pan fried and in a white bowl with sage leaves and parmesan cheese

What’s your favorite show that you like to watch when you cook?   Mine are Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives or Sex and the City.  I’ve been watching those soaps for years so now I just can’t stop.  Every one has to have some vice, no one can be perfect, you know?

First things first, what IS gnocchi anyway?

Gnocchi are small little dumplings made with sweet potato, flour, and sometimes an egg.  There are tons of variations to using sweet potatoes for gnocchi like regular potatoes, butternut squash, spinach, ricotta, pumpkin, and many more I am sure.  Whatever you make them with, they end up like delicate fluffy pillows and are really versatile in how you serve them.  We will talk about that later.

homemade gnocchi dough being made with a potato ricer and gluten free flour

How do you make homemade sweet potato gnocchi?

Making sweet potato gnocchi is slightly different from regular gnocchi because the sweet potato has quite a bit more moisture than regular potatoes, but if you follow these steps and the tips and tricks below, you will be eating gnocchi in no time!

Cooking the sweet potatoes for gnocchi:

First you need to cook your sweet potatoes.  Prick them a couple times with a fork and bake them at 400 degrees until they are soft.  The time will vary depending on the size of your sweet potatoes, but roughly 45 mins to 60 mins for smaller to medium ones.

Slice open your sweet potatoes and let them cool slightly before putting them through a potato ricer or mashing them really well.  (this potato ricer is awesome!  I want one… )

Make the sweet potato gnocchi dough:

Make a well with your sweet potatoes and add the egg to the well and beat it a bit with a fork.  Add 3/4 of the flour and begin to mix it into the sweet potatoes with the fork and keep adding a little more flour as needed until the mixture becomes a soft dough.

You will likely need to mix it with your hands and use all of the flour and possibly a bit more.   Try to only mix as much as needed and no more.  Bring the dough together to form a ball.

Make sure it’s not too wet.

sweet potato gnocchi being rolled out and cut into pillow shapes then indented with a fork

Make the sweet potato gnocchi pillows

Take a chunk of dough off the ball, sprinkle some flour on your counter and roll the dough chunk out into a dough snake.  It might come apart as you roll, but be patient and squeeze it back together and keep rolling.

Gnocchi can be sticky so don’t be afraid to sprinkle more flour on your surface.

Cut the dough “snake” into bite sized pieces however small or large you like.

If you want, you can leave the gnocchi in a pillow shape or you can use a fork and make a little indent, like I did.

Or better yet, get a gnocchi board and roll each piece down it to give those perfect gnocchi indents where the sauce can sneak in and get stuck!  #gnocchigoals

Lay them out on a baking sheet for freezing and cook the rest.  More on cooking below…

homemade gnocchi on a tray and then in a frying pan with sage leaves and butter

Tips and tricks for getting it right the first time:

  • bake your sweet potatoes, don’t boil them!
  • Open up the skins when they are steaming hot to let as much steam escape as possible.
  • When you squeeze the potatoes through the ricer, let the liquid that comes off the sweet potatoes run into a separate bowl as much as possible.  Alternatively, if you are not using a ricer, mash the sweet potatoes and then tip your bowl over slightly so the extra liquid runs out.  Don’t let the potatoes fall out though!
  • to find out if you have used enough flour (or too little), start a pot of water simmering on the stove while you make your gnocchi.  Once your dough has come together, take a little piece off and form one or two gnocchi.  Throw them in the simmering water.  If they stay together and eventually float to the surface, then you are good to go.  If they fizzle and disintegrate into mush, you probably need a little more flour.  Add a bit more to your dough and try again.

How do you make gluten free gnocchi?

Since sweet potatoes are naturally gluten free, the only thing that differentiates gluten free gnocchi from regular gnocchi is the kind of flour that you use.  Use your favorite gluten free flour and you are good to go.

Some of my favorite gluten free flours:

Can you freeze fresh homemade sweet potato gnocchi?

Yes!  Gnocchi freezes really really well.  If you are planning to freeze some, freeze it right away by laying it out on a parchment lined baking sheet so that the little gnocchi aren’t touching each other.  Freeze on the try for an hour and then throw them into an airtight container or ziplock bag for safe keeping.  Freezing them on the tray first ensures that your gnocchi won’t stick together.

sweet potato gnocchi in a white bowl with a fork and fried sage

What’s the best way to cook your sweet potato gnocchi?

I used to think that you had to always boil the gnocchi first and then pan fry them (if you like them pan fried and i DO!).  After having gnocchi turn to mush on me when I boiled them from frozen, I wondered if I could skip that step and just cook them in a frying pan.  Turns out you can!

I took that exact same batch of gnocchi that fell apart on me in the water and added them to a frying pan with a good knob of butter and cooked them with the lid on for a few mins giving them a shake every once in a while so they didn’t stick.  When I pulled the lid off, I had cooked gnocchi.  I added a little more butter and fried them with the lid off so they got nice and brown and crispy on all sides and then I put them on my plate.  They were great.

I think they taste slightly softer when you boil them first and then pan fry, but if they fall apart on you, they are no good to you anyways.

I suggest boiling your water and throwing in a couple homemade gnocchi to see how they do.  If they keep their shape then your good to boil the rest before pan frying, if they fall apart, then use the frying pan only method above.

Can you cook gnocchi from frozen?

Yup, you sure can.  Cook exactly the same way as above, it just might take a little longer (1 or 2 mins longer in boiling water, or 5 mins or so in the frying pan).  Don’t thaw before you cook them!

gluten free gnocchi in a white bowl with a fork, sage leaves and parmesan cheese on top

How to eat your sweet potato gluten free gnocchi:

There are a million and one ways to eat your homemade gnocchi, but one of my favorite ways is to eat it with browned butter, fried sage, and parmesan cheese.  I love how the sweet potato gives these gnocchi a slightly sweet flavor and the simple additions really make that flavor shine through.

That said, here are some other ideas for you to use your sweet potato gnocchi:

To serve to guest I would class it up a bit and:

  • serve it pan fried with butter, lemon, peas and spinach – maybe mixed with a little ricotta…  that would be delicious!
  • add it to a skillet of farmer sausage, peppers, mushrooms, onions and kale and of course some parmesan sprinkled on top.
  • use it in place of the fettuccine in our sausage, spinach and wine dish or our lemon fonduta with scallops.

To make for myself or a more casual meal I would:

There are so many options and all of them delicious!  We would love to see how you serve yours 🙂

If you’ve tried this gluten free sweet potato gnocchi recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments below.  We love hearing from you!

We love to see your creations!  Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM

Gluten Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Parmesan

Making gluten free sweet potato gnocchi is one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.  Homemade gnocchi tastes so much better than store bought and its a lot easier to make than you might think.  Grab a glass of wine, put on a rom com or your favorite PVR'd tv show, and let's make some sweet potato gnocchi.
4.65 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer, Main, Pasta
Cuisine: Canadian
Keyword: gluten free gnocchi, homemade gnocchi, sweet potato gnocchi
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 7 minutes
Total Time: 37 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 295kcal
Author: Julie & Debbie

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sweet potato puree (bake your potatoes, don't boil them)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 egg slightly beaten
  • 2 cups gluten free flour we used Bobs Red Mill's 1-to-1
  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shredded
  • 6-8 sage leaves

Instructions

  • First you need to cook your sweet potatoes.  Prick them a couple times with a fork and bake them at 400 degrees until they are soft.  The time will vary depending on the size of your sweet potatoes, but roughly 45 mins to 60 mins for smaller to medium ones.
  • Slice open your sweet potatoes and let them cool slightly, then put them through a potato ricer or mash them really well so there are no lumps.   
  • Make a well with your sweet potatoes, add the egg to the well and beat it a bit with a fork. Add 3/4 of the flour and begin to mix it into the sweet potatoes with the fork and keep adding a little more flour as needed until the mixture becomes a soft dough. You will likely need to mix it with your hands and use all of the flour and possibly a bit more. Try to only mix as much as needed and no more. Bring the dough together to form a ball.
  • On a flat and floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a ball in your hand and then start rubbing your hands together to make a 'snake' out of the dough. Put the dough 'snake' on the surface and keep rolling your hands back and forth over it to make it long and evenly round until its about an inch thick. Cut the 'snake' into 1 inch pieces. Press a fork into each one to make an imprint if desired.
  • Either cook right away or freeze. 

COOK THE GNOCCHI THE TRADITIONAL WAY

  • Boil a pot of water. Add the gnocchi (frozen or fresh) to the boiling water and give it a little stir. Cook until the gnocchi starts to float. Drain.
  • While the gnocchi is boiling, melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Let it start bubbling and browning, but be careful not to burn it. It should brown slowly turning a caramel color.
  • Add the gnocchi to the frying pan. It will start to sizzle! Keep frying and turning till they are brown and crispy on all sides.  Add the sage and cook for 30 seconds or so as the sage will get crispy quick. 
  • Pour onto a plate and drizzle the extra butter on top. Grate or sprinkle the Parmesan over it all and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Eat!

COOK THE GNOCCHI THE FAST WAY

  • Add the butter into a frying pan on low to medium low heat and when its melted, add the gnocchi right away, shake the pan and toss the gnocchi in the butter.  Put a lid on and cook for about 2 mins.  Take the lid off, toss the gnocchi again and put the lid back on for 2 mins.  
  • Remove the lid, turn up the heat to medium and let the gnocchi fry till browned on all sides. Add the sage and cook for 30 seconds or so as the sage will get crispy quick.
  • Pour onto a plate and drizzle the extra butter on top. Grate or sprinkle the Parmesan over it all and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Eat!

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 295kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 549mg | Potassium: 453mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 18185IU | Vitamin C: 18.3mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 2.3mg

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15 Comments

    1. Hi Kali, thats too bad about the gnocchi! How did you cook your potatoes? I realize in the recipe I said that you could boil your potatoes. I myself havent tried this, but I have read it in another recipe. I always bake my potatoes. Since I wrote this recipe, I have read in a couple other recipes NOT to boil the potatoes, because it adds extra liquid. Ive changed the recipe to reflect this. How did your dough feel? Was it easy to work with (dry but tender) or was it hard (flimsy and wet)?
      Now I want to make this again right now to see how mine goes…! Ive never had a problem before.

  1. They turned out awful. I followed the recipe and 1- I used arrow mills rice flour and the taste is not good, its bitter and grainy 2 – after i made them into balls i boiled them and the insides never cooked. they floated up to the top of the pot but even trying to cook for longer and on different levels, nothing worked.

    Can you please tell me what rice flour you use ? Did I do something wrong? Any ideas or advice?

    1. Hi Theresa. Im so sorry that these didn’t work for you! I usually use a bulk rice flour, but you could try sweet rice flour and see if that makes a difference. You could also use a gluten free flour blend of your choice instead. I have made these with rice flour only and also with bobs red mills gluten free blend and both were nice. I think you have to be careful not to add too much flour or it will become grainy. The key to that is not having sweet potatoes that are very moist so let your potatoes cool completely and sit out on the counter for a bit so they dry out slightly before you start making the dough. I hope that helps and you give it a go again. 🙂

  2. Haha! Love your story behind the recipe! I pay for gluten cheating every time i do it, and then I kick myself every time! Gluten free is delicious and easy you just have to stick to it. THat said, I will be making these fine gnocchi for the first time gf. Have made my weight in gnocchi with flour its time to go GF! Thanks!

  3. You were correct in saying they are sweat potatoes. They are DEFINITELY NOY yams. Look up the difference between sweet potatoes and yams on Google, and you will understand.

    1. Alright then. You win. HOWEVER, I need to tell people what ingredients to buy and the grocery stores call the orange soft sweet potatoes “yams” and the other firm sweet potatoes “sweet potatoes”.

  4. These turned out awesome with the Bobs gluten free flour! It might take someone who hasn’t made gnocchi before a little practice getting the dough right without being too sticky or perhaps over floured, but add a little flour at a time until it’s workable with floured hands and roll those little babies out. Seriously easy recipe, must be easier than any other kind of gluten free pasta I’d guess..?

    Thanks!!!

    1. Awesome! So glad they worked for you. I agree, it can be a bit tricky to figure out how to get the dough right, but once you do… 🙂 Yum, I want some now!

  5. Made these tonight and they were fabulous. I microwaved the sweet potato and made sure I opened it up afterwards to have it dry out adequately. When I put it through the ricer, there was no residual moisture. In this case, I only used the 1.5 cups of Bob’s 1-1 flour for the dough. I added a little salt to the mix and also salted the boiling water. (I saw salt on your list but didn’t see where you recommended adding it.) Will definitely make again, Thanks!

  6. A very delicious and easy recipe to make. I also fry up some bacon and add it to the butter and sage sauce for that little bit of extra extravagance and sometimes I also add a bit of garlic and some cream. It really is a very versatile and tasty recipe!

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