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    Home » Recipes » Lunch & Dinners

    Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic and Spinach

    Published: Apr 25, 2020 · Modified: Nov 11, 2020 by Sally · 16 Comments

    Jump To Recipe

    This sweet potato gnocchi is so easy to make at home with just 4 ingredients. These gnocchi are pan fried to crispy, pillowy perfection and served simply with spinach and garlic oil for the ultimate in fancy comfort food.

    Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic and Spinach in bowl with forkI love gnocchi. It is easily one of my favourite foods. It was also one of the very first savoury dishes I taught myself how to make when I was 16. I wanted to get back to making it again but had always claimed the lack of time excuse.

    Well, all we have is time right now right? So if you’re feeling the same, like making gnocchi at home is something you would like to do but haven’t, I have a super easy recipe to get you started today.

    Today we are talking all about sweet potato gnocchi. Because like sweet potato fries, they are the little bit fancier brother to the regular potato version and I feel like sweet potato just has a bit more natural flavour to it, meaning you can get away with not adding anything extra to the dough.

    Less ingredients equals easier and quicker to make which you know I am all about here.

    Close up of sweet potato gnocchi and spinachWhat you’ll need

    It simply comes down to 4 ingredients;

    Sweet potatoes
    Plain flour
    Egg yolk
    Salt

    To make the dough you need to start with a sweet potato puree. The best way to achieve this is to roast the sweet potato, peel it then mash it. Roasting is recommended over steaming or boiling as while either of these methods will work, it will add a lot of moisture which will mean you have to use more flour which will alter the texture of your gnocchi making it more chewy and less pillowy soft.

    To roast them will depend on the size of your sweet potato. I don’t know what is going on with sweet potatoes at the moment but all the ones I seem to be getting are well over a kilo each – they are huge!

    What I do is cut a piece of sweet potato that is around 450-500 grams and then slice that down the middle so I have two even halves, about an inch thick. With the skin still on (but the dirt washed off) rub the sweet potato with olive oil and a pinch of salt and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. If your sweet potato is thicker than you will need to roast it for longer. It will be done when you can easily stick a fork all the way through.

    Once you pull your sweet potato out of the oven the skin will peel easily off – just be careful not to burn yourself! While it’s still hot mash the potato with a masher or a fork – it doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth as you don’t want to over work it as this will also impact the texture of your finished gnocchi.

    sweet potato roasting and mashed in a bowlHow to make sweet potato gnocchi

    To your bowl of mashed sweet potato, your egg yolk and 1 cup of flour mixing together with a wooden spoon to form a shaggy dough. As the dough gets sticky, add in a little more flour up to another ½ cup. You don’t want to add too much flour at this point.

    Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and cover your hands with flour. You want to make sure to add a little extra flour to the dough and/or your hands and surface anytime it gets too sticky to handle.

    Don’t knead the dough but rather push it together with your hands to form a ball. Cut the ball into 8 pieces then roll each piece into a 30 cm log. Cut each log into pieces and either leave as is or use a fork to shape (I can’t be bothered to do this). Sprinkle with a little more flour and set aside on a plate until all the dough has been cut.

    sweet potato gnocchi doughshaping sweet potato gnocchi doughHow to cook sweet potato gnocchi

    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and slowly add in the gnocchi, cooking in batches as to not overcrowd the pan. The gnocchi will float to the top of the water once cooked – it only takes a minute or two.

    From here, to serve, heat a frying pan on the stove with a generous amount of olive oil with the garlic and chilli and once hot add the cooked gnocchi to the pan and fry for a few minutes until you get these yummy golden bits. Add in the spinach and stir through until wilted and serve straight away.

    The frying bit isn’t really necessary but it is a game changer to the texture of the gnocchi as you get the soft pillowy inside with the little bit chewy, crispy exterior. It is gnocchi perfection and you don’t want to skip the extra step.

    Frying sweet potato gnocchi in a pan with garlic oilCan I freeze gnocchi?

    You can, but only before it’s cooked. If you are freezing it, after you cut up your pieces then you can lay them out on a tray and freeze before putting them into a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.

    I wouldn’t recommend freezing cooked gnocchi as this will impact the texture.

    Keep any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 3-4 days.

    Sweet potato gnocchi served in a bowlThis sweet potato gnocchi is one of my favourite things to have come out of my kitchen this year and I can’t wait for some of these social restrictions to ease off so I can serve this at my first out of quarantine celebration dinner party. I am thinking a big bowl of this gnocchi, a side salad, some homemade focaccia and a chilled rosé would be perfect as we sit around the dinner table with friends and family understanding that we will never take the ability to get together for granted again.

    If you are looking for something to make this weekend that feels a little different to the usual, then this is the perfect recipe. Take it slowly and work through each step before moving onto the next and you’ll find yourself with a big bowl of homemade comforting carbs in no time.

    Sweet potato gnocchi with spinach and garlic in a bowl with a forkIf you do make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and rating below! And tag any of your creations on Instagram with #eightforestlane as I would love to see.

    Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic and Spinach

    This sweet potato gnocchi is so easy to make at home with just 4 ingredients. These gnocchi are pan fried to crispy, pillowy perfection and served simply with spinach and garlic oil for the ultimate in fancy comfort food.
    5 from 8 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: Italian
    Prep Time: 30 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour
    Servings: 4 people
    Author: Sally
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    Ingredients

    For the gnocchi

    • 450-500 gram sweet potato
    • 1 egg yolk room temperature
    • 2 cups plain flour
    • 1 teaspoon salt

    For serving

    • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 3-4 cloves garlic crushed
    • 1 teaspoon chili flakes
    • 2 cups baby spinach

    Instructions

    • Cook the sweet potato. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Depending on the size of your sweet potatoes (mine are usually huge) you may need to slice them in half as you don’t want them to be any thicker than 1 inch. Leaving the skin on, rub the sweet potato with a little olive oil and a pinch of coarse salt. Bake for 45 minutes on a baking tray, until you can easily stick a fork in them. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the skin of the sweet potato (it should come off pretty easily).
    • Make the gnocchi dough. Add the sweet potato to a large bowl and mash with a potato masher or a fork while still warm. Mix through egg yolk and 1 cup of the flour using a wooden spoon to form a dough. Add an additional ½ cup of flour until the dough starts to form a ball. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a ball - you do not want to knead it as this will make it too tough.
    • Shape the gnocchi. With the additional ½ cup of flour on hand, slice the dough into 8 pieces. Using well floured hands roll each piece of dough into 30 cm logs using additional flour when the dough gets sticky. Slice the logs of dough into 1cm pieces with a sharp knife. Toss in a little extra flour again to prevent sticking and set aside on a plate.
    • Cook the gnocchi. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and in three batches add the gnocchi pieces. When they float to the top, remove from the water with a slotted spoon.
    • In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil, garlic and chilli flakes until the garlic starts to brown and add in the cooked gnocchi. Toss the gnocchi in the oil and fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the gnocchi starts to get golden. Add in the spinach and toss through until wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve straight away.

    Notes

    Roasting the sweet potato as written here is recommended as steaming or boiling adds too much water to the mixture meaning you will need more flour to make the dough which will change the texture of your gnocchi.
    Not from Australia? Check out my US Conversion Guide.

    Nutritional information is provided as a guide only and is calculated using automated online tools, therefore we cannot guarantee the accuracy. We encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe.

    Have you made this recipe?Leave a comment and a rating below and tag your creations with #eightforestlane on Instagram!
    Not fom Australia? Check out my US Conversion Guide

    More vegetarian dinner recipes:

    Turmeric Fried Rice
    Golden Turmeric Sweet Potato Soup
    Vegan Spiced Chickpea + Veggie Bowls
    20 Minute Bow Tie Pasta

    Save it for later:

    Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Garlic and Spinach

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kisayne

      November 11, 2022 at 4:31 am

      This looks delicious, thinking of cooking it for friends over the weekend. Do you think it’s possible to substitute the sweet potato with butternut?

      Reply
      • Sally

        November 12, 2022 at 8:14 am

        Hi Kisayne! Thanks 🙂 I haven’t tried with butternut – it’s possible however you may need more flour to hold the gnocchi together. I’m not sure of the results without trying myself. Let me know if you do give it a go!

    2. Robyn

      April 29, 2020 at 7:49 am

      This looks stunning! I cannot believe that you only need 4 ingredients for the gnocchi – I always thought it was much more complicated! Will definitely have to try making it soon!

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 29, 2020 at 6:16 pm

        Thanks Robyn I hope you enjoy making it!

    3. Jaimie

      April 27, 2020 at 2:18 pm

      This looks so fresh and beautiful, and I just LOVE the colour. I also love that it can be frozen – an awesome weekend project 🙂

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 27, 2020 at 6:48 pm

        Thanks Jaimie!

    4. Sarah

      April 26, 2020 at 9:15 pm

      What a great colour! I’ve been wanting to try making gnocchi and you make it look so easy!

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 27, 2020 at 6:48 pm

        I hope you give it a go Sarah!

    5. Andrea

      April 26, 2020 at 12:13 pm

      Yum!! I LOVE making homemade gnocchi from scratch and this one is perfect. I love the addition of garlic and spinach too. Perfect for family dinner!

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 27, 2020 at 6:48 pm

        It’s one of my favourite things as well!

    6. georgie

      April 26, 2020 at 11:29 am

      this looks heavenly! I’ve only made gnocchi once and it was a complete disaster, willing to give it another go though this recipe looks fantastic!

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 27, 2020 at 6:47 pm

        Hopefully you find this recipe much easier!

    7. Chloe

      April 26, 2020 at 11:25 am

      This looks just incredible! Saved the recipe and can’t wait to make it soon 🙂

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 27, 2020 at 6:47 pm

        Thanks Chloe, let me know how you go!

    8. Sylvie

      April 26, 2020 at 10:43 am

      Well, I know what I’m having for dinner now! These gnocchi look so fluffy and delicious, perfect with garlic and spinach! It’s always great to find recipe packed with hidden veggies, can’t wait to try it!

      Reply
      • Sally

        April 26, 2020 at 11:00 am

        Hope you enjoy it Sylvie!

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