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Overhead view of uncooked freshly made sweet potato gnocchi on a wood board
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Sweet Potato Gnocchi

This recipe for homemade sweet potato gnocchi is made with roasted sweet potatoes, all purpose flour, cornstarch, egg yolk, and salt and served with a simple mushroom sage butter sauce.
Course Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine European, International, Italian
Keyword Comfort food, Gnocchi, Mushrooms, Sage, Sweet poatoes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Sweet potato cooling time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 2 as a main course or 4 as an appetizer

Equipment

  • Measuring cups/spoons
  • Baking tray
  • Parchment paper
  • Potato ricer/box grater
  • Skillet
  • Spatula
  • Mixing bowl
  • Whisk
  • Large wooden tray/working surface
  • Knife
  • Boiling pot
  • Slotted spoon

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cup roasted sweet potato flesh (from approx. 1.45 pounds/650 g raw sweet potatoes) 10.5 oz or 300 grams
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 100 grams
  • ¼ cup cornstarch + 1 Tablespoon for dusting the working surface 31 grams
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt divided: 1 tsp for dough, ½ tsp for mushroom sauce
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons finely chopped sage leaves 5 grams
  • 2 heaping cups finely sliced brown mushrooms approx. 4.5 oz or 130grams

To garnish and serve:

  • 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
  • Black pepper to taste
  • Small fresh sage leaves optional

Instructions

Cooking and preparing the sweet potatoes:

  • Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Cut the sweet potatoes in half and pierce the top with a fork.
    A sweet potato cut in half on a baking sheet
  • Bake them for 60 minutes until they’re completely tender.
    A sweet potato cut in half on a baking sheet after baking
  • While still hot, scoop out the flesh, pass it through a potato ricer or box grater, and spread the flakes out into a thin layer across a baking sheet. Let it cool to room temperature (about 15 minutes). This will help you remove excess moisture from the potato flesh, making it a bit drier and easier to work with.
    Mashed sweet potato cooling down on a baking sheet

Make the mushroom sage butter sauce:

  • In a large skillet, melt the unsalted butter over medium heat. As it starts to bubble, add the sliced mushrooms, chopped sage, and ½ teaspoon of salt.
    Mushrooms and sage in a skillet with melted butter
  • Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms soften, the sage gets crisp, and the butter turns a golden brown. Turn off the heat and set aside.
    Sauteed mushroom slices with sage and butter in a white skillet

To make the sweet potato gnocchi:

  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Set this aside.
    Flour and cornstarch being whisked in a glass bowl
  • Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
  • While you wait for the water to boil, make the gnocchi. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the egg yolk to the cooled riced or mashed sweet potato, mixing lightly with a fork. You don’t want to overwork the sweet potato.
    Mashed sweet potato and an egg yolk on a baking sheet
  • Dust a clean large working area with 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch and transfer the mashed sweet potato mix onto it. Then, sprinkle about ¾ of the flour mixture onto it. Using a fork or a bench scraper, gently fold the ingredients together.
  • Do not knead like bread, or your gnocchi will turn out extra dense. If it’s too sticky to handle, fold in the remaining ¼ flour mixture. Stop folding the moment the dough holds together enough to shape a ball. It should not be a perfectly smooth ball.
    A ball of sweet potato dough
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
    A ball of sweet potato dough cut into four pieces
  • Gently roll each piece into a ¾-inch (2cm) thick rope.
  • Cut the ropes into ¾-inch (2 cm) pieces. Lightly pat the cut gnocchi with the cornstarch so they don't stick together.
    Sweet poto gnocchi on a floured board
  • Once the water is boiling, gently drop the gnocchi into the pot. When they rise to the surface, let them cook for an additional 30 seconds, then lift them out using a slotted spoon. Overall, the cooking time should be around 3 minutes.
    Overhead view of sweet potato gnocchi in a slotted spoon after boiling
  • While the gnocchi is boiling, gently reheat the skillet with the mushrooms.
  • Transfer the hot gnocchi directly into the skillet with the warm mushroom butter sauce. Toss gently to coat, let them pan-roast for about 5 minutes over medium heat, and serve right away.
    Overhead view of a white skillet full of sweet potato gnocchi sauteed with mushrooms and sage
  • If you like you can serve them topped with grated Parmesan cheese, black pepper, and additional small sage leaves (optional)
    Sideview of a brown plate filled with sweet potato gnocchi sauteed with mushrooms

Notes

  • Getting your sweet potato flesh as “dry” as possible can make managing the gnocchi dough much easier. Overall, the goal is to add as little flour as possible to prevent the gnocchi from becoming gummy and dense. The moister the sweet potatoes are, the wetter your dough will be, and the more you’ll feel the need to add flour. This is why it’s important to bake or roast the sweet potatoes (instead of boiling them) and to lay out the potato flesh to release trapped moisture right after you remove them from the oven.
  • For my sweet potato gnocchi, I like to manage the dough as little and as gently as possible. This keeps the potato starches intact and prevents excessive gluten from forming, ultimately giving you gnocchi that is soft and pillowy rather than gummy and dense. For this reason, I also avoid shaping my sweet potato gnocchi with a slotted board/fork. I would also recommend you skip this passage when making them for the first time and keep your gnocchi plain. Unless you are very experienced in shaping gnocchi, you could end up overworking the dough.