Sweet Potato Gnocchi (2 ingredients only/ vegan)

The best sweet potato gnocchi is vegan and made with only 2 ingredients. These sweet potato gnocchi recipe is easy to follow and great when served with greens. Easy to prepare in a pan or in the oven for the oil-free version.

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What is more delicious than soft pillowy gnocchi with a crispy outside?

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A few months ago I (finally) learned how to make homemade gnocchi after MANY failed attempts. For anyone interested, I have photos to prove my many failed attempts.

But now that I finally know how to make vegan gnocchi myself, I’d like to share it with the world!

This sweet potato gnocchi recipe is flavorful and there are endless possibilities to serve this gnocchi with. I like to serve this gnocchi with steamed kale and a sweet onion, pan-fried in soy sauce on low heat until soft.

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Gnocchi is a delicious weeknight dinner or a recipe to make for more festive days, such as the holiday season.

It is pure comfort food! Gnocchi is great as a main dish, but you know us vegans. We love side dishes! So I also serve this as a side dish.

The idea came from the good old Polish pierogi, but then the vegan version with a potato filling. Those soft pillowy bites of goodness are a true delight! I wanted to create the same experience, but then with sweet potatoes and a much more simple recipe.

If you are ready for comforting, winter food that can be made ahead, keep on reading my friend.

How to make sweet potato Gnocchi

It took me some attempts to get the hang of it. My first tip is: take your time. If you are in a rush and you would like to eat in 15 minutes, gnocchi is not really a great option.

My second tip is: when you make gnocchi, make sure to make a big batch. As such, you will have a quick weeknight dinner ready when you would like to eat in 15 minutes.

Once you know my ”fork method”, making sweet potato gnocchi is not so intimidating anymore. First, you will need sweet potato puree. There are quite a few options how to make this. But for this recipe, you can bake or microwave them. Whatever you do, if you end up with dry sweet potato puree, you are good to go.

Boiling and steaming are also options to make sweet potato puree, but since the water content will be too high I don’t recommend these methods. You will  notice that you will then end up using much more flour and the gnocchi will become too dense.  

Next, mash the potatoes and let cool off. Then add in the flour and knead until you have a dough. There is no need to knead this like you would do when making bread. Since we are using sweet potato, over kneading will only makes things sticky and you will end up using more and more flour. And gnocchi prepared with too much flour is a bit too heavy and dense to my taste.

sweet potato gnocchi

How to make Gnocchi shapes

Let’s talk about my fork technique shall we? I did some online research on how to make gnocchi. To be honest, I was actually looking for some sort of device to make these gnocchi with those perfect ridges. I also read a thing or two about a technique with one fork. So with one fork you press the gnocchi down over the fork. Sounds great and pretty simple, but it doesn’t work. The dough is too sticky for that.

Enter my 2 fork technique. Instead of rolling the gnocchi over the fork with your fingers, use a fork on top of the gnocchi and hold the gnocchi only at the sides. Then carefully roll the gnocchi with the fork on top of the gnocchi. The fork at the bottom is only for support. After a few times you will see how easy and fast this technique is. You will create those perfect indentations all around.

sweet potato gnocchi sweet potato gnocchi

How to cook Gnocchi

Once your gnocchi is all ready to be cooked, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the gnocchi gently to the water and let boil until the gnocchi start to float. Depending on the temperature of the water this shouldn’t take too long (about 1-2 minutes).

Remove the gnocchi from the water and add to a pan or the oven. For the pan version you will need oil or a very good non-stick pan. For the oven, you will only need parchment paper.

What to serve with sweet potato Gnocchi

Sweet potato gnocchi can be served as a side dish, but they taste amazing with vegetables such as kale, spinach or broccoli. Sweet potato gnocchi is also a great addition to a salad, especially a salad with herbs and nuts, such as cilantro and pine nuts.

sweet potato gnocchi

This sweet potato Gnocchi is

  • Super comforting
  • Vegan
  • Can be made gluten-free
  • Easy to prepare
  • Festive
  • Great to make ahead and freeze
  • Great as a side dish or as a main dish, served with greens
  • Cloudy and pillowy with a crispy outside
  • Delicious!

How to freeze Gnocchi

Sweet  potato gnocchi is a typical recipe you want to make a bigger batch of. So it’s a good idea to make a big portion and freeze the gnocchi in smaller batches. As such, you’ll always have a plate of delicious homemade gnocchi on the table in a matter of minutes.

Simply store the uncooked gnocchi in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for 4-5 weeks.

You will need to keep in mind that they will stick to each other. So it’s better to spread the gnocchi on a big plate and let ‘’pre-freeze’’ it for about an hour. After that you can toss them all together in an airtight container without them sticking to each other.

When you are ready to serve the gnocchi, simply add the frozen gnocchi to boiling water and proceed as in the recipe below.

sweet potato gnocchi

Flavor tips

Sweet potato gnocchi as such is a true delight and for this recipe you will only need 2 ingredients. However, feel free to add even more flavor.

You can add greens when serving the gnocchi to balance the sweetness of the sweet potato. You can also add a pinch of salt and nutritional yeast to the gnocchi recipe. Especially if you like gnocchi with a cheese taste, I can recommend nutritional yeast.

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I hope you are also going to make sweet potato gnocchi! And do let me know!! Leave a comment and rate it below and share it on Facebook or Instagram. Don’t forget to tag me @thegreencreator #thegreencreator. I look forward to seeing your creations!

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sweet potato gnocchi

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sweet potato gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi (2 ingredients only/ vegan)

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  • Author: Bianca
  • Prep Time: 60
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 35-40 gnocchi depending on the size 1x
  • Method: oven / stovetop
  • Cuisine: vegan, Italian

Description

The best sweet potato gnocchi is vegan and made with only 2 ingredients. These sweet potato gnocchi recipe is easy to follow and great when served with greens. Easy to prepare in a pan or in the oven for the oil-free version.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 medium (500 gram) sweet potato
  • 1 1/2 cup (210 grams) flour (for gluten-free see notes)

optional ingredients


Instructions

Bake the sweet potato in the oven. Pierce the sweet potato a few times with a fork and bake in the oven for about an hour at 350°F (175°C).

Any method that will leave you with DRY sweet potato puree is great.

Place the sweet potato in a mixing bowl. If you are using salt and nutritional yeast add that to the sweet potato and mix until well combined.

When the sweet potato is still warm, add in the flour little by little. Knead gently.  Don’t over knead it, otherwise you will have to use more flour and this will make the gnocchi very dense.  The less flour you use the more fluffy and soft the gnocchi will be.

Transfer the mixture to a clean floured surface and form into a loaf.

Cut a piece off of the loaf and roll until you have a long rope-like shape.

Then cut the rope into smaller parts. This is in principal gnocchi and ready to be cooked. But for a gnocchi shape use the two fork method.

Use one fork to place the gnocchi on and one fork on the top of the gnocchi. Gently hold the gnocchi on the sides to keep in place.  Then gently flip over and roll again with the fork on top over the gnocchi. The fork on the bottom stays put as a support.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and add the gnocchi one by one. Boil until the gnocchi floats to the top of the water. This will typically only take a few minutes.  

Drain and keep in the fridge or freezer for later. Or continue to make the gnocchi.

For the pan/skillet version. You will  need to use oil or a very good non-stick skillet to prepare the gnocchi in the pan. Heat the skillet over medium to high heat. Add the gnocchi in batches and heat until golden brown on the outside.

For the oven version. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake for about 10-15 minutes at 350°F (175°C) or until golden brown on the outside.

Serve immediately with (optionally) some salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, a squeeze of lime- or lemon juice and fresh herbs/greens.


Notes

You can use a gluten-free flour blend* to make these gnocchi’s gluten-free.

 

 

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