If you like pillow soft gnocchi, take your dinners up one notch with Sweet Potato Gnocchi in a Brown Butter and Sage Sauce.
Surprisingly, sweet potato gnocchi are not as sweet as you think they would be when paired with the perfect sauce! After making potato gnocchi with veal ragu this month, I took a chance at spicing up regular gnocchi and my family loved it!
Jump to:
- Here's Why You'll Love this Dish
- Ingredients You'll Need
- How to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce
- Meal Prep Tips
- Substitutions and Variations
- Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
- Second Dishes to Make with this Recipe
- Recipe Details
- Tips and Tricks
- Storage
- PIN it for later here
- Food Safety
- Comments
Get your sweet potatoes from your local market to make these gnocchi any time of the year. Fresh sage growing in the garden is always best. If you don't have it though, you can also source fresh sage from the market.
This dish was inspired by my soft potato gnocchi made with yellow potatoes on this site, and pairs well with this braised veal shanks as a second dish.
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Here's Why You'll Love this Dish
- sweet and savory taste of the sweet potato paired with a salty bite of the brown butter sage sauce makes these irresistible
- quick meal if you have your gnocchi made in advance
- comforting taste that will make you feel all around good
- out of the ordinary meal that takes the boring out of dinner
Ingredients You'll Need
You will need the following ingredients to make Sweet Potato Gnocchi with a Brown Butter Sage Sauce: sweet potatoes, all purpose flour, egg, butter, fresh sage, lemon, salt and pepper.
Butter Sage Sauce brings a rich savory taste to this otherwise bland dish.
Lemon is used to cut the heaviness of the butter and add a zest to the dish.
Sweet Potato is the main ingredient of the dish. If you don't like sweet potato you can use regular potato.
Egg is used to bind the ingredients together and prevent the sweet potato pillows of dough from coming apart
See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce
Clean your potatoes removing any blemishes and whiskers. Cut in half and roast in toaster oven or regular oven until tender (about 40 minutes).
Scrape the meat off the skin and use a potato ricer to rice your potatoes while they are hot and place them in a bowl to cool.
When the potatoes are at room temperature make a hole in the centre of the potatoes and add an egg. Mix well.
Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a spatula. Continue to add flour until the potato mixture isn't so sticky. (it will still be sticky no matter what, you want a consistency you can work with).
Place mixture on a floured surface and continue to work in the flour by rolling the dough or using a dough scraper. Using a dough scraper, remove a section of the dough and roll out in to a finger like shaped roll about 10 inches long and ¾ inches wide.
Cut little squares from the roll about ½ inch by ¾ inch. Place a little bit of flour on a gnocchi board and roll each square over the board. Work from bottom to top letting the gnocchi roll over the board onto your baking sheet.
To cook the gnocchi, use a large stock pot that can be filled with plenty of water. Bring water to boil and using a spatula, gently place them in the boiling water. Salt your water. The gnocchi will float to the surface once cooked. Use a spider spoon to scoop the gnocchi from the water into plates or a sauté pan with your favorite sauce.
Melt the butter in a large skillet.
Once the butter starts to foam add the sage leaves and cook until the leaves are crispy. About 3 to 5 minutes. Add juice from ½ a lemon.
Add the sweet potato gnocchi to the skillet and stir. Season with fresh cracked pepper to taste
Storage:
Same Day: Leave the freshly made gnocchi on the baking sheet in a cool room until you are ready to boil them.
Cooked sweet potato gnocchi leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an air tight container. For best tasting reheating results, fry to re-heat.
You can freeze freshly made gnocchi. Place the baking trays with the gnocchi in the freezer until full frozen. Then transport them in to a freezer bag and continue to freeze them for not longer than one month or until you are ready to cook. When ready to cook, make sure that you use a large stock pot so that the water does not get cold as you add the frozen gnocchi. If the gnocchi cool down the cooking water, it may result in gnocchi becoming mushed up.
Meal Prep Tips
- You can boil your potatoes too, however they may retain water in which case you may require more flour. For best results bake sweet potato.
- Let the riced potato cool to room temperature before adding egg. Otherwise you will cook the egg instead of using the egg as a binder.
- If you are unsure whether you have added enough flour to your gnocchi, test a few before you proceed to make the remaining gnocchi. Do this by boiling some water and dropping a couple in the water to cook. Scoop out and test with a fork and taste as well. Adjust if too soft and add more flour to your potato mixture.
- The potato mixture isn't dough. Don't treat it like it was dough. It will be sticky, hold yourself back from adding more flour than needed.
- Place gnocchi in a single layer on a floured baking sheet so that they don't stick together.
- If cooking from frozen, use a large stock pot and add a little of the the gnocchi at a time to the pot so that the water does not cool down and turn your gnocchi to mashed potato.
- You will know that they are cooked, when they float to the top of the pot.
- You can can save time by making the gnocchi ahead of time and freezing them. Freeze them while they are on the baking sheet, once fully frozen, transport them to a freezer bag and store in freezer for not longer than 1 month.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are some great variations and substitutions to consider:
- Yellow Potato - instead of using sweet potato use yellow potato to make a potato gnocchi with a veal ragu sauce.
- Gluten Free - use gluten free flour to make your gnocchi gluten free friendly.
- Vegan - try a vegan version of potato gnocchi that's eggless and tastes great.
The perfect recipe isn't that far away. I'd love to know how you substituted ingredients to fit your dietary needs. Drop a comment below and let me know!
Answers to Commonly Asked Questions
Gnocchi dough is supposed to be sticky, it's really not dough. If it is too sticky to handle, add more flour.
Regular pasta is less carb heavy than potato gnocchi which has 2 times the amount carbs per serving.
Traditionally either a marinara sauce or a butter and sage sauce is served on top of gnocchi.
Second Dishes to Make with this Recipe
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Recipe Details
Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce
https://easyhomemaderecipes.caIngredients
Gnocchi
- 11.2 oz sweet potatoes about 4 medium
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 egg
- water for boiling
Brown Butter Sage Sauce
- ½ cup butter 1 stick
- 12 leaves fresh sage
- ½ lemon juiced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Gnocchi
- Clean your potatoes removing any blemishes and whiskers. Cut in half and roast in toaster oven or regular oven until tender (about 40 minutes). Scrape the meat off the skin and use a potato ricer to rice your potatoes while they are hot and place them in a bowl to cool.
- When the potatoes are at room temperature make a hole in the centre of the potatoes and add an egg. Mix well. Add 1 cup of flour and mix with a spatula. Continue to add flour until the potato mixture isn't so sticky. (it will still be sticky no matter what, you want a consistency you can work with).
- Place mixture on a floured surface and continue to work in the flour by rolling the dough or using a dough scraper. Be careful how much flour you incorporate - the more flour you roll into the dough, the denser and harder the gnocchi will be. (Use 2 to 2.5 cups of flour) The amount will vary depending on how moist your potatoes are.
- Using a dough scraper, remove a section of the dough and roll out in to a finger like shaped roll about 10 inches long and ¾ inches wide. Cut little squares from the roll about ½ inch by ¾ inch. Place a little bit of flour on a gnocchi board and roll each square over the board. Work from bottom to top letting the gnocchi roll over the board onto your baking sheet. If you don't have a gnocchi board, you can use the back of a fork.
- Repeat until you have rolled out all the pieces from that roll of dough and arrange the gnocchi on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper dusted with flour. Do not place gnocchi on top of one another otherwise they will stick together.
- Repeat until you have used up all of the dough. You can leave the gnocchi on the baking sheet in a cool place until ready to boil the same day. (see notes section for freezing instructions)
- To cook the gnocchi, use a large stock pot that can be filled with plenty of water. Bring water to boil and using a spatula, gently place them in the boiling water. Salt your water. The gnocchi will float to the surface once cooked. Use a spider spoon to scoop the gnocchi from the water into plates or a sauté pan with your favorite sauce.
Brown Butter Sage Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large skillet (large enough to hold all the gnocchi too).
- Once the butter starts to foam add the sage leaves and cook until the leaves are crispy. About 3 to 5 minutes. Try not to stir. The butter will turn brown.
- When the foam stops remove from heat and add juice from ½ a lemon.
- Add the potato gnocchi to the skillet and stir. Season with fresh cracked pepper to taste. Serve immediately.
Notes
Tips and Tricks
-
- You can boil your potatoes too, however they may retain water in which case you may require more flour.
- Let the riced potato cool to room temperature before adding egg. Otherwise you will cook the egg instead of using the egg as a binder.
- If you are unsure whether you have added enough flour to your gnocchi, test a few before you proceed to make the remaining gnocchi. Do this by boiling some water and dropping a couple in the water to cook. Scoop out and test with a fork and taste as well. Adjust if too soft and add more flour to your potato mixture.
- The potato mixture isn't dough. Don't treat it like it was dough. It will be sticky, hold yourself back from adding more flour than needed.
- Place gnocchi in a single layer on a floured baking sheet so that they don't stick together.
- If cooking from frozen, use a large stock pot and add a little of the the gnocchi at a time to the pot so that the water does not cool down and turn your gnocchi to mashed potato.
- You will know that they are cooked, when they float to the top of the pot.
- You can can save time by making the gnocchi ahead of time and freezing them. Freeze them while they are on the baking sheet, once fully frozen, transport them to a freezer bag and store in freezer for not longer than 1 month.
Storage
Same Day: Leave the freshly made gnocchi on the baking sheet in a cool room until you are ready to boil them. Cooked gnocchi leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an air tight container. You can freeze freshly made gnocchi. Place the baking trays with the gnocchi in the freezer until full frozen. Then transport them in to a freezer bag and continue to freeze them for not longer than one month or until you are ready to cook. When ready to cook, make sure that you use a large stock pot so that the water does not get cold as you add the frozen gnocchi. If the gnocchi cool down the cooking water, it may result in gnocchi becoming mushed up.Nutrition
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Food Safety
Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.
Remember to:
- Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
- Wash hands after touching raw meat
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
For Canadian Guidelines check the Government of Canada Food Safety Guidelines or see more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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