This sweet potato gnocchi is served with a quick bolognese sauce. A hearty and deliciously filling fall meal.

I am totally not one of those people wishing summer away as we get to the tail end of the season with thoughts of pumpkin spiced this and cider donuts that, I swear.

But, when Ginger woke me up yesterday morning at 7:15 (about 2 hours too early for a lazy Sunday) to be let out and I stepped onto the porch half awake, I was blasted by that amazing fall-like crispness in the air that you forget about in the muggy months of June-August. 

And I’m not gonna lie, I kinda liked it.

At least for a day.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bolognese
Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.

So I spent the early afternoon indulging in this “almost fall” weather by making sweet potato gnocchi and simmering a bolognese sauce on the stove because after today, there will be no more of that fall cooking stuff until October 1.

Winters suck way too much in NY to waste August on sweet potatoes, cinnamon and beef sauces.

According to that line of thought, I probably should’ve saved this post for about 2 months from now but reality is that I had two recipes flop face first this weekend and this was my only saving grace.

I’d say sorry but I’m not really.

If you make it, you’ll see why.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Somewhere within the first year of dating Ulysses we went to this horrific local pasta restaurant for dinner.

Think Olive Garden but multiply the gaudy Italian-American white, green and red décor by about 10 and take away the chain restaurant aspect.

Among the standard parmesans of the chicken, veal and eggplant variety, there was gnocchi.

We silently looked over the menus for a minute or two when Ulys blurted out “what’s GA-NOTCH-EE?”

I looked up, stared at him and said “I’m not sure we can date anymore.”

Sweet potato gnocchi

13 years later, he walks in from the garage, comes into the kitchen, looks at the sheet pan full of these and says “are these GA-NOTCH-EE??!”

Aren’t I lucky?

The best part of making sweet potato gnocchi is the fun little lines.

I decided to play around with video a bit to show you how I do it at home since I don’t have that fancy line roller thingy.

Please ignore my perpetual state of workout clothes, the fact that I never show my face and my amateur editing skills.

It may also be slightly obvious that I’m Italian by the amount of gesturing my hands do in the span of 1 minute and 34 seconds.

At least there’s only one direction to go from here.

Dressing myself properly next time might be the first step.

Sweet potato gnocchi with bolognese sauce

As if his gnocchi ignorance wasn’t blatant enough by the butchered pronunciation, Ulysses tried to eat one off the pan at this point of the prep.

They’re cute and all, but I do suggest actually cooking them before consumption.

Raw flour is never really a good taste.

I debated for about .5 seconds whether to tell him that as he held it in his hand.

Quick bolognese sauce

You could definitely stop at this point, boil them off, toss in some butter, olive oil, rosemary and call it a delicious meal but I decided to go all out and make a quick bolognese sauce to boot.

If you’re looking for that kind of preparation, check out my air fryer cauliflower gnocchi. There’s an option to serve with olive oil, garlic and salt that’s so simple and could easily be used here too.

If you think adding cinnamon and nutmeg to ground beef sounds weird, I’m with ya.

But I took a chance and did it anyway to mimic the flavors in the gnocchi and it turned out way better than I ever thought it would.

It’s meaty and hearty with a hint of cinnamon sweetness that pairs so well with the sweet potato gnocchi.

Basically, it’s fall in your mouth.

You can also serve these sweet potato gnocchi with this easy Instant Pot bolognese sauce for a more classic recipe, lamb bolognese for a fun meat variation or, this lentil bolognese for a lighter, vegetarian version.

My cauliflower gnocchi skillet recipe is another great option for a cozy, comforting and hearty meal. It cooks in just 30 minutes and uses frozen pre-made cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe’s so it’s a lot less involved too.

Sweet potato gnocchi with bolognese

We ate this around 3pm and then hiked almost 5 miles until 7pm (after making about 5 wrong turns at different trailheads) and I still wasn’t hungry when we got home.

It’s that filling.

I’ll allow you one “fall” cooking day to make it if you promise to come back to basil, tomatoes and watermelon for the next 4 weeks.

Fight the pumpkin urge!

Want to save this recipe?
Just enter your email and get it sent to your inbox! Plus you’ll get new recipes from us every week!
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.
No ratings yet

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bolognese

Servings: 4 servings
Prep: 30 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 45 minutes
This sweet potato gnocchi is served with a quick bolognese sauce. A hearty and deliciously filling fall meal.

Ingredients 

For the Sweet Potato Gnocchi

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour

For the Bolognese

  • 1 lb. ground beef, I use 85% lean
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 small yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 small carrots, chopped
  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions 

For the Sweet Potato Gnocchi

  • Clean and scrub potatoes well. Poke holes around the outside of each potato using a fork or knife. Wrap loosely in a paper towel and microwave until fork tender. This took me two rounds of the “potato” setting on my microwave.
  • Remove potatoes from microwave, set aside and let cool.
  • Once cooled, scoop flesh out of skins and transfer to a medium bowl.
  • Mash sweet potato until smooth.
  • Add remaining ingredients and mix until dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead into a ball. Add additional flour as needed to get the dough into a workable state so that it’s not too sticky. I added about 2-3 tablespoons of buckwheat flour.
  • Generously flour a surface and cut the ball of dough into 4 sections.
  • Roll each section out into a long, even snake-like roll.
  • Using a knife, cut off in 1/2-1 inch sections.
  • You can leave gnocchi as is or roll each section with your thumb along the tines of a fork (see video above) to get the standard lines.
  • Set gnocchi pieces aside on a parchment lined sheet pan.
  • You can freeze them at this point and cook off later (from frozen) or, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook until they start to float (about 3 minutes).
  • Remove gnocchi from cooking water carefully with a slotted spoon or strainer and transfer to a serving bowl.

For the Bolognese

  • Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Once hot, add garlic, onions and carrots and saute for 3 minutes until softened.
  • Add ground beef and cook until browned. Drain fat from pan carefully if desired at this point.
  • Add tomatoes, rosemary, parsley, seasonings and tomato paste and simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.
  • Top gnocchi with spoonfuls of bolognese and serve.

Notes

-Potatoes could also be cooked by roasting if you’d rather not use a microwave. Prep time will obviously increase if doing so.
-You could easily substitute whole wheat or all purpose flours for the almond/buckwheat/coconut mixture.

Nutrition

Serving: 1SERVINGCalories: 684kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 44gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 21gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 155mgSodium: 676mgFiber: 10gSugar: 13g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Dishes
Cuisine: Italian
TRIED THIS RECIPE?COMMENT + RATE BELOW!
Founder and Writer at Running to the Kitchen | About

Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.

You May Also Like:

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




58 Comments

  1. Yay!! Love the post and the video clip :) And yes, next time I want to see your pretty face!! It was nice to hear your voice though, if that’s all you’re gonna give. As a side note, I did BUY the pumpkin for bread baking recipe experimentation, but didn’t have the heart to actually open it up yet. You’re right, it’s too summery still for pumpkin!!!

  2. SO excited to try this!!
    Do you think you could sub more almond flour or coconut flour for the buckwheat? I have the almond and coconut, but i have no idea about buckwheat!

    THANKS!

    1. This is a really good question. I have heard that most Buckwheat while gluten free is processed on equipment that isn’t. Is there anyone that has figured out how to do this minus buckwheat?

  3. OH
    MY
    GOSH.
    my husband would like to run away with you :-)
    bring you here as a sisterwife?
    GET ME COOKING LESSONS?!

    1. 1. OH MY GOSH you’re not in spam! yay!!!
      2. Ask Cat (Breakfast to Bed) about our sisterwife status, I may already be taken ;)
      3. Come over for leftovers?

  4. This looks amazing and thanks for making it gluten free! I have been lookin for gluten free gnocchi recipe for awhile but never found a good looking one and I am obsessed with sweet potato so you really sold me on this one! Can wait to make this!

    1. Yeah, it’s been kind of nice trying to cook/eat close to paleo recently b/c it’s forced a lot of baked stuff to end up being gluten free at the same time. Makes it easier to answer comments of “how can I make this gluten free?” :)

  5. This looks awesome! I love your video! I have a little camera with a tripod so we can definitely use that if we ever do a video :)

    Also, I really want this dish. Like really really really want it. I’m trying so hard to fight the fall but I’m afraid its’ not happening. I have six cans of pumpkin that are just crying to be used…

    1. Yeah, if I wasn’t being lazy I could’ve set up my real camera or even used my point and shoot but the ease of the iphone won out ;) Let’s chat more about this video and figure out something to do this week! Ps- thinking of you guys…just saw that tweet about Art’s grandfather.

  6. I’m not always a huge fan of gnocchi. I find it often too gummy and heavy. However, some of the best I’ve ever had has been made from sweet potatoes. You have me craving some and I might just have to make this recipe.

  7. Pssht, don’t be sorry. I’m one of those people wishing summer away the first official day of the season so this is perfect!

  8. I never made gnocchi and always wanted to. I think I am stealing your recipe this week!! By the way, you make the fall season sound so wonderful, and it is, but please don’t rush summer, I am not ready for the season after fall!! :)