Sweet Potato Gnocchi is a Paleo or Gluten-free eater's dream come true! Not only is it not meat (I mean, I love it, but need a break from it sometimes), it's hearty and filling and made from real food.
Actually, it's made from exactly 3 ingredients: sweet potatoes, cassava flour, and salt. That's it! Nothing more to it. And it's a delightful break from all the meat and eggs us Paleo dieters eat a lot of.

How to make Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Making Sweet Potato Gnocchi takes a little bit of time, but it's well worth it. I like to make a big batch and freeze it. That way, I only have to put in the effort once in awhile, but reap the benefits for many weeks.
This recipe calls for about 4 pounds of sweet potatoes. I buy the big ones and go for organic, if it's available. Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks then cover with cool water in a large stockpot.
Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork or knife. Drain then mash the potatoes with either a potato masher or a fork. Add in the cassava flour and form into a dough.
You can add in more flour, if needed, or if your potatoes were very large. You want to form a dough like the one pictured below, not too sticky, but not too dry either.
A Word about Cassava Flour
If you have never heard of or used cassava flour before, it's made from the cassava plant which is a starchy, high-carbohydrate tuber, similar to yam, taro, plantains and potato.
Cassava flour is gluten-free, grain-free and nut-free - a great substitute for wheat flour for us Paleo or gluten-free dieters!
Once you have a ball of dough, cut it into 4 relatively equal parts (doesn't have to be exact) and one at a time, roll out into long tubes, about an inch thick in diameter, like in the picture below.
Now it's starting to look like Gnocchi
After you have 4 long tubes of dough, cut each one into small pieces about an inch wide using a bench scraper or sharp knife.
You can get all fancy and use a fork to press into each piece of gnocchi to look like the kind you see in restaurants, but as you can see from my photos, I skip that step. It's usually just me eating it anyway!
At this point, the gnocchi needs to be boiled for a few minutes. In a very large stockpot (same one you used to boil the potatoes works perfectly), boil water then carefully place a handful or so of the gnocchi in at a time.
You don't want to overcrowd the pot. I use a spider (pictured below) to carefully lower the gnocchi into the boiling water and to remove the gnocchi once they've floated to the surface, indicating they are done.
Repeat until all gnocchi have been boiled, placing the finished gnocchi in a single layer onto a sheet tray.
Cook some now, Freeze the rest for later
At this point, you can add these to a dish or you can freeze them for later. I usually reserve some for cooking now and the rest go straight into the freezer.
To freeze, stick the sheet tray with the gnocchi in a single layer into the freezer and freeze for at least 2 hours.
Once frozen, place in a freezer safe ziptop bag. Freezing them this way prevents them from freezing altogether in one big clump. You can remove as many as you need for your recipe when the time comes.
I like to pan fry these in a nonstick pan with some ghee or olive oil until they're browned and crispy - yum!
You can serve plain, with some broccoli and parmesan cheese (omit or substitute with nutritional yeast if you're dairy-free) or substitute in any pasta dish like this meatless baked ziti recipe.
This Gnocchi will make a great sub for the ziti pasta. I have a really good recipe for Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Sage Bacon Sauce coming soon!
The pic above gives you a sneak peek of what it looks like. Delish! Even my husband loves it and he is not a follower of the Paleo or gluten-free diet. Score!

Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes (about 4 pounds)
- 1 cup cassava flour + more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Remove the skins from 4 large sweet potatoes. Cut into chunks and place in a large stock pot. Add cold water until all of the potatoes are completely submerged. Bring the water and potatoes to a boil over high heat then let them boil, uncovered, for 18-20 minutes, or until the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. Strain the potatoes and place them in a large mixing bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork until smooth. Set aside and allow to cool slightly
- Combine the cooked potatoes and cassava flour in a large mixing bowl. Stir together with your hands until flour is fully incorporated. Mix and knead until the dough starts to form a ball. If the dough is too wet, continue to add cassava flour a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms a ball and is not too sticky
- :Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface (use more cassava flour for this). Divide the dough into 4 roughly equals parts using a bench scraper or sharp knife. Take one piece and set the other three aside. Roll the dough into a long rope with a 1 inch diameter. Starting at one end, cut the dough into 1 inch pieces and set aside. Repeat this process with the other 3 portions of dough. You can make fork marks on each gnocchi at this point if you want to, but it's optional
- Fill the same stock pot from the potatoes with water about half way full. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt and heat on high, uncovered until boiling. While it's heating, place a sheet tray next to the stove on which to set the cooked gnocchi. Once the water is boiling, add ¼ of the gnocchi to the water. The gnocchi will sink to the bottom. Once they float to the top of the water (about 2 minutes) remove them with a slotted spoon and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with the rest of the gnocchi
- Cook your gnocchi as desired
Notes
- Once gnocchi have been boiled, they can be frozen for later use. With gnocchi on sheet tray in a single layer, place in freezer for at least two hours. Once frozen, place gnocchi in a freezer safe ziptop bag. They will keep in the freezer for at least 3 months.
- Recipe adapted from PaleoGlutenFree.com
Nutrition
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Comments
Marla Meyer
Wonderful recipe. Thanks. I will try this today. After you freeze the gnocchi, what do you do with them? Do you reboil them? Do you warm them in a hot pan with oil? Thanks.
Kim
So glad you're giving them a try! I like to pan sauté them with some oil to get them crispy on the outside and warmed through. I do have a recipe for a bacon sage sauce on the blog too, if you're interested you can give that a try with these. So good! https://kickassbaker.com/sweet-potato-gnocchi-bacon-sage-sauce/