With fall comes hibernation season—the huge sweaters, fuzzy blankets, hot cups of tea, and deliciously cheesy, savory deliciousness that one craves when the air outside is chilly. A surprisingly easy fall dish to make is sweet potato gnocchi—the gnocchi only requires a handful of ingredients, and it’s no more difficult than making dumplings a la chicken & dumplings!
But funnily enough, there aren’t that many different takes on gnocchi, let alone sweet potato gnocchi. A quick Google search yields a lot of sage butter sauce and not much else!
A New Spin on Gnocchi
This Cheesy Baked Sweet Potato Gnocchi is a new spin on your standard gnocchi. Sweet potato gnocchi made with ricotta, nutmeg and cinnamon is baked in a casserole with a smooth, peppery bechamel sauce.
We also added mozzarella and parmesan cheese for that elusive goo factor. On top of it all, there’s crispy bacon and fried sage to make this a hearty plate of fall goodness.
After you’ve frolicked in the leaves, gotten your fill of apples, and waddled home with a huge pumpkin from the patch, come home and make this Cheesy Baked Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bacon and Sage!
Sweet Potato Gnocchi Bake: Recipe Instructions
Prepare the baked sweet potatoes by piercing the raw potatoes with a fork all over. Place on a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 40 to 55 minutes, until tender. Cool slightly. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out. Mash the sweet potatoes and measure out about 2 cups into a large bowl.
Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper and blend until well-mixed.
Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms.
Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface.
Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces.
Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces, flouring them as needed.
Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork or over a gnocchi board.
Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet sprinkled with flour. Repeat until you’ve made all of the gnocchi.
These gnocchi can be made in advance and frozen! Put the gnocchi in the freezer while they’re still on the baking sheets and freeze until firm, at least one hour. Transfer them to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to two months.
Boil a pot of water to par-boil the gnocchi, and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
While the water is coming up to a boil, prepare the bechamel. Over medium heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour and stir until there are no lumps. Cook the flour for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly. Pour in the milk, whisking until you get a smooth sauce. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
While the bechamel is cooking, you can prepare the bacon and sage. But you can also prepare them in advance!
When the water is boiling, par boil the gnocchi for 1-2 minutes, drain, and add to the bechamel along with the bacon, sage, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, reserving some of the bacon, sage, and cheese to sprinkle over the top of your casserole if desired.
Transfer the entire mixture to a casserole dish.
Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Serve your sweet potato gnocchi hot and think about this awesome dish as a possible Thanksgiving dinner side dish this year!
Cheesy Baked Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Bacon and Sage
Ingredients
For the gnocchi:
- 1½ to 2 pounds sweet potatoes (800g, yields about 2 cups mashed)
- ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1¼ - 1½ cups all-purpose flour
For the cheesy bechamel:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ cup flour (plus 1 tablespoon)
- 3 cups whole milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 5 slices bacon (cooked and chopped into bits)
- 12 sage leaves (julienned and fried in the bacon fat)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (about ½ pound, 225g, plus some additional to sprinkle over the top)
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Prepare the baked sweet potatoes by piercing the raw potatoes with a fork all over. Place on a sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F for 40 to 55 minutes, until tender. Cool slightly. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh out. Mash the sweet potatoes and measure out about 2 cups into a large bowl.
- Add the ricotta cheese, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper and blend until well-mixed. Add the flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Lightly flour a work surface and divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces, flouring them as needed. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork or over a gnocchi board. Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet sprinkled with flour. Repeat until you’ve made all of the gnocchi.
- These gnocchi can be made in advance and frozen! Put the gnocchi in the freezer while they're still on the baking sheets and freeze until firm, at least one hour. Transfer them to a zip-top bag and freeze for up to two months.
- Boil a pot of water to par-boil the gnocchi, and preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- While the water is coming up to a boil, prepare the bechamel. Over medium heat, melt the butter and add the olive oil. Whisk in the flour and stir until there are no lumps. Cook the flour for 1-2 minutes, whisking constantly. Pour in the milk, whisking until you get a smooth sauce. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- While the bechamel is cooking, you can prepare the bacon and sage. But you can also prepare them in advance!
- When the water is boiling, par boil the gnocchi for 1-2 minutes, drain, and add to the bechamel along with the bacon, sage, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, reserving some of the bacon, sage, and cheese to sprinkle over the top of your casserole if desired. Transfer the entire mixture to a casserole dish, and bake for 35-40 minutes.
nutrition facts
This took a bit of prep time but OMG so worth it!! Turned out amazing, such a great comfort food on this snowy night in Iowa, and interesting flavors put together. The fresh fried sage and deep spices really came through lovely. This was my first time making gnocchi and I had no trouble at all. Next time I make this (and I definitely want to) I would make add a bit of crushed red pepper cuz I always enjoy a Lil heat. Happy new year and thanks for the excellent recipe – cheers!
Thanks for another great recipe. I had two small sweet potatoes that didn’t make it to Thanksgiving dinner that provided enough for a half-recipe (which was still 4 servings). I was worried that these would be too rich and heavy, but the flavors really complemented each other. I omitted the mozzarella from the mixture and used grated gruyère for the topping. Only comment I would add is to use no salt in the béchamel until you taste it at the end. Both bacon and Parmesan are quite salty. Gnocchi were tender and flavorful. For those who don’t have any ricotta in the house, it is easy to make it yourself! For this small amount, use about 3 cups of 2% milk, add a bit of salt (1/4 tsp), heat to just below boiling (185 deg F), remove from heat and gently stir in the juice of one lemon plus about 1Tblsp rice vinegar (or other colorless vinegar). Let sit about 5 minutes. Curds should separate and leave a fairly clear whey behind. If not add a bit more vinegar and wait again. Strain through cheesecloth-lined colander and let drain. That’s it!
Unfortunately, my gnocchi turned into mush. They were very sticky when I made them but I was still able to get them into little rolls and into the freezer. But after the par-boil step, they look like they had melted. Did I need to add more flour? Or boil for less time? Or both? The flavors are good so I wonder if we could try this recipe with sweet potato cubes instead of gnocchi for a quicker dish.
Thank you!
This recipe looks amazing! I would like to try it, but I have a few friends who don’t eat pork or shrimp. Is there any other substitute that I could possibly use?
Thanks!
Hey there, you can substitute turkey bacon for the pork bacon! There’s no shrimp in this recipe, so you’re good there.
Thank you! :)
Thank you so much for this recipe! I made this for last night’s friendsgiving potluck and everyone adored the dish. I guesstimated with preparing the bacon and sage – just sauteed with a little olive oil (could probably have just done the bacon by itself) and added the sage leaves after the bacon had sizzled for a bit. It came out really fragrant and added something very special to the dish. Lastly, I now feel confident making gnocchi and a bechamel sauce, something I never thought I’d be able to say – so thank you!
Hi Jillian, Hurrahhh!!! Very happy to hear you and your friends enjoyed it and that you’re mastering the kitchen! Have a happy Thanksgiving :)
I really want to make this for Thanksgiving- any advise if this can be prepared the day ahead and just baked the day of?
Hi Marissa,
Great question–you can definitely prepare the gnocchi a day ahead and freeze them and then assemble the casserole the day of as mentioned in some of the instructions, but I’d hesitate to let the whole casserole sit overnight before baking and serving. Good luck and happy Thanksgiving!
How do you prepare the bacon and sage? I’ve messed up fried sage in the past and it’s not pretty. Do you cook the bacon first and drain before frying the sage or do you just toss it all in together?
Hi Mindy, We cooked the bacon first until it was fully done/crispy, and then added the sage. The sage crisps up very fast, so no need to walk away! Transfer the bacon and sage to a paper-towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon to let drain, and you’re ready to rolllll. Good luck!
I substituted shrimp for bacon and basil instead of sage. Everything turned out beautifully! I had to add 2 cups of flour, because measured out the sweet potato before it was mashed so I think I had more than I was supposed to. Thanks for making my experience making gnocchi for the first time a success!
Hi Ann, sounds delightful! Gnocchi’s not as tricky as it seems, right? :)
Oh wow! This looks amazing! Going to try out your recipe tomorrow. I could easily see this becoming my new cold weather food addiction.
This turned out really well. Great recipe! Thanks!
Hurrahhh!!! So glad you liked it :)
This looks so comforting, can’t wait to try it. Always look forward to your recipes.
Thanks, Jo! Hope you enjoy it :)