I published an easy recipe for microwave sweet potato puree recently. That recipe came about because I wanted to make gluten free sweet potato gnocchi, so here we are! Let’s get straight into it.
Gluten free sweet potato gnocchi
This sweet potato gnocchi is incredibly simple to make and accidentally vegan. It uses white rice flour and a small amount of (optional) tapioca flour for a bit of chew and elasticity. Next, of course, we have our sweet potato puree. Those are the only two or three ingredients necessary for this easy gnocchi. Of course, that means that this recipe is egg free, vegan, xanthan gum free, corn free and soy free.
Is all gnocchi gluten free?
No, most gnocchi is not gluten free. Wheat flour is a common ingredient in gnocchi, whether it is plain gnocchi, ricotta gnocchi or potato gnocchi.
While there are some gluten free gnocchi brands available at supermarkets and specialty stores, I have yet to find one I like. They all tend to be quite gluey and heavy with a long list of ingredients.
Aside from this sweet potato gnocchi recipe, I also have a gluten free potato gnocchi recipe and a gluten free vegan potato gnocchi recipe.
Ingredient notes
I have tested this recipe with sweet potato puree made in the microwave. Personally, I prefer to use the microwave method for a number of different purees. I find that it does a swift job of cooking the sweet potato without contributing excess liquid like other cooking methods. Steaming or boiling sweet potato can contribute excess liquid, which then means you’ll need to add more flour for a workable dough. Of course, more flour can mean a pasty or dry result, so we want to add the minimum amount of flour possible.
For best results, I recommend using the microwave method as I have. This is because I have tested this consistency of puree.
I have no substitutions for the flours. You are welcome to experiment, but you might need to play around to find a combination that works for you.
I have tested making this gnocchi without the tapioca flour. It worked, but it lacked a nice a slightly chewy texture that I expect from gnocchi.
I haven’t tested any other varieties of sweet potato. The only form of sweet potato I have worked with is microwave puree – I haven’t tried oven baked or steamed. I imagine they would work, but you might need to play around with the flour (adding more or less) to account for a different water content.
FODMAP notes for your sweet potato gnocchi
This gnocchi uses 500g sweet potato puree and serves 4 people. This means that each serve contains approximately 125g sweet potato. As of October 2025, Monash says that orange sweet potato is low FODMAP in serves of up to 149g per person. In 150g serves, it contains moderate amounts of fructans. The threshold for purple sweet potato (which I haven’t tried here but intend to try) is very similar. White sweet potato has a slightly lower low FODMAP threshold (139g as of October 2025).
Interestingly, the FODMAP Friendly app says that orange sweet potato is FODMAP free and can be eaten freely. They list purple sweet potato (with white flesh) as low FODMAP in up to 165g serves. White sweet potato (with purple flesh) is listed as low FODMAP in 188g serves.
So, this gluten free sweet potato gnocchi is low FODMAP either way. Which threshold is the more ‘correct’ threshold depends on your individual tolerances and will be different for everyone. Use them as a guideline to see what works for you.
The remaining ingredients in this gnocchi (white rice flour and tapioca flour) are low FODMAP. Choose a low FODMAP sauce recipe (like brown sage butter or my low FODMAP pasta sauce) to keep the FODMAP content down.
More gluten free pasta and noodle recipes
- Gluten free potato gnocchi without xanthan gum
- Gluten free pasta without xanthan gum
- Gluten free beetroot pasta dough
- Gluten free soba noodles (100% buckwheat flour)
- Gluten free lasagne sheets without xanthan gum
Gluten free sweet potato gnocchi
Ingredients
- 200 g fine white rice flour
- 25 g tapioca flour
- Good pinch of salt
- ½ – 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice or to taste optional, see notes for alternatives
- 500 g sweet potato puree I make mine in the microwave, see notes for recipe
- Extra tapioca flour for rolling out the gnocchi (ideally this won't be needed, but keep some on hand just in case)
Instructions
To make the sweet potato gnocchi:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add the sweet potato puree and use your hands to squish the dough through your fingers. Continue until you have a smooth ball of dough and there is no flour left in the bowl. You should easily be able to pick the dough up despite it being soft and juicy. If the dough is drier or wetter than this, you will need to correct it. Add more sweet potato puree or water to correct a dry dough or small increments of rice flour for a wet dough. The ideal consistency is a dough you can roll out without flour but also without the dough cracking, feeling crumbly or being difficult to work with.
- Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside.
- Take a handful of dough at a time and roll it into a smooth ball. Use your hands to roll it out into a log about 2cm tall (0.7 inches). The length of the log doesn’t matter, but each piece gnocchi should be about 2cm tall and 2 – 2.5cm in length, depending on the shape you choose to cut. If you need flour for the bench, use a very scant amount of tapioca flour.
- Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to cut the log of dough into individual gnocchi pieces, about 2-2.5cm long. You can cut straight or on an angle and you can use a fork to make little indents in the gnocchi – whatever you like. Transfer the cut gnocchi to the lined tray and repeat with the remaining dough. You should get about 70-75 pieces with the size listed in the recipe.
To cook the sweet potato gnocchi:
- Bring a medium pot of well salted water to the boil. I prefer to cook the gnocchi in batches so I can keep an eye on things but I daresay you could also could them all in a large pot.
- Once the water is boiling, add 20 pieces of gnocchi (or all of it if you are using a large pot and not batch cooking). Stir to ensure the gnocchi isn’t stuck together or stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook until all the gnocchi has risen to the surface and about 1 minute after that. When batch cooking the gnocchi, this equates to about 3 minutes per batch. It may take longer if you are cooking all the gnocchi at once.
- Once your gnocchi is cooked, serve immediately with the warmed sauce of your choosing.
- Leftovers keep well in the fridge for a number of days. Gnocchi can be frozen uncooked and placed into boiling water straight from frozen.
Notes
- The pumpkin spice is optional but a fun way to add some flavour. I used the recipe by Sally’s Baking Addiction. You can also add a pinch of nutmeg to taste or leave the gnocchi plain.
- I recommend using puree made in the microwave here because this is what I have tested. I have a recipe for that here.
- See notes in the body of the post for ingredient notes and substitutions.
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