When I first saw the sweet potato gnocchi recipe in Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings Cookbook, I immediately wanted to make it.

As I read the recipe I thought to myself, “I wonder what this would taste like with sweet plantains instead of sweet potatoes.”

Nothing against sweet potatoes (I love them!) but, have you ever had platanos maduros??

They’re magical!

I love adding sweet plantains to Cuban Picadillo Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and Black Bean, Sweet Plantains + Avocado Arepas. So why not add them to homemade gnocchi too!?

Let me show you how to make homemade gnocchi with sweet plantains!

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Few ingredients! The sweet-salty flavors of sweet plantains, ricotta, and Parmesan Reggiano make this dish out of this world. Add a 2-ingredient homemade garlic brown butter sauce and it just takes it to another level.

• Melt in your mouth texture. Soft, pillowy, and crispy gnocchi, not dense and chewy like the storebought kind. YUM!

• Easy to make. No need for a gnocchi board. This recipe comes together fairly easily without fancy pasta tools. It will be well worth the effort!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Ripe plantains. You’ll know a plantain is ripe by the color of its skin. The darker the skin, the sweeter the plantains will be. If their skin is more yellow than very dark in color, that works too! Click here to see what they look like.

• Whole milk ricotta cheese. Makes the sweet plantain gnocchi more fluffy and less dense and chewy. The ricotta replaces the egg in the traditional recipe.

• All-purpose flour. To make the gnocchi dough but don’t add too much!

• Parmesan Reggiano cheese. Gives the gnocchi a salty and rich umami flavor.

• Butter + garlic paste for the garlic brown butter sauce.

Step-By-Step Instructions

• Boil the plantains. In a large saucepan, place the peeled plantains with enough water to cover them, roughly 3 cups with 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and let cool slightly.

• In the meantime, make the browned butter garlic sauce. melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the butter foams and little brown specks appear. Keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Once the butter turns an amber color and has a nutty aroma, remove it from the heat and stir in 2 teaspoons of water (to make up for the loss of moisture) and the garlic. Let it cool in the saucepan with the residual heat. Cool slightly.

• Make the dough. In a large bowl, add the large plantains and mash completely with a fork. Stir in the ricotta then season with salt + pepper to taste. Slowly add in the flour, a few tablespoons at a time, and mix together until a dough forms. You don’t have to use the entire amount. Just enough so the dough is not sticky. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.

• Cut the fresh gnocchi. Flour a clean workspace and transfer the dough mixture onto it. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and gently roll them into balls. Now using your hands, roll one ball of dough into a 12-inch long, 1-inch thick rope. If the mixture is sticking to your hands as you roll, add flour until no longer sticky. Cut the dough log into 1-inch square pieces. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

• Boil gnocchi. In the same large saucepan, add enough cold water to cover the gnocchi (about 2 cups) plus 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Working in batches, add the gnocchi and stir, making sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Cook them until they float to the top, roughly 2-3 minutes. Once they float to the top, drain them (do not rinse). Set aside.

• Pan fry the gnocchi. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Fry the gnocchi, in batches, at medium-heat heat, until a crust forms on both sides. Repeat with all the gnocchi. Transfer the pan-fried gnocchi to a bowl and toss with the brown butter garlic sauce. Serve and sprinkle with extra parm if desired.

Recipe Tips

• To ripen the plantains. It takes about 10 days for a green plantain to be fully ripe. If you need to ripen a plantain quicker, you can either place them in a brown paper bag for a few days OR you can place them in the oven, unpeeled, at 300ºF for 20 minutes.

• To stop plantains from ripening. If it’s been longer than 10 days and you’re not yet ready to use them, you can place the ripe plantains in the fridge to stop the ripening process.

• Don’t wait too long to pan-fry the gnocchi. The longer they sit out, the firmer the dough gets. You want pillowy, soft delicious gnocchi that’s not dry or firm!

• Use cold water. When filling up the saucepan to boil the gnocchi, make sure the water is cold. This will help the gnocchi not split open when boiling.

• Don’t add all the flour at once. You want to slowly add in the flour, a few tablespoons at a time, until a dough forms. If you add too much flour, it may compromise the flavor and texture of the gnocchi.

Storage Tips

• In the fridge. You should only store gnocchi in the fridge if you plan on making them soon, like within 4-5 days. Make sure they are boiled (step 5) before transferring them to an airtight container and placing them in the fridge.

• In the freezer. Make sure the gnocchi is UNCOOKED before storing them in the freezer. Make the recipe up to step 4, let them dry out for a bit at room temperature, then place them in a freezer bag. They will stay fresh in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature before cooking.