Serving up some sweet potato pasta sauce, kids!
All aboard the sweet potato love train!
Where are we now? Let’s see, we’ve covered cake, muffins, hummus, fudge, soup, more soup, fries, salad. I know there’s more – plus more in my books – plus more to come!
This sweet potato pasta sauce is a superb alternative for people that want an alternative to tomato-based sauces – either because of food sensitivities – or just for variety.
Once the sweet potato is cooked, this is very fast to prep. Everything into the blender – vroom! Sweet potato pasta sauce is DONE!
P.S. I use my Blendtec with the standard jar or WildSide jar for this sauce – if you want to shop, use Blendtec Coupon Code: YAY-BLENDTEC at checkout for 20% off.
Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce: Substitution Questions
No matter what recipe I post, I’m
With this recipe, I anticipate those blanks will be: sweet potato, smoked paprika, chickpea miso, and fresh thyme.
Here goes:
Sweet potato is the main ingredient in this recipe, so best to keep it. However, it can possibly be substituted with
Smoked paprika: Just don’t. It’s the one thing you must not substitute! Smoked paprika has a unique flavor that is different from regular paprika. , you will not regret it. #thatsapromise
Fresh thyme: I know it’s more convenient to use dried thyme. Here, I wouldn’t. The fresh herb offers a lot in this sauce. If you have another fresh herb like fresh oregano, use that. A lesser amount of fresh rosemary would also be nice.
Chickpea
I think that’s the rundown on this sweet potato pasta sauce!
Only thing left: for you to make it.
Recipe time! Enjoy… x Dreena
Sweet Potato Pasta with Smoky Breadcrumb Topping
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 2 cups cooked sweet potato flesh yellow or orange, see note for cooking tip
- 2 med-large cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt adjust to taste, see directions
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp chickpea miso or another mellow miso like brown rice miso
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- couple pinches freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
For pasta:
- 1 1/4 lb. whole-grain pasta of choice can be gluten-free, see note
Breadcrumb Topping:
- 1 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs can be gluten-free
- 1/4 cup ground almonds almond meal, or ground pumpkin seeds for nut-free version (can use more breadcrumbs if preferred)
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika rounded
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to pasta directions, and cooking to ‘al dente’ (retaining a slight bite, not fully soft) while preparing pasta sauce and breadcrumb topping.
Pasta Sauce: In a blender, add sweet potato along with the garlic, salt, pepper, tahini, miso, 1 cup of the water, thyme, paprika, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Puree until becoming smooth and then add remaining water and puree again until fully smooth.
Breadcrumb Topping: Combine breadcrumbs and almond/pumpkin seed meal with smoked paprika and sea salt. Bake at 375 for 7-8 mins until crumbs turn golden. Be sure to stir once or twice through baking so the crumbs brown evenly. Also watch carefully as the mixture can quickly burn once it becomes toasty. After 4-5 minutes, keep a check on it. Let cool fully, then store in airtight container in fridge until ready to use.
- Once pasta is just about cooked (but not fully soft), drain but don’t rinse. Return to the pot with the pasta sauce over medium-low heat. Allow sauce to heat and thicken with the pasta for a few minutes. (See note if adding spinach) Taste, and season with extra salt or pepper or other seasonings if desired. Serve, topping each portion with the breadcrumbs topping.
- Serves 4-5.
Notes
- Sweet Potato Cooking Note: Rinse sweet potatoes but do not peel or pierce. Place whole on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 425 for 40-60 minutes (baking time will depend on whether you are using smaller or larger sweet potatoes). Bake until fully softened and caramelizing. For 2 cups, use 1 very large sweet potato or 2 smaller (see note). After baking, let cool slightly.
- Sweet Potato Note: It’s always helpful to bake extra as you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for a couple of months. Let cool enough to remove skins, and use in recipe or cool further and then store in airtight container in fridge until ready to make the pasta.
- Pasta Note: Many varieties of dry pasta are packaged in 1 lb bags. This recipe yields a generous amount of sauce, and so you can use more than 1 lb of pasta to stretch it out if you like. I typically use about 1 1/4 lb of dry pasta. If you only want to use 1 lb, your pasta will just be a little “saucier”.
- Spinach option: For a ‘greens’ boost, try adding 2-3 cups of baby spinach leaves. Add the spinach while heating the sauce, working through until just wilted. HOWEVER, do not use spinach if you expect to have leftovers to reheat. It does not taste good in this sauce when reheated. If you want to add the greens in this case, gently steam separately and add to individual portions.
food photography by: Angela MacNeil
This post was originally published in March 2019 and updated on January 22, 2022.
Lucia says
We love, love, love this recipe! Question: Dreena, does the sauce freeze well? Or would freezing degrade it? Many thanks in advance.
Olwyn says
Will dried thyme work?
Nina says
I love sweet potatoes and one of my boys is sensitive to tomatoes, so this recipe looked perfect! Well, it was! The combination of fresh thyme, smoked paprika and the sweetness of the spuds just came together so perfectly! Dreena, you’re a genius! I also loved the bread crumb sprinkle. I’ll be this again for sure. I think I’ll go with one 1 lb of pasta to the amount of sauce it makes next time because the sauce was so good, I really wanted more! I added broccoli to the dish instead of spinach.
Sonia says
Made tonight ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Is
All I can say
Dreena says
yay yay! Thanks Sonia!
Cécile says
OK I just need to try this one!!
I was planing to bake sweet potatoes for some muffins anyway
Can’t wait to try it, I can’t have tomato sauce or nuts.so.my options for pasta are poor, but with this I might be able to eat pasta once a month, what a treat!!
Tha k you Dreen
Jane Dekkers says
Dreena love your preemptive reaction to substitutions! Looks delicious…will try it soon.
Caroline says
Smoked paprika does NOT get enough love. It’s so good on EVERYTHING. I especially love it on topped of avocado on toast. This recipe looks like an ace way to get my boyfriend into sweet potatoes (he thinks of them as a white potato alternative and isn’t keen)!
Dreena says
Oh, I couldn’t agree more, Caroline! It adds so much flavor intensity to recipes, without heat. To think I cooked many years without it!