Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale

Sweet potato noodles inject the classic Spaghetti Aglio e Olio with brilliant color in this easy dish. I love to top mine with basil & plenty of Parmesan.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale on plate with a fork

Have you tried sweet potato noodles? In the past, I’ve made zoodles and doodles (noodles made out of daikon radish), but it didn’t occur to me until recently to make swoodles(?). Is that what we’re calling them? Anyway, one night, with a hungry stomach and minimal ingredients on hand, I saw this gorgeous recipe for Spaghetti Aglio e Olio, and I realized I could make something similar using sweet potatoes in place of the pasta.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale

This recipe starts with 2 medium sweet potatoes – you’ll be surprised how many noodles they make, and then you’ll also be surprised by how much they cook down in the pan. This recipe will make about 3 decent-sized servings, depending on the size of your sweet potatoes.

P.S. I’m a big fan of the Inspiralizer, because, unlike the other types that I’ve tried, it clamps down to your countertop making the “noodling” process far less frustrating, and you won’t have sweet potatoes all over your floor.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale

Because this is not actual pasta, more is more. The toppings are a really important component in this recipe to make the flavors and textures exciting. Add plenty of toasted pine nuts, basil, grated cheese (or vegan “cheese” from this post), and serve with dollops of pesto.

You can also customize this to your liking: roasted tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, roasted broccoli, and goat cheese (if that’s your thing) would be great additions. And if you don’t have a spiralizer, you could make this recipe with roasted spaghetti squash instead of sweet potato, see recipe notes below.

Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale

4.8 from 19 reviews

Sweet Potato Noodles with Garlic & Kale

 
Sweet Potato Noodles add a rush of color and plenty of nutrients to this riff on Spaghetti Aglio e Olio.
Author:
Recipe type: Main Dish, side dish
Serves: 4 as a side, 3 as a main
Ingredients
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, spiralized
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, enough to well coat the pan
  • 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced sliced
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, more as desired
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water
  • 4 cups baby kale (or thinly sliced lacinato kale)
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • squeezes of fresh lemon juice, as desired
serve with:
  • ⅓ cup fresh basil, sliced
  • dollops of pesto (this recipe with basil in place of kale)
  • 2 tablespoons hemp seeds or toasted pine nuts
  • grated pecorino cheese, optional
Instructions
  1. Peel the sweet potatoes. Slice in half and and cut the pointy tips off. Place in the spiralizer and spiralize into noodles. Alternatively, you can use a julienne peeler (although this is more difficult, so I recommend spiralizing).
  2. Heat the oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until until the garlic slices are lightly golden brown, about 5 minutes, reducing the heat if necessary (ie, if the olive oil is bubbling too much, turn the heat down, you do not want the garlic to burn). Add a few generous pinches of salt, red pepper flakes, and a few grinds of freshly cracked black pepper.
  3. Add the sweet potato noodles and toss to coat. Let cook for 2 minutes, gently tossing and scraping down the sides of the pan.
  4. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water and toss again to ensure that nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cover and let the sweet potato noodles continue for 5 more minutes or until they start to soften and are tender but still have a crisp “al dente” bite. Check and toss occasionally so that they cook evenly. Be careful not to overcook or they will start to break apart (this happens quickly).
  5. During the last minute of cooking, stir in the kale so that it wilts into the noodles. Remove from heat and transfer to 3 or 4 bowls.
  6. Serve with the fresh basil, a dollop of pesto, hemp seeds or pine nuts and pecorino cheese, if desired.
Notes
Note: if you don't have a spiralizer, this recipe would also be delicious with spaghetti squash instead of the sweet potato. Add pre-roasted spaghetti squash in step 3, and then skip step 4 - the spaghetti squash will not need the extra water or the extra cook time.

 

71 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Paul
    11.29.2023

    What spiralizer blade did you use?

  2. Priyanka Singh
    05.18.2023

    The food looks super delicious!!….We will try it this weekend 🙂

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      05.19.2023

      Hope you enjoy!

  3. Jean
    07.13.2021

    Wonderful! Whole family enjoyed it! Including the (currently) very picky 5 yo! I love all your recipes!

  4. David roy
    05.16.2021

    I love Sweet potato and surely will make this recipe. Thank You for sharing

  5. Happy Birthday
    01.02.2021

    Pretty Good. Each one here liked it.

  6. Zarah
    10.30.2020

    Where have you been all my life?!? I have an 8 year old who is very allergic to dairy. I have the hardest finding recipes with dairy, that I was running out of dinner/lunch ideas! I’m glad I found you yesterday by chance and now, I have a ton of very healthy ideas for my family!

  7. Charlotte Batama
    10.14.2020

    The recipe look great

  8. sujataS
    09.26.2020

    Like the others have said, I’d almost given up on spiralizing because of the hassle — but haven’t tried the Inspiralizer. This dish is so incredibly beautiful — I’m giving it another try!!

  9. techinshorts
    06.11.2020

    It’s really good dish, noodles with sweet Potato thank you for the great and unique recipe let me try this in brunch today 🙂

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.