Sweet Potato Pasta at Home

Indulgent Sweet Potato Pasta with roasted and seasoned sweet potatoes, onions, and chicken sausage. The pasta and veggies are tossed in an unforgettable creamy goat cheese sauce and topped with Parmesan.

What To Expect With This Sweet Potato Pasta Recipe

It’s no secret we’re completely obsessed with Roasted Sweet Potatoes — and so many of you feel similarly. (That recipe has nearly 5 stars from over 230 reviewers!)

In fact, home cooks enjoy roasted sweet potatoes so much we’ve thrown them in these Kidney Bean Bowls, Roasted Sweet Potato Salad, and these popular Sweet Potato Burrito Bowls. So why not add them to a creamy pasta dish?! And I’m so glad I did because this might be my personal favorite pasta dish ever (although it does have some good competition with this Sausage Rigatoni!!)

One reason so many people love it is because the base is made primarily with goat cheese. I’m a huge goat cheese fan and the more ways to eat it, the better. That said, if you don’t love goat cheese, you probably won’t be the biggest fan of this recipe. Instead, I’d recommend trying this Butternut Squash Pasta and swapping the squash for sweet potatoes.

Beyond the goat cheese, there is a little cream to balance out the sauce and veggies to bulk out this dish and amp up the nutrition — onions, garlic, and spinach! For additional protein, we throw in some roasted chicken sausage, and not only is it a great textural add, but the flavors are also such a great complement to the pasta and sweet potatoes!

Roasting The Veggies and Sausage

While we’re boiling the pasta, the veggies and sausage are roasting. This seasoned sweet potato, onion, garlic, and sausage mixture is so tasty — the veggies develop crisp and caramelized edges with soft interiors. Below are a few tips for this portion of the recipe.

• Any smoked sausage will work in this recipe. We personally love Aidells Italian or Chicken & Apple Sausage best (either flavor pairs nicely).
• When cutting the sweet potatoes and onions, aim for equal 1/2-inch pieces to promote even roasting and ensure both are roasted in a timely manner.
• Wrap the garlic in foil (just like we do in our Tomato Basil Soup) to ensure evenly roasted garlic without it burning!
• Use a very large sheet pan: The more space the veggies and sausage have (the less crowded they are) the better they roast. When vegetables are overlapping on a sheet pan, they end up steaming instead of roasting. This definitely affects the end taste and texture. Also, note that cook time changes quite a bit (it’s much longer) when the veggies are overlapping or don’t have enough space. (See “quick tip” box below.)

Quick Tip

We use (and love) this 15×21-inch sheet pan – which gives everything plenty of room to get nice and evenly roasted.

Sweet Potato Pasta Sauce

This Sweet Potato Pasta with garlic cream sauce is divine! As mentioned, goat cheese is the star of the show here, and it’s the prime ingredient in the sauce. We also add in a little heavy cream and then lots of pasta water– the glue that holds everything together and seasons the dish nicely. Finally, we add in some garlic. Let’s go into more depth on the sauce ingredients:

• Goat cheese: We’re looking for a log of goat cheese, not the crumbles for this recipe.
• Heavy cream: Don’t swap out the heavy cream in this recipe, because it adds such an incredible richness and thickness to the sauce — it’s a key ingredient!
• Pasta water: Before draining the pasta, pull out some of the water surrounding the pasta. This is called pasta water and while it looks a bit murky and less than appetizing, it’s filled with leftover starch from the boiling pasta. It’s also got plenty of salt. Once you combine that water with a fat (the goat cheese and cream) the ingredients can emulsify (blend together) to create a evenly creamy and smooth sauce.
• Garlic: The garlic is roasted with the veggies and then you can smash it into a paste or press it through a garlic press to add to the sauce– add as much or as little as you’d like! home cooks enjoy four full cloves best!

Quick Tip

Tossing the hot pasta, goat cheese, cream, and reserved pasta water is one of the “secrets” to Italian pasta. It’s called emulsifying and that’s how you get a luxuriously smooth and incredibly flavorful sauce.

How To Make Sweet Potato Pasta

Our top tips for this recipe:

• Use 12 ounces bowtie/farfalle pasta. Some boxes at the grocery store are 12 ounces and some are 16. Be sure to check the size and use only 12 ounces for the best pasta-to-sauce ratio.
• Salt the pasta water: Make sure the pasta is well salted as it cooks, since salting the water is the only chance you have to season the actual pasta and ensure the pasta water is sufficiently flavorful.
• Add fresh basil. Although basil isn’t as readily available in the winter as it is in the summer, I’ve never had a problem finding a packet or plant at my local grocery store. The basil really elevates the flavor of this recipe. That said, if you really don’t love basil, it is still tasty without it!

Quick Tip

If you’re like me, it’s straightforward to forget to save some pasta cooking water when you drain the pasta. Here’s a memory booster: Set a colander in the sink for draining the pasta. Then, take a one-cup measuring cup and put it in the colander. When it’s time to dump the pasta and water into the colander, you’ll see the measuring cup and remember to scoop out enough for the sweet potato pasta sauce.

More Sweet Potato Recipes

• Sweet Potato Nachos with sweet potato fries and black beans
• Sweet Potato and Chicken Sausage Bowls with a chili lime sauce
• Panang Curry with sweet and golden potatoes
• Sweet Potato Couscous with basil pesto
• Sweet Potato-Quinoa Salad with a lemon vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet potatoes (3-1/4 cups, see note 1)
• 1 yellow onion (1-1/2 cups, see note 2)
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
• 12 ounces chicken sausage (cut into coins)
• Salt
• 1.5 cups bowtie pasta (12 ounces, plus 2 cups pasta cooking water)
• 6 ounces goat cheese (see note 3)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (see note 4)
• 2 cups baby spinach (coarsely chopped)
• 1 cup fresh basil (ribboned, skippable)
• Toasted and coarsely chopped pecans (skippable)

Method

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Peel and chop sweet potato into 1/2-inch cubes. Cut onion into 1/2 inch cubes. Important to chop these small for roasting time! Slice chicken sausage into 1/2-inch thick rounds.
2. Add 4 cloves of garlic (still in papery skins) to a small square of foil. Add 1/2 teaspoon olive oil to the foil and wrap up the cloves in the foil, making a small ball. Add to an extra-large sheet pan. Add sweet potato cubes, onion cubes, remaining olive oil (8 and 1/2 teaspoons, 38g), Italian seasoning, salt (I add 1/2 teaspoon), and pepper (I add 1/4 teaspoon) to the pan. Toss to combine, space out on sheet pan, and bake 15 minutes. Remove tray and add sliced chicken sausage. Toss to combine with veggies and bake another 10–15 minutes or until veggies are tender (see note 5). Remove and keep nearby to slightly cool.
3. While veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil over a hot burner. Add 1 tablespoon salt and then the pasta. Cook 1 minute short of directions on the package. Before draining, use a glass measuring cup to remove about 2 cups of the pasta water and keep nearby. Drain the pasta, then return it to the pot.
4. Dollup spoonfuls of the goat cheese over the hot drained pasta and slowly add pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, while tossing vigorously with tongs or two wooden spoons to get the cheese to melt and adhere to the pasta—creating a creamy sauce. (I usually add 1/2 cup pasta water to get to this point, but add as needed, now and in the next step.) Add heavy cream. Continue to toss until pasta is well coated and creamy.
5. Add roasted sweet potato, onion, and chicken sausage on top of the pasta. Remove garlic cloves from the foil and pull off the paper skin. Press cloves through a garlic press into the pasta (add as many cloves to desired preference). Add coarsely chopped spinach. Toss everything together, adding more pasta water as needed to create an ultra-creamy sauce. While tossing everything together, gradually add Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons at a time.
6. check the seasoning and adjust seasonings (add any additional salt/pepper here). If desired, mix in basil. Serve and add chopped pecans to individual plates. Enjoy while hot!