This healthy pasta recipe features spiralized sweet potato noodles tossed in a fast, dairy-free roasted red pepper sauce. It makes a delicious plant-based weeknight meal, and it’s great for allergy-friendly homes as it’s nut-free and gluten-free, too.
Spiralized sweet potato noodles are one of my favorite healthy pasta substitutes, because they have a comforting flavor and texture, while also providing loads of nutrition in each bite. (I use this spiralizer at home– it’s my favorite!)
Sweet potatoes are a good source of vitamin A and magnesium, which are thought to help protect against the effects of stress and aging, and they’re also loaded with fiber to help leave you feeling satisfied.
This dairy-free roasted red pepper sauce gets its “creaminess” from additional sweet potato, which I simply steam while my red peppers are broiling in the oven.
The combination of sweet red peppers, creamy potatoes, and a touch of sauteed garlic makes this sauce slightly sweet, a little spicy, and ultra comforting.
You can add any other vegetables you like to this quick noodle stir fry. My family is partial to adding fresh or frozen peas when we have them on hand, and we’ve also added sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, when it’s in season.
Since you can taste this stir-fry as you go, it’s hard to go wrong. Just be sure to season these “noodles” generously with salt and pepper, since you’re not using a traditional pasta (which traditionally has plenty of salt already included.)
Sweet Potato Noodles with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Noodles
- 2 large sweet potatoes , peeled (save 1/2 potato for sauce)
- 1 tablespoon butter or coconut oil
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- sea salt , to taste
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup steamed sweet potato (mashed)
- 1 roasted red pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Slice one of the large sweet potatoes in half, and cut that half into chunks so that you can steam them for the sauce. You'll need roughly 1 1/2 cups of raw sweet potato chunks to produce 1 cup of mashed sweet potato for the sauce.
- Steam the sweet potato by placing the chunks into a small saucepan fitted with a steamer basket and an inch of water. Bring the water to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, and then lower the heat to let the potatoes steam until fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- While the potatoes are steaming, you can roast your own red peppers or use about 1/2 cup of jarred roasted red peppers.
- Use a spiralizer or vegetable peeler to create "noodles" out of the remaining sweet potatoes, then set them aside.
- To prepare the Red Pepper Sauce, warm the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and briefly saute the minced garlic, just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer the cooked garlic to a blender, along with the steamed sweet potato chunks, roasted red pepper, water, basil, and salt. Blend until smooth.
- To prepare the sweet potato noodles, saute them in a touch of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add in the peas and sauce, and saute until the noodles are as tender as you'd like them to be. Adjust any seasoning to taste, and serve warm.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply saute everything in a warm skillet again until piping hot.
Nutrition
Calories per serving: 378, Fat: 26g, Carbohydrates: 34, Fat: 26, Protein: 6g
Recipe Notes:
- Sweet potatoes come in two varieties– the classic orange color that people also call yams, and a type with white flesh. I think you can use these interchangeably, so feel free to use whichever type is easiest for you to locate. I used orange fleshed sweet potatoes for the noodles, and steamed white sweet potatoes for the sauce, because I already had those pre-steamed for my baby to eat, as well.
- Because this is an easy skillet meal, feel free to make any modifications you see fit, and just taste as you go. You could use zucchini noodles for a lower-carb noodle, and steamed cauliflower instead of the potatoes in the sauce, if you like. Just adjust the seasoning as you see fit!
- If you’re in a hurry, you can skip sauteing the garlic for the red pepper sauce, but it will have more of a spicy bite that way!
As always, please leave a comment below if you make any modifications, so we can all benefit from your experience.
—
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite way to serve sweet potatoes?
Yum to the max. and I actually love eating the black part of the red pepper skin 😉
This looks and sounds amazing!!!
Wow do I ever wish I read this before my grocery trip! This looks to die for delish!!! I don’t have a spiralizer, are they easy to find at kitchen stores? I’m not sure I could wait for amazon to ship it to me…. gotta make this one sooooon! (think my kids will love it too).
Thanks ~ YUM
They might carry them at a specialty kitchen store… I’ve never seen one at a big box store, though. Make sure you get the Paderno brand (linked above) that’s pictured, because it makes the BEST noodles! I used to own the Joyce Chen brand, but the noodles got really mushy, and wouldn’t hold up well for recipes like this.
Hope you get one ASAP! 🙂
I have the Paderno but struggled making sweet potato noodles. The spiked end that holds the vegetable just shredded the heck out of the sweet potato but wouldn’t actually grip it. Any tips?
Make sure you cut off the end of the sweet potato, so the spiked end is going into a wide, flat surface for the most grip. Then you have to use a good deal of arm power to keep pushing the potato towards the blades, so the grips don’t slip! Sweet potatoes are probably the most challenging vegetable to spiralize, but once you practice at it, it does get a lot easier!
Thanks so much. I’ll give that try. Can’t wait to try this recipe.
I didn’t know you could buy roasted red peppers! I have always roasted my own when I make sauces.
Keep on roasting ’em! I have a feeling the homemade version tastes WAY better than any jarred kind anyway. 😉
Yum! Can’t wait to try it!
I didn’t know about roasting peppers in the oven! I feel like tons of new possibilities are now available to me!!!
Yes, it’s SO easy! I know other recipes call for roasting the WHOLE pepper for 45 minutes or more, and I’m way too impatient for that.
Hope you enjoy some roasted peppers soon! 😉
Love the new header!
Thanks!
sounds heavenly!! roasted peppers are so good. and we still need to try using sweet potatoes as our ‘pasta’ looks delicious!
This was my first time trying it, and I’m sold! 😀
Ohhhhhh, I LOVE this!! Such a great idea! I’m making a chicken cacciatore for my BF tomorrow and was trying to think of how I could make it more detox friendly for myself. I will definitely be trying these sweet potato noodles as a base for the veggie sauce!! Yum! You are so creative!!
That sounds delicious! Hope you enjoy your “noodles!” 😉
What an amazing recipe…it definitely makes me want a spiralizer…do you find they are easy to use? easy to clean? worthwhile? Happy Friday!!!
Yes, I really LOVE my spiralizer. I’ve had two different kinds over the last 4 years, and this one is definitely the best! (this brand: http://amzn.to/xnvn05)
It’s easy to clean and use, and now that I’ve discovered sweet potato noodles, I have a feeling I will be using it all the time! 😀
This looks so yummy! I have some kelp noodles and will try the red pepper sauce for them tonight! You are so creative! Thank you for sharing!
I keep meaning to try kelp noodles again! I might use my leftover sauce on them for dinner tonight. 😉
Hope you enjoy it, too!
Kelp noodles are great! I tried them first at the Hippocrates Health Institute and was buying them often after that. They go very well with curried zuchinni sauce, edamame, herbed cilantro dressing:)
ohmygosh! I want to cancel all my plans for the day and make this! haha. will have to try it soon. thanks for all your inspiration!
WOW! This looks soo delicious, You are a genius!
OMG…..Sweet potato noodles …..are you a rocket scientist or what? This is incredible ,is there any other way to make them without the spiriliser/machine ..? No space in the kitchen for any more gadgets… Also can the chocolate milkshake be made in magic bullet?
You could try using a standard vegetable peeler for “fettuccine” like noodles! I used to do that before I had my spiralizer. 😀
And I’ve never used a Magic Bullet, but I’m sure you could blend the milkshake in there. It won’t be quite as ice-creamy, and you may have a few ice chunks leftover, but it will still be delicious!
I made this tonight! Mine turned out SUPER garlicky though. Maybe my cloves were really big? Either way, next time I will use 1 garlic clove and 1 Tbsp or so of nutritional yeast!
Oh my this looks AMAZING! I’m making this for tea 🙂
Swoon! So trying this sauce soon!
OH MY. I made found this on your wonderful blog and made it tonight, and it goes without saying…it was a HUGE success. My husband was so, so happy! We went on a walk afterwards and he was still talking about it! AND he cleaned the kitchen!
I can’t tell you how happy I am that I found your blog!
p.s. after our walk we came home and made your Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate milkshake. Of course…it was amazing. I don’t see why anyone would want a cream/sugar/syrupy milkshake?! It was a Detoxinista night! THANK YOU!!
Could you please post an easy-print option for this recipe like the ones on your other recipes (e.g., https://detoxinista.com/2012/01/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/)?
Thanks!
I just added it for you! Click on the links above for printer-friendly versions of each step. 🙂
Thanks! Can’t wait to try the recipe.
I just made the sauce and it is SO GOOD! Can’t wait to get to the store for sweet potatoes to make the pasta. I think I’ll make some just to have as a soup, it’s that yummy! 🙂
I think I’d enjoy it as a soup, too! Glad you liked it! 🙂
I decided to change my lifestyle so I’m fying to try many of the recipes, they look and sound amazing. But I found one little problem, none of the recipes has the calories. How do I found out?
Thanks 😀
Hi Mary! You can calculate calories using a free website like Fitday.com. Just add up all the ingredients, then divide by your serving size. Hope you enjoy it!
I made this last night for dinner. It was amazing! I was recently diagnosed with a wheat allergy and have struggled with changing my diet. This blog has helped me tremendously! Keep all the wonderful ideas coming! 🙂
So delicious! I peeled the sweet potato for noodles and used broccoli as the veggie. Also, I added almond butter and honey into the sauce – reminded me of thai peanut! Thanks for all these lovely ideas for good, healthy food (that are easy to make, too!). I look forward to continuing to try more 🙂
Hi Megan! I tried this tonight, and it is delicious! Like Sarah above, I used broccoli instead of asparagus, but kept everything else the same. I used a julienne peeler for the sweet potato, but I’m crossing my fingers that my husband buys me a spiralizer for my birthday. Thanks for all of your great-tasting recipes! 🙂
Hi! I just found your blog and I think it’s amazing!! The only thing though.. i cant seem to find any nutrition value on your recipes, like calories and such. Is that right or am I just blind haha..?
Anyway, thanks for an awesome blog!
Nope, you’re not blind! Please see my FAQ page regarding nutritional info: https://detoxinista.com/frequently-asked-questions/
Hi Megan, thanks for this recipe! What kind of sweet potatoes do you use for this dish? Mine are not orange but white. Though they are called ‘yams’. Do you think that would work? Thanks a lot.
arghhhhh, I just checked and found out that ‘yams’ are called sweet potatoes (and vice versa) when in reality they are not… Well I guess I have to go back to the supermarket to get the right ones. Thanks Again
How can I sign up for your blog?
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe…will be trying it today! Don’t have a spiralizer(never had heard of it before!) I just told my husband that was what we were having for dinner tonight and he gave me “the look”…have bookmarked your blog for your other recipes! Thank you!
Lovely looking dish! BUT, where, exactly, do the roasted red peppers come in? I did a quick 1-2 of the recipe, didn’t see them. Thought someone else might have questioned about it, so I scrolled through the comments….nothing. I know I am blindly overlooking it….but I don’t see roasted red pepper listed in the ingredients nor discussed in the directions. My guess is that you add them to the sauce before blending? Help?!?
BTW – Jacques Pepin has a terrific roasted red pepper dip that also easily subs as a past sauce. My family has served it for years and everyone loves it. It combines roasted red peppers, pecans, green chiles, salt and olive oil. YUM!
The roasted red pepper is listed in the “Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce” recipe. It’s the 5th ingredient down on the list.
AHA! 3rd read through was the charm! I see that cleverly hidden little pepper. All I had to do was post my comment, and it appeared! How’d you do that?
This is so good! Partner and toddler approved, as well, so two thumbs up!
I used butternut squash and full fat coconut milk in the sauce, and broccoli with the noodles because I didn’t have asparagus. This will be a regular at our house!
Do you think spaghetti squash would work in this recipe in place of sweet potato noodles?
Sure, it’s worth a shot!
I’ve recently turned vegan And I adore my plant based meals but I had yet to make and actual recipe I usually just steam some veggies and bake a potato this and your creamy asian coleslaw are my first official vegan meals and boy were/are they deliceaux staple recipes in my house! Thank you! I used carrot noodles caused I had cut up bunch earlier still tasted fabulous! 5 stars
We made this tonight. Pretty simple. Roasting the peppers was kind of fun! And of course, using the spiralizer is always fun. Husband really liked it. The sauce was quite tasty – I would make that on it’s own to use over veggies. I think next time I will double up on the vegetables. I had a small bowl, husband had two big bowls. I used 3 sweet potatoes. Great, easy recipe!
The picture intrigued me… and the idea of sweet potato noodles did too. What elso can be made witht eh spiralizer? Again totally new to your site and just curious how the purchase of a P Spiralizer could be declared as a need gadget for my kitchen this summer?
I’ve used the spiralizer on carrots, beets, zucchini and sweet potatoes to create some fun noodles! You can serve them raw over salads for added texture, or cooked in place of pasta, for a low-carb and nutritious substitute. It’s definitely a fun tool to have in the kitchen!
Hi Megan, I’m thinking of making this dish for dinner. I don’t have a spiralizer, rather I only have a vegetable peeler without any teeth or ridges on it. I’m sure that if I used the peeler it would produce a fatter “pasta” as opposed to spaghetti like texture. How can I achieve a nice texture using the peeler that I have?
Tanya, you could use your vegetable peeler to make fat noodles and then cut them thinner!
Recipe looks great. I have been wanting to use sweet potatoes for a while now but didn’t have a recipe. I have apple noodles and they are great plain but was just thinking a light sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or a light sauce would make a fun “noodle dessert”.
I just made this recipe (with a few changes) but just had to stop by and say THANK YOU. This was so good! People would be surprised to know that clean eating can taste this good! So much flavor…your taste buds will not be sad with this meal.
I added broccoli and a spicy Italian sausage instead of your recommended mushrooms/asparagus combo.
After making this dish, I had a smile on my face. Just a few short months ago (before I started eating clean) I didn’t really know how to cook and now I’m making amazing meals thanks to people like you!
Hey there, just browsing through all of you amazing recipes!! Can I ask what plugin do you use for your printable recipes? I love the set up and that people can rate the recipe too!
This has become one of our all-time favorite dishes! So delicious!! It has also inspired me to try out making all kinds of noodles with the spiralizer, and I am never going back to gluten pasta ever again. Everything just tastes so much better now. Thank you, Megan!
I noticed that your sweet potato noodles were orange but only yams are orange. I hear that yams aren’t as healthy as sweet potatoes? Loved the recipe though! I used sweet potatoes and it was delicious, but not as colorful as the orange yams.
This was delicious! I used a cheese grater to save time.
I love the idea of using sweet potatos as a pasta alternative. I’m on a 30 day detox, which I’m staying away from all grains, dairy, sugar, caffine, alcohol. The grains are the toughest for me. Do you know if Kelp noodles are considered a grain? Any other alternatives for “pasta”?
no kelp is not a grain
I found your Recipe for Sweet Potato Noodles with Roasted Red Pepper “Cream” Sauce yesterday. It sounded so good that I went ahead and fixed it even though I didn’t have all of the ingredients. I only had one sweet potato. No asparagus or mushrooms, but I used the sweet potato that I had for the cream sauce, which is excellent! I used my homemade coconut milk instead of nut milk. I just couldn’t stay out of it. For the noodles instead of sweet potatoes I used russets, that’s all I had. I substituted onions and frozen peas sautéed in homemade ghee, in place of asparagus and mushrooms. It turned out wonderful and I can’t wait to get more sweet potatoes so I can try it with them. Thank you so much for this recipe and I will be visiting your website again, I can’t wait to see what other goodies I get to make. Thanks again!
Made this for supper tonight!!!! Absolutely delicious 🙂 I have the same spiralizer and can’t seem to get my noodles as nice- any tips?!
Hmm… I’m not sure I do anything special. With sweet potatoes, I feel like I have to use a lot of pressure towards the blades to get good noodles, and maybe the freshness of the potato would make a difference? Or perhaps it just takes lots of practice. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
The red pepper tip is great – I used to buy the pre-made ones in the jar, but this is so simple (fresh is always better!!). I made the red pepper sauce (swapped unsweetened coconut milk for almond milk etc.) and used the 2 cloves of raw garlic. To my surprise, the sauce was completely overwhelmed by the garlic. I had to add more coconut milk to balance out the harsh flavor – next time I will roast the garlic (with the red pepper!) or omit it entirely. Anyone else have the same issue with the raw garlic? Thank you for the recipe – it is what prompted me to finally purchase a Paderno spiralizer. Fun with food!!!!
Megan- I just made this and I love,love, love it! It’s going up on my blog with your link and a few changes I made.
I’ll make sure to add this to every link party I can find!
Fantastic recipe and THANK YOU so much for sharing the recipe.
Hugs,
Linda
I tried this sauce tonight and it was delicious. I had mine on steamed vegetables but had made chicken and rice for my partner and covered his in the sauce. He’s quite a fussy eater but he absolutely loved it. Thanks
I love this sauce – I added some fresh squeezed lime juice to add a bit of acidity and some louisiana hot sauce for kick.
Thank you for sharing!!!