This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy.
This post is sponsored by Samsung
This Sweet Potato Noodle Casserole tastes like a Fall-inspired baked spaghetti, and makes an easy freezer meal. It’s naturally gluten-free and vegan, and is quickly becoming one of my favorite sweet potato noodle recipes.
I love working with sweet potato noodles, because they have a starchy texture similar to real pasta, but they’re gluten-free and also a good source of vitamins, like A and C. You can make sweet potato noodles quickly with a spiralizer (this is the one I use), or you can use a standard vegetable peeler to make fettuccine-style noodles, instead. You could even use shredded sweet potatoes as an alternative.
Tossed with iron-rich kale and my favorite Tuscan Pumpkin Sauce, this casserole packs the flavors of Fall into one slightly sweet and savory dish. It makes a great vegan or vegetarian dinner, and I think it would even be a great dish to serve at a holiday meal, like Thanksgiving.
I like to add in some protein-rich chickpeas to make this a complete vegan dinner, but you could add anything else you like, too. It’s totally customizable! This dish is properly combined for streamlined digestion as is, but it also tastes amazing with the addition of dried cranberries, pecans, or even a sprinkling of feta cheese.
When you want a quick weeknight meal, you can combine the noodles and sauce in a skillet and simply cover it to cook for 10-15 minutes. It doesn’t get much easier than that!
Alternatively, you can simply stir together the sauce and veggies and freeze them in an oven-safe dish for a freezer meal in the future. (Just be sure to thaw the frozen casserole the night before you want to serve it for more even cooking.)
I hope you’ll enjoy this veggie-packed casserole the next time you need an easy and comforting vegetarian main course. It’s always a huge hit with everyone I serve it to!
Sweet Potato Noodles with Creamy Tuscan Pumpkin Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 1 cup strained tomatoes
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut milk (or coconut cream)
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage , minced
- 2 large sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
- 1 cup chopped kale
- 1.5 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed)
Instructions
- Peel and spiralize the sweet potatoes to make "noodles" then set them aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion for 5 minutes, until it starts to soften. Add in the garlic and stir for another minute, just until fragrant.
- Add in the strained tomato puree, pumpkin, water, salt, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut milk, and sage, and stir well to create a creamy pumpkin sauce.
- For an easy skillet meal, stir in the kale, sweet potato noodles, and chickpeas and bring the sauce to a boil. Cover with a lid and lower the heat to let the vegetables cook until the sweet potato noodles are as tender as you want them to be, about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
- For a freezer meal, place the sweet potato noodles, kale, and chickpeas in a 9-inch by 13-inch casserole dish and pour the pumpkin sauce over the top. Stir well, then seal with an airtight lid and store the casserole in the freezer.
- To reheat the frozen casserole, transfer it to the fridge to thaw overnight for even cooking. Once thawed, place the cold casserole in a cold oven (so the glass won't shatter from a drastic temperature change) and set the temperature to 350ºF. Bake until warm and bubbly, about 45 to 60 minutes, stirring halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. Serve warm with any other toppings you like.
Video
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 221, Fat: 11g, Carbohydrates: 27g, Fiber: 6g, Protein: 6g
Recipe Notes:
- I imagine this recipe would work well with Butternut Squash “noodles” instead of sweet potato noodles, if you’d prefer.
- If you don’t want to use kale, you could use fresh spinach or collard greens instead, or add in any other vegetables you love.
As always, if you make any modifications to this recipe, please leave a comment below letting us know what worked for you so we can all benefit from your experience!
—
Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite comforting Fall meal?
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Samsung, but all opinions are my own. They provided me with the beautiful Family Hub Fridge you see in the cooking video in this post, and I’m in love with being able to use the fridge’s large tablet to look up recipes online.
This is one of my favorite go to recipes on this blog. So yummy!
Looks yummy! Can’t wait to try it. In the recipe it says you need strained tomatoes and in the directions, it says tomato puree. Do I use tomato sauce.?
I use Pomi brand strained tomatoes, which is basically tomato puree or tomato sauce with NO added flavorings. No salt, sugar, or other herbs. If you use tomato sauce, you might want to cut back on the salt in this recipe to see how it tastes for you.
This is very good. I added kale and spinach. Thank you!
Great recipe. Live that it uses up all the ends of what I have in the fridge and goes in the oven for an hour! I used garam masala instead of cinnamon and sage. Also upped the sauce ratio.
The recipe calls for coconut milk but in the video it looks like something whipped and thick and creamy. That must be the coconut cream option.
I used butternut squash cubes instead of noodles, and used a tablespoon of vanilla extract (by accident) and it turned out amazing. I also added a shake of pumpkin spice and a 1/4cup extra of coconut milk. I cant wait to make it again! So quick and so filling.
Another hit! Loved it! Left out the tomato and it was a wonderful munch! Great baked up the next day too! Thank you!