A tangy and sweet homemade salad dressing blends beautifully with toasted pecans, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and creamy avocado in this rustic, simple Roasted Sweet Potato Salad.
Roasted sweet potatoes are delicious as a simple side dish, but with a few extra ingredients, you can turn tender sweet potato chunks into this fabulous sweet and savory salad that everyone will love.
Take this to your Thanksgiving potlucks, bring it to a BBQ instead of the normal mayo-based potato salad, or serve it with dinner this weekend. Roasted sweet potato salad is welcome at any occasion or meal, and there won’t be any leftovers.
If you love sweet potatoes as much as I do, pick up a few extra! Use them to make Sweet Potato Pie, or a tasty Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash.
Why You’ll Love This Sweet Potato Salad Recipe
- A Healthy Alternative – Sweet potatoes have more nutritional benefits (vitamin A, C, and fiber) than regular potatoes, and that makes this potato salad better than the one you might be used to. We’re adding healthy fats from avocado and olive oil, and plenty of greens too.
- Amazing Flavor – Salads with homemade dressings are always the best, and that’s because homemade salad dressing is simply superior to the bottled stuff. It only takes a minute to whip up this simple dressing, and you’ll want to pour it on everything!
- Make Ahead Option – You can roast sweet potatoes whenever you have time and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to make the salad!
- Versatile Recipe – You can swap out any of these salad ingredients if you like. I’ll give you some suggestions so that you can put your own spin on this sweet potato salad.
Ingredients In Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Here’s what you need to make this delicious side dish:
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Sweet Potatoes: We’ll roast the diced sweet potatoes with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper until they’re extra sweet and perfectly tender.
- Greens: Use fresh spring mix or any combination of tender greens that you enjoy. Spinach or kale would also work well here.
- Dried Cranberries: The sweet tartness of cranberries is a perfect match for roasted sweet potatoes, and I love the little bit of chewiness that they add too.
- Pecans: Toast the pecans for the best flavor and crunch. I’ll tell you how – it’s very simple.
- Avocado: Instead of mayonnaise, we’re adding diced avocado to this salad to bring in some creamy texture.
- Goat Cheese: Crumbled goat cheese is creamy, tangy, and beautiful here. You can also use feta cheese if you prefer.
- Simple Homemade Dressing: Extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper get shaken up in seconds to create the final layer to this masterpiece of a salad. This dressing is so easy, and completely irresistible.
How To Make Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
- Get Ready: Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C while you wash, peel, and chop the sweet potatoes into small pieces. They should be about ¾ inch cubes. Any larger than that and they will take too long to roast.
- Season the Potatoes: Add the sweet potato cubes to a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until the seasonings are evenly distributed, then spread the potatoes out in a single layer.
- Roast and Cool: Add the potatoes to the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes, or until they are soft. Check on the potatoes at the 20-minute mark, and keep a close eye on them. Sweet potatoes can burn quickly! Let the potatoes cool completely before adding them to the salad.
- Make the Dressing: in a bowl or a small jar, combine the olive oil with lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Whisk or shake until well combined.
- Assemble the Salad: In a large bowl, combine the salad mix with cranberries, cooled sweet potato chunks, toasted pecans, and avocado. Toss to combine.
- Dress and Serve: Dress the salad with ¾ of the dressing and toss again. Taste the salad to see if you need to adjust the seasonings. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and top with crumbled goat cheese, then drizzle with the remaining dressing before serving.
Tip!
Freshly toasted pecans are the best! You can toast them in the oven before you roast the potatoes, or reduce the oven temperature after the potatoes have cooked, and toast the pecans while you’re waiting for the sweet potatoes to cool.
How to Toast Pecans
To toast the pecans, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, spread pecan halves on a small quarter-size sheet pan, and toast for 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to burn them!
Recipe Tips
- Let the Sweet Potatoes Cool. You can use them at room temperature or chilled, but not while they’re still hot. Hot potatoes would wilt the greens.
- Try other types of cheese. Make your roasted sweet potato salad with feta, crumbled blue cheese, or any other soft cheese you enjoy!
- Add some kale or other greens. The easiest way to make this salad is by using prepared spring mix greens, but you can easily switch it up by using baby kale, spinach, or arugula. Each different green brings its own texture and flavor to this salad, so try them all!
- Serve right away. Salads with fresh greens in them don’t store well, so be sure to assemble and dress the salad just before serving it.
Make Ahead Sweet Potato Salad Instructions
If you’d like to prepare this salad in advance, you can prep the ingredients and wait to mix and dress it at the last minute.
- Roasted sweet potatoes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- The dressing can be made and kept in a jar in the fridge for up to three days as well.
- Toasted pecans are best when made fresh, but you can make them a day or so ahead of time if you need to.
- When you are ready, add the sweet potatoes and pecans to a bowl with greens, and sliced avocado. Dress with the dressing, add goat cheese, and serve!
What To Serve With Sweet Potato Salad
This salad goes perfectly with grilled or roasted meat. The salad has veggies and healthy carbohydrates from the sweet potatoes, and some protein from nuts and cheese, but I’d add more protein to make it a full and satisfying meal.
Try these easy recipes:
- Perfect Grilled Steak
- Grilled Salmon
- Garlic Grilled Shrimp
- Grilled Chicken Tenders
- Buttermilk Roast Chicken
- Baked Shrimp
- Air Fryer Chicken Breast
To keep things vegetarian, you can enjoy this salad with a veggie omelet or add your favorite beans, lentils, or vegan protein to the mix.
FAQs
Leftovers of this salad won’t be great to serve to guests, as the avocado will turn brown and the greens will wilt a bit. You can store any leftovers in the fridge for a day or two and enjoy them yourself though! It will still taste delicious.
The ingredients and the ratio of them are pretty perfect, so I don’t suggest making any substitutions. You can of course experiment if you’d like to add different flavors. Be sure to come back and leave a comment if you try something different!
The sweet component of the dressing is easily accomplished with a bit of maple syrup, or you can use honey instead. In a pinch, you can use granulated sugar or brown sugar too – just be sure it dissolves fully in the lemon juice.
Sweet Potato Salad is an amazing vegetarian side dish, and it’s healthy too! Keep this recipe in mind as you’re planning your holiday meals, summer parties, and everyday dinners, and be sure to Pin it so you don’t lose it!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ -1 ½ pounds (600g) sweet potato washed, peeled, and cut into ¾ inch pieces. see note 1
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Dressing
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic pressed or very finely minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Salad
- 8 cups green salad mix or spinach, arugula, kale, etc.
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup pecans toasted, see note 2
- 1 avocado sliced
- 3 ounces goat cheese or feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C.
- To a sheet pan, add the sweet potato. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until the seasonings are evenly distributed and spread in an even layer. Roast for 20-30 minutes or until fork tender (start checking at 20 minutes). When ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing, in a bowl or a small jar combine the olive oil with lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk until well combined, or if using a jar then shake until combined.
- Assemble the salad. In a large bowl combine the salad mix with cranberries, cooled sweet potato chunks, and avocado. Toss to combine.
- Dress the salad with ¾ of the dressing and toss again (taste the salad, and tweak the seasonings if needed, more salt or pepper or lemon juice, etc). Transfer to a serving bowl or plate, and top with crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle with the remaining dressing before serving.
Notes:
- 1.5 pounds of sweet potatoes is generally about 2 large potatoes or 3 medium ones. You don’t need to be too precise here.
- To toast pecans: To toast the pecans, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, spread the pecan halves on a small quarter-size sheet pan and toast for 6-8 minutes. Be careful not to burn them! You can toast the nuts ahead of time, or do it after you’ve roasted the potatoes, while you’re waiting for them to cool down.
- This recipe serves 6 as a side dish or 2-3 as a main dish salad.
- Serve immediately, or prepare the potatoes, and dressing up to 2 days ahead of time (store them in the fridge) and assemble the salad when you’re ready.
- Leftovers can be stored for up to two days, but note that the avocado will brown and the greens will wilt.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
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