Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet potato salad is a simple and delicious appetizer, side dish, or light lunch idea.

You can roast the sweet potatoes in the oven or air fry them, then combine them with toasted seeds, cranberries, and feta cheese.

We season the salad with a bold, tangy dressing made with olive oil, mustard, maple, and lemon juice. It’s bright, fresh, and flavorful; the whole family will love it!

Roasted sweet potatoes or air-fried sweet potatoes are excellent in salads.

Their mildly sweet flavor pairs well with many vegetables, and their tender texture absorbs the salad dressing, making them even more delicious.

Some of our popular sweet potato salads include a Mediterranean-inspired lentil sweet potato salad and a black bean salad with cilantro and lime.

In this blog post, however, we’ll show you how to make a simple sweet potato salad, which you can serve as an appetizer, side dish, or light and healthy lunch.

We combine tender sweet potatoes with leafy greens (spinach, arugula, or kale), salty feta cheese, tangy red onion, and sweet and sour cranberries.

We top everything with toasted seeds and a bold, citrusy dressing made with olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Sweet potatoes

We use regular sweet potatoes with a brownish-reddish peel and a deep orange flesh.

Leafy greens

We use a mix of arugula and baby spinach.

With its slightly bitter and spicy taste, arugula fits perfectly with caramelized roasted sweet potato.

You can also use kale or mustard greens.

Red onion

Red onion is to add zesty notes to the salad.

You can substitute shallots or spring onions for the red onion.

Seeds

You can use pepitas, pumpkin seeds, sunflower, sesame, or mixed seeds. We use mixed seeds.

The trick with seeds is to lightly toast them in olive oil and a pinch of salt before adding them to the salad.

Dried Cranberries

Chewy, tangy, sour, and sweet, dried cranberries are the cherry on top of this salad.

You can substitute pomegranate seeds for dried cranberries.

Feta Cheese

With its bold, savory taste and creamy texture, feta cheese will make this sweet potato salad even yummier.

For vegans, you can substitute non-dairy feta for regular feta.

Dressing

1. Sweet potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. If using the air fryer, there’s no need to preheat it.

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1-inch cubes and add them to the baking tray.

Season with olive oil, salt, and black pepper, and toss with your hands.

Bake for about 30 minutes or air fry for 20 minutes. The spuds are ready when they are fork-tender.

2. Toasted seeds & dressing

SEEDS: Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick or stainless steel pan. Add the seeds and the cranberries. Season with a pinch of salt and toast on low heat for two minutes, stirring often. Set aside to cool.

DRESSING: In a bowl, whisk together extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, mustard, honey, dried oregano, salt, and black pepper.

3. Salad

Arrange the greens on a serving platter. Top with the roasted sweet potatoes, thinly sliced red onion, crumbled feta cheese, toasted seeds, and cranberries.

Drizzle with half the dressing and keep the other half in a small bowl for people to help themselves.

You can serve sweet potato salad as an appetizer, side dish, or light lunch.

APPETIZERS & SIDE DISH: Italian salad, shaved Brussels sprouts salad, fennel and orange salad, artichoke salad, arugula salad, dill potato salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw, mango salad, greek cucumber salad, butternut squash salad, green bean salad.

MAIN MEALS: Quinoa salad, chickpea salad, black bean salad, avocado salad, barley salad, orzo salad, lentil salad, creamy pasta salad, white bean salad, Mediterranean salad.

Check out our compilation of 45 best salad recipes for even more salad ideas.

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