How to make the best homemade roasted sweet potato salad recipe that absolutely everyone will love. This recipe is packed with healthy and delicious ingredients!
Easy sweet potato salad
This is a perfect salad for parties, potlucks, picnics, barbecues, or any time you need an easy and colorful side dish to feed a crowd.
The healthy recipe is super quick to throw together and calls for just a few basic ingredients readily available at most regular grocery stores.
It’s great to have on hand for last-minute invites, and the dish can be vegan, soy free, gluten free, added sugar free, or easily adapted to fit Whole30 and paleo diets as well.
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Watch the sweet potato salad recipe video above
This healthy sweet potato salad, with its delicious lime and garlic dressing, was inspired by the first friend I ever made after moving into my new apartment.
She brought a similar salad as an appetizer to a potluck brunch I hosted a few years ago, and I fell completely in love with the array of textures and flavors.
I immediately asked for the recipe and have been making my own version ever since!
Here’s the best way How to cook sweet potatoes
Do you eat the salad hot or cold?
Because the crowd pleasing salad is packed with fresh produce and can be served warm or cold, it’s a great option for either summer or Fall.
The recipe yields a large batch, so it’s also good for meal prep. You cook just once and get a delicious and healthy lunch for the week!
So whether you choose to serve it on Thanksgiving, Super Bowl, or the Fourth of July, for a fancy dinner party or as a regular Monday work lunch, this sweet potato salad is always a welcome option at the table.
The salad needs no mayonnaise, no mustard, and it can even be oil free.
Sweet potato salad ingredients
The healthy recipe calls for roasted sweet potatoes, diced onions, minced garlic, lime juice, red bell pepper, vegetable or olive oil, black beans, fresh cilantro, salt and pepper, and optional corn.
Feel free to exchange the black beans for chickpeas or pinto beans and the lime juice for lemon juice.
The sweet potatoes can be substituted with yams, Japanese white sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, or even baked butternut squash.
Not everyone likes cilantro, so I will often leave it on the side or add it at the end when serving the healthy salad to dinner guests.
Either white or red onions work. And if you prefer to use a yellow or orange bell pepper, that is totally fine.
With so many different flavors and textures, the one bowl dish will completely captivate your tastebuds.
And you can change it up to suit what you have on hand. I will sometimes add fresh corn, zucchini, apple, or chopped avocado, similar to this Avocado Salad recipe.
How to make the salad
Start by gathering the ingredients and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes, and dice the onion. Toss the sweet potatoes and diced onion with oil or spray. Sprinkle with salt and optional pepper, add the garlic, then spread them in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheets.
Place the trays in a non-preheated oven (in other words, a cold oven) on the center rack. Now turn the oven on to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake for 35 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and the onions are caramelized.
Meanwhile, dice the peppers. Drain and rinse the beans. Add all of the ingredients, including the sweet potatoes and onions, to a large bowl. Toss until evenly combined. Serve hot or cold.
Recipe serving suggestions
Traditionally, people often serve potato salads alongside hamburgers, grilled chicken, steak, bacon and eggs, meatloaf, pork, or shrimp.
As a vegan, I love to serve it with veggie burgers, barbecue tofu, coleslaw, wraps, sandwiches or paninis, roasted brussels sprouts, avocado toast, or Tofu Scramble.
You can also turn it into a light main meal by serving the roasted sweet potato salad over quinoa, rice, kale, rocket greens, or spinach. Or slice an avocado over top.
Garnish with pomegranate seeds, cranberries, pecans, or vegan feta if desired.
Store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator. Leftover salad can also be frozen, although the texture will not be as crisp and crunchy.
Also be sure to try this Coconut Curry
Sweet Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped (2 lb before peeling)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/2 tsp salt, and optional pepper
- 3 tbsp oil, or spray (for fat-free option)
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 can black beans, or 1 1/2 cups cooked
- optional 1 cup canned or cooked corn
- 3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (omit if desired)
Instructions
- Toss sweet potatoes and onions with 1 1/2 tbsp oil (or spray) and the garlic, sprinkle with salt and optional pepper, and arrange in a single layer on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Place in a non-preheated oven on the center rack, then turn the oven to 450 F. Bake 35 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Add all remaining ingredients to a large bowl, then toss with the sweet potatoes. Serve hot or cold.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Side Dish Recipes
Flavorful flexible treat. My salads can never have enough “stuff “. My additions included fresh queso, quinoa, jalapeño and pepitas. Yummy!
Per sweet potato salad, can you add beets?
Also it says it has a garlic lime dressing but there’s no recipe in the description.
DELICIOUS!!!!! Prep time was more than 5 minutes with washing the vegetables and chopping. Well worth the effort. I’ll be serving and sharing this with others often!
I’ve made a similar recipe which leans toward the sweeter side with added mango cubes and a ginger-honey-lime dressing and caramelized pecans. No beans and lighter onion taste w scallions or chives. Have also added baby spinach at end.
This was fabulous! Made exactly as-is, except I added the zest of half a lime before I juiced it. Also included the corn and cilantro. I wondered about not roasting the bell pepper, but am glad I followed the recipe, because the texture the raw pepper adds was great. Thank you for recipes like this that encourage my “Salads? Meh.” husband to enjoy his veggies.
I am ready to make this and I assume you used a medium onion as there is a big difference in yield depending if the onion is small, medium or large.
What a great idea! Sweet potato salad! Personally, I hate red peppers, so I diced up avocado instead and seasoned the whole thing with the lime, red pepper flakes and smoked paprika. Absolutely delicious! Thanks for this.
would like to make this but it’s unclear what goes into the garlic-lime dressing? can you provide instructions for the dressing? thank you!
I was wondering the same thing. All the salad ingredients listed, but no dressing. Weird.
Hi, the lime and garlic listed in the recipe make all the dressing you need. There is no need for any other dressing 🙂
Very good mix. My family now eats sweet potato.