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
May I sub pinto beans for the black beans?
Sure 🙂
I made this salad and it was sooo yummy! Thanks!
Thank you Katie for this brilliant recipe! It was absolutely divine, and surprisingly satisfying. The only reason I made substitutions was due to the availability of ingredients. I used two medium-sized sweet potatoes, two medium-sized red onions, and about a cup of butternut squash that was winking at me in the fridge. Oh, and come to think of it, I sped up the cooking time by nuking the unpeeled-yet-scrubbed-and-pierced sweet potatoes in the microwave before putting them in the oven, and ditto for the squash. Plus, I threw-caution-to-the-wind, and added roughly three cups of kale massaged with olive oil and garlic powder (massaging kale is SO worth the 90 seconds of extra effort!). And thank-you to Mariia for suggesting a sprinkling of goat cheese. When I serve it for my non-vegan guests, I’ll definitely try this. Magnificent.
Question: Any recommendations for other varieties of beans? The black beans were good, yet I kept thinking there might be something better. I’m a chronic recipe tweaker.
Thank you so much for trying it, and honestly you can use pretty much any kind of bean! Pinto or garbanzo would be nice.
Mung Beans were excellent in this recipe!
Love your idea!
I love your recipes, even bought your cookbook, but I have to ask…you’re so slim, do you actually eat the foods you post?! How do you keep your trim figure!!
Kitchen smells delicious, wondering whether to drain beans & corn or include juice from both cans? Love the healthy aspect & coloring!
Hi, we drain them 🙂
Made this for a packed lunch today and it was awesome. Will definitely make this sweet potato salad again.
I cooked the sweet potato and diced onion combo in the air fryer. By the time the sweet potato was cooked the onion was a little too brown with a predominant flavor. Next time I will chop the onion into larger pieces to compensate, or cook the onion separately.
Thank you for the recipe.
I tried the recipe. It came out so well though I skipped cilantro. Love the salads, and thanks for sharing the recipe!
Really delicious, thank you.
So good Katie! Made it tonight, used the cilantro, cut corn from 2 cooked ears and a very light sprinkle of Penzey’s Arizona Dreamin! Served at room temp! Excellent!!
This was amazing my guests really loved it and wanted the recipe. I am making it again for girls day!