Sharing a new favorite salad today that I’ll be making over and over again: spiced sweet potato salad! This unique salad is full of flavor & texture that makes it addictingly good. Spiced sweet potatoes and chickpeas baked until golden, pickled red onions for a little tang, fresh cucumber, lots of herbs, creamy crumbled feta cheese, and a zesty lemon vinaigrette. It’s such a fun combination that makes the perfect entree salad for lunch or dinner!
spiced sweet potato salad – the details
I absolutely love how this spiced sweet potato salad turned out (been eating leftovers all week long) and am so excited to share it with you. There is so much bold, vibrant flavor going on, with a lot of contrasting textures that make it really unique.
My inspiration for this salad was a reader request for more entree salads (or salads that are hearty enough to suffice as a full meal). And while adding a piece of chicken or steak would really bulk this salad up, a bowl of it on its own definitely does the trick for lunch or even a light dinner.
There are 4 main components to this salad – the spiced & roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas (which get nice and crunchy), the pickled red onions, the lemon vinaigrette, and then the individual salad ingredients (greens, cucumber, herbs, and feta cheese).
The sweet potatoes and chickpeas turn out golden and FULL of flavor, the onions add a really nice sweet & tangy bite, the vinaigrette is extremely simple, yet bursting with bright lemony flavor, the cucumbers add a freshness (and definitely should be sliced very thinly so they blend right in with the greens), the herbs add depth, and the feta is just the perfect salty bite to finish things off.
It’s truly such a great combination…I cannot wait for you to try it! If you’re like me and making this just for yourself, I suggest prepping all of the ingredients and storing them separately. Then, you can toss together fresh salads all week long to have such a delicious meal in minutes.
And if you’re looking for more salad recipes, here are a few favorites…
Roasted Garlic & Kale Caesar Salad
Spicy Grilled Shrimp Salad with Jalapeño Lime Vinaigrette
Roasted Potato Salad with Pistachio Orange Vinaigrette
Spiced Sweet Potato Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
a fun entree salad with spiced sweet potatoes, crispy chickpeas, pickled red onions, cucumber, herbs, feta cheese, and a lemon vinaigrette
servings: 4
Ingredients
for the pickled red onions…
- 1 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
for the spiced sweet potatoes…
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes (approximately 2 large), cut into fries ¼” thick
- 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed + drained + dried
- ¼ cup olive oil
for the lemon vinaigrette…
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp honey
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup neutral oil (safflower, grapeseed, etc.)
- kosher salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
for the salad…
- 1 (5 oz) container mixed greens
- 1 small cucumber, very thinly sliced
- ½ cup fresh parsley leaves, roughly chopped
- ¼ cup fresh dill leaves, roughly chopped
- 6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Add the red onions to a shallow bowl. Combine the red wine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and pour the liquid over the red onions. Use a piece of plastic wrap to submerge the onions under the liquid. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.
- Mix the sesame seeds, smoked paprika, garlic powder, fennel seeds, and salt in a large bowl. Add the sweet potato fries and chickpeas. Pour in the olive oil. Toss really well to coat. Spread the sweet potatoes out on a sheet pan in one, even layer. Spread the chickpeas out on another. Roast for 30-35 minutes until golden. Let cool for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, and honey in a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive and neutral oils, whisking continuously. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- To assemble the salad, add the greens, cucumber, parsley, dill, feta, pickled red onions, and chickpeas to a large mixing bowl (leave a little bit of the feta, onions, and chickpeas out so you can use them to garnish). Drizzle in almost all of the vinaigrette and toss well.
- Arrange the salad in a large bowl. Top with the sweet potatoes. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over them. Garnish with the remaining ingredients.
Notes
If you have a mandolin, definitely use it to slice the cucumbers. It’s the easiest way to ensure they’re really thin and even.
shop the dish: spiced sweet potato salad
Oh my gosh this salad is soooo good. I made it twice in one week and both times my husband and I just kept telling each other how good it is.
So happy to hear you both loved it! Thanks for sharing!!
Unbelievable salad. Absolutely delicious
So glad you loved it, Mindy!
I don’t typically like salads but this one was so good – I loved how fresh and bright and not boring the flavors are! I omitted the feta because I don’t personally like it, but will definitely be making this again.
This salad was divine. I was hurried so I used tj’s frozen sweet potato fries and tossed in the spice mix. The fennel seeds are so delicious when roasted with the potatoes and garbanzos. I used Meyer lemons and that simple dressing is going to be a staple here. I happened to have pickled some onions after Christmas and so the whole thing was a breeze to put together with above mentioned shortcuts. Persian cucumbers work really well. I was hoping to save the leftover components for tomorrow but my husband kept wanting more. Delicious.
Did you serve this salad warm or room temperature?
Thanks!