Sweet Potato Salad
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Published Jun 12, 2020, Updated Oct 06, 2023
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This sweet potato salad is a tasty side dish featuring roasted sweet potatoes, creamy avocado chunks, chopped spinach, red onion and dried cranberries. It’s the perfect side for parties, potlucks and holiday dinners.
If you love sweet potatoes and want to find the perfect sweet potato salad, look no further. This one tastes amazing and it’s really easy to whip up!
While I certainly enjoyed all of those salads as a kid, it never hurts to upgrade a bit. So that’s what I’ve done here. This sweet potato salad is a remake of traditional potato salad, but this version is packed with veggies (spinach, red onion and avocado), has some dried cranberries for some sweetness and there’s no real dressing — just lemon juice and apple cider vinegar, which makes for a sweet and zesty salad.
Why You’ll Love This Salad
- It’s vegan, gluten-free and really tasty.
- Makes the perfect easy side salad.
- Such a great way to serve roasted sweet potatoes.
Sweet Potato Salad Ingredients
- sweet potatoes
- spinach
- red onion, chopped very small
- apple cider vinegar
- lemon juice
- dried cranberries
- avocado
- avocado oil, sea salt and pepper
The potatoes can be roasted ahead of time and once that step is done the salad comes together in a matter of minutes. It’s great served cold (or at room temp), making it perfect for BBQs, potlucks and parties.
Why Roasted Sweet Potatoes?
Anything with roasted sweet potatoes is bound to be delicious, and this roasted sweet potato salad is no exception. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but roasting veggies brings out their natural sweetness. And sweet potatoes are such a nutrient-rich vegetable. They’re loaded with fiber, vitamin A and vitamin C. In addition, the orange and purple varieties of sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants that help protect the body from free radicals.
How to Make This Salad
Once you the sweet potatoes are roasted you simply let them cool and then toss with the spinach, red onion, dried cranberries, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and avocado. That’s it! It so simple, but so so good.
How to Serve and Store
I love serving this dish as a side for dinner with my apple cider vinegar chicken, these baked chicken tenders or grilled lemon pepper shrimp skewers. It’s great served cold or at room temp, which also makes it perfect for BBQs, potlucks and parties. One batch makes about 6 servings so if you’re making it for a potluck you may want to double the recipe.
I recommend serving this salad right away, but it you want to prep it ahead of time, you can roast the sweet potatoes and chop all the veggies up to a day in advance. After roasting, let the sweet potatoes cool and store in the fridge until you’re ready to make the salad. The avocado is best added just before serving, but leftovers of the salad will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. The avocado might turn a little brown so not the prettiest for serving to guests, but it will still taste good!
More Side Salads You’ll Love
- Butternut Squash Salad
- Healthy Quinoa Salads
- Curried Cauliflower Salad
- Blueberry Corn Chicken Salad
- Healthy Pasta Salad
- Pesto Pasta Salad
- Asparagus Salad
- Orzo Salad
- Roasted Cauliflower Salad
- Baby Beet and Clementine Salad
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 10 cups sweet potatoes, about 3 large, chopped evenly into bite-size chunks
- 1 Tablespoon avocado or olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 ounces baby spinach, chopped
- 1/2 cup red onion, chopped very small
- 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1 avocado, chopped in chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 1-2 Tablespoons hemp seeds, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Place sweet potato chunks into a large bowl and toss with oil and sea salt. Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through, flipping once. Remove from oven and let the potato chunks cool. This step can be done ahead of time. Just keep the roasted potatoes in the fridge and complete step 2 the day you want to enjoy the salad.
- While the potatoes are roasting, add the chopped spinach, onion, dried cranberries, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add cooled sweet potato chunks to the bowl and stir to combine. Gently stir in avocado and sea salt. Add ground pepper to taste. Sprinkle on hemp seeds (if using). Serve immediately or store in the fridge until ready to serve. Can be eaten cold or at room temperature.
- Store leftovers in a sealed container for up to two days. If needed, add a splash of extra lemon juice before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this today. I replaced the Apple cider vinegar with red wine vinegar. I added 2 avocados , I blended the red wine vinegar with the lemon juice, and added ground cilantro, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and garlic and herbs salt free seasoning! Delicous!
YUM! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, Melissa. Thank you for your review + star rating, I so appreciate it!
This is quite possibly my favorite salad! I did have changes because I used what I had on hand- not a hemp seed and dried cranberry person but followed the rest of the recipe exactly. Thank you – I truly loved this salad!
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Jessica! Thank you so much for leaving a review, I really appreciate it.
I made the Sweet potato salad tonight, practicing for doing it for Thanksgiving! So good! We have more vegetarians this year,so this is good for the veggie lovers and sweet potato people. I substituted Balsamic vinegar for apple cider vinegar 😃
Yay!! Happy to hear this sweet potato salad was a success, Gussie. Thanks for the review and star rating. I really appreciate it!
I googled a sweet potato salad and came across this recipe. It is amazing!!! Adding to my list of regulars. This was the first recipe I tried from your site. Do you have any other favorites I should try next? (I typically prefer lower fat recipes.)
So glad you enjoyed this salad, Julie!! So glad you found it. I have tons of delicious recipes on the blog, what are you looking for… salads, dinner ideas, dessert ideas, snacks, etc.?
Thank you so much for your response! I was looking for Dinner ideas, salads, meal prep, anything really. I have looked at your website, and so many interest me that I can’t decide which one to try first. 😃 What are some of your fan favorites that You would suggest I should try next? Thank you again!
Hey Julie! It’s hard to choose, but some of the most popular recipes are: Egg Roll in a Bowl, protein balls, Mexican Street Corn Salad, cauliflower nachos and baked oatmeal cups.
I made 1/2 batch because it was just for me. Had it for lunch and dinner. Although there wasn’t much left for dinner because I couldn’t stop eating it at lunch!! Absolutely delicious!. Was skeptical about only vinegar and lemon juice for the dressing but it was perfect. Will definitely be making this again and again and again.
Yay!! I’m so pumped this salad was a hit, Nancy! Thanks for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
Thank you very much for sharing valuable Article.
Hi Brittany,
I was wondering if you could recommend a different dressing for this salad? I really want to try it but I’m not a huge Apple cider vinegar fan. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!
Hey Jennifer – Maybe this white balsamic dressing? I also have a bunch of dressings here you can check out!
This was excellent! The combination of flavors becomes greater than the sum of its parts!
I did have some left over and sadly (but as would be expected) it just wasn’t the same after being in the fridge. My advice is either scale to the right amount you’ll eat that day, or scale your appetite up to the amount you make, lol! 🙂
I’m glad you enjoyed this salad, Jill. Another option for leftovers is to leave out the liquid, portion out how much you want to eat add the liquid and immediately serve. Then for the leftovers, add the lemon juice + acv right before serving.
I’m planning to make this this weekend for a fall party and I was curious if the dressing was just the vinegar and lemon juice or if you’re supposed to whisk in oil. Thank you!
Hey Lori – It’s just the ACV and lemon juice, but you can definitely add some oil if you prefer. 🙂
Forgive me for adjusting a recipe when I never tried the original, but we need to drive to another state tomorrow for my husband’s cancer treatment. it’ll be a long day and I wanted something filling and nutritious to pack in our car fridge. I didn’t have an avocado or cranberries, so I added four diced beets and some lemon basil and parsley from our garden.It is so delicious! This is a great recipe and it can even handle personalizing!
My recipes are meant to be adjusted based on what you already have on hand, so I’m glad you made it your own, Deb! I’m glad this salad was a hit. Will be sending lots of positive and healing vibes to your husband and family as he goes through treatment. <3