This Roasted Sweet Potato Salad has all the best flavors of Fall wrapped in one delicious salad. It’s loaded with kale, creamy sweet potatoes, crisp apple, and crunchy pecans with the best maple vinaigrette dressing. Watch the video tutorial and you’ll be craving it.
We can’t get enough of sweet potatoes in Autumn, especially for Sweet Potato Soup and classic Sweet Potato Casserole. Also, we have Sweet Potatoes and Bacon on repeat this time of year.
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A platter of Kale Sweet Potato Salad looks stunning on the Thanksgiving table, but it’s also a satisfying dinner salad and you can roast the sweet potatoes ahead to meal prep. The best part? Leftover kale salad keeps really well.
Sweet Potato Salad Video Tutorial
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Why You’ll Love Kale Sweet Potato Salad
- Feel-good recipe – this salad is packed with so many healthy greens and veggies, plus sweet potatoes are high in fiber, Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It’s a hearty and satisfying salad and feels like a meal in itself.
- Make-Ahead – you can roast the sweet potatoes a day ahead and pre-chop your lettuce. Store both in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Leftovers keep well – don’t toss the leftover salad. Unlike regular green leafy salads (like remain, spinach, or arugula), a kale salad doesn’t get soggy after adding the dressing. Refrigerated leftovers taste great the next day.
- The best dressing – you’ll love the combination of flavors in this maple vinaigrette. It has a short list of ingredients and is simple to make; just whisk or shake it up in a mason jar and you’re set.
Ingredients for Sweet Potato Salad
- Sweet Potatoes – You’ll need 1 1/2 lbs (about 2 medium or 3 smaller sized), tossed with oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper.
- Kale – 1 bunch should yield 10 cups chopped. Be sure to strip the leaves and discard the tough stem.
- Apple – perferably crisp and sweet-tart, but any variety will do
- Pecans – lightly toasted (you can sub with walnuts, pine nuts, shaved almonds or even pumpkin seeds).
- Dried cranberries – add a sweet tanginess. We love to use Pomegranate seeds when in season.
- Goat cheese – our favorite for sweet and savory salads like Berry Arugula Salad and Beet Salad.
How to cut kale for salads
- Strip the leaves – hold the stem with one hand and pull the leaves right off.
- Rinse & spin dry – transfer kale leaves to a salad spinner (in 2 batches) to rinse and spin dry.
- Chop – bunch or stack leaves together and slice into thin strips.
The best tool for making Kale Salad: Besides a sharp knife and a cutting board, I find that having a good salad spinner saves a ton of time and effort in making a kales salad.
How to Make Sweet Potato Salad
- Roast Sweet potatoes – peel and chop sweet potatoes into 1/2″ thick pieces. Toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Arrange on a lined baking sheet (I love my nonstick silpat) and bake until tender.
- Make Dressing – whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.
- Chop kale – strip kale leaves then rinse, dry and chop per instructions above.
- Toss kale – place kale in a large salad bowl, drizzle with 3/4 of the dressing and toss with 2 forks until the volume of kale has shrunk down by 1/4.
- Add toppings – add cooled sweet potatoes to the salad bowl then sprinkle in chopped apples, toasted pecans, dried cranberries and crumbled goat cheese.
- Serve – drizzle with remaining 1/4 dressing or add it to taste and enjoy.
Common Questions
Sweet potatoes have an orange or reddish peel with an orange center. Real yams are white in the center like a russet potato and yams are not typically sold in US Grocery stores. Even though people refer to sweet potatoes as yams, they are technically not yams.
If you prefer not to use, kale, you can substitute with arugula, but add the dressing to taste just before serving. Baby spinach would be the next best option.
This is personal preference and you can leave the skin on or peel it with a potato peeler.
Are you craving Sweet Potato Salad yet? It really is as good as it looks, from the roasted sweet potatoes to the tasty vinaigrette.
Complete your Thanksgiving Menu
We’ve made a tradition of this salad for Thanksgiving. If you need more recipes and ideas for the biggest cooking day of the year, check out our Thanksgiving Category. We have everything from Juicy Roasted Turkey to Turkey Gravy and all the fixings. The holiday menu isn’t complete without these staples:
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Roasted Sweet Potatoes:
For the Salad:
- 1 bunch kale, (10 cups chopped)
- 1 apple, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup pecans, lightly toasted if desired
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, or pomegranate seeds
- 2 oz goat cheese, (1/2 cup crumbled)
Dressing Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp dijon
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced or pressed
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/8 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone liner. Toast pecans on a dry skillet over medium heat, tossing frequently for a few minutes until golden and fragrant then transfer to a plate to cool.
How to Roast Sweet Potatoes:
- Peel and dice sweet potatoes into 1/2” thick pieces and transfer them to a mixing bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and 1/4 tsp black pepper and toss to combine.
- Spread sweet potatoes out onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake at 425˚F for 30 minutes, flipping the sweet potatoes after 20 minutes to promote even roasting. Remove from the oven and let cool while preparing the salad.
How to Make Salad Dressing:
- In a small bowl or mason jar, combine all of the ingredients for the salad dressing in the order they are listed and thoroughly whisk together until well combined. You may need to re-whisk before dressing the salad since the dressing can separate as it sits.
How to Make Kale Sweet Potato Salad:
- Strip the kale leaves and discard the stems. Rinse and spin dry leaves then finely chop them into thin strips and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 3/4 of the dressing. Toss for a few minutes with two forks until kale is slightly softened, evenly coated in dressing, and reduced by about 1/4 in volume. Let salad rest for 15 minutes while you add the remaining ingredients.
- Scatter roasted and cooled sweet potatoes over the kale then sprinkle on remaining toppings: sliced apple, toasted and cooled pecans, dried cranberries, and crumbled goat cheese. Drizzle the top with the remaining 1/4 of the dressing or add to taste then enjoy.
I made this last night for dinner. Oh my goodness, it was so good! I had some leftovers for lunch today. Wow, just wow! This salad is truly a winner. I will make it often, easy peasy and super delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved this! Thank you for sharing.
I doubled the recipe for my Christmas crowd and it was the hit of the meal. Even people who don’t like kale loved it. I wouldn’t change a thing. I used pomegranate seeds and I’ll try dried cranberries next time to compare. It will be on regular rotation in the future.
That’s wonderful, Lin! So glad you found a new one for the rotation.
Hi – First, I LOVE your new cookbook!!! Second, I am highly sensitive to dried fruit because of the sulphur dioxide used in processing. Can you suggest another ingredient to replace the cranberries? Obviously I have to leave them out. Maybe add more maple syrup? Thank you…
Hi Beth! This recipe is great without the cranberries too. They can be optional. I haven’t tried using fresh cranberries but here is what one of my readers said, “I used real fresh cranberries, and I even added crushed pineapple to the topping. this is a total bomb!”
Looks amazing! I love anything with sweet potatoes. Love all your recipes.
P.S. There any way to get rid of the ads on the page? …makes it so hard to read.
Hi! I’m so glad you’re loving the recipes. Unfortunately, we need to have ads to continue to provide free recipes. There is a option to exit the ad (in the corner).
Hi Natasha
What other type of lettuce would work as well for this salad? I have a thyroid problem and I’m not allowed to have kale!
Thank you!
If you prefer not to use, kale, you can substitute with arugula, but add the dressing to taste just before serving. Baby spinach would be the next best option.
Delicious and creative salad. Perfect for after thanksgiving. I added leftover turkey and ham to increase protein and made a meal out of it. Also, used feta cheese because that’s what I had!
Sounds delish, Angie! Thank you for the feedback.
This salad is so delicious. I have made it multiple times and it is always a hit. No need to add or substitute anything. Perfectly balanced and goat cheese is a must.
I’m so glad you love it!