This Sweet Potato Salad has all the best flavors and textures of Fall wrapped in one delicious salad. It’s loaded with roasted sweet potatoes, kale, crisp apple, and crunchy pecans with the best maple vinaigrette dressing. Watch the video tutorial, and you’ll be craving it.
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During the cooler months, I can’t get enough of sweet potatoes, especially for Sweet Potato Soup (my husband’s favorite soup!), and we couldn’t close out the year without making classic Sweet Potato Casserole. We also have Sweet Potatoes and Bacon on repeat this time of year.
Sweet Potato Salad Video Tutorial
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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 for easy meal prep. The best part? Since kale doesn’t get soggy like other leafy greens, this leftover kale salad keeps really well in the refrigerator.
Why You’ll Love Kale Sweet Potato Salad
- Feel-good recipe – this salad is packed with many healthy greens and veggies. 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 kale (see make-ahead tips below).
- Leftovers keep well – don’t throw away any leftover salad! Unlike most leafy green salads, a kale salad doesn’t get soggy after adding the dressing. Refrigerated leftovers taste great the next day (see storage tips below).
- The best dressing – you’ll love the combination of flavors in this maple vinaigrette with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s simple to make; just whisk or shake it up in a mason jar.
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. You can leave the skin on or peel it with a potato peeler.
- Kale – 1 bunch should yield 10 cups chopped. Be sure to strip the leaves and discard the tough stem.
- Apple – preferably a crisp and sweet-tart apple such as Honeycrisp, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious, 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 they are in season.
- Goat cheese – our favorite for sweet and savory salads like Berry Arugula Salad and Beet Salad.
Substitutions
- To Substitute Kale – try arugula, baby spinach, or mixed greens, and add the dressing to taste just before serving.
- Cheese – if you don’t love goat cheese, we can still be friends. Try crumbled feta cheese or shaved parmesan.
How to Strip and Prepare Kale for Salad
Kale leaves have a tough fibrous stem that needs to be removed before chopping the leaves for salad, but the process is quick and easy:
- 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. A good salad spinner saves a ton of time and effort in making a kale salad!
- Chop – bunch or stack leaves together and slice into thin strips.
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 the instructions above.
- Massage kale – place kale in a large salad bowl, drizzle with 3/4 of the dressing and toss with 2 forks until the kale volume 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. To serve, drizzle with remaining 1/4 dressing or add it to taste and enjoy.
Make-Ahead & Storage
Whether you are prepping ahead for a dinner party or want to repurpose leftover sweet potato salad, here’s how to store it:
- Undressed Salad: you can store the salad separately from the dressing for up to 3 days. To avoid discoloration, it’s best to slice and add the apple and crumble in the cheese just before serving.
- Dressed Salad: Cover and refrigerate leftover salad for up to 24 hours
Are you craving Sweet Potato Salad yet? It really is as good as it looks, from the roasted sweet potatoes to the tasty vinaigrette. My whole family gets excited when I bring this to Fall gatherings at my parents’ house on Sunday afternoons. P.S. It’s also gluten-free and grain-free!
Complete your Thanksgiving Menu
We’ve made this salad a tradition for Thanksgiving, and based on your Instagram posts, many of you have adopted this salad for your holiday traditions as well, which makes me so happy.
If you need more recipes and ideas for the biggest cooking day of the year, check out our Thanksgiving Recipes, and don’t forget these holiday 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 Make Sweet Potato Salad:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Massage kale with dressing: 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 the salad rest for 15 minutes while you add the remaining ingredients.
- Add Toppings: 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 took this to a potluck today without trying it first and it was a winner. I had requests for your recipe so more people will now become aware of your website and cookbook. Many thanks for the how to videos and delicious recipes.
That’s awesome, Sandy! I’m so glad it was a hit at the potluck! Thank you for sharing.
Another winning recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen. I used mixed greens because I did not have kale on hand and it was delicious. I will be making this all season!
Hi Lorie! That’s wonderful. Thank you for trying the recipe!
I had all the ingredients and whipped this up for lunch. Beautiful, healthy and delicious.
I’m so glad you loved it, Ann!
I personally don’t like goats cheese. What other cheese could be substituted in this salad.
Thanks
Hi Sue! Feta cheese would be a great substitution. You can rinse the block of feta if you want to remove some of the saltiness. 🙂
Adding dressing to the kale first was genius. I did half sweet potato, half butternut squash because that’s what I had on hand. Sadly there are no leftovers. What an awesome recipe!
So glad you loved the recipe!
Was looking for something different to take to a pot luck, and this looked tasty. I watched the video—what an unexpected delight! You are FUN! Not super serious or whispery about the process as many are.
The bowl was emptied in a flash—a clear winner. Thank you for the whole thing.
I’m so happy you loved it, Anna! Thank you for your lovely comment and review!
Absolutely delicious! I love the flavors, colors and textures and the dressing is wonderful!!
I’m so glad that you loved our Roasted Sweet Potato Salad!
My boyfriend is not a big salad eater, but he eats them once in a while because “it has good stuff in it for you,” but he said this was the best salad he’s had!!! I’d have to agree too. I was skeptical about the dressing after tasting it separate, but paired with everything else sweet in there it was perfect!! I used Fuji apple, pumpkin seeds instead of pecans, & added some red onions.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Barbie! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Natasha: This salad looks amazing and I am planning on making it for guests tomorrow. Someone doesn’t like goat cheese so I was wondering if I could substitute feta instead? I usually do when making salads. Just wondering if it would make it too salty.
Love your recipes. 🙂
Carolyn
Hi Carolyn! Feta cheese would be a great substitution. You can rinse the block of feta if you want to remove some of the saltiness. 🙂
Thank you! It was a hit with everyone!!! The dressing was amazing. I will definitely be making this one many times over. 🙂
So glad that it was a hit, Carolyn! 🙂
Literally the best salad of my LIFE!! I could drink the salad dressing it’s so good lol. Thank you so much for sharing this easy and delicious recipe!!!
That’s great, Kara! So glad you love it. 🙂
Natasha, This salad & dressing is absolutely out of this world!!! Thank you so much for sharing.
My husband loved it, too … a big bonus!!! Eager to check out some more of your recipes …
Thanks, again.
Sue
Hi Sue! That’s wonderful. I’m so glad you both loved the recipe. Thank you for sharing. I hope you find many more to enjoy here. 🙂
Natasha, I just made your roasted sweet potato salad and I couldn’t be happier! It was as delicious as it looks! I will be adding this to my favorite dishes! Thank you! Love your spunk and humor! Chris
I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Chris! Thank you for that wonderful compliment!
Amazing recipe! I didn’t change anything…just added some roasted beets! So great!
Glad you loved it, Kim! Thank you!
I followed the recipe exactly, and it was delicious. I doubled it and took it to holiday party, it was a huge hit!! I made the just the dressing again for another salad. It’s fantastic!
That’s great, Liz! So glad to hear that. Thank you for the review.
This salad was absolutely amazing!! Loved the video too, along with your supermodel moment 🙂
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Claudia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So good! I made half the recipe since it was just dinner for me and my husband. It was so delicious. I wish I had made the whole recipe so I could of had leftovers! We made it a meal by adding grilled chicken thighs cut into straps on top. I will make this for Christmas for the rest of the family. Thanks Natasha!!
Awesome! So happy that you loved this recipe a lot.
Hi Natasha, first I want to thank you for sharing the recipe, it is awesome. And I made it for our Tgiving dinner. I did used monzarella cheese instead, was not sure about goat cheese. it does taste great on the second day, kale a bit softer, but its yummy.
Glad you loved it!
Natasha, thank you for your videos, recipes. I prepared my turkey today with your juiciest turkey recipe and it was so delicious, perfect moist, the best turkey I’ve ever made. Everyone loved it. Thank you. I’m looking forward to making your sweet potato kale salad . Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
You’re very welcome, Tracy! I’m so glad you loved the recipe. Happy Thanksgiving!
Is smooth goat cheese okay to use? If so, how should I put it into the salad?
Hi Joanie, I bet that could work!
Can any of this sweet potato recipe be prepared a day before Thanksgiving then just add the dressing the day of?
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.