If you’re looking for a simple yet delicious salad then this Roasted Sweet Potato Avocado Salad is for you. Fresh and flavourful, this salad is perfect to meal prep for a healthy lunch or serve alongside your favourite proteins at your next gathering.
Think tender roasted sweet potatoes, creamy avocado slices and perfectly toasted pecans, all drizzled with an apple cider vinegar dressing. This sweet potato salad recipe is the perfect accompaniment to grilled chicken or steak. If you love this salad then you will also love my Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad, Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad or my Roasted Brussels Sprouts Salad.
Why You’ll Love This Salad
- made using simple, easy to find ingredients.
- filled with healthy fats, complex carbohydrates and fibre.
- the perfect side dish for your next gathering.
- meal prep ahead of time for easy grab-and-go lunches.
Ingredients Notes & Substitutions
This salad is made using simple, fresh ingredients that can all be easily sourced.
- sweet potato (kumara) – in this recipe I have used orange sweet potato – you could also use purple or white sweet potato. Or swap for roasted pumpkin or squash.
- extra virgin olive oil – another great option is avocado oil or macadamia oil for roasting.
- ripe avocado – I prefer to use Hass avocado’s, but you can use whatever is in season for you.
- pecans – the flavour of roasted sweet potato goes so perfectly with toasted pecans. However, you could also use toasted flaked almonds, hazelnuts or pine nuts. For nut free use toasted pumpkin seeds.
- red onion – also known as purple onion or Spanish onion.
- sea salt – i have used sea salt flakes for this recipe. If using finely ground sea salt, use less then what the recipe calls for or it will be far too salty.
- green oak lettuce – you can also use Romaine lettuce or Cos lettuce.
Dressing Ingredients
This recipe uses my Apple Cider Vinegar Salad Dressing. For the salad dressing you will need:
- apple cider vinegar – swap for lemon juice or lime juice.
- extra virgin olive oil – swap for avocado oil or flaxseed oil.
- sea salt flakes – finely ground sea salt can be used, just make sure to use less then what the recipe calls for!
- cracked black pepper – can be swapped for white pepper.
- raw honey – swap for pure maple syrup
- wholegrain mustard – also known as seeded mustard
This salad would also work perfectly with a creamy dressing like my Lemon Tahini Dressing. Or swap for my Maple Dijon Vinaigrette.
How to Make Sweet Potato Avocado Salad (with process photos)
Making this salad is a breeze! You will need a little time as the sweet potato takes around 50 minutes to roast. But once the sweet potato is roasted, it is very quick to throw together. Here’s how.
Roast the Sweet Potato
Add the sweet potato cubes to a large baking dish and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and then toss to coat evenly. Spread the sweet potato out evenly across the base of the dish and then roast for around 50 minutes. You could also use a parchment paper lined large baking sheet, it’s just personal preference really! Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. You might want to toss the sweet potato half way through baking and again once removed from the oven, to prevent the sweet potato sticking to the dish as it cools.
Tip: You can also bake the sweet potatoes in the air fryer! Air fry at 200 degrees Celsius (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10-15 minutes, tossing at around half way. You will need to roast the sweet potato in two seperate batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
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Toast the Pecans
Pour the pecans onto a baking sheet or baking tray and spread out. Once the sweet potato has around 5 minutes to go, add the pecans to the oven. Keep a close eye on them as you don’t want them to burn! 5 minutes should be the perfect amount of time for them to roast but every oven is slightly different. Once the pecans are toasted, remove from the oven and transfer to a small bowl straight away to prevent them from cooking anymore due to the residual heat of the pan.
Make the Dressing
Add the apple cider vinegar, sea salt, pepper, honey and wholegrain mustard to a small bowl and whisk to combine. Continue whisking while pouring the extra virgin olive oil in a slow but steady stream. Keep whisking until the dressing has emulsified, meaning the oil and vinegar no longer seperate.
Alternatively, you can add all of the ingredients to a glass jar, place the lid on firmly and shake vigorously until the dressing is well combined.
Assemble the Salad
Once the sweet potato has cooled to room temperature, it’s time to assemble the salad. Using your hands, tear the lettuce leaves in half and arrange on a deep platter, large salad bowl. Top with the roasted sweet potato, avocado slices, toasted pecans, diced red onion and finally drizzle with the apple cider vinegar salad dressing. Serve straight away.
Variations
- warm salad – this can be served as a warm salad. Simply assemble when the sweet potato and pecans are still warm, rather then waiting for it to cool to room temperature.
- feta – crumble your favourite feta cheese over the top of the salad before serving. Danish feta or Greek feta works well here.
- garlic – add a minced garlic clove to the salad dressing.
- bacon – add a drizzle of olive oil to a frypan on a medium heat. Add diced bacon and fry until crispy before adding to the salad.
Storage
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. If you are making this salad in advance, it is best not to add the salad dressing until right before serving. This is to avoid the lettuce going soggy. Store the salad dressing in a seperate glass jar with the lid firmly fixed on.
Roasted Sweet Potato Avocado Salad
Equipment
- Large Baking Dish
- Baking Tray
- Metal egg flip
- Whisk
- Salad bowl or platter
Ingredients
- 500 grams sweet potato, peeled and diced
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup pecans
Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
- 60 mL extra virgin olive oil
- 40 mL apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Cracked black pepper to taste
To serve
- 2 avocados, thinly sliced
- 150 grams Green Oak Lettuce, rinsed
- ¼ red onion, finely diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Add the diced sweet potato, salt and olive oil to a large baking dish and toss to coat the sweet potato evenly.500 grams sweet potato peeled and diced, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Spread the sweet potato out evenly across the base of the dish and place into the oven to bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes toss the sweet potato and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing. Add the apple cider vinegar, wholegrain mustard, honey, salt and pepper to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Gradually pour in the extra virgin olive oil while whisking and continue whisking until the dressing is emulsified, meaning that the oil and vinegar no longer separate. Set aside until ready to use.40 mL apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard, 2 teaspoons honey, ½ teaspoon sea salt, Cracked black pepper to taste, 60 mL extra virgin olive oil
- When the sweet potato has 5 minutes to go, add the pecans to the oven. Keep a close eye on them so they do not burn. After 5 minutes or once toasted, remove from the oven and transfer toasted pecans to a small dish.¼ cup pecans
- Once the sweet potato is roasted, remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before assembling the salad.
- To assemble the salad, add lettuce leaves to a salad bowl or deep serving platter. Top with thinly sliced avocado, roasted sweet potato and diced red onion. Drizzle with apple cider vinegar dressing and serve straight away.2 avocados thinly sliced, 150 grams Green Oak Lettuce rinsed, ¼ red onion finely diced
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