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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

October 30, 2023

This salad has all of our favorite elements–crunchy bites, creamy goat cheese, fresh greens, and the rich sweetness of roasted sweet potato, all with a tangy citrus dressing.

Categories

  • Fall
  • Thanksgiving
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Salads
  • Vegetarian
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette in a serving bowl made with arugula, spinach, goat cheese and apples
Photography by Gayle McLeod

How To Build A Hearty Sweet Potato Salad Bowl

This recipe for roasted sweet potato salad is a great outline for making a flavorful and fulfilling meal. Starting with oven roasted sweet potatoes, we add fresh salad greens (baby arugula and spinach are what we use here, but kale or romaine or any mix would work), thinly sliced apple, creamy goat cheese, candied pecans for a sweet crunch, and a citrus vinaigrette for a light and fresh dressing. Roasted sweet potatoes are a great way to add fiber, antioxidants, and beta carotene to your plate–they’re a super flavorful super food!!

arugula, spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, candied pecans, goat cheese, apples & orange vinaigrette in bowls on the counter

Roast A Batch Of Sweet Potatoes For Great Salads All Week!

We understand that meal prep isn’t always at the top of everyone’s to-do list. That’s why we love roasted sweet potatoes! Once you roast them in a hot oven with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, you’ve got a great base for many meals throughout the week. You can also make the candied pecans in advance to sprinkle on top of salads and snack on by the handful. The other ingredients of this hearty salad are great standards to have in the fridge to use in several variations throughout the week–apples, pecans, and goat cheese are all super versatile ingredients, while baby arugula and spinach are a fabulous starting point for fresh salads. Some of our other favorite fresh salads are our Endive and Roquefort Salad with Pear Vinaigrette or our Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Creamy Maple Dressing.

chopped sweet potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, garlic powder & pepper on a baking sheet ready to be roasted in the oven
roasted sweet potatoes on a baking sheet seasoned with olive oil, salt, garlic powder & pepper
vinegar, orange juice & zest, dijon, salt, pepper, honey, olive oil & shallots in mixing to male orange vinaigrette
homemade orange vinaigrette being whisked in a mixing bowl made with vinegar, dijon, spices, honey, olive oil & shallot

How To Make This Salad Full of Fall Flavors

  • Mix the cut sweet potatoes with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and roast in a hot oven–crank it up to 425°F–for a nice caramelized flavor. We like to blast the sweet potato under the broil for a couple of minutes at the end to add even more golden brown goodness.

  • While the sweet potato is in the oven, you can make our recipe for stovetop Candied Pecans or Candied Walnuts.

  • Make the orange vinaigrette by whisking all of the ingredients until emulsified. Alternatively, you can use our favorite cheater method by shaking everything in a jar with a tightly closed lid.

  • In a large bowl, compose the salad using ¾ of the dressing with the spinach and arugula, along with ¾ of the goat cheese, ¾ of the apple pieces, 2 cups of the roasted sweet potato and 1 cup of the pecans. Toss everything well with the dressing.

  • Use the remaining spinach, arugula, goat cheese, apple pieces, and roasted sweet potato you reserved to top the dressed salad. This is a technique we love for a visually stunning salad. Finish by drizzling everything with the remaining citrus vinaigrette.

pecans being candied in a skillet with brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne
homemade candied pecans cooling on a piece of parchment paper made with brown sugar, cinnamon, cayenne and salt
A Roasted Sweet Potato Salad topped with candied pecans, goat cheese and apples being drizzled with Orange Vinaigrette
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette surrounded by bowls of extra vinaigrette and salt and pepper

Tools You’ll Need

Our Favorite Sweet Potato Recipes

Here’s some more creative recipe ideas for sweet potatoes:

A Roasted Sweet Potato Salad surrounded by bowls of apples, goat cheese, candied pecans and orange vinaigrette
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette surrounded by bowls of extra vinaigrette and goat cheese

Fall For This Salad? We’d Love To See The Autumnal Beauty!

Did you make a big bowl of Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette? We’d love to see those crispy, crunchy salads. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  20 min
  • Cook Time:  30 min
  • Calories:  386

Ingredients

Method

  1. In a large serving bowl, toss the spinach, arugula, ¾ of the goat cheese, ¾ of the apple, 2 cups roasted sweet potato, and 1 cup candied pecans with ¾ of the orange vinaigrette until everything is coated.

  2. Top the salad with the remaining goat cheese, apples, sweet potatoes, and pecans. Drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve immediately.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 386
  • Protein 6 g
  • Carbohydrates 33 g
  • Total Fat 27 g
  • Dietary Fiber 5 g
  • Cholesterol 0 mg
  • sodium 251 mg
  • Total Sugars 17 g

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Yolanda

    Id love to make this salad, but I dont have sweet potato, I have butternut squash. Would that work?

    Would probably still be great! Hope you enjoy!

  • Simon

    how do you make the vinigerette? Its not on the recipie? either are the ingerdients for the vinigerette?

    In the ingredient list "orange vinaigrette" is a link to the vinaigrette recipe. Hope you enjoy Simon!

  • Denise

    This is a fabulous recipe! My family both young and old all love this salad...every bite!

    YAY! Thanks Denise, so happy it's a hit!

  • Karin

    Excellent salad - beautiful to look at and very tasty. We all thoroughly enjoyed it; thank you.

    Thanks Karin, glad you enjoyed it!

  • Tresa

    So so good! I am a salad lover and this is probably one of my favorites I've made. I wouldn't think to put sweet potato on a salad but it was so good! My husband also raved about it. I love how many fall flavors are in this salad it is so perfect for the season and I'll be making it ALOT! The dressing is key don't use something different it's really quick and perfectly citrusy-sweet!

    Thanks Tresa, glad you loved it!

  • Kay

    Like fall in a bowl, oh my word. I will be making this again and again!

    Thanks Kay, so glad you loved it!