Sweet Potato Salad

This Sweet Potato Salad with avocado, tomato, onion, lime and cilantro is SO easy to make and is guaranteed to be a huge hit in any group! It is by far my most requested dish whenever I attend a potluck or host a group. More often than not, someone asks me to send them the recipe and I, having never documented it, proceed to ramble off an ingredient list and instructions. This is right around the time eyes begin to glaze over.

So! It’s about time I get this recipe down in black and white for all those who have asked for it. And, for any future requests, I now get to plug my blog- everyone wins!

The thing I love about this salad (other than the fact that everyone gushes over it) is just how quick and easy it is to make. It doesn’t require a lot of ingredients, effort or time. The recipe can also easily be doubled for larger groups and is vegan, gluten-free and Whole30.

Start by dicing your sweet potato and red onion into equal sized pieces. Lightly coat the veggies with olive oil and roast in a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. Halfway through cooking, toss the potatoes and onions so they cook evenly.

While the veggies are roasting, dice three avocados and a pint of cherry tomatoes. If you can only find grape tomatoes or regular vine tomatoes, those will work too. Just be sure to chop them into evenly sized pieces. I like to halve the cherry tomatoes, but feel free to quarter them if you prefer smaller pieces.

Before you assemble your salad, it’s important to let the roasted sweet potatoes and onion cool completely. If the veggies are still warm, they will make the avocado mushy, which is not the texture you want.

Once you’ve added your avocado to the roasted sweet potato and onion, sprinkle with lime juice and add freshly chopped cilantro. Toss everything together gently using a wooden spoon.

This salad is super versatile and can be served a number of ways, including as an appetizer dip, a side dish, or a light meal all on its own.

When I make this salad for a group, I most often serve it as a dip. Serve alongside corn chips and crispy crackers for people to use as scoopers and suddenly this salad becomes a finger food appetizer!

This salad also makes for a great side dish and goes especially well with grilled or BBQ’d mains. Serve as a side to burgers or hot dogs for your next backyard BBQ!

Finally, you could enjoy this sweet potato salad all on its own. It makes an especially nice lunch when scooped atop a bowl of quinoa or mixed greens!

This sweet potato salad is best consumed the day-of. The avocado will start to brown after even just one day in the fridge.

If you do need to store leftovers in the fridge, sprinkle some extra lime juice on top of the salad and seal it in an airtight container to slow the browning process. This salad is not a good candidate for freezing.

I’ve come to learn that cilantro is one of those ‘love it or hate it’ things. There is no middle ground. Apparently it tastes like soap to some people? Which begs the question how one is so familiar with the flavour profile of soap …. but, anyway. If you fall into the ‘hate it’ camp, you can easily leave it out of this salad, or substitute another green of your choosing.

If you follow a paleo diet, this sweet potato salad can be adapted to fit your needs by simply omitting the tomatoes. For a lower-carb option, use one sweet potato instead of two, and add a fourth avocado to the salad.

If you make this Sweet Potato Salad, please rate it and add your comments below. And be sure to tag @thebespokebites in your photos and videos on Instagram and Facebook for a chance to be featured!