Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

This herb roasted sweet potato salad is perfection: crispy sweet potatoes coated in a rich and creamy herb mixture, finished with crunchy red onions. Perfect at a picnic, BBQ, or for an anytime side dish, you’ll love how flavorful this roasted sweet potato salad is. Elegant enough for company but easy enough for a weeknight! Naturally vegan and Whole30 options.

There are some restaurant dishes so good that you’ll send visitors there just for a taste. For me, one of those life-changing dishes is the potato salad at McEwen’s in downtown Memphis. I fell in love instantly with the rich and heady herb-roasted crusts, the crispy potatoes, and the fresh onions to balance the dried herbs.

I was inspired to swap out white potatoes for sweet potatoes, smothered in a rich blend of dried herbs and spices, then roasted until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Then I coated them in a mixture of mayonnaise, fresh cilantro, and minced red onions for a creamy, flavorful side dish.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

Sweet potatoes – Tender, sweet, and so full of flavor, sweet potatoes can easily be used in a savory recipe such as this one.
Dried basil – Basil has a slightly minty flavor and easily combines with other spices when used in its dried form.
Dried oregano – With a green, earthy taste and a strong aroma, dried oregano adds a burst of flavor to the sweet potatoes.
Dried thyme – Subtle and earthy, thyme adds another component of sweet and a little minty.
Onion powder – Onion powder gives the potatoes a nice punch of onion flavor.
Garlic powder – Powdered garlic is sweeter and not as strong as fresh garlic, which helps give this dish flavor without overpowering the other seasonings.
Mayonnaise – Good quality mayo makes this sweet potato salad creamy, but lets the other ingredients shine through.
Cilantro – The cilantro in this salad tastes herbaceous and not strong, but you can leave out if you aren’t a fan.
Red onion – Sweet and crunchy, red onions are the perfect addition to this salad to give it more texture.

How To Make Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

The full recipe & ingredients list are below, but here you’ll find a quick overview for making this recipe perfectly, along with useful tips and info!

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Toss the potatoes in the oil until they are well coated, and then spread them out on a baking sheet.

Mix together all spices in a small bowl.

Add the spice mixture to the sweet potatoes, about a fourth of the mixture at a time, until the sweet potatoes are coated liberally. (It’s okay if you don’t use all of the spices, but you want the potatoes to be really well coated.)

Roast the potatoes for 25 minutes, then flip them over.

Roast for another 10-20 minutes, or until they’re a gorgeous golden brown and just beginning to crisp. (As long as you don’t actually burn the sweet potatoes, you’ll be good.)

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and add to a large heat-proof bowl.

Let them cool for about 3-5 minutes. You want them to still be warm, but not too hot to touch.

While the sweet potatoes are cooling, mix together the mayonnaise, cilantro, and red onion.

Scrape mayonnaise mixture on the slightly cooled potatoes and stir, folding mayonnaise mixture into the sweet potatoes until they are coated well.

Top Tips For Making

• Serve this salad warm or room temperature, but not cold!
• Make sure to use a good quality mayo like Hellmann’s or Sprout’s Organic. Some mayonnaises have a really strong or pungent flavor that can completely overwhelm the other ingredients.
• For a vegan salad, use vegan mayo. Again, make sure it doesn’t have that strong taste!
• Use a Whole30 compliant mayo if you’re doing a round of Whole30.

More Recipes You’ll Love

• Southwestern Egg Roll in a Bowl
• Jerk Chicken Bowls with Mango Salsa and Coconut Rice
• White Clam Sauce
• Red Potato Salad

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Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

This herb roasted sweet potato salad is perfection: crispy sweet potatoes coated in a rich and creamy herb mixture, finished with crunchy red onions.

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Total Time 45 mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 342 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
• ¼ cup avocado oil or refined coconut oil
• ½ tablespoon dried basil
• ½ tablespoon dried oregano
• ½ tablespoon onion powder
• ½ tablespoon garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• ⅔ cup mayonnaise See Notes
• ⅓ cup fresh cilantro chopped
• ⅓ cup fresh red onion finely chopped

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400º. Toss the bite-sized potatoes in the oil until coated well and spread out on a baking sheet.
• In a small bowl, mix together all spices. Add the spice mixture to the sweet potatoes, about 1/4 of the mixture at a time, until the sweet potatoes are coated liberally. You may not use ALL of the spices, but you do want the potatoes to be pretty coated.
• Roast for 25 minutes then flip over with a spatula. Roast another 10-20 minutes, or until beautifully golden brown and beginning to crisp. As long as you don’t actually burn the sweet potatoes, you’ll be good.
• Remove sweet potatoes from the oven and into a large heatproof bowl. Let cool for about 3-5 minutes or until they’re no longer piping hot but still very warm.
• Meanwhile, mix together the mayonnaise, cilantro, and red onion. Scrape mayonnaise mixture on the potatoes once you’ve allowed them to cool briefly and stir, folding mayonnaise mixture into sweet potatoes until coated well.
• Serve warm or at room temperature, but not cold.

Notes

• Mayonnaise: Use good quality mayo that doesn’t have a strong, pungent flavor.
• Make it Vegan: Use vegan mayo.
• Make it Whole30: Use Whole30 compliant mayo.

 

Recipe yields approximately 8 servings. Nutritional values shown reflect information for one serving. Macros may vary slightly based on specific brands or types of ingredients used.

To determine the size of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed, then weigh the sweet potato salad when finished. Divide the total weight (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by 8. Result will be the weight of one serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 342kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 3gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 650mgPotassium: 613mgFiber: 6gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 24206IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 72mgIron: 2mgNet Carbs: 30g

Keyword sweet potatoes, vegan option, whole30

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Cheryl Malik

Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10+ years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of three who lives in Memphis, TN.