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 is below, but here you’ll find all the steps for making this recipe perfectly the first and 100th time, 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.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/4 cup avocado oil or refined coconut oil
- 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon onion powder
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup mayonnaise See Notes
- 1/3 cup fresh cilantro , chopped
- 1/3 cup fresh red onion , chopped fine
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.
Recipe Notes
- Serving instructions: Serve this salad warm or room temperature, not cold.
- Mayonnaise notes: Use good quality mayo that doesn’t have a strong, pungent flavor.
- Vegan: Use vegan mayo.
- Whole30: Use Whole30 compliant mayo.
This was so delicious! Will make again.
So glad you loved it Laura!
I was looking online for a seasoning blend for roasted sweet potatoes and came across this recipe. I did not add the mayo, onion or cilantro-but OMG the seasoning blend was PERFECT! We devoured it. Thank you!
That’s so fantastic to know it works well without the mayo, too! I’m so glad you liked it, Kerry 🙂 Thanks for coming back to let me know!