This Sweet Potato Salad has all the best flavors and textures of Fall wrapped in one delicious salad. It’s loaded with roasted sweet potatoes, kale, crisp apple, and crunchy pecans with the best maple vinaigrette dressing. Watch the video tutorial, and you’ll be craving it.
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During the cooler months, I can’t get enough of sweet potatoes, especially for Sweet Potato Soup (my husband’s favorite soup!), and we couldn’t close out the year without making classic Sweet Potato Casserole. We also have Sweet Potatoes and Bacon on repeat this time of year.
Sweet Potato Salad Video Tutorial
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A platter of Kale Sweet Potato Salad looks stunning on the Thanksgiving table, but it’s also a satisfying dinner salad, and you can roast the sweet potatoes ahead for easy meal prep. The best part? Since kale doesn’t get soggy like other leafy greens, this leftover kale salad keeps really well in the refrigerator.
Why You’ll Love Kale Sweet Potato Salad

Feel-good recipe – this salad is packed with many healthy greens and veggies. It’s a hearty and satisfying salad and feels like a meal in itself.

Make-Ahead – you can roast the sweet potatoes a day ahead and pre-chop your kale (see make-ahead tips below).

Leftovers keep well – don’t throw away any leftover salad! Unlike most leafy green salads, a kale salad doesn’t get soggy after adding the dressing. Refrigerated leftovers taste great the next day (see storage tips below).

The best dressing – you’ll love the combination of flavors in this maple vinaigrette with just the right amount of sweetness. It’s simple to make; just whisk or shake it up in a mason jar. Ingredients for Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet Potatoes – You’ll need 1 1/2 lbs (about 2 medium or 3 smaller sized), tossed with oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. You can leave the skin on or peel it with a potato peeler.

Kale – 1 bunch should yield 10 cups chopped. Be sure to strip the leaves and discard the tough stem.

Apple – preferably a crisp and sweet-tart apple such as Honeycrisp, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious, but any variety will do.

Pecans – lightly toasted (you can sub with walnuts, pine nuts, shaved almonds or even pumpkin seeds).

Dried cranberries – add a sweet tanginess. We love to use pomegranate seeds when they are in season.

Goat cheese – our favorite for sweet and savory salads like Berry Arugula Salad and Beet Salad. Substitutions

To Substitute Kale – try arugula, baby spinach, or mixed greens, and add the dressing to taste just before serving.

Cheese – if you don’t love goat cheese, we can still be friends. Try crumbled feta cheese or shaved parmesan. How to Strip and Prepare Kale for SaladKale leaves have a tough fibrous stem that needs to be removed before chopping the leaves for salad, but the process is quick and easy:

Strip the leaves – hold the stem with one hand and pull the leaves right off.

Rinse & spin dry – transfer kale leaves to a salad spinner (in 2 batches) to rinse and spin dry. A good salad spinner saves a ton of time and effort in making a kale salad!

Chop – bunch or stack leaves together and slice into thin strips. How to Make Sweet Potato Salad

Roast Sweet potatoes – peel and chop sweet potatoes into 1/2″ thick pieces. Toss with olive oil, maple syrup, salt and pepper. Arrange on a lined baking sheet (I love my nonstick silpat) and bake until tender.

Make Dressing – whisk together all of the dressing ingredients and set aside.

Chop kale – strip kale leaves, then rinse, dry, and chop per the instructions above.

Massage kale – place kale in a large salad bowl, drizzle with 3/4 of the dressing and toss with 2 forks until the kale volume has shrunk down by 1/4.

Add toppings – add cooled sweet potatoes to the salad bowl then sprinkle in chopped apples, toasted pecans, dried cranberries and crumbled goat cheese. To serve, drizzle with remaining 1/4 dressing or add it to taste and enjoy. Make-Ahead & StorageWhether you are prepping ahead for a dinner party or want to repurpose leftover sweet potato salad, here’s how to store it:

Undressed Salad: you can store the salad separately from the dressing for up to 3 days. To avoid discoloration, it’s best to slice and add the apple and crumble in the cheese just before serving.

Dressed Salad: Cover and refrigerate leftover salad for up to 24 hours Are you craving Sweet Potato Salad yet? It really is as good as it looks, from the roasted sweet potatoes to the tasty vinaigrette. My whole family gets excited when I bring this to Fall gatherings at my parents’ house on Sunday afternoons. P.S. It’s also gluten-free and grain-free!

Complete your Thanksgiving MenuWe’ve made this salad a tradition for Thanksgiving, and based on your Instagram posts, many of you have adopted this salad for your holiday traditions as well, which makes me so happy.
If you need more recipes and ideas for the biggest cooking day of the year, check out our Thanksgiving Recipes, and don’t forget these holiday staples:

Roasted Turkey

Turkey Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Cranberry Sauce

Charcuterie Board

Pumpkin Pie

Apple Pie

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