Congratulations, you’ve made it into the final homestretch of summer! Sometimes that’s a sad feeling, as the long days of lounging by the pool and weekends at the lake come to an end, and sometimes it’s a glorious feeling of anticipation of structure and order once returning to your home as you lovingly kick the kiddos out the door for their first day of school. This really has nothing to do with salad other than the fact that I keep finding myself on social media while procrastinating writing this post and it’s full of cute little kiddos on their first day of school. We don’t start for another couple of weeks so we’re squeezing in as many lazy summer days as we can until then. Okay, back to salad. I’ve been crushing on this one lately. It makes a great Jar Salad as well, if you’re into that sort of thing (and I am in fact into that sort of thing.)
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Salad
- Spinach or kale
- Roasted, cubed sweet potato – If you’ve never put roasted sweet potatoes into a salad before, you’ve got to try it. I often roast a bunch and keep them in the fridge to toss onto salads, and even in egg scrambles in the morning. You can use them in this recipe warm from the oven, cooled to room temp, or chilled.
- Cooked quinoa – Add extra flavor by cooking in chicken or vegetable broth, if desired.
- Cooked chicken breast
- Onion
- Cilantro
- Avocado
Dressing
- Red wine vinegar
- Honey
- Stone-ground mustard
- Fresh lime juice
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Smoked paprika
- Garlic
- Onion
- Oregano
- Granulated sugar
- Oil of choice – I prefer this dressing with 1/2 canola oil and 1/2 olive oil. You could do any combination you like, including all canola or all regular olive oil. I personally prefer the lighter flavor of the canola oil over 100% olive oil in this recipe.
How to Make a Roasted Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad
Step 1: Prep Ingredients
- First combine all the salad dressing ingredients except the oil in a blender and process until smooth. With the blender running on low speed, slowly drizzle the oil in. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container until you’re ready to dress your salad.
- Make sure you have some quinoa cooked and cooled.
- My favorite way to prepare sweet potatoes for salads is to dice them into small pieces (like 1/2 inch or less) and toss them in olive oil and a spice mix of smoked paprika, ground cumin, kosher salt, and black pepper before roasting.
When they come out of the oven they should be nice and toasty brown on some of the edges; I actually kind of like a few semi-burned, but I’m weird like that.
Step 2: Assemble Your Salad
- For the salad, use the quantities you like, either for one or for a crowd. Kale or spinach, cooked and cooled quinoa, cilantro, sliced red onion, avocado, and diced chicken.
- Pile everything in there. You’ll see it’s got almost every food group represented and an awesome combination of varying flavors and textures.
- Drizzle with desired amount of dressing, toss, and serve! This is definitely a one-dish dinner and a salad that won’t leave you starving an hour later.
Storing and Other Tips
- There are quite a few components here, but if you keep them stocked in your fridge (some cooked quinoa, chicken that’s already chopped and ready, sweet potatoes that are done) it’s easy to throw together and eat for lunch or dinner a few days in a row.
- I’ve been eating this non-stop lately with our Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette, but it’s also awesome with this Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use rice instead of quinoa?
Brown rice would be great here, as would bulgar wheat or really any cooked grain.
Can I make the dressing ahead of time?
Definitely! I like to make a batch and keep it in my fridge to use throughout the week.
Roasted Sweet Potato and Quinoa Chicken Salad
A delightful combination of sweet, savory, tangy and smoky ingredients. Makes a great lunch or dinner main dish salad.
Ingredients
Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- ¼ teaspoon oregano
- 1 pinch granulated sugar
- ½ cup oil of choice (I like half olive oil and half vegetable oil)
Salad
- Fresh spinach or thinly sliced kale
- roasted sweet potato chunks see instructions in notes
- cooked and cooled quinoa*
- diced cooked chicken breast
- thinly sliced onion
- chopped cilantro
- sliced or diced avocado
Instructions
Dressing
- Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender and process until smooth. With the blender on low speed, slowly drizzle in oil. Store in a jar in the fridge.
Salad
- Add all ingredients in desired quantity (It's a salad. Just go with the flow, here).
- Fill large salad bowl or individual serving with spinach or kale. Layer remaining ingredients on top and dress with salad dressing.
Notes
- There are quite a few components here, but if you keep them stocked in your fridge (some cooked quinoa, chicken that’s already chopped and ready, sweet potatoes that are done) it’s easy to throw together and eat for lunch or dinner a few days in a row.
- I’ve been eating this non-stop lately with our Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette, but it’s also awesome with this Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette.
- Add more flavor to your quinoa by cooking it in broth instead of water.
Roasted Sweet Potato Chunks
Ingredients- 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch or smaller chunks (about 3 cups diced)
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil (I use Bacon Olive Oil)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss sweet potato chunks in oil and then toss with spices. Spread on a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes or until browning on edges.
Cost: $12
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Questions & Reviews
I couldn’t love this salad more. I usually don’t gravitate to salads as much in winter since I like hot cozy meals but this is a go-to lunch item now in our house. I prep the ingredients in volume and grab it for lunch all week long. LOVE!
I have used this recipe so many times already! My family loves it and my relatively new daughter in law loves it which makes me happy. Also, with my husband being a vegetarian it is easy to adjust. Win win, 🙂
This is one of my all-time favorite salads. The combination of flavors and that dressing is so yummy. It started me on a whole smoke paprika and sweet potato kick. I made it again for dinner tonight. It’s such a flavorful, filling salad and I can’t get enough of it! Sometimes I’ll used a chicken sausage in lieu of the chicken breast. Thanks for a great recipe!
Personally I think this salad looks incredible! My youngest, at 16, however would absolutely HATE it. It cracked me up as the ingredient list reads like a list of things he totally hates! LOL ok he likes chicken. And honestly I LOVE everything in this salad. Now to dig out the sweet potatoes tomorrow. 🙂
This salad looks amazing! I’m definitely pinning this so I remember to put it on our menu plan next week!
This is so yummy! One night I was starving and grabbed leftovers from the fridge – ended up with sweet potatoes, chicken, and Quinoa – mixed it all together and it was sooo good! Need to try it with dressing!