Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad
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This Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad recipe combines sweet, savory and tart ingredients to make the most flavorful vegetarian salad ever!
The first day of “Thanksgiving Week” on the blog is here, and I couldn’t be more excited!
This week’s lineup includes:
- Monday: Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad
- Tuesday: Cajun Turkey with Cajun Roasted Mashed Potatoes
- Wednesday: Cranberry Apple Moscow Mule Punch
- Thursday: Farro with Prosciutto, Pine Nuts & Provolone
- Friday: Bundt Pan Sausage Stuffing
All of these recipes are twists on Thanksgiving classics passed down from generations of Bond ladies!
I was lucky enough to grow up my entire childhood within a mile of my grandparents, great grandma and aunt on my Dad’s side, and these ladies know how to cook!
When people ask if I went to culinary school, I always say, “No, I went to the cooking school of grandma!” And it’s so true! I spent weekdays, weekends and holidays in my grandma’s kitchen helping her bake and cook, everything from Pound Cakes to Thanksgiving dinner.
I remember this salad growing up that combined roasted sweet potatoes, dried cranberries and candied pecans, (I used to get in trouble for eating all of the candied pecans off the salad before dinner ). Somewhere along the way, I forgot about that salad and the recipe was lost.
After roasting sweet potatoes for a Sweet Potato Soup recipe earlier this month, all of the sudden I remembered that salad and knew I had to recreate the recipe for the holiday season!
In this recipe, I roasted the sweet potatoes in chili seasoning to give them a kicked up flavor that paired perfectly with the sweet candied pecans, tart dried cranberries and creamy goat cheese!
I can guarantee you that this kicked up classic will be the hit of the holidays!
Ingredients
Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad
- 4 cups sweet potatoes (peeled & diced)
- ½ cup red onion (thinly sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chili seasoning mix (click link for homemade recipe)
- 6 cups kale
- 6 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup goat cheese (crumbled)
- ¼ cup candied pecans or regular pecans
Avocado Vinaigrette Dressing
- 1 avocado (skin & pit removed)
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Toss the sweet potatoes, red onion and garlic with the olive oil and chili seasoning mix.
Place in an even layer on a baking sheet.
Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.
While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the salad dressing by adding the avocado, white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a blender, blend on low until smooth, drizzle the olive oil in the blender while on low. Continue blending until smooth and creamy, set aside.
Remove any stems from the kale.
Chop the kale and spinach together.
Toss the kale and spinach with ½ of the salad dressing.
Place the dressed kale and spinach in a large serving bowl.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven, let cool for 5-10 minutes, then place on top of the salad with the cranberries, goat cheese and candied pecans.
Toss everything together and serve with additional salad dressing on the side.
Kicked up sweet potatoes, combined with warm family memories, makes this one scrumptious and sentimental salad in my household!
Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad
Ingredients
Chili Roasted Sweet Potato & Cranberry Salad
- 4 cups sweet potatoes, peeled & diced
- ½ cup red onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chili seasoning
- 6 cups kale
- 6 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup goat cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup candied pecans
Avocado Vinaigrette Dressing
- 1 avocado, skin & pit removed
- ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Toss the sweet potatoes, red onion and garlic with the olive oil and chili seasoning mix.
- Place in an even layer on a baking sheet.
- Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are fork tender.
- While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the salad dressing by adding the avocado, white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a blender, blend on low until smooth, drizzle the olive oil in the blender while on low, continue blending until smooth and creamy, set aside.
- Remove any stems from the kale.
- Chop the kale and spinach together.
- Toss the kale and spinach with ½ of the salad dressing.
- Place the dressed kale and spinach in a large serving bowl.
- Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven, let cool for 5-10 minutes, then place on top of the salad with the cranberries, goat cheese and candied pecans.
- Toss everything together and serve with additional salad dressing on the side.
Nutrition Facts
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