Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Quinoa

Name: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Quinoa
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato (peeled and diced into 1-inch pieces); 1 5 ounce package baby spinach; 2 cups cooked quinoa; 1/3 cup feta cheese; 1/3 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds; 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard; 1/2 lemon (juiced); 1-2 tablespoons maple syrup; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 1/2 cup olive oil

This Roasted Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad is bursting with hearty fall flavors and is the perfect main meal or side dish. Have this delicious salad prepped for dinner or easy lunches in less than 30 minutes!

Jump to Recipe

Dressing being poured over a bowl of salad.

There's nothing I love more than a salad hearty enough to serve as either a main dish or a side dish, especially when it's made with one of my favorite fall vegetables: sweet potatoes.

If you love sweet potatoes as much as I do, you won't regret trying my Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Soup, Shepherd's Pie with Sweet Potatoes, or Sweet Potato Muffins.

🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe

Great way to repurpose leftover quinoa. If you prepared too much quinoa while making my Quinoa and Black Bean Salad or Cranberry Quinoa Salad, making this sweet potato quinoa salad is an easy way to use the rest of it.
Great for meal prep. This quinoa salad recipe is the best meal to prep and have on hand to enjoy for lunch during the week.
Quick and easy. This simple quinoa bowl is ready in 30 minutes or less and is one of my favorite salads for easy lunches, dinners, or bringing to family gatherings and holidays.

🥘Ingredients

This roasted sweet potato salad is made with simple and easy-to-find ingredients and is topped with a delicious homemade maple vinaigrette.

Sweet potatoes - Using freshly peeled and chopped sweet potatoes is preferential over frozen potatoes to make the best, crispy roasted sweet potatoes.
Quinoa - White quinoa, red quinoa, black quinoa, or tri-colored quinoa will all work in this salad. Use your favorite or the type you can find in your grocery store. Learn how to cook quinoa with this simple tutorial.
Feta cheese - Cheese adds a tangy, creamy savoriness to this salad and ties all the flavors together.
Olive oil - When using olive oil to make a homemade salad dressing, using a high-quality oil makes a world of difference. When shopping for new oil, check for certification of quality seal. It should also be sold in a dark bottle to preserve the oil.
Lemon juice - Lemon adds a touch of acidity to brighten the dressing. If needed, try substituting with 1-2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.

See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.

📖Substitutions & Variations

Use butternut squash or cubed pumpkin in place of the sweet potatoes
Any kind of greens will work in place of the spinach. Try kale, chard, romaine, shaved Brussels, beet greens or a mixture of lettuce greens.
Try chopped pecans, walnuts, slivered almonds, or pine nuts instead of pumpkin seeds for crunch.
Instead of feta, use goat cheese or vegan feta cheese to make this salad vegan-friendly.
Optional additions to try: Bulk up your salad even more and add dried cranberries, bell peppers, red onion, pomegranate arils, chopped apples or pears or black beans.

🔪Instructions

Roasted sweet potato cubes on a sheet pan.

Step 1: Season the potatoes with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping them halfway through. Once tender, remove from the oven and set aside.

Step 2: In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the Dijon mustard, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt, pepper and oil.

Sweet potato salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Step 3: In a large bowl, add the baby spinach, roasted sweet potato, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and feta cheese.

A measuring cup pouring salad dressing over a salad.

Step 4: Pour the salad dressing overtop, then toss to combine and serve this roasted sweet potato salad immediately as a main or side dish.

Air Fryer Method

If you'd like to roast your sweet potatoes in the air fryer instead of the oven, use my Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potatoes post as a cooking guide. Or, if you opt to use butternut squash, use my Air Fried Butternut Squash recipe!

A bowl of spinach and sweet potato salad.

💭Recipe FAQs

Can I eat quinoa salad cold?

Yes! This quinoa sweet potato salad can be eaten cold, warm or at room temperature. Enjoy it however you prefer.

Do you have to rinse quinoa?

A lot of pre-packaged quinoa you find at the store may be pre-rinsed but if not, you can rinse it the same as you would with rice. Quinoa is coated with saponin, a natural compound that can make it taste bitter. Rinsing it will remove this bitterness.

Is quinoa the same as rice?

Quinoa and rice are both starchy foods that are often used interchangeably in meals. However, quinoa is more closely related to beans and lentils than it is to rice. Quinoa also tends to have a nuttier flavor while rice is more neutral. Both can be used in similar ways and recipes and sometimes just comes down to preference.

Salad spoons in a bowl of spinach salad.

👩🏻‍🍳Chef Tips

Combine right before serving. If you are serving this sweet potato salad for dinner, I recommend tossing and dressing it with the maple dijon salad dressing right before serving. This will prevent the salad ingredients from getting soggy and will taste as fresh as possible.
Make the quinoa and sweet potatoes ahead of time. This will speed up the prep time significantly and make it easy to throw this salad together in 5 minutes.
Store the dressing and salad in separate containers if making this recipe for meal prep.

🥗Serving

This quinoa and sweet potato salad makes the perfect meatless meal but it can also be served with a number of proteins such as lemon pepper chicken in the air fryer, cranberry orange chicken and dijon mustard sauce chicken.

🥣Storage & Reheating

If you are making this sweet potato salad for meal prep, the potatoes will last in the refrigerator for up to 5 days when stored separately in an airtight container.
Sweet potatoes can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months. Before freezing, allow the sweet potatoes to cool completely on a wire rack. This will allow air to circulate and prevent condensation build-up.
Make sure you store the dressing separately to avoid the salad from getting soggy if you have leftovers.
If you want warm quinoa or potatoes, reheat the quinoa in the microwave for about 1 minute and the potatoes can be warmed in the oven at 350 degrees F for a few minutes.