If there is one salad that I come back to almost weekly from fall all the way through winter, it’s this one. Perhaps it’s my love of roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas. They aren’t just for side dishes, and they wonderful together. Paired with hearty greens like kale, you can create a fantastic big salad.

The sweet potatoes turn out soft in the middle and golden at the edges, and the chickpeas are crispy giving you crunch and texture, all essential for a good salad. It’s dressed in a mustardy vinaigrette with fresh lemon juice.

Why You Need This Salad

It’s basically a sheet pan meal. Since the featured ingredients roast together in the oven on a baking sheet, I think it fits into that category. Yes, there are a couple other steps outside the pan, but it still has that simple prep.

Adding roasted ingredients does wonders to the usual kale salad. I know not everyone gets super excited about kale. As a big fan, I am biased, but trust me. This combination of roasted chickpeas and sweet potatoes balances out those sturdy leafy greens.

The feta and sunflower seed finish is so good. I don’t want to just call them garnish because they do way more. Salty crumbled feta and sunflower seeds add to the urge you will have to eat every single bite of this salad.

The Ingredients

Ingredients including sweet potatoes, chickpeas, kale, lemon, sunflower seeds, feta, olive oil, vinegar and scallions.

This is what you need:

Sweet potatoes: The recipe calls for 1 pound, which is about 2 medium sweet potatoes. Make sure to peel the potatoes before dicing them. You can substitute with butternut squash.
Chickpeas: Rinse a can of chickpeas and pat them off with a towel before tossing them with the sweet potatoes on the pan.
Kale: You can use curly green kale or dark green lacinato kale (also known as dino kale).
Feta: I love including crumbled feta in the salad, but goat cheese would be another great option.
Sunflower seeds add crunch. You can swap them out and use pumpkin seeds, chopped walnuts or almonds instead.
Scallions give the salad a light oniony flavor. If you want something a little stronger, thinly slice half a small red onion.
Olive oil: Go with extra virgin olive oil for roasting the sweet potatoes and chickpeas. And also use it in the salad dressing.
Lemon juice gives the vinaigrette something bright and citrusy.
White wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar can all be used in the dressing.
Garlic: There is 1 minced clove in the vinaigrette.
Mustard: The recipe includes 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard to really thicken the dressing to take on the kale leaves.
Salt & pepper season both the sweet potatoes and chickpeas for roasting and season the vinaigrette too.

How To Make A Kale Sweet Potato Salad

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

1. Toss the sweet potatoes and chickpeas with olive oil, salt and pepper on a sheet pan.

2. Roast the sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Give them 25-30 minutes in the oven. The potatoes should be lightly browned at the edges and tender in the middle. The chickpeas should be crispy.

Sweet potatoes and chickpeas on a sheet pan before and after roasting.

3. Combine the roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas, kale, scallions, feta cheese and sunflower seeds in a big bowl.

4. Make the vinaigrette. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic, mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil.

Roasted sweet potatoes, chickpeas, feta, sunflower seeds, kale and other salad ingredients combined in a large bowl. The vinaigrette whisked in a small bowl.

5. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Toss to combine. The dressing does a good job coating the entire salad, so you don’t need to massage it into the kale.

6. Divide the salad into serving bowls or onto plates.

Serving

Even though I eat this roasted sweet potato kale salad weekly, I still think it is worthy of a Thanksgiving side dish or another holiday meal.

To turn it into a main dish salad, feel free to add a protein like roasted chicken or salmon, shrimp or even tofu.

Leftovers

The salad is best eaten right after it’s made. That’s because the chickpeas will lose their crispness. You can store the salad in an airtight container up to 3 days. Again, remember that the chickpeas will become soft. Keep the vinaigrette in a separate jar.

Sweet potato and chickpea kale salad on a plate.

More Kale Salad Recipes