This sweet potato beetroot salad is full of flavor with delicious lightly spiced roasted vegetables, a good crunch from pumpkin seeds and a tangy maple garlic dressing. Super easy to make, it's a tasty fall lunch or side dish to enjoy with family and friends!
Love a flavorful beet salad? Do check out my popular my roasted beetroot and broccoli salad and butternut beet salad for another day!
While salads are always perfect for the summer, I do love a fall salad too! Roasted beets and sweet potatoes are so seasonal, tasty and healthy too! Baked with a hint of spice, they have a delicious sweetness with slightly crispy edges and soft centres.
Pairing these roasted vegetables with fresh cheese (optional), a crunch from seeds and peppery arugula gives this sweet potato and beet salad so much flavor. It will fast become a favorite I think!
If you love salads you may like to see my nutty wild rice salad and quinoa and fennel salad. And have a peek at my cream cheese stuffed sweet potatoes for a hearty lunch or light dinner!
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⭐ Why this salad is so good
- Fall flavors: the beets and sweet potato become slightly sweet from being caramelised when roasted and are perfect for summer and fall.
- Versatile: just like my beet kale salad, we can enjoy this recipe as a lunch recipe, light dinner or serve as a side salad with meats or plant-based mains.
- Easy recipe: we simply roast the veggies, make a dressing and mix it all together!
🍠 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Beetroot: I suggest to use fresh beets and then roast in the oven, just as I do in my roasted beet and carrot salad recipe. Roasting beets gives them a deep and rich earthy sweet flavor.
- Sweet potato: it goes gooey and slightly sweet when roasted in the oven.
- Mozzarella (optional): creamy and delicious, the cheese gives the recipe caprese salad vibes! However, you can easily make this a vegan salad by omitting the cheese.
- Arugula: for your greens! They give a nice peppery taste to the salad although you can swap for lamb's lettuce for something milder if you prefer.
- Pumpkin seeds: for a little crunch, and to keep the salad nut free. I like the Terrasoul organic pumpkin seeds.
📖 Swaps and variations
Change up the ratio of sweet potatoes and beets. If you like less beets, then simply use one beetroot and more sweet potatoes.
Swap mozzarella (if using) for another cheese. If it works for you, then use feta cheese or goat cheese for some salty flavor, or pair with a side of cottage cheese.
🔪 Step by step instructions
This roasted beet and sweet potato salad is very simple to make, with just a few steps. All the instructions are in the recipe card below, but these images should help guide you.
Step 1: Roast the sweet potatoes
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into small cubes about an inch thick. Place on your lined baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over sweet paprika and dried thyme. Toss to coat the vegetables, then arrange in an even layer (image 1). Roast for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Roast the beets
Use a sharp knife to remove the tops and tails of the beets and wash well to remove any dirt. Drizzle with a little olive oil then wrap the beets individually in aluminium foil (image 2). Roast the beets for 50-60 minutes.
Recipe tip: check that both the sweet potato and beets are fork tender, and give them a little extra roasting time if needed.
Step 3: Make the olive oil dressing
Combine extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, minced or finely diced garlic, maple syrup, dried thyme, salt and black pepper in a small bowl. Whisk to combine (image 3).
Step 4: Combine the beet sweet potato salad
Once the roasted vegetables have cooled, combine with the pumpkin seeds and green onion (image 4). Arrange arugula on your serving plate, spoon on the sweet potato beet mixture, add fresh cheese if using, and drizzle on the dressing.
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Add the sweet potatoes and beets to the oven at the same time, but be sure to remove the sweet potatoes first as they need less cook time.
- Wrap the beets in foil, as this helps them to cook to the centre but not dry out on their edges.
- The roasted vegetables should be fork tender. Give them a little more time in the oven if they are larger in size.
- I serve this salad as a cold salad, but if you wish to serve as a warm salad, I suggest to have the arugula on the side and add the mozzarella (or feta) just before serving so it doesn't go too gooey.
- We all like different amounts of dressing, so add about half, taste test, then add more to preference.
📋 Frequently asked questions
You can make this salad with pre-prepared beetroot that comes in a vacuum pack, but it won't have the same deep flavor as roasted beets. I would suggest not to use the type that comes in vinegar.
You can easily roast beets and sweet potatoes on the same baking sheet, but whole beets wrapped in foil will need a slightly longer cook time. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and use a spatula to set aside the sweet potatoes, then continue to cook the beets.
Whole beets wrapped in foil take 45-60 minutes to roast, depending on their size, whereas cubed sweet potatoes take about 30 minutes.
As well as torn pieces of mozzarella, you can use feta cheese or goat cheese if it works for you!
My tahini dill dressing would be lovely, as would my honey ginger salad dressing!
🍽 How to serve sweet potato and beetroot salad
- Enjoy as a lunch in the summer and fall months with my chia seed crackers, cottage cheese toast or air fryer pita chips.
- Serve as a side salad with mains such as my panko chicken, air fried boneless chicken thighs or my grated potato fritters.
🥗 More tasty salad recipes
Choose from so many fun salads including my waldorf salad (without mayo), quinoa tabbouleh (without tomatoes), cucumber dill pasta salad and my easy wild rice salad, as well as these recent recipes:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Easy Sweet Potato Beetroot Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 small beetroot
- 2 small sweet potatoes diced into small cubes
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ bag arugula
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 green onion sliced
- 1 cup mozzarella torn into small pieces, or feta or goat cheese*
For the maple garlic dressing
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or white distilled vinegar
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 garlic clove minced or finely diced
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add the diced sweet potatoes to the sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle over the paprika and dried thyme. Toss to combine, then spread into an even layer. Drizzle a little olive oil on the beets, then wrap in foil and place on the baking sheet. Roast the sweet potatoes for 30 minutes, then remove from the oven. Continue to roast the beets for a further 15-20 minutes until fork tender. Set aside to cool.
- Make the dressing by combining the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, garlic, dried thyme, salt and black pepper and whisking or stirring well.
- Once the beets have cooled, slice into cubes of a similar size to the sweet potato cubes. Place in a bowl with the sweet potatoes, pumpkin seeds and green onion and toss to combine.
- Arrange the arugula on your serving plate and spoon on the sweet potato beet mixture. Add torn mozzarella, and drizzle over half the dressing. Taste test, and add more dressing to preference.
Notes
- Wrap the beets in foil so they cook to their centres but don't go dry on the outside.
- Be sure to remove the sweet potato earlier from the oven than the beetroot as it takes less time to cook.
- Make sure the vegetables are fork tender, and cook for a little longer if required.
- Please note that nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- apple cider vinegar and garlic, which score 1.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
- arugula and green onion are not scored by SIGHI.
Luna says
We loved this recipe- it was delicious and easy to make!
Claire says
So glad you liked it Luna! Good for summer and fall I think!