Simple and delicious roasted sweet potato salad with pickled red onions and coriander (cilantro). This layered salad is super healthy and is paleo, Whole30, vegan and gluten-free friendly. Serve it as a side dish to your favourite protein.

This sweet potato recipe is kind of like a salad in a layered form and is perfect as a side dish with your favourite protein main or even on its own. You can also bring it to a barbecue or a picnic and it’s fantastic any time of the year.

Sweet potatoes are seasoned with a few simple spices and can be roasted or pan-fried, which gives you just enough time to quick-pickle thinly sliced red onions. Their tang and sharpness pairs beautifully with the sweetness and softness of the potatoes. I love a little fresh coriander on top but you can also use basil or another aromatic herb.  It’s a little Ottolenghi-inspired and is a big favourite in our house.

Making Roasted Sweet Potatoes

There are a few different ways to prepare sweet potatoes for this dish. You can cut them into thick circles, cubes or into larger wedges. Then drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a few other spices. I like paprika, cumin and onion powder. Then either roast them or pan-fry (works best for circles or cubes but not the wedges as they would take too long). 

The key to good roasted potatoes is to use a flat tray rather than a deep dish and to make sure you space the pieces out a little bit so that the hot air can circulate all around them. I do mine at 200-220 C / about 400 F for about 25 minutes depending on the shape/size. 

Pickled Red Onions

I recommend using small to medium red onions so that the circles aren’t too big when they are sliced. You could also chop them finely, in which case it will be more like a red onion salsa or red onion vinaigrette.

To be honest, you can use any vinegar you like and the type will give you a different flavour profile: more grapey from red or white vinegar or more apple-y from apple cider vinegar, or something a bit more Italian from Balsamic.

The longer you marinate the onions, the softer they will get and the more intense the tanginess. For this dish, I pickle them for 20 minutes or so while the potatoes are cooking, but you can make them ahead of time and store in the fridge. If you want to make a bigger batch of pickled onions, I have a separate recipe here. They go with so many things! 

Try This Next Very Incredible Basil Sauce Recipe

Assembling The Salad

Okay, so the red onions with the marinade act as a dressing over the sweet potatoes. You can serve them layered on a large platter like I did here or you can toss it all together in a bowl. Do this last minute so that the potatoes don’t get too soggy. 

And now, here is the full recipe for this delicious roasted sweet potato salad with pickled red onions and coriander.

Description

This roasted sweet potato salad with pickled red onions and coriander can be served as a side dish with your favorite protein main. It’s great for a barbecue meal or to bring to a picnic and is gluten-free, paleo and vegan-friendly.

• Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.
• Toss sweet potato slices in olive oil, salt, pepper and spices.
• Place a piece of baking/parchment paper on a flat baking tray or grease the tray directly. Make sure to leave a little bit of space between the potato pieces so that the hot air can circulate around them. Pop in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
• Pan-frying: You can also heat a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the potato slices in a little olive oil or coconut oil for 5-6 minutes on each side, until soft when poked with a fork. You can cover the pan with a lid for half that time to speed up the cooking process.
• In the meantime, slice the onion into thin circles and rinse under cold water. Combine in a bowl with vinegar, water, olive oil, mustard, honey (if using) and salt. Set aside but give them a stir/turn them over in the marinade every 5 minutes or so.
• Once potatoes are done, remove them from the oven and transfer to a platter or to a bowl. Top with the onions and drizzle some of the pickling marinade on top as you would with a dressing. Finish with a little fresh coriander and another sprinkle of sea salt.

Notes

For AIP: omit paprika and cumin spices

Nutrition

• Serving Size: A quarter of the salad
• Calories: 201
• Sugar: 5.5 g
• Sodium: 943.4 mg
• Fat: 14.2 g
• Saturated Fat: 2 g
• Carbohydrates: 18.2 g
• Fiber: 2.7 g
• Protein: 1.5 g
• Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Salad, Gluten-free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Whole30

More Sweet Potato Recipes

Very Incredible Basil Sauce Recipe

Punchy, salty, bright green sauce packed with fresh basil, chives, garlic, and a bit of oregano. This sauce can be poured out just about anything!

This creamy basil sauce is going on EV-ER-Y-THING in my life: sandwiches, eggs, grilled chicken and veggies, dipped with chips?! It’s so good, packed with green goodness, it’s beautifully summery, and I’m doing the most with it.

---

In This Post:

The main thing:

Other stuff:

---

How To Make This Basil Sauce

Step 1: Get All Your Ingredients Ready

You can use a blender, food processor, or a mini-chopper-type gadget. I love this mini-chopper (affiliate link). It’s not meant for sauces necessarily, but I use it all the time because it’s super compact.

Step 2: Blend Your Basil Sauce

That’s it! Just blend, taste, and adjust!

This sauce can be a bit chunky / textured, so keep it going until it has the consistency you want. I prefer something right before completely pureed – where it has just barely noticeable flecks of herbs, but it’s mostly smooth and creamy.

Step 3: Put It On All Your Yummy Things

Like so. (Here’s that recipe.)

---

Lindsay’s Notes

Ooh baby. Basil, chives, garlic, and a tiny hit of oregano all in a creamy, salty, bright green sauce – I love this so much.

The first time I made this, my toddler (who mostly just eats crackers) found a spatula and just sat at the counter licking the remnants of the sauce out of the blender with me. And I hear that from a lot of people – many kids seem to be very into this for unknown reasons. Sometimes it just hits right, ya know? A+ for that experience.

My favorite thing about this sauce, besides that it tastes like heaven, is that makes healthy-ish eating something I really, actually look forward to.

Baked salmon goes up about 100 notches in my book when smothered in this creamy green sauce. Same goes for shrimp, chicken, and a big fresh salad or lots of roasted veggies.

This will not be the last we see of this sauce, which is why I decided to give it its own post on POY. Welcome home, little basil sauce.

---

Things You Could Put It On

The possibilities! They are endless.

---

Print

Popular Recipe Mexican Salad With Black Beans, Corn & Avocado

Description

Punchy, salty, bright green sauce packed with fresh basil, chives, garlic, and a bit of oregano. This sauce can be poured out just about anything!

1. Place all your sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. (I use this mini chopper for the vast majority of my sauces because it’s nice and compact!)
2. Blend until you get your desired consistency – I usually go for an almost-completely-smooth texture that is flecked with small bits of herbs.

Notes

Taste and adjust! More lemon juice will wake it up, Parmesan adds more umami and saltiness, and if it gets too salty for you, add a bit more mayo to dilute the pungency a bit!

Keywords: basil sauce, basil dressing

Recipe Card powered by

Frequently Asked Questions For Basil Sauce

What can I use instead of mayo?

I’ve seen some people on Instagram say they used Greek yogurt and liked it. I haven’t made it this way and I know I wouldn’t like it with Greek yogurt because it’s so tangy and has a different flavor. BUT, if you’re okay with it being a bit different than the original, I think Greek yogurt could work!

I have an egg allergy – what can I use?

Vegan mayo has no eggs and tastes great! That’s what I’d use!

How long does the basil sauce last?

I usually keep it in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Can you make this vegetarian / vegan?

Yes! Use vegan mayo and vegan Parmesan! If you can’t find vegan Parmesan, just throw in a bit of extra salt to compensate for the change in flavor. And if you don’t want to use vegan mayo, try using an avocado like we did in this avocado mojo sauce.

Can you freeze this basil sauce?

I would not recommend freezing this.

More Of My Favorite Sauce Recipes