Easy Mediterranean Lentil Sweet Potato Salad

The recipe is nutritious, wholesome, and excellent for a quick lunch or healthy dinner. Lentil sweet potato salad is good for a few days, and you can bring it to potlucks, picnics, and barbecues. Dietary Note: this recipe is suitable for a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diet. It’s low in cholesterol and saturated fats.Don’t have time to read the full blog post? JUMP TO RECIPE HERE!

What is sweet potato lentil salad?

Ingredients and substitutions for lentil sweet potato salad

How to make sweet potato lentil salad

Serving Suggestions

Variations

Storage & make ahead

More salad recipes

More lentil recipes

Inspired by our Moroccan carrot salad, sweet potato lentil salad will impress for its simplicity and bold taste. You can serve it warm or at room temperature, like our lentil quinoa salad. The recipe combines tender and slightly caramelized chunks of sweet potatoes with nutritious lentils. The parsley adds freshness, and the mustard dressing, tossed when the sweet potatoes are still warm, will infuse the salad with a beautiful Mediterranean and North African aroma of garlic, lemon, and cumin. You guys seem to love our lentil salad recipes, especially our classic lentil salad, lentil cauliflower salad, and refreshing lentil tabbouleh. This makes us very happy since lentils are a massive part of our diet, and we love cooking with them. If you are curious to learn more about lentils, check out our guide on how to cook lentils, which includes 23+ delicious and easy lentil recipes.Finally, crumble some feta cheese or non-dairy feta to make this dish even tastier. Its creamy texture and bold, savory taste meld perfectly with nutty lentils and naturally sweet spuds.

Sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes come in white, purple, and orange. We recommend the classic orange sweet potatoes you can find in most supermarkets. We chop peeled sweet potatoes into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes, toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast them in an air fryer or oven for about 20 minutes. Cooked this way, they become caramelized and slightly smokey, and their tender texture soaks up the flavor and aroma of the cumin dressing.

Lentils

You can use canned lentils or dry lentils that you previously cooked in water for 15 to 30 minutes. Here’s our guide on how to cook lentils if you are interested. Brown lentils, green lentils, black lentils, and French Puy Lentils are best for this recipe because they have more bite than, for example, red lentils and keep their shape when we toss them in the salad.

Parsley

Try to find fresh flat-leaf parsley to give this salad a fresh Mediterranean taste.

Feta cheese

Feta is optional, and the salad tastes delicious without it. You can keep the feta out and add some nuts if you are vegan. You can also substitute non-dairy feta for regular feta.

Pistachio nuts (optional)

Pistachio nuts are optional. We add them for three reasons:

we love their taste with the cumin and sweet potatoes;
they add some crunch to the salad;
their light pistachio green looks beautiful with the bright orange roasted potatoes. You can replace pistachios with shaved or slivered almonds, toasted pine nuts, or crushed walnuts.

Mustard Dressing

Olive oil

If you can, use extra virgin olive oil for a richer and more aromatic taste. It also contains more antioxidants than most other oils, which is excellent for your health. Alternatively, you can substitute regular olive oil for the extra virgin one.

Lemon juice

Freshly squeezed lemon juice adds freshness and acidity to the salad, which helps boost the flavor of the other ingredients. You can substitute apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar for the lemon juice.

Mustard

Mustard helps the dressing emulsify and stick to the vegetables, making them super flavorful.

Garlic

You can use finely minced garlic or garlic powder.

Cumin

We can’t describe in writing how well ground cumin goes with the roasted sweet potatoes and the lentils. Ground cumin can be found in most supermarkets, or you can buy cumin seeds and grind them yourself with a mortar and pestle.

Paprika

Sweet paprika is best for the dressing.

Salt and Pepper

Use sea salt or kosher salt to add taste and freshly ground black pepper for a spicy aroma.

Roast the sweet potatoes

Preheat the oven to 400°F or 200°C. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces, transfer them onto the baking tray, and toss with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Arrange on a single layer and roast for about 20-25 minutes or until fork tender and slightly caramelized. To cook them in the air fryer, add the sweet potato cubes to a bowl, toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then transfer to the air fryer basket. The cubes CAN overlap. Air fry at 400°F or 200°C for about 15 to 18 minutes or until tender and caramelized. To ensure even cooking, shake the air fryer basket every 4 minutes.

Make the dressing

While the sweet potatoes cook, make the dressing by whisking together extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, American or Dijon mustard, grated garlic, ground cumin, paprika, salt, and black pepper.

Mix salad

To a large mixing bowl, add the roasted sweet potatoes – ideally still warm, so they soak up the dressing – canned or cooked lentils, chopped parsley, and the dressing. Toss well, then transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with toasted pistachios and fresh parsley. Optionally, add crumbled Greek feta cheese or non-dairy feta on top. It’s great with a yogurt tahini sauce, tzatziki, or a spread like hummus or muhammara. You can pair it with a light tofu dish for extra protein. You’ll love it with baked tofu, marinated tofu, fried tofu, and air-fried tofu. Or take your pick from this list of easy plant-based dinners. Here’s our quinoa lentil salad recipe.

Moroccan carrot salad

It’s a warm salad with a delicious cumin dressing. Excellent with couscous or pita bread. Here’s our Moroccan carrot salad recipe.

Sweet potato salad

If you are into sweet potatoes, you will love this arugula, avocado, and sweet potato salad. Here’s our sweet potato salad recipe. Refrigerator: Store leftover lentils and sweet potato salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. We recommend taking the salad out of the fridge about 15 minutes before eating it to allow the ingredients to reach room temperature and be more flavorful. Freezing: Not suitable for freezing.