This hearty salad features a few of my all-time favorite ingredients. Here we have massaged kale, quinoa, spiced sweet potatoes, and black beans served with a dollop of creamy avocado sauce. I added crumbled feta and toasted pepitas for good measure. I’d cook with only these ingredients if it weren’t for diversity’s sake. This texture-rich vegetarian salad packs great for lunch. If you like to meal prep for the week, this is an excellent candidate. Given the number of components, this is not the quickest recipe around, but it’s absolutely work the effort.
This recipe has been a reader favorite since it was originally published in 2015 (really, nine years ago?). I developed it during a month-long stay in Austin, Texas with my friend Ali. You could probably say that the Southwestern vibes influenced the recipe. Today, this salad is getting fresh photos and some slight revisions. Enjoy!
How to Make This Power Salad
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a brief rundown with notes and video.
Watch How to Make Southwestern Kale Power Salad
More Sweet Potato and Kale Recipes
Coconut Curried Kale and Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Kale & Pesto Vinaigrette Spicy Sweet Potato and Green Rice Burrito Bowls Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Pepita Dip Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
Please let me know how this recipe turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Storage suggestions: This salad keeps well, covered and refrigerated, for a few days. To keep the avocado sauce fresh, store it separately in a small bowl, with plastic wrap pressed against the top surface to prevent oxidation. Change it up: Butternut squash or carrots would be good substitutions for the sweet potatoes. Edits January 11, 2024: Adjusted avocado sauce by omitting 2 tablespoons olive oil (unnecessary), decreasing the salt for the sweet potatoes from 1 ½ teaspoons to ½ teaspoon, and specifying the amounts of lime juice and salt.
