Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad - an easy fall favorite. This sweet & spicy salad is SO filling with apples, corn, roasted tomatoes, and chipotle.

Roasted Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

This is my new favorite salad… and I don’t throw words like “favorite” or “best ever” around lightly. You may have noticed that I love roasted sweet potatoes in just about any salad (as evident here, here, and here) but this combination – with roasted tomatoes, roasted apples, corn, and a tangy/smoky chipotle dressing – was so good that I made it for dinner two nights in a row.

Roasted Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

The first night, I made this as a lazy-girl dinner. Jack was out of town so for an easy “by myself” dinner I decided to roast the things (pictured above) that had just arrived in my Farmhouse Delivery box. I made a quick (yet super delicious!) dressing and tossed it all together with toasted pepitas for crunch.

The second night, I was so excited to recreate it for Jack because I just couldn’t get it out of my mind. Am I the only person who goes to bed dreaming of things like sweet potatoes and apples?

Roasted Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato SaladRoasted Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

In my humble opinion, this is late-summer-early-fall produce perfection. Be sure to make this while you can still find a few cherry tomatoes in season!

5.0 from 10 reviews

Chipotle Apple Sweet Potato Salad

 
Author:
Serves: 2 as a meal, 4 as a side
Ingredients
  • 1 medium sweet potato, chopped
  • 1 large gala apple, cored and chopped
  • ¾ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
  • 1 ear of fresh corn, husked
  • extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
  • two handfuls of baby spinach and/or arugula
  • ¼ cup pepitas, toasted
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup feta cheese, optional
dressing
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons chipotle paste (or chipotle powder, to taste, see note)*
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ teaspoon honey (or maple syrup if vegan)
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Toss the sweet potatoes, apple, and tomatoes onto the baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast 30 to 35 minutes until the edges of the sweet potato are golden brown, tossing halfway through.
  3. Meanwhile wrap the ear of corn in foil and place it in oven during the last 15 minutes of roasting time.
  4. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, chipotle paste (or powder), apple cider vinegar, honey (or maple syrup), and a pinch of salt and pepper.
  5. Place the baby spinach and/or arugula in a large bowl along with the roasted sweet potatoes, apples and tomatoes. Slice the kernels off the corn and add them to the bowl as well. Toss the salad with the dressing, toasted pepitas, and feta cheese, if using. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Notes
*If you're using chipotle powder, start with ½ teaspoon since the spice level can vary from one powder to the next.

You can also use adobo sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo. The chipotle paste that I used here is very convenient because you can use small amounts at a time without opening and storing the contents of a whole can - I found it recently at Whole Foods.

 

44 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Erica
    09.19.2021

    Made this salad tonight with Romaine base and my boyfriend and I loved it! Great flavor combo

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.20.2021

      I’m so glad it was a hit!

  2. Kvp
    01.24.2019

    I made this salad tonight without the corn and it was delicious! Thanks so much for sharing!

  3. Ioana
    02.15.2018

    So colorful and healthy. I bet it’s delicious too!!

  4. amsterdamveg
    09.16.2016

    we loved this so much we made it two nights in a row. the second night we added avocado (instead of feta, since i am vegan), which was a super good addition!

  5. RO from intheknowwithro.blogspot.com
    10.01.2015

    Oh my goodness, I can’t wait to give this one a try! Great to try something different with sweet potatoes! Hugs…Ro

  6. Krista from thefoodanddrinkadventure.com
    09.30.2015

    This looks UNREAL. This salad will be perfect for the cottage this weekend. It’ll match the beauty of the changing leaves. Cheers!

  7. Barb
    09.29.2015

    Made this salad this morning for my lunch-time book club … so easy, and what a crowd pleaser! I did end up going very easy on the chipotle (powder, couldn’t find paste) — about a 1/2 teaspoon provided enough flavor for me.

    • Beth
      10.02.2015

      I can confirm that, if you’re using chipotle powder rather than paste, you should reduce the amount. I went with the full 2 tsp., and it was too spicy, even for my significant other, who’s from Mexico and eats pickled jalapeños straight from the jar. Weirdly, the spice seemed to diminish rather than intensifying after a night in the fridge, but maybe we had just added the dressing unevenly. The salad was still yummy, but if I ever make it again, it won’t be with more than a half teaspoon of powder.

      • jeanine
        10.02.2015

        thanks for the feedback, I updated the recipe with better notes about chipotle powder amounts!

    • jeanine
      10.02.2015

      Thanks Barb! Glad you and your book club liked it 🙂

  8. I love that you roasted all of the vegetables/apples together! Finding a tasty salad combination is the best feeling, I definitely know where you’re coming from with the whole dinner for two nights in a row thing!! 😀

  9. Beth
    09.28.2015

    I made this the other night, and it was absolutely delicious! The combination of smokey, sweet and savory was fabulous! Making it again tonight 🙂 Thank you!

  10. Michelle
    09.28.2015

    Made the salad and loved the combination of ingredients. The chipotle dressing was a bit spicy for my taste, a little bit goes a LONG way. My husband preferred an oil/lemon juice dressing.

  11. Anne-Josée
    09.27.2015

    Tried it and loved it! Fall in a plate!

    • jeanine
      09.27.2015

      so glad you liked it!

A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.