Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad

This pomegranate salad is winter food at its finest. With nuts, feta & a tangy vinaigrette, it's a yummy jumble of bright, creamy & crunchy components.

Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Aside from a short Christmas morning trip to the emergency vet (everyone’s fine, false – yet expensive – alarm) we had a pretty relaxing day. We consumed tons of food, wine, cookies, more wine, and a few extra (unnecessary) rounds of dessert.

Pomegranate Salad Recipe Ingredients

With New Years right around the corner, the indulgences aren’t over yet… but all the more reason to pack in veggies along the way. This winter salad is a variation of the sweet potato salad that I was obsessed with at the beginning of fall. I made it a little more festive for the holiday season by using red pomegranate arils and bright green pistachios. Here’s what else is in it:

  • Roasted sweet potatoes add heartiness and toasty flavor to this yummy salad.
  • Cilantro and scallions fleck it with sharp, fresh notes.
  • Feta cheese adds pops of tangy flavor and creamy texture.
  • Salad greens give it extra veggie power and a nice light base. Plus, I love the green with the orange sweet potatoes!
  • A tangy dressing made of white wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, and garlic ties it all together.

This salad is perfect as a dinner party side dish, but I also enjoy it as a healthy meal all on its own! If you want to bulk it up a bit, add a handful of roasted chickpeas for extra protein and crunch.

Pomegranate Salad Recipe

If you love this pomegranate salad…

Try my broccoli salad, farro salad, kale salad, Brussels sprout salad, or roasted beet salad next!


5.0 from 2 reviews

Sweet Potato & Pomegranate Salad

 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
You'll love this festive pomegranate salad! The juicy pomegranate seeds are a delicious match for crunchy, toasty pistachios, hearty sweet potatoes, and tangy feta cheese.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad, side dish
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, cubed, plus olive oil, salt & pepper for roasting
  • 2 cups baby salad greens (baby kale, spinach, arugula, etc.)
  • ⅓ cup pomegranate seeds
  • ⅓ cup crumbled feta
  • ¼ cup toasted pistachios, chopped
  • Handful of chopped cilantro
  • 2-3 scallions, chopped, white and green parts
For the dressing:
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ garlic clove, minced
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar or white wine vinegar
  • Sea salt and fresh black pepper
Instructions
  1. Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle the sweet potato cubes with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the edges start to turn a darker brown.
  2. Make the dressing: Whisk together the olive oil, garlic, honey, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Taste and adjust.
  3. Assemble the salad with the roasted sweet potatoes, greens, pomegranate, feta, pistachios, cilantro, and scallions. Toss lightly in the dressing and serve.

 

 

25 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it):  

  1. Patti
    12.23.2019

    Carbs per serving for the diabetics in the crowd?

  2. Sam
    11.18.2015

    How many does this serve? I’m going to make this for 8-9 people.

  3. Oh how I wish my sweetheart loved cilantro as much as I do! But a little mustard or radish green might be almost as tasty in this salad. I know we’ll enjoy it. Love the idea of the pistachios. They’ll be a nice change from the nuts and seeds we usually put in our salads.

    • jeanine
      10.19.2015

      You can just skip the cilantro – it’s not all that necessary here 🙂

  4. Chelsa
    12.02.2014

    I made this tonight… used what I had on hand- so I sub’d red onion for spring onions and toasted pecans for the pistachios. It SO rocked my world, the flavor combo was incredible. Awesome recipe that I will def make again! and SOON 🙂

    • jeanine
      12.03.2014

      Hi Chelsa, I’m so glad you liked it! That combo is one of my favorites for sure 🙂

  5. Eveline
    11.25.2014

    I love this recipe, it is my favorite fall salad!!!

  6. marla from familyfreshcooking.com
    02.15.2013

    Love this recipe! Will be linking back to this in my upcoming post 🙂

  7. My husband who often refers to salad as rabbit food was obsessed with this salad- he said it was the best salad he has ever had in his life. It was so good and surprisingly filling. I shared this recipe in my most recent weekly meal plan on my blog, thank you!

    • jeanine
      02.13.2013

      Hi Emily, yes… love to hear that! Thanks for sharing!

  8. sarah from honeyandlimes.wordpress.com
    01.11.2013

    great post! this is very similar to the quinoa w/sweet potatoes salad i’ve been making that was featured in a recent issue of food&wine mag (from nov 2012, i think).

  9. Anni
    01.05.2013

    Oh my Goodness! I just made your salad, just that I substituted fresh goat cheese for feta. It is sooooo delicious!!! I will blog about it once my blog is all set up. It will be one of my alltime favs!***

    • jeanine
      01.06.2013

      glad you liked it! It’s one of my faves too 🙂

  10. Yum! A simple delicious salad, nothing beats a generous helping of roasted sweet potatoes to take a salad to a whole new level of wonderfulness if you ask me!

  11. Val
    12.31.2012

    Yum! Am going to try this with what I have on hand: substituting butternut for sweet potato, gorgonzola for feta and all spinach leaves for mixed greens. Thanks for the inspiration, and the beautiful photos (as always).

    • jeanine
      01.03.2013

      those sound like great substitutions, I love using up what I have on hand, hope you liked it!

  12. Val
    12.31.2012

    Yum! Am going to try this with some substitutions since that’s what I have on hand. Butternut for the sweet potato, gorgonzola for the feta and all spinach leaves. Thanks for the inspiration (and the beautiful photos as always)!

  13. Alissa from bigeatstinykichen.com
    12.29.2012

    So festive! I need to incorporate pomegranate seeds into my dishes more often. This looks so elegant!!!

  14. Sharmila from cheekychilli.com
    12.28.2012

    Such a beautiful recipe and a novel combination! Have to try this. The photos are gorgeous.

  15. Jeanine/Jack-awesome recipe! I love pomegranate seeds & am always looking for creative ways to incorporate them into my meals – thanks! Yet again, your pictures are beautiful!

  16. I am amazed at your creativity with sweet potato. Have you tried purple ones? They would look fab against the pomogrante seeds

  17. Mmm, mmm! This sounds so good! I definitely want to try it 🙂 .

  18. Jocelyn from Www.grandbaby-cakes.com
    12.26.2012

    I love the use of the rarely used in season pomegranates with sweet potatoes. Such an odd yet magical pairing!

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.