By John Willoughby
- Total Time
- 25 minutes
- Rating
- 4(296)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Southern-style sweet potato salad with pecans makes an excellent companion for fried chicken.
Featured in: Fried Chicken’s Northern Exposure
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Ingredients
Yield:6 side-dish servings
- 4medium sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into uniform 2-inch chunks
- 2tablespoons salt
- ½red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- ½green bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- ½large red onion, diced small
- ¼cup finely chopped parsley
- 3tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3tablespoons ketchup
- 1teaspoon minced garlic
- ¾cup olive oil
- ¼cup cider vinegar
- 1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ⅓cup pecan halves, lightly toasted
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
400 calories; 31 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 22 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 29 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 571 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Fill sink or a large bowl with water and ice cubes. Put sweet potatoes in a large saucepan, add the salt and water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork but still offer some resistance and don’t break apart, 10 to 12 minutes.
Step
2
Drain potatoes and immediately put them into the ice-water bath. After 1 minute, remove potatoes, drain again, and put into a large bowl along with diced peppers, onion and parsley.
Step
3
Make the dressing: In a large bowl, combine mustard, ketchup and garlic. Add olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Whisk in vinegar, Worcestershire and lime juice, then season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step
4
Pour dressing over sweet potatoes, add pecans and toss gently.
Ratings
4
out of 5
296
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Cooking Notes
Lesley
I've made this dish on at least 5 occasions this summer. It's really delicious. I use less oil (1/3 C), about 1/4 C lemon juice, and cilantro (instead of parsley). Although the salad can be made a day ahead, add the toasted pecans just before serving.
Katherine
I took the recommendation of someone below and replaced the 3/4 c oil with 1/3 c oil and 1/4 c lemon juice. It was still way more liquidy than I like my cold salads - I don't like to have the bottom third swimming. My fried who doesn't mind that said it looked fine to her. Definitely not 3/4 c oil though - that would have been way too oily.
AJ
And an apple, dont forget to add an apple.
AJ
Add 2 cups of torn greens of some kind and only 1 sweet potato for a very nice lunch salad.
Anne
Spicy pecans to use with this: pecans with butter and salt melted together. Toss with some Worcestershire, some cayenne, some cinnamon...then baked 30 min at 300.It works great with this salad if you don't eat the pecans first.
Judith S.
A big hit at work. I roasted the sweet potatoes which worked well (peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks; roasted at 400 for about 40 min checking periodically). I also used walnuts b/c I didn't have pecans and scallions b/c I didn't have red onion. Super easy and I would make again.
Magpie
I note the direction to stop the potatoes from cooking; seeking advice from anyone who has made this, should they be lukewarm when dressed? Completely cold? Does it matter? Thank you.
Read the notes and hold back some dressing :)
I should have read all of the notes on this. I used 1/4 cup oil and glad I did. But I made the mistake of pouring all of the dressing onto the salad. As many posters have noted, it's way too much dressing for the two pounds of sweet potatoes. The salad is delicious, though, and I'll make this again! I like Paisley's idea of using some of the extra dressing on beets and AJ's idea of adding an apple.
Somewhere In 413
I really liked this salad, I tweaked it by using the lime zest and adding Trader Joe's Everyday seasoning. I like heavily dressed salads and used only half after making it with 7 potatoes, about 4 lbs. As many have said, way more dressing than needed.
Will roast the sweet potatoes next time
Unusual but tasty. I added a Granny Smith Apple and reduced the oil to 1/4cup as suggested. Dressing almost overpowers the veggies.
Susan
Followed suggestions for less oil and adding lemon juice. Also made and used 1/2 amount of dressing, which was plenty. Tasted great and received plenty of compliments.
Good but too much dressing
The dressing is essentially a BBQ vinaigrette and it makes about 1/3 cup more than you need. I would add it in little amounts to taste. I also added bacon because bacon makes everything better.
Rick
This is quite tasty! As others have said, it’s rather heavy on the dressing. I used about half of what I made. I must say, I thought the sweet potatoes got a little lost among the other ingredients. I guess I was expecting it to be more potato-forward. I might try an adjustment or two next time.
Paisley
I've been trying to find this recipe again! I made it last year and it was delicious. The yield of the dressing was more than I needed for the sweet potatoes, I used the rest of the dressing for another salad a couple of days later using beets. My finicky uncle was visiting, and he loved it!
Approdesiac
The outcome was initially exciting, but quickly overwhelming. This dish could stand on its own or compliment a very basic, no frills, chicken entree. I’m all about a straightforward recipe and this one requires too much tweaking.
Anne
Spicy pecans to use with this: pecans with butter and salt melted together. Toss with some Worcestershire, some cayenne, some cinnamon...then baked 30 min at 300.It works great with this salad if you don't eat the pecans first.
EvaM
Loved the salad; served with grilled pork chops.For the dressing: Used 1/2 cup olive oil, and only poured half of the dressing on the sweet potato-pepper mixture; otherwise the salad would have been soupy.Added a few slices of jalapeno to the red & green peppers mix
Jtango
I used only 1/4 cup of olive oil and added 1 tablespoon of sriracha. Delicious!
Carolyn
Delicious! I doubled the recipe and was delighted to find out 1/2 cup vinegar was not too much.
AJ
Add 2 cups of torn greens of some kind and only 1 sweet potato for a very nice lunch salad.
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