Make Ahead
by: EmilyC
November17,2017
4.7
31 Ratings
- Prep time 30 minutes
- Cook time 35 minutes
- Serves 4 to 6
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
This roasted sweet potato, chickpea, and kale sheet pan salad is a good example of sheet pan salads at their best. The lemon-balsamic vinaigrette does triple duty: coating the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and onions before they roast; dressing (and tenderizing) the kale; and brightening all of the flavors before serving. It’s a jumble of big, bold flavors and contrasting textures, just as a good salad should be, and it’s mighty enough to stand alone for dinner (and lunch the next day, too)!
Featured In: Yes, Salads Can Be Cozy Comfort Food. Ask Your Sheet Pan —EmilyC
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: . —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- For sheet pan salad:
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, about 1 1/2 pounds
- 1 pinchKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 16-oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1/2 red onion, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1/3 cupsliced almonds
- 1/2 bunch of kale (Tuscan or curly), stems discarded, leaves sliced into 1/2-inch ribbons (about 4 cups in total)
- 1/4 cupcrumbled aged cheddar
- 1 small, crispy apple (such as Honeycrisp), halved, cored, and cut into 1/8-inch slices
- For lemon-balsamic vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoonsbalsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoonlemon juice from 1 large lemon (reserving extra juice)
- 1 teaspoondijon mustard
- 6 tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pinchsugar (optional)
Directions
- Heat oven to 425° F. Place a parchment-lined sheet pan in the oven while it heats.
- To make the vinaigrette, whisk together all of the vinaigrette ingredients. Adjust seasoning and acidity with more salt and lemon juice to taste; add a pinch of sugar, if needed, to round out the flavors.
- Cut sweet potato in half crosswise, then in half again lengthwise. Cut into thin wedges (about 1/4-inch thick). In a large bowl, toss sweet potatoes wedges with salt and 2 tablespoons vinaigrette. In a separate bowl, toss chickpeas and red onion with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon vinaigrette.
- When oven is ready, remove sheet pan and distribute the sweet potatoes in a single, even layer (careful, it’ll be hot!); you want them to have contact with the sheet pan for better browning. Add the chickpeas and onions to the sheet pan, nestling them amongst the sweet potatoes (it’s fine if some them are layered on top of the sweet potatoes).
- Roast for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are just tender. Add the almonds, and continue roasting for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the almonds are lightly toasted. Don’t worry if the tips of the red onions get a little charred; they’re delicious that way.
- Meanwhile, rinse out the large bowl that held the sweet potatoes; add the kale. Using your hands, toss the kale with 1 to 2 tablespoons vinaigrette (or as much as needed to lightly, evenly dress the kale), salt, and pepper.
- Let the sweet potatoes cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, then toss in the kale, aged cheddar, and apple. Toss with extra vinaigrette if needed, and adjust seasoning and acidity, to taste. Save any remaining vinaigrette to refresh leftover salad.
Tags:
- Salad
- American
- Kale
- Potato
- Vegetable
- Chickpea
- Lemon Juice
- Sweet Potato/Yam
- Make Ahead
- Serves a Crowd
- Sheet Pan
- One-Pot Wonders
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Anne-Marie Kavulla
-
yolanda
-
SandraH
-
Maddie Woda
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Dave Thegas
Popular on Food52
36 Reviews
Hazel January 5, 2022
I loved this recipe! I substituted butternut squash for the sweet potatoes (less carbs), omitted the cheese, and sprinkled allepo pepper. Totally yum! Will definitely make it again!
Pam S. December 19, 2021
So Delicious! And used up some odds & ends that had been lingering in my pantry, an added bonus. And, we had enough leftover for another meal, a third bonus! I separated out the sliced apples so that they’d stay a little fresher and crisper, then warmed up the leftovers without them. Definitely making again
Anne-Marie K. November 29, 2021
This is one of my absolute favorite sheet pan meals. I’d happily serve it (and eat it) as a vegetarian meal. However we usually add some simple chicken thighs on the side. I cook it as written, though I’ve never needed to add sugar to the dressing.
EmilyC November 30, 2021
Wonderful, so happy to hear that this had made its way into your rotation! Thanks Anne-Marie.
Lisa D. April 18, 2020
Absolutely wonderful. I used white beans instead because that's what I had.
EmilyC April 22, 2020
Thanks Lisa for trying this -- glad you liked it!
NXL April 12, 2020
Really good recipe. No need for sugar. Very satisfying.
EmilyC April 22, 2020
Glad you enjoyed it, NXL!
Kat C. March 1, 2020
Amazingly easy and so delicious. Compliments roasted chicken or salmon.
yolanda February 4, 2020
This is so awesome! I have been making every week for the past month. I started adding some harissa dry spice blend to the sweet potatoes to spice it up a bit. Thank you! It's a new family favorite.
SandraH October 12, 2019
This is really good and so satisfying! The vinaigrette is great and I found I needed to use it all for the final tossing of everything together. I didn’t have kale but used field greens and they held up quite well to all the other additions. I dressed the greens while the roasted sweet potatoes, chickpea and onions were cooling (sprinkled Maldon salt over these when I took the pan out of the oven - it needed it for flavour after tasting a couple of the veg). I did roast some Delicata squash half moons in a separate pan at the same time (mixed with a bit of ev olive oil, a sprinkle of balsamic, kosher salt and cracked pepper) and added some of them to the salad as a topping. A lovely dinner last night!
Antoinette H. May 17, 2019
What's the deal with the parchment paper? Can it be done just straight on the pan without the parchment paper?
Lauren B. February 3, 2020
you can always do it without parchment, but it keeps things from sticking to the pan and so sometimes keeps your veg from getting damaged/mushed up when removing from the tray. It also makes your pans WAY easier to clean.
Maddie W. March 24, 2019
As a new vegetarian, I’m always skeptical of meals claiming to be hearty without meat—holy moly. This is amazing. Vegetarian or not, I would eat this plant-based bowl of wonder everyday. And I’m so satisfied!
Sarah March 7, 2019
This is our new favorite salad; it's perfect on its own or with grilled chicken. Love!
EmilyC March 8, 2019
Yay—so glad you like it, Sarah! Thanks for your note!
Dave T. February 20, 2019
We had this for dinner tonight. We have a conventional oven so cooking times are longer, putting the sweet potato chunks in the microwave first for 3 minutes helped soften them sooner, doubled up on the dressing measures, used goats cheese instead of mature cheddar. Recipe went to plan, definitely having it again....gorgeous meal!
EmilyC February 21, 2019
So happy you made and liked this, Dave! Thanks for your note!
plainhomecook January 30, 2019
This was lovely made as directed, thanks so much.
EmilyC February 1, 2019
Wonderful! Thanks plainhomecook for trying this -- so glad you liked it!
Cecile January 29, 2019
Will put on repeat cycle. Trying to consume less animal. This is very satisfying with all the flavors and textures. Next time I will probably grate the cheese for better distribution. I wonder if pomegranate seeds would add anything? Visually, a lovely dish as well.
EmilyC January 29, 2019
So glad you liked this, Cecile! I think pomegranate seeds would be delicious here! : )
Julie November 26, 2018
After I finished making this I was praying that it tasted as delicious as it looked. I wasn’t disappointed! I did substitute a few things based on what I had on hand (yellow onion for red, walnuts for almonds and goat cheese for cheddar). It was so good!!!! I might add some beets next time.
EmilyC November 26, 2018
Yay, this is wonderful to hear!! Thanks so much for trying this and reporting back!
Cheryl October 15, 2018
Delicious! Though I misread the recipe and used the whole bunch of kale, which I liked. Also used vegan cheddar. Looking forward to leftovers.
EmilyC October 16, 2018
Wonderful—happy accident and all! : ) Thanks Cheryl for trying this and your note!
Amy O. August 12, 2018
I've made this so many times and every time it is amazing. Not the easiest prep-wise, but worth every effort...a crowd pleaser for sure. I always double the dressing because it's better on day 2.
EmilyC August 15, 2018
So glad to hear this, Amy! Thanks so much for your note!
dishelle March 2, 2018
Decided to do this entirely vegan and followed the recipe to the letter but omitted the cheese, and it was incredibly delicious! A great blending of flavors and textures, and very filling and satisfying. Definitely a keeper.
EmilyC March 4, 2018
Wonderful! Thanks for trying the salad and circling back.
Rand F. February 7, 2018
This was delicious! We added blue cheese instead of the aged cheddar which went really well with the apple! Will definitely make again!
EmilyC March 4, 2018
Sorry I missed your comment, Rand! So glad you liked this!
xhille December 14, 2017
Eating right now! I used to roast chickpeas with veggies for most of my breakfast, this was a pleasant reminder of those.
I ended up substituting olives for the cheese and added the fine strips of lemon zest to my kale. The extra lemon juice I poured over the apple to prevent oxidization. Absolutely delicious! The variations of texture and flavor in each bite are amazing!
EmilyC December 14, 2017
Such good tweaks! I almost always add lemon zest to my salads--not sure why I didn't add that step in this one, so good call! : ) I'm really glad you liked this. Thanks so much for reporting back!
