This sweet potato, pea and feta salad is just divine! Roasted chunks of sweet potato topped with fresh vibrant peas and creamy feta; it’s a heavenly combo and makes one satisfying salad. Finished off with a sprinkle of crunchy nuts and seeds. Served as a side dish or the main event, this salad is a winner!
Published June 2016 | Updated April 2021 | Photography by @createcookshare
This sweet potato, pea and feta salad is such a nourishing, filling salad to enjoy. I absolutely adore roasted sweet potato in pretty much any form; combine it with sweet peas, tangy crumbled feta and a generous sprinkle of lightly toasted nuts and seeds and you have yourself the most delicious plate of goodness.
The vibrant fresh colours are just enough to make you want to dive in, let alone thinking about all the amazing flavours you’ve combined! Honestly, just look at it. It’s glorious – you want to dive right in!
What I particularly love about this sweet potato salad is that it’s hearty enough to enjoy on its own as a light meal when you just feel like something simple and vegetarian. It’s a balanced dish; the peas, walnuts, sunflower seeds and feta add quite a decent amount of protein, making it properly filling. Did you know a cup of peas has eight grams of protein?
As an added bonus, the seeds, nuts and extra virgin olive oil in the dressing ensure you’re getting an optimal dose of healthy fats to keep you glowing. Plant based omega 3, antioxidants and vitamin E are all packed in here!
What you’ll need for this sweet potato salad
- 2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
- frozen peas – yes! Those humble little peas are an essential ingredient. Who doesn’t have some lurking in the freezer?
- baby spinach – can substitute rocket if you like it better
- feta cheese – can omit if dairy free
- walnuts and sunflower seeds – for that all important crunch
- extra virgin olive oil, mustard and apple cider vinegar for the dressing – you can also use white wine vinegar instead. To sweeten the dressing a little, you can add some honey too.
The recipe for this sweet potato, pea and feta salad as set out below makes enough to feed around three people as a light meal, or use it as a substantial side dish. For example, serve it with a nice piece of grilled fish or top it with some softly poached, or sunny-side-up, fried eggs. For a purely plant based version, you could skip the feta and maybe add some crispy roasted chickpeas!
Also, this will keep quite well so you can store it in the fridge for a few days; just keep the dressing separate until you’re ready to serve it.
I hope you enjoy this bright and beautiful salad! It’s so very easy to make and I just love that it makes the most of simple ingredients like frozen peas. If you make it, take a snap and tag @moniquecormacknutrition on Instagram so that I can see it, or leave me a comment below!
p.s. love sweet potato? Then make sure you also try:
- Breakfast Sweet Potatoes with Granola;
- Halloumi, Kale and Sweet Potato Salad with Pesto;
- Gluten Free Double Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins
Sweet Potato, Pea and Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 300 grams sweet potato (2 medium sweet potatoes)
- 2/3 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 2 large handfuls baby spinach (about 50 grams)
- 40 grams feta cheese
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 2 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180˚C and line a baking tray with baking paper (or lightly oil to stop sticking).
- Wash the sweet potatoes, and then cut into large cubes. Spread sweet potato evenly over the tray and pour over olive oil; move the sweet potato around so it's evenly coated. Then, pop the tray in the oven and roast until soft (20-30 minutes). When the sweet potato is done, remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Toast up the walnuts and seeds too while the sweet potato is roasting in the oven. Roughly chop the walnuts and then spread these out over another small tray together with the sunflower seeds. Pop them in to the oven for 5-8 minutes until lightly toasted, then remove and set aside.
- While you’re waiting for everything to cool, make the dressing and prep the rest of the salad ingredients. If you haven’t already, get out your frozen peas and leave to thaw (you can speed up the process by covering with hot water and then draining). Make the dressing by combining all dressing ingredients in a small jar and shake to combine.
- Plate up your salad by first laying down the baby spinach, then the sweet potato, followed by the peas, feta and finally topping with the nuts and seeds. If you’re serving right away, drizzle over the dressing and season with salt & pepper to taste.
Notes
Nutrition
This was so delicious! Thank you, my husband loved it, he added pulled pork :/
Dear Hayley, thank you so much for the feedback and I’m so glad you guys liked this recipe 🙂 It makes me so happy to hear. Haha and I think a little bit of pulled pork on top is alright!
Sounds delicious! I think my kiddos would love this one, too. 😉 Thanks so much for sharing it with us at Allergy Free Thursdays!
Thank you Raia! Yes, the chunky roasted sweet potato makes this one pretty family-friendly, it’s not too “green” and nice and sweet 🙂
Tasty. I used sugar snap peas which we had in the garden and, as I had no spinach, made do with chopped young beetroot leaves and rocket
I’m interested to know why Raia belongs to ‘Allergy Free Thursdays” Surely a true allergy is an allergy every day not just on Thursday
Hi Veronika, Raia is another food blogger and used to do a recipe round up each Thursday on her website called “Allergy Free Thursdays” where she would feature a whole bunch of healthy allergy-friendly recipes 🙂