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A perfect balance of textures and flavors, this sweet potato salad features shaved Brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes, pecans, and Gouda cheese.

Brussels Sprout & Sweet Potato Salad

It’s a snow day of epic proportions here in Indiana. Being from Minnesota originally, most Indiana snow days are a little anticlimactic for me, but this one actually delivered. Huge, white flurries have been falling steadily, so picture perfect it seems almost manufactured. So what better than to curl up with a nourishing meal? Because we’re recovering from the heavy foods of the holidays, we were in the mood for something lighter. But we still wanted a cozy vibe. Hence, this roasted sweet potato salad was born! Keep reading for the recipe.

How to make sweet potato salad

This Brussels sprout and sweet potato salad is both comforting and fresh and clean. One of our favorite foods is roasted sweet potatoes. They’re simple to make, and we make them all the time. To bring in a fresh element, we’ve combined them with shaved Brussels sprouts into a sort of superfood salad. With a bit of balsamic vinaigrette and some bit of sharp cheese, the salad is bursting with flavor as well as nutrients. This sweet potato salad combines two basic cooking methods: how to roast sweet potatoes, and how to shred Brussels sprouts. Below are our methods for both!

How to roast sweet potatoes

Roasting sweet potatoes is very simple; we’ve learned to do it without a recipe. Here are the basic elements for roasting the potatoes for this sweet potato salad:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F. We use very high heat for our sweet potatoes, which gives them a lightly crispy outside and tender inside. (However, note that sweet potatoes will never get as crispy as standard potatoes!)
  2. Dice the sweet potatoes. The smaller you dice them, the faster they’ll cook!
  3. In a large bowl, drizzle the sweet potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. There should be only enough olive oil to coat the potatoes lightly.
  4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake until tender, about 25 to 30 minutes depending on how small you cut the sweet potatoes.

How to shred Brussels sprouts

How to shred Brussels sprouts for this sweet potato salad is actually more difficult than you think! Cut them the wrong way, and the pieces look all wrong. If you have a food processor, you also can chop off the ends and use the slicing attachment on a food processor to shred the Brussels sprouts. However, using a knife is just as easy! To get those signature shreds, here’s what to do — see the video below!

  1. Remove any tough outer layers with your fingers.
  2. With a large Chef’s knife, cut the Brussels sprout in half lengthwise.
  3. Place the cut side down and thinly slide cross-wise to create shreds.
  4. Separate the shreds with your fingers. Discard the root.

Looking for sweet potato recipes?

As you can see, we’re kinda sweet potato obsessed! Outside of this sweet potato salad, here are some of our favorite sweet potato recipes:

This recipe is…

This sweet potato salad recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free, omit the cheese.

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Brussels Sprout & Sweet Potato Salad

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A perfect balance of textures and flavors this sweet potato salad features shaved Brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes, pecans, and Gouda cheese.

  • Author: a Couple Cooks
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 4 1x
  • Category: Salad
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3 medium sweet potatoes
  • 7 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • ¾ teaspoon teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • 1 pound Brussels sprouts
  • Aged white cheddar or aged Gouda cheese (optional), thinly sliced
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • Fresh ground pepper
  • 1 cup pecan pieces

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Wash and dice the sweet potatoes. In a bowl, combine the potatoes with 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper; mix to combine. Roast for about 25 to 30 minutes until tender.
  3. Shred the Brussels sprouts: see the video below or go to How to Shred Brussels Sprouts.
  4. Make the dressing: in a medium bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. Gradually whisk in 6 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon at a time, until a creamy emulsion forms. 
  5. To serve, place Brussels sprouts shavings on a plate, then top with sweet potatoes, slices of cheese, pecan pieces (toasted, if time), and dressing.

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About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

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20 Comments

  1. Marge says:

    I used to live in Indianapolis, a transplant from NYC. Black Market made a salad like this and I miss it! If this was inspired by them, it would be great to see them credited.

    1. Sonja says:

      How fun you were in Indy! We’ve never had a salad like this at Black Market, but it’s nice to hear they had a similar one! If we’re inspired by a restaurant to make a recipe, we do cite it in our blog post.

  2. maggie says:

    I made this for dinner this evening. I thinnly slice a red bell and roasted along with the sweet potatoes. This is delicious. I will make it again.

  3. Eileen Tull says:

    I love Brussels Sprouts and different salads, so I definitely will make this.

  4. Helen @ Scrummy Lane says:

    This really caught my eye … the recipe sounds really tasty, especially with the addition of the nuts and cheese (I often eat nuts and cheese together as a snack and it goes really well). Seems like a really balanced dish, too!

  5. Molly Porter says:

    I made this yesterday – delicious and so easy! I did change mine a bit though. I decided to make it a warm salad. I roasted the sweet potatoes as directed, then put all the ingredients (minus the cheese) into my dutch oven and baked for about 15 minutes. It was sooooo good.

  6. Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says:

    i dont know how you guys deal with the snow. Stay warm!! love shaved brussels sprout anyway its served.

  7. Ruth says:

    Made this for dinner tonight. It is perfect!

  8. This American Bite says:

    As often as I have thought about it, I have never shaved a brussel sprout. This recipe might just change that!

  9. Patti says:

    Trying to “learn” to like Brussels Sprouts, it’s been hit or miss but this sounds amazing. I’m adding this recipe to next weeks’s meal plan :)

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