This sweet potato couscous salad is an easy vegan recipe. Couscous is combined with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas then tossed with miso lemon dressing. Fresh parsley, dried fruit and nuts add even more flavor.
This colorful, jewel-toned salad is perfect for casual dinners and fancy holiday meals.
You can serve this couscous salad with Mediterranean grilled chicken.
If you love sweet potatoes, you'll also want to try black lentil salad with sweet potatoes and maple-dijon dressing and Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes with maple-dijon dressing.
Looking for more couscous recipes? Try Instant Pot pearl couscous with smoked paprika and cinnamon.
Ingredients
Sweet potatoes: Cut small chunks that will roast in 30 minutes. If you're not a sweet potato fan, it's okay to make this salad using only chickpeas.
Chickpeas: Canned chickpeas are roasted with the sweet potatoes to give them a crispier texture. However, you can choose to add the chickpeas without roasting them if you want.
Dried fruit and nuts: For sweet-tart flavor and crunchy texture, dried fruit and nuts really elevate this salad. Golden raisins and cranberries are my favorite dried fruits to add. Choose your favorite type of nut: pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts, cashews and slivered almonds all pair well with the flavors in this salad.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Toss sweet potatoes & chickpeas in olive oil, salt and cumin. Roast for 30
minutes.
Step 2: Combine hot water and couscous. Let sit for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Step 3: Whisk together miso lemon dressing ingredients.
Step 4: Combine sweet potatoes & chickpeas, couscous, parsley and miso dressing.
Add your favorite dried fruit and nuts for more flavor and crunch.
For detailed instructions and ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below.
How to Cook Couscous
The type of couscous used in this recipe is instant couscous. Although at the grocery store you'll see it labeled simply as "couscous."
Instant couscous looks like tiny grains of sand. It's made from semolina flour and water. The flavor is mild and nutty with a fluffy, slightly dry texture.
This type of couscous has been steamed and dried and just needs to be reconstituted with hot water. It doesn't need to be boiled or cooked.
Just combine the couscous with hot water, cover, and let it sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
For more information about all types of couscous, including pearl couscous, check out this recipe for Instant Pot couscous.
Miso Lemon Dressing
The miso lemon dressing has a mild, pleasing flavor that's slight sweet. It's fantastic on any type of salad.
You can use up leftover miso paste by making miso mushroom pasta or stewed beans flavored with miso. More delicious miso paste recipes include miso butter salmon and miso butter sweet potatoes.
More Salads You'll Love
📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Couscous Salad Recipe
This sweet potato couscous salad is an easy vegan recipe. Instant couscous is combined with roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas then tossed with miso lemon dressing. Fresh parsley, dried fruit and nuts add even more flavor.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: salads and bowls
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: North African
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces (or slightly smaller)
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Instant couscous (usually just labeled as “couscous” at the grocery store)
- ½ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ to ½ cup dried fruit (try golden raisins and/or cranberries)
- ½ cup roasted nuts (slivered almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios and cashews are all good)
Miso Lemon Dressing
- 1 tablespoon white or yellow miso
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ⅓ cup sunflower or canola oil
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 F degrees
- Spread sweet potato chunks and chickpeas out on a rimmed sheet-pan. Toss with olive oil, cumin and salt.
- Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.
- Bring 1 cup water and ¼ teaspoon salt to a boil. When the water is boiling, turn off the heat and pour in the couscous. Stir well then cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
- Fluff the couscous with a fork. Transfer to a serving bowl and mix in the roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, water, lemon juice and rice vinegar until smooth. Whisk in the honey, then slowly pour in the oil while whisking to combine.
- Pour the miso dressing over the salad while mixing gently.
- Add parsley. Add dried fruit and nuts.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
Keep the pieces of sweet potato small (½-inch or smaller) so they can be on the same sheet-pan as the garbanzo beans and roast for the same amount of time.
This salad will stay fresh for up to 5 days in the refrigerator, but tastes best if eaten within 3 days.
Jenny says
You'll love the sweet and savory flavors in this salad!