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    Home » Recipes » Salad

    Sweet Potato Couscous Salad

    Published: May 19, 2022 · Modified: Mar 25, 2024 by Jenny Meier

    Jump to Recipe

    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.

    a bowl of couscous salad with sweet potatoes, chickpeas and parsley this recipe

    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

    couscous sweet potato salad 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

    sweet potato chunks and chickpeas on a sheet-pan

    Step 1: Toss sweet potatoes & chickpeas in olive oil, salt and cumin. Roast for 30
    minutes.

    cooked couscous in a pot

    Step 2: Combine hot water and couscous. Let sit for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

    miso lemon salad dressing in a jar

    Step 3: Whisk together miso lemon dressing ingredients.

    couscous, parsley, roasted sweet potato chunks and chickpeas in a large bowl next to a jar of miso salad dressing

    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.

    bowl of couscous salad

    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.

    uncooked couscous
    raw instant couscous
    cooked couscous
    cooked instant 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.

    ingredients for miso dressing

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    Print

    📖 Recipe

    Sweet Potato Couscous Salad Recipe

    bowl of couscous vegan salad
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    5 from 1 review

    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.

    • Author: Jenny Meier
    • 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

    Units Scale
    • 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

    1. Heat oven to 350 F degrees
    2. Spread sweet potato chunks and chickpeas out on a rimmed sheet-pan. Toss with olive oil, cumin and salt. 
    3. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. 
    4. 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. 
    5. Fluff the couscous with a fork. Transfer to a serving bowl and mix in the roasted sweet potatoes and chickpeas. 
    6. 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. 
    7. Pour the miso dressing over the salad while mixing gently. 
    8. Add parsley. Add dried fruit and nuts.
    9. 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. 

    Please rate and review this recipe!

    Your reviews help other readers. They also help me provide the best recipes possible. Thanks!

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    Comments

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      Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    1. Jenny says

      May 19, 2022 at 2:05 pm

      You'll love the sweet and savory flavors in this salad!

      Reply
    Kitchen Skip foodblogger and recipe developer Jenny Meier

    Hi, I'm Jenny!

    I'm a food blogger with a culinary degree and a busy Mama of two who now works full-time in education. I create easy dinner recipes for busy parents like you!

    More About Me

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    a bowl of couscous with roasted sweet potato chunks, chickpeas, cranberries and parsley.