Grilled Sweet Potato Salad
Grilled Sweet Potato Salad is a potato salad like no other! It’s packed with smoky grilled sweet potato, crumbled bacon, fresh veggies and it’s tossed in a maple bacon dressing. It’s an easy, delicious summer side dish!
Summer may be coming to a close, but my grill is still working over time. It’s so hot out that I’ve been grilling anything and everything.
I’ve almost been living off of grilled vegetables and corn on the cob lately, and I’ve been on a grilled sweet potato kick since I made these grilled sweet potato fries.
The fries gave me the inspiration for this Grilled Sweet Potato Salad. This is one of the best summer salad recipes because it’s cooked on completely on the grill and it’s super easy to make.
Despite the bit of bacon grease in the dressing, this salad is on the healthy side compared to those mayo laden potato salads.
If you prefer potato salad with no mayo, be sure to try my German potato salad and grilled potato salad recipes as well!
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- This sweet potato salad is a delicious twist on the classic with smoky sweet potato, crisp veggies, crumbled bacon and a maple bacon dressing.
- It makes a tasty summer side dish for any type of main dish.
- It’s an easy recipe that’s ready in just 30 minutes.
- It’s completely customizable with your favorite veggies or dressing.
Recipe ingredients
This sweet potato salad recipe includes just a few ingredients that you can customize to your liking.
Swap out the veggies or omit the bacon to make this recipe vegan.
Ingredient notes
- Sweet potatoes. Use your favorite variety of sweet potatoes for this recipe. They grill up beautifully when they’re cut into thick rounds. This salad would work well with roasted sweet potatoes if you prefer — just season with salt and pepper!
- Bacon. My favorite way to prepare bacon is in my air fryer. If you don’t have one, cook it using your preferred method and reserve bacon grease for the dressing.
- Veggies. I’ve used fresh bell pepper and green onion, but you can substitute them with your favorite vegetables.
- Dressing. This sweet potato salad recipe includes a maple bacon dressing, but it would also be wonderful with my red wine vinaigrette or your favorite store bought brand.
How to make this recipe
My easy instructions show you how to grill sweet potatoes, then assemble the salad.
They grill up super quickly and you can’t beat that smoky flavor and beautiful grill marks!
Pro tip: The potato salad may be made a few hours in advance — just keep the bacon separate to ensure that it retains its crispness.
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Slice your sweet potatoes into 1/2″ thick rounds and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place the sweet potato rounds on the grill and cook for 5-7 minutes per side or until tender and nice grill marks form.
- Whisk the dressing ingredients together until emulsified.
- Cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and place in a large bowl with the veggies, bacon and toss with the dressing.
FAQs
Sweet potatoes are extremely versatile and pair beautifully with a variety of both sweet and savory ingredients.
Examples of sweet ingredients include brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, apples, and oranges, and savory pairings include bacon, onions, bell peppers, hearty greens, cheeses such as feta, parmesan and blue cheese, and a variety of spices such as chili powder, paprika and cayenne pepper.
Cut the sweet potatoes into thick 1/2″ rounds and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill over medium high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side until well charred and tender. The potatoes will be begin to blister when they’re done.
Grill or roast the sweet potatoes. Once cooked, tossed with fresh veggies or your desired toppings, and toss with enough dressing to coat.
Serving suggestions
There are so many delicious ways to serve this sweet potato salad with bacon!
- Serve with grilled burgers or grilled bbq chicken at your next cookout. It also pairs well with grilled tomahawk steak!
- Serve as a side dish with air fryer chicken breast or air fryer pork chops on busy weeknights.
- Serve with pulled pork sandwiches or bbq pulled chicken for game day! The salad works with air fryer chicken wings and bbq meatball subs equally as well.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: The potato salad may be made a few hours in advance — just keep the bacon separate to ensure that it retains its crispness.
- This salad would work well with roasted sweet potatoes if you prefer — just season with salt and pepper!
- Customize this sweet potato salad with your favorite veggies, or make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon.
- If you prefer not to use bacon grease in your dressing, replace it with the same amount of olive oil, or substitute with my red wine vinaigrette.
More side dishes you’ll love:
- Broccoli slaw
- Classic coleslaw
- Horiatiki
- Mexican corn salad
- Three bean salad
- Potato salad recipe by Foodiecrush
Grilled Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients
For the Grilled Sweet Potato Salad:
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lbs. sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2″ thick rounds
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 slices air fryer bacon crumbled (reserve the bacon grease for the dressing); or cook bacon using your preferred method
- 1 large green onion thinly sliced, both white and green parts
- 1 small bell pepper seeded or chopped (I used half red and half yellow)
For the dressing:
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon reserved bacon grease
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the grill to medium high heat.
- In a medium bowl, toss the sweet potato rounds with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper until the potatoes are well coated. Place the potato rounds on the preheated grill and turn the heat down to medium. Grill 5-7 minutes per side or until each side is well charred and the potatoes are tender (the potatoes will appear slightly blistered when they're ready). Remove from heat and set aside.
- Place the olive oil, red wine vinegar, bacon grease, maple syrup, dijon mustard, salt and pepper in small bowl and whisk to combine.
- When the sweet potatoes have cooled slightly, cut them into chunks or slice width-wise and place in a serving bowl. Add the bacon, green onion and bell pepper and toss with the desired amount of dressing. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
Notes
- Pro tip: The potato salad may be made a few hours in advance — just keep the bacon separate to ensure that it retains its crispness.
- This salad would work well with roasted sweet potatoes if you prefer — just season with salt and pepper!
- Customize this sweet potato salad with your favorite veggies, or make it vegetarian by omitting the bacon.
- If you prefer not to use bacon grease in your dressing, replace it with the same amount of olive oil, or substitute with my red wine vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**This post was originally published in September 2014. The photos, recipe and the text have been updated to include step by step photos and more recipe information.
51 Comments on “Grilled Sweet Potato Salad”
Oh this looks right up my alley! Love me some sweet potatoes. And even better when grilled! Pinned!
Thank you, Liz! This was a fun an tasty way to change things up!
Marcie, I have to say this looks fantastic – my kind of side dish – I love sweet potatoes and of course can’t go wrong with bacon – pinned!!
Thank you, Deb! This really was a nice change of pace, and you can definitely never go wrong with bacon! 🙂
This salad looks beautiful, Marcie! I am starting to like sweet potatoes more and more, and this sounds perfect! I love the vinaigrette, too. What a great idea to add in some maple syrup! Pinning this!
Thank you, Gayle! I put maple syrup in almost everything. haha Thank you for the pin! 🙂
I love everything about this salad – all of my favorite Fall flavors in one place 🙂 Gorgeous!!
Thank you so much, Chelsea! 🙂
Thank you, Samina! Yes, there may not be that many ingredients in here, but they all pack a punch. haha
Oh Marcie, this salad looks just beautiful. I can’t get enough of sweet potatoes and grilling them sound even better. Oh my and I can just imagine how amazing the maple syrup and bacon taste in here – so perfect for fall! Pinning 🙂
That’s a beautiful salad!! I am totally in love with the vinaigrette.. amazing flavours!! 🙂
Thank you, Arpita! You certainly can’t go wrong with these flavors! 🙂
Marcie this sounds amazing!! Sweet potatoes and bacon are a match made in heaven … and then with the maple and the dijon …. swoon!
Thanks, Ashley! I didn’t get any complaints on this one! 🙂
I’d never had one either, Carol, and I wondered why? I like sweet potato fries so much better than regular, so I knew I would love it. I’m glad you like it! 🙂
Gorgeous fall flavors! This looks awesome.
Thank you, Medha! 🙂
I’m always looking for new sweet potato recipes Marcie and this salad looks perfect! Love that bacon vinaigrette!
Thank you, Trish! I get tired of the same old same old, so this was a nice change! 🙂
The dressing sounds great, especially with grilled sweet potatoes Marcie. Just like you we are still using our grill. Why not, I refuse to let go 🙂
It’s SO terribly hot here, Kathy, I don’t want to stop using my grill! I definitely use it when it’s cold out too because it is hard to let go. 🙂
Gah! Love this use of sweet potatoes! And of course you have to add a touch of cayenne (I want to personally thank you for that! :-)). I’m always in the market for side dishes Marcie, and I think this is a great one ~ whether you call it a fusion or not, I call it yum-yum good! Pinned!
Thank you, Kristi, and I knew you would like that cayenne! Of course, you can always add more, too. 🙂 Thanks for the pin, and have a great night! 🙂
Sweet potatoes are a favorite around here, but I’ve never had them grilled! I can only imagine how delicious they are. Love the bacon (of course!) and that vinaigrette.
Thank you, Alyssa! This was a fun way to eat potato salad and without all that mayo. 🙂
Oh, man. I know this is probably wrong but I LOVE sweet potato salads even more than regular potato salad! Seriously, this looks AH-MAZING, Marcie! I love that you grilled ’em and that maple bacon dressing looks like pure perfection. 😀
It’s not wrong, Sarah — I’ll take sweet potato salads over regular ANY day. Thank you, and have a great weekend! 🙂
I love cayenne pepper with sweet potatoes! This salad has so many amazing flavors! Love it 🙂
Thank you, Christin! 🙂
Thanks, Lindsey! Whenever I use bacon, I find it hard not to use the bacon grease in something. It’s a freebie and it makes things taste so incredible. 🙂
I have never grilled sweet potatoes, but now I feel like I have to! Looks great, Marcie!
I hope you try them soon, Jamie! 🙂
I am the only one who likes sweet potato in my family but that’s okay I would want these all to myself!
The more for you the better! haha
I love this salad! So easy to make ! The new pictures look amazing!
This is beautiful, Marcie. My boys love sweet potato so I love that I could grill this up and serve it to the whole family! No one would object to that maple bacon vinaigrette!
We all love it over here — my boys love the bacon of course! Thank you Katherine!
I like the idea of throwing sweet potato slices on the grill! I actually haven’t broken out my grill yet, not sure why.. that’ll have to change soon!
Thanks Nicole and I hope you get grilling soon! 🙂
I need a grill so bad!! This is making me seriously want to buy one but we’re waiting until after we move into the house. Once I do, this is definitely happening!
You’ll be moved in with that grill in no time! 🙂
I love everything about this salad. Looks incredible!!
Thank you Balvinder!
This looks like a superb salad Marcie. I simply love sweet potatoes with vinaigrette and that addition of maple syrup to it is tempting me to make some for my lunch today!
Thank you so much Neha!
I totally agree! When I treat myself to bacon, I go big or go home! This salad looks delicious Marcie. Thanks for the tips on grilling sweet potato. Definitely need to try it some time!
I’m glad I’m not the only one! haha Thanks Leanne!
Looks so delicious!!
Thank you so much!
This salad is making my mouth water! So many yummy ingredients!
Thank you Zainab!