Southwestern Kale Power Salad
Healthy kale and quinoa power salad with spicy sweet potato, black beans and creamy avocado sauce. This gluten-free salad packs well for lunch, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 29, 2024
This hearty salad features a few of my all-time favorite ingredients. Here we have massaged kale, quinoa, spiced sweet potatoes, and black beans served with a dollop of creamy avocado sauce. I added crumbled feta and toasted pepitas for good measure.
I’d cook with only these ingredients if it weren’t for diversity’s sake. This texture-rich vegetarian salad packs great for lunch. If you like to meal prep for the week, this is an excellent candidate. Given the number of components, this is not the quickest recipe around, but it’s absolutely work the effort.
This recipe has been a reader favorite since it was originally published in 2015 (really, nine years ago?). I developed it during a month-long stay in Austin, Texas with my friend Ali. You could probably say that the Southwestern vibes influenced the recipe.
Today, this salad is getting fresh photos and some slight revisions. Enjoy!
How to Make This Power Salad
You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s a brief rundown with notes and video.
- Cook the quinoa. The recipe uses my foolproof method of cooking quinoa, which will differ from the instructions on your bag. You can make the quinoa a day in advance, if you’d like.
- Cook the sweet potatoes in a skillet. I love roasted sweet potatoes, but these sweet potatoes are cut quite small, so the skillet method is ideal. We’ll add a little bit of water, cover and let them steam until tender, then uncover and cook them until they’re caramelized on the edges.
- Massage and dress the kale. Massaging the kale (literally just scrunching it in your hands until it’s darker and softer) removes all the poky edges and improves the flavor. Then we’ll whisk together a simple olive oil and lime dressing, and toss to coat.
- Make the avocado sauce. Combine the ingredients in a food processor and blend. Add more lime juice, if you’d like. The sauce should be nicely tart, but not overwhelmingly so.
- Toast the pepitas in a skillet. Freshly-toasted pepitas taste amazing and are totally worth the extra few minutes. Keep an eye on the skillet, as it’s easy to turn on the heat and forget until they’re too toasty.
- Assemble! Divide the components between bowls as shown, and enjoy.
Watch How to Make Southwestern Kale Power Salad
More Sweet Potato and Kale Recipes
- Coconut Curried Kale and Sweet Potato
- Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potato, Kale & Pesto Vinaigrette
- Spicy Sweet Potato and Green Rice Burrito Bowls
- Sweet Potato & Black Bean Tacos with Avocado Pepita Dip
- Sweet Potato, Kale and Chickpea Soup
Please let me know how this recipe turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Southwestern Kale Power Salad with Sweet Potato, Quinoa & Avocado Sauce
Healthy kale and quinoa power salad with spicy sweet potato, black beans and creamy avocado sauce. If your lime are particularly big, scale back. This gluten-free, vegetarian (easily vegan) salad packs well for lunch, too! Recipe yields 4 generous salads or 6 medium.
Ingredients
Quinoa and kale
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 bunch kale, ribs removed and chopped into very small, bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium lime, juiced
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
Sweet potatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 ½ pounds), sliced into small, ¼-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
Avocado sauce
- 2 ripe avocados, sliced into long strips
- ¼ cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
- 1 medium jalapeño, deseeded, membranes removed and roughly chopped
- 1 handful cilantro leaves
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander, optional
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt, to taste
Everything else
- 1 can (14 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained, or 1 ½ cups cooked black beans
- ⅓ cup crumbled feta
- ¼ cup pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
Instructions
- To cook the quinoa: First, rinse the quinoa in a fine mesh colander under running water for a minute or two. In a medium-sized pot, combine the rinsed quinoa and 2 cups water. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then cover the pot, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from heat and let it rest, still covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot, drain off any excess water and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Set it aside to cool.
- To cook the sweet potatoes: In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped sweet potatoes and toss to coat, then add the cumin, smoked paprika and salt. Stir to combine. Once the pan is sizzling, add a scant ¼ cup water, then cover the pan and reduce heat to low to avoid burning the contents. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is easily pierced through with a fork, about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Uncover the pan, raise the heat back to medium and cook until the excess moisture has evaporated and the sweet potatoes are caramelizing on the edges, about 3 to 7 minutes (add another little splash of olive oil if the potatoes start sticking to the pan). Set aside to cool.
- To prepare the kale: Transfer the kale to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the chopped kale with salt and use your hands to “massage” it, which improves the flavor. Just grab handfuls of kale in your hands and scrunch it up in your palms. Repeat until the kale is darker green in color and more fragrant. Whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, the juice of 1 lime and ½ teaspoon salt. Drizzle over the kale and toss to coat.
- To make the avocado sauce: Combine the ingredients as listed in a food processor or blender. Blend well, add more lime juice if desired, and season with salt, to taste.
- To toast the pepitas: In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast the pepitas, stirring frequently, until they are turning lightly golden on the edges and starting to make little popping noises, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Once the quinoa has cooled down a bit, pour it into the bowl of kale and toss to combine. Divide the kale and quinoa mixture into four large salad bowls. Top with sweet potatoes, black beans, a big dollop of avocado sauce, and a sprinkle of feta and pepitas.
Notes
Make it dairy free/vegan: Omit the feta.
Storage suggestions: This salad keeps well, covered and refrigerated, for a few days. To keep the avocado sauce from browning, store it separately in a small bowl—either press plastic wrap against the top surface or add a wedge of raw onion.
Change it up: Butternut squash or carrots would be good substitutions for the sweet potatoes.
Edits January 11, 2024: Adjusted avocado sauce by omitting 2 tablespoons olive oil (unnecessary), decreasing the salt for the sweet potatoes from 1 ½ teaspoons to ½ teaspoon, and specifying the amounts of lime juice and salt.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
This is one of my favorite vegetarian recipes, I’ve been making it for a year now!
Hooray, thanks Rosie!
My daughter has a knack for finding amazing recipes and she follows them exactly. M The only variation was skipping the feta and substituting Anaheim pepper for jalapeño. It was SO fantastic! My son who we are trying to edge towards healthier foods went back for seconds and I caught him eating leftovers the next morning, by noon the next day it was gone so we did a repeat that very next night – we’ve never done that before. Thanks for sharing your creativity Kate. Wow, we loved it.
I’m glad you found this one! I appreciate you taking the time to review, Deborah.
This recipe was so good. I added grilled onions. My husband loved it.
Thank you, Nicole! Glad to hear it.
I just moved to San Jose with my husband and was so excited to be able to make a dinner that both he and I would enjoy (being a vegetarian while he is a meat eater means that we often have two separate dishes). I mention moving because I don’t have a job yet which allows me to get excited about having a little more time to be domestic!
Everything was delish, especially the sweet potato component. Thank you for breaking down the sauteeing and simmering time for the potatoes. I actually used the light colored sweet potatoes, but it looks like you might have used yams. Either one would taste great. Thanks for the massage trick as well. The pepitas gave it that needed crunch. I will make this again!
Thanks, Shana! I’m so glad this did the trick for both of you. San Jose sounds lovely, hope you’re enjoying it!
This will be dinner tonight for sure! I love massaged kale and the rest of the salad just sounds too delish! BTW, you are a hoot! I finally know how to describe my terrible dancing. I am excellent free-form wiggler! You are the best! Thanks for the inspired recipe.
Made this for myself to have for the week. Except my husband and boys (ages 10 & 8) who are the steak and cheese and meatball sub lovers – all ate it up! Now they do like their share of veggies but this was a first – stealing my salad?! So much flavor and texture and yumminess. We ALL loved it – thank you for a great recipe idea!
*forgot the 5 star review (see above)…I hope I hid the small bowl of leftovers well enough so only I can find them…
Wow!! this was so delicious and easy to make! And so filling, can’t wait to have the leftovers tomorrow…thanks
I made this for dinner tonight. It took me a bit longer than 40 minutes but it was SO worth it!!! It was super delicious and filling. One of the best veggie dishes I’ve made. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Kate, I made this last night and it was so delicious! I’ve had to cut out dairy and soy because I’m nursing my baby and he has allergies and your website has really saved my life! Thank you for sharing all of your great recipes.
I added 1/2 tsp chili powder to the sweet potatoes but otherwise cooked as directed and they were SO good that I literally dreamed about them last night after we had this salad for dinner!! Lol. Definitely using this technique to cook sweet potatoes from now on and putting them on top of everything…
Both dressings were a little too limey for my taste–maybe my limes were just big? Will cut back a bit on the lime juice next time.
Absolutely delicious! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
You’re welcome! Happy you enjoyed it, Chloe.
My husband and I did turn vegetarian. We loved this dish! (We love dogs too! )
Yes to all of this!!
Love this recipe!! have made it twice now! So yummy and satisfying (and easy to make!)
I love this salad. It is incredibly hearty, with a wonderful mix of flavors and textures. The only drawback is that it takes me about an hour to prep. There are so many steps! I would love a more streamlined set of directions.
I’m glad you enjoy the salad, Cheri! I’m not sure how to further streamline the instructions, other than to call for cooked quinoa and send you searching for instructions on how to cook it (I don’t like to do that).
This was delicious
This was so delicious and left me feeling the perfect amount of full! The avocado sauce is so delicious and because of the lime it kept well for leftovers the next day.
Yet another winner from your site! Thanks!
Hi Kate! I love your recipes! I am making this tonight for friends who are vegan. Although I probably won’t hear back til after the fact, when you say it makes enough for 4 is this as the main dish? We’re big eaters so I may just double it and have enough for leftovers. Would roasting the sweet potatoes taste the same?
Hi, Liz! I think four is a good amount, but if it’s a party entree, I’d double it just in case. People tend to eat more in groups! And yes, I think roasting the sweet potatoes would be a fine swap. :)
Wonderful and very satisfying!
Perfect!
Another wonderful recipe… Tried this one tonight and loved it. Thank you!
Great! Thanks, Julie!
Delicious! I’ve made many of your recipes but this was the best one yet. I also added tomatoes to the kale which added some color.
Tomatoes sound perfect for a little bit of juicy sweetness, Jessie. Thanks!
Hi Kate! Love your salads!!!
Made this one at home & about to do it at work. I sauteed some onion & garlic & wok tossed the black beans with chopped chipotle chiles. Amazing!
Caro
That sounds absolutely delicious, Caro!
Made this last night and we LOVED it, even though I was out of black beans. Can’t wait to make it again with the beans! Definitely going into the rotation, that avocado sauce is dynamite!
I love that avocado sauce, too! Thanks again, Eve.
This is so delicious!!!
Thanks, Amie!
This is one of my go to recipes! I love the textures mixing together. My husband won’t usually eat sweet potatoes either, but he will eat them cooked the way this recipe calls for. So I always cube and simmer my SPs now! Thank you Kate!!
Great! I’m so glad you found a technique that works for him. Life is just better with sweet potatoes in it. :)
I just love this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome!
I made this recipe this weekend, and wow, it was super involved! It took way longer than 40 minutes to prep /make everything. Maybe it’s just me who is super slow at cutting up sweet potatoes? I also roasted them, which took about 15 minutes. Also clean up took like 30 minutes since I had dirtied almost all my bowls / salad spinner / food processor.
However, the salad was delicious! Will I make it every week? No. Will I make it again when I want avocado sauce and a southwestern quinoa salad? Yes!! The avocado sauce was delicious and definitely my favorite part of the meal. I think next time I would spice the black beans a bit instead of just adding them plain. Maybe if I ever have leftover roasted chickpeas, I could add those in addition (or instead of pepitas or sweet potatoes) to the salad, since I often flavor those with a southwestern spice. The trick of massaging the kale also worked super well and was a great great great tip for kale salds, which have never been my favorite.
Thank you for this recipe!
Yes, this one can be a bit labor-intensive. I’m glad it was worth the work, though!
loved loved the kale sweet potato recipe. Was asked to share it 7 times. trying the thai cabbage rolls today. thank you
Thanks so much, Krista! Let me know how those rolls work out.
This looks amazing. I practice EODD (Every Other Day Diet) and collect 400-500 calorie recipes. Do you have a calorie count for one serving of this salad? Or maybe a suggestion for a website (I can enter the ingredients and calculate myself)?
Hi, Cheryl! Unfortunately, I don’t have nutritional info available for my recipes just yet. I’m looking for a solution, and will update about it once I find one. In the meantime, here’s a nutrition calculator that might come in handy.
The nutrition information that you posted that shows over 800 calories, is that for the entire salad or just 1 serving? Thank you!
Hi Lauren, it is an estimate for amount per serving as noted. Again, this is just an estimate. Please see my nutritional disclaimer here: Nutrition Disclaimer. Hope this helps. Thanks!
Hi there – thanks for your recipes. This was my first venture into quinoa and your cooking tips were invaluable. One problem – there was way too much lime juice for the quantities. I guess it somewhat depends on how large your limes are and perhaps it will teach me to taste more as I go. I liked that method of cooking sweet potato – could have taken a lot more spice for my taste. With some yogurt added to the avocado sauce I think that could be quite nice. All in all, a colourful dish and one I might repeat bits of, with tweaks. Again, my thanks, gill
Feel free to adjust the lime and spice quantities to your tastes, Gill!
My family loved this salad, it looked nothing like the pictures because I mixed everything together!! One big green mess!! It was yummy. I did roast the kale with olive oil and then put it into the salad. I would make it again. Thanks for the recipe.
You’re welcome, Katharine!
Made this recipe and will make again but I’ll substitute the kale with something else. I love the guacamole sauce I put that on my veggie burger and yumm so good!!!
Yes, please feel free to swap things out to your preferences. I love that sauce, too! Delicious.
SO delicious! Kind of a salad/grain bowl hybrid. Don’t skip the smoked paprika; it takes it to a wonderful level.
This recipe is seriously AMAZING. I’m a huge fan of kale salad, and this is probably the best I’ve had. The combination of the flavors is perfect. It’s also a beautiful salad for fall. This will definitely become a staple for me! Thanks for sharing all of your recipes, Kate!
OMG, this looks simple and amazing. I think this is what I’m making for dinner tomorrow. Can’t wait to try it.
Let me know what you think once you try it, Yvette!
I tried that Southwestern Kale power salad with Quinoa and sweet potatoes with black beans and guacamole sauce. OMG!!! Pure heaven. My stepmom loved it too. After much research I found the recipes on your site will keep me on track and loving this new plant based diet. Such a life changing experience after being a die hard carnivore all my life. Belonging to a Texas hunter/gatherer first nations tribe I thought it would be impossible. Most vegetarian foods I had tried were bland and tasteless. Everything I have tried so far is amazing and this last one was the best so far. I’m on a roll here. Thanks Kate, your recipes are a taste of heaven,
big hugs for Cookie.
Fantastic! Thanks so much, Yvette. Happy to win over the family :)
I made this for lunch today and it was amazing. This will definitely become a regular. I wouldn’t have thought to combine avocado the sweet potato and butternut squash (I used both), but the result was a delicious blend of flavors and textures. Love it! Thanks for the great recipe.
Sounds like a great lunch! I think I need to bring this into my rotation for lunch. You are welcome, Meredith! Thank you for stopping to leave a comment and review.
This bowl was easy to make, delicious, and filling! It was awesome for packing for lunch! When I went to the grocery store the avocados were rock hard, so i substituted greek yogurt for avocado and it worked well! I later made the avocado sauce with avocados and it was delicious!!
Yay, Meghan! I’m so glad you loved it. And thank you for the comment and review!
This salad is amaaaaazing!!! I’ve made it several times and it is absolutely perfect for a nutrition-packed, super filling, and super flavorful lunch/dinner. Honestly I make a big batch and have it for both lunch and dinner, and I still haven’t gotten tired of it. The sweet potatoes turn out really nicely and add a perfectly sweet taste to this savory salad! Chopping the sweet potatoes and fresh kale takes a little while if you’re just an amateur-ish chopper like I am, but it’s so worth it!
One of my favourite salad recipes! Absolutely delicious, and so pretty with the bright dressing, too! This got my friend and I through many a long day spent on our dissertations. Thanks Kate :)
P.S. have you tried it with chickpeas? I wasn’t sure how the dressing would go, but I know they go well with kale and sweet potato!
I haven’t tried it with chickpeas but let me know what you think! Thanks Nat for your feedback and review.
Amazing flavor!!! I tossed everything together except for the Avocado Sauce rather than putting ingredients on each plate. It makes a ton and is definitely a create entree salad.
That works too, Liz! Thank you for your review.
OMG. This recipe is AMAZING. THANK YOU for this!!!!
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed them so much.
I loved the quinoa fresh fragrance when I added sage and fresh basil chopped from my garden during the simmering period. I sautéed the Kale with a touch of garlic and sesame oil to combine for a hot side dish with Salmon.*****
Fresh herbs, the best! Thanks for sharing, Leiellen. I appreciate the review!
This recipe is so good. It’s a weekly staple. I roast my sweet potatoes at 400 for about 20-40min (depending how small I dice them). Thanks for this mouth watering genius!
You’re welcome! Thank you for your review.
This is hands down one of the best salads I’ve ever eaten. I meal prep every Sunday. I waited to add the avocado mixture until the morning of. This salad was fantastic every day. I even had a couple guys at work taste it. They were blown away. Delicious!
I love that you meal prep every Sunday. Go you! Thanks for sharing. Jaylee.
I have not yet prepared this but it looks like it will be about 780 calories per serving if it makes 4 servings as the recipe states. That’s more than have of my daily calories. Is that accurate?
Hi Jean, Please reference my nutrition disclaimer page to help answer your questions. https://sooka.info/nutrition-disclaimer/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I tried this salad last night and loved it. It took awhile to put everything together but it was well worth it.
I’m happy to hear that, Patty!
Beautiful. Tasty. Feel-good recipe. I’ve been making this for several years and still my favorite for quick and healthy meal.
Great to hear, teri! Thanks so much for your comment. If you would want to leave a star review, I would appreciate it.
We made this last night for dinner. IT WAS AMAZING! I am absolutely in love with your recipes! This is the second recipe I have tried.
You’re so sweet, Dani! Thanks for commenting.
This story is amazing. I love it. And the ingredients in this recipe are my favorite superfoods. I’m making this stat. Maybe it will turn my bad week around too.
Thanks so much, Sera!
This is my favorite salad recipe of all time. When I make it, I have to make a triple batch because so many of my friends love it too. Pretty sure the avocado dressing would make anything taste great!
Triple batch?! That’s great Kris. Thank you for your review!
Has this recipe changed? I could swear the avocado sauce used to include natural yoghurt, or maybe I’m just going loopy…
I haven’t touched this recipe in awhile! I’m not sure. Yogurt would be interesting. :)