Okay, I’ll admit I just made this salad as a vehicle for the lime crema. It’s all about the crema. This stuff is seriously life changing and I haven’t been able to stop making it since my first batch. So, I just threw together a bunch of my other favorite ingredients, all of which happened to make a beautiful natural rainbow of colors, and ended up with this Roasted Sweet Potato Rainbow Salad (…with lime crema).
Meal Prep Ready!
This salad is great for meal prepping for the week. Just mix together the salad ingredients, but add the dressing each day as needed. You can top it with some grilled or rotisserie chicken, maybe roll it all together inside a tortilla, and you’re good to go! Another fun add-in that I thought about (but opted out of in favor of keeping things simple) is crushed up tortilla chips or tortilla strips. I think that crunch would be a really fun addition. And of course you could always add a bit of avocado or sliced jalapeños if that’s your jam.
Use Roasted Frozen Corn for Even More Flavor
Oh, also, if you have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s in your area, you can make this salad even easier. They both sell frozen roasted corn, which you can use instead of my skillet charred corn. I went the budget route and made my own this time, but the pre-roasted frozen corn is seriously awesome (I think it’s usually cheaper at TJ’s than WF).
How to Store Roasted Sweet Potato Rainbow Salad
The “rainbow” ingredients of this salad should store well, even once stirred together, but I suggest leaving the crema off until just before serving.
Goes great with: Baked Beef & Black Bean Tacos, Chipotle Portobello Oven Fajitas, Cilantro Lime Drumsticks, Weeknight Enchiladas.
Roasted Sweet Potato Rainbow Salad with Lime Crema
Servings 6 1.33 cups eachIngredients
LIME CREMA
- 8 oz. sour cream ($1.00)
- 1 fresh lime ($0.50)
- 1 small clove garlic, minced ($0.08)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
ROASTED SWEET POTATOES
- 1.5 lb. sweet potatoes ($1.57)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- 1 tsp ground cumin ($0.10)
- Salt to taste ($0.02)
BLACKENED CORN
- 1 lb. frozen corn kernels, thawed ($1.49)
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.08)
- Salt to taste ($0.02)
SALAD
- 1 15oz. can black beans ( $0.99)
- 1 red bell pepper ($1.50)
- 1/4 red onion* ($0.25)
- 1/4 bunch fresh cilantro ($0.23)
Instructions
- If you haven’t yet, take the corn out of the freezer and allow it to begin thawing. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Peel the sweet potatoes, then cut them into a small dice (1/4-1/2 inch cubes). Place the cubes on a baking sheet, drizzle with cooking oil, cumin, and a pinch or two of salt. Toss the sweet potato cubes until they are all coated in oil and spices. Roast the sweet potatoes for about 30 minutes, or until they are soft and slightly browned on the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
- While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the lime crema. Use a small-holed cheese grater or a zester to remove the thin layer of green zest from the lime. Add about 1 tsp of the zest and 1 Tbsp of the lime juice to the sour cream, along with the minced clove of garlic and 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust the lime juice as desired. Refrigerate the crema until ready to use.
- Heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add the thawed corn and let cook until the corn is blistered and charred on the edges. Avoid stirring too often to allow it to blacken a bit. Let the corn cool slightly.
- Finely dice the red bell pepper and red onion. Rinse and drain the black beans. Pull the cilantro leaves from their stems and then roughly chop.
- Combine the roasted sweet potatoes, blackened corn, black beans, red bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro in a large dish. Stir to combine. Add some of the lime crema and toss until the salad is lightly coated. Add a little more lime crema on top just before serving.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
How To Make Rainbow Sweet Potato Salad – Step by Step Photos
If you haven’t already, take one pound of frozen corn kernels out of the freezer to thaw. If you are planning on charring them in a skillet like I did, they need to be completely thawed. Also, preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Peel and dice about 1.5 lbs. sweet potatoes (that was two small sweet potatoes for me, or one really large one). Place them on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 Tbsp of cooking oil. Sprinkle 1 tsp cumin on top and a pinch or two of salt. Toss until all the sweet potatoes are coating in oil and spices.
Roast the sweet potatoes in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until they are soft and slightly brown on the edges. Total cooking time will depend on how small you cut them, so be mindful. Let them cool slightly.
While the sweet potatoes are roasting, prepare the lime crema. Zest one fresh lime (I use a small-holed cheese grater). Add about 1 tsp of the zest and 1 Tbsp of the lime juice to an 8oz. tub of sour cream. Also add one small clove of garlic (minced) and about 1/4 tsp salt. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust the lime juice as you see fit. Refrigerate the crema until ready to use.
If you’re not using frozen corn that came pre-roasted, heat a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil and swirl to coat the surface of the skillet. Add the thawed corn kernels and let them cook until browned and blistered on the edges. Avoid stirring too often as this won’t allow the corn time to blacken. Season with a pinch or two of salt and let the corn cool slightly.
Drain and rinse a 15oz. can of black beans. Finely dice one red bell pepper and 1/4 of a red onion. Pull the leaves from 1/4 bunch of cilantro, and give them a rough chop. Combine the roasted sweet potatoes, charred corn, black beans, red bell pepper, red onion, and cilantro in a large bowl or dish.
Stir the salad ingredients to combine. If you’re meal prepping this salad, refrigerate it just like this without the dressing. If you’re going to serve it, add some of the crema, then stir until there is a light coating over the whole salad. Add more crema to the top of each serving. That pop of tart lime is more noticeable when you have some drizzled on top in addition to the light coating.
And that’s it! This Roasted Sweet Potato Rainbow Salad is SUPER FRESH. 💯
Made this last night and loved it. Threw in another can of black beans, since I happened to have two. This was the perfect recipe for this time of year — not a heavy casserole, not a typical salad — just filling, fresh and healthy!
It won’t let me rate the recipe but I’m saying 5*****
I made this last night and filled flour tortillas with it. It’s a total winner and I ate another one for breakfast this morning – can’t get enough! This is going in my regular rotation for easy work dinners. That crema…. !!!
This recipe was a total winner. Ate it with some grilled chicken breast (used some TJ pre-marinated chicken grilled on the Foreman grill), it was awesome. The leftovers make a great work lunch. I’m definitely going to make this again.
If I’m using TJ’s roasted corn, do I still cook it up on the stove top. Obviously, It won’t need to get charred, but do I still cook it. I”ll rate this recipe, once its done! :)
I made this with the TJ roasted corn and just defrosted it, did not cook it. Tasted amazing!
I did end up cooking it a little bit, but won’t do it again… I put a little oil in the pan as well. It is truly delicious. Thanks Erica!
Nope, you won’t need to cook it, just make sure it’s thawed. :)
This looks awesome. I’m making it tomorrow. No wait, TODAY!!!!!!!! Yum. I can’t wait. I think I’ll add a little cumin for more southwest flavor. Thank you. I’m always looking for ideas like this.
To save dirtying another pan, , could you roast the sweet corn in the oven at the same time/temp as the sweet potatoes?
I’ve tried roasting frozen corn in the oven before and it got quite dry before it ever got any brown color and was not very appetizing. So, I tried it in a skillet instead and it stayed nice and juicy.
Oooooh! This looks so awesome! Thanks!
This is awesome. My only complaint was that the red onion was too much. Then I reread the recipe. :P DON’T USE A WHOLE RED ONION!
Other than that, we love it!
You should try soaking, then rinsing the onion in really cold water… gets a bit of that bite out since I know raw onion can be too much for some people ;o)
I also thought the onion was strong and I did only use a quarter of an onion. I’m just not a raw onion fan. Next time I might saute the onion with the corn.
It looks lovely!!! I’ll definitely be giving this a try, but I’ll have to sub out the peppers for tomatoes because I can’t stand peppers but I also don’t want to lose the red colour.
I just made this. Honestly, it didn’t look that like anything special. But I figured rather than try to find the ‘perfect’ recipe I’d just try what was immediately there. And boy am I glad I did! We loved it. Even our daughters, 10 and 9, loved it!
If you didn’t know the ingredients, you might not guess them. The lime and garlic and cumin interact in a wonderful way in this dish.
We’re not vegetarians but are happy to enjoy vegetarian dishes that are delicious, and this fits the bill. We’ll make it again!
This looks so delicious and vibrant!
Love this! So pretty and enticing. I’m ready for bright and colorful spring and summer dishes. That lime crema looks off the hook!
That looks so good! It’s very similar to my favorite burrito filling, so I’m sure I’ll love it.
This looks delicious!
Do you think the crema would still work if I used plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream?
I was wondering the same thing!
I would say absolutely! I have been substituting whole fat Greek yogurt for sour cream in 100% of my recipes for the last 5 years or so. They’re super duper similar, I just happen to always have Greek yogurt on hand and sour cream would require a special purchase.
I was just thinking of doing that as well. Greek yogurt will still give that creamy-ness that people crave with sour cream, plus it is a lot healthier for you and packs some protein! I’m definitely going to substitute out the sour cream for greek yogurt.
This looks great and would be delicious with some cojita! If you ever want to take the crema over the top add in some canned chipotle peppers in adobo and you have a spicy/tangy sauce that is amazinggg.