Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans is crunchy & naturally sweet, with tangy lime added to create flavor balance. One of my faves that I serve year round!
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans is one of my favorite salads. It’s packed with goodness from of crunch from sweet apples, healthy celery, flavorful chopped pecans, and balanced with tangy lime juice. I usually make it for Shabbat lunch, and continue to nosh on the leftovers (if there are any!) until it’s gone! I’ve even made this salad as a healthier lunch option for during the week. It’s a great toss-some-in-a-bowl quick lunch with lots of nut-ricious ingredients.
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans – check out all the amazing ingredients!!!! It’s colorful and delicious!
Where Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans began
Many many years ago, in a faraway land called Chicago, a #Chicagogirl purchased a cookbook from a remote village called New York. This cookbook, called The New York Times Passover Cookbook, held wonders and Passover miracles in the form of amazing recipes that everyone could enjoy.Anyway…There was a recipe for Craig Claiborne’s Sweet Potato Salad. It’s one of my absolute favorite recipes from the book. I’ve been making it for over 20 years!
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans. Thanks Packnwood for this cute bamboo bowl!!!
Blast from the past on aish.com – Sweet Potato Salad with Lime Juice
All the way back in 2011, I was writing for the famous aish.com website. I modified the fabulous Sweet Potato Salad recipe for my post A July 4th Barbecue. It’s fun to go back and check out my old photos and posts that I wrote back then!
This was the photo I took of Sweet Potato Salad with Lime Juice on aish.com all the way back in 2011. Check out the festive background tablecloth!
What’s great is that, even though I’ve updated the recipe since 2011, the basics have still stood the test of time.
A great recipe will continue to be a great recipe through the years.
My modifications to Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans
The Sweet Potatoes
The original recipe was made with a pound and a half of sweet potatoes, I now use two pounds. I like the ratio a little better, however, sweet potatoes don’t always come in uniform sizes. My advice…don’t sweat the size. If the sweet potatoes you have end up between a pound and a half and two pounds, call it a day and walk away happy.
Sweet Potatoes come in all shapes and sizes. Once they’re cooked just slice and dice them!
The Mayonnaise
I’m one of those people that really does not like a lot of mayo in a salad, if any. My Light Lemony Potato Salad has absolutely no mayo at all.
A light lemony refreshing summer potato salad…with no mayo!
The original cookbook recipe called for a whopping whole cup of mayonnaise. It doesn’t even specify light mayo.
That’s a lot of mayo.
I’ve reduced the mayonnaise to 1/4 cup and specified light. I feel that Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans really does need a little bit of mayo to bind it together.
Given that, I think if you are completely anti-mayo you could probably leave it out all together and the salad would still be good.
A touch of Brown Sugar
After many years of making this recipe, I’ve found that sometimes sweet potatoes aren’t. Sweet that is. It’s a toss up. It may depend upon where the sweet potatoes are sourced from or what time of year you get them, but I’ve found…like everything else in the world, sweet potatoes can’t be relied upon to be consistent.For the times that I have not-so-sweet potatoes, I’ve added a quarter cup of light brown sugar. The light brown sugar also adds a little mapley flavor to the salad which is really delicious.If you’re on the “I hate sugar” committee, feel free to leave it out. I won’t come and check.
The Limes
Craig Claiborne specifies the juice of four limes. Sigh.You can buy four largeish limes and squeeze them. Them bottom line is that I often find limes at the produce store for 10 for $1. Buy a bunch to make sure that you have enough for a quarter cup total of juice.Use the rest sliced in ice water for a refreshing beverage if you have extra.
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans is super refreshing with fresh lime juice.
Here’s the recipe for Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans
I have said many times here in Kosher Everyday Land: You are the executive chef in your kitchen. Substitute ingredients according to your family’s needs. I promise I won’t come to your house to check! Feel free to alter this recipe according to your family’s tastes. Want more apples, add more apples. Hate pecans, switch to cashews or leave them out. Have a serious aversion to mayo…leave it out. Prefer lemon to lime juice, I wouldn’t recommend the switch but knock yourself out.
You get the point.
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans – feel free to make it according to your personal preferences.
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8-10 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
- Diet: Kosher
Description
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans is crunchy & naturally sweet, with tangy lime added to create flavor balance. One of my faves that I serve year round!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, around 2 large or 3 medium
- 2 large apples, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
- 6–ounces pecans, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup lime juice or the juice of 4 limes
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar (optional)
- 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
- Additional chopped pecans for garnish
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a pot with enough water to cover the potatoes. Cook for 20-30 minutes until fork tender.
- Remove from the water and let cool. You can put them in an ice bath to hasten the cooling process.
- Once the potatoes are cold, you can peel them, then cut into 1-inch cubes.
- Place the diced potatoes in a large bowl. Add the apples, celery, and pecans, then sprinkle with the lime juice.
- Stir in the light brown sugar (if using), then fold in the mayonnaise.
- Serve garnished with additional chopped pecans.
- Can be made up to a day ahead and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If making in advance, do not add the pecans until serving.
Equipment
Buy Now → 
Koziol Club Salad Serving Bowl, One Size, Transparent Emerald Green
Buy Now →
Prep Series Cutting Boards by Epicurean, 3 Piece, Natural
Buy Now →
Wusthof Grand Prix II Hollow Edge Santoku, 7 inches, Black
Buy Now →Notes
This recipe can be made plant based by substituting plant based mayonnaise or leaving the mayo out completely.
Feel free to alter this recipe according to your family’s tastes. Want more apples, add more apples. Hate pecans, switch to cashews or leave them out. Have a serious aversion to mayo…leave it out. Prefer lemon to lime juice, I wouldn’t recommend the switch but knock yourself out.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 247
- Sugar: 14.9 g
- Sodium: 112.5 mg
- Fat: 12.6 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 33.6 g
- Fiber: 5.8 g
- Protein: 3.2 g
- Cholesterol: 0.6 mg
Sweet Potato Salad with Apples and Pecans is one of my all time favorite salads!
Even More Super Salad Recipes
CHECK OUT THE KOSHER EVERYDAY AMAZON INFLUENCER STOREFRONT!
I’m excited to announce the launch of my brand, spankin’ new, Amazon Influencer storefront. The purpose of this store is to share with you all of my favorite tools, ingredients and accessories that I use on Kosher Everyday. If there’s something you’d like to see please let me know and I’ll make sure to add it. I’m updating the storefront all the time. You can find all the cool serving pieces that were shown above as well as other fabulous pieces in my Decorative Serving and Kitchen Items section.
You can find the Koziol Club Salad Serving Bowl on the Decorative Serving and Kitchen items section of my Amazon Influencer Shop!
You can find awesome Decorative Serving and Kitchen Items right here…. or just click the image.
I’d love to hear what you think!
FOLLOW ME!
Don’t forget to follow Kosher Everyday on Instagram @koshereveryday! and on Facebook You don’t want to miss all the fun and interesting posts and reels that can be found nowhere else!You can find reels showing how to make most of my recipes on Instagram!Also, make sure to tag @koshereveryday when you make Kosher Everyday recipes! I LOVE to see your creations!!!Please note that this post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your ongoing support!
How many servings does this make
Hi Zandra! I’m having some technical issues with my recipe program so it’s not displaying the number of servings that I enter. Thank you for your question – I put the number in manually. The truth is, it really depends on how big of a portion people are taking. If it’s a small appetizer salad then probably around 10 servings. If larger portions then probably around 8ish. I find that one recipe is great for a meal because I use it as a side salad with other dishes. Great question!!! Hope this helps! All the best, Sharon