Kale, Sweet Potato & Bacon Salad
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An easy moreish dinner idea with kale, sweet potato, bacon and more – throw it together and enjoy
A recipe like this is simple, yet so incredibly delicious.
Salad anyone?
This is the first salad recipe I have published in the 10+ years of running my blog, but I am only posting it because of the demand. I posted a story for this salad on my instagram a while ago and I can’t cope with the amount of you asking for it – so here you are. This recipe is simple but delicious, and I make it so many times on such a regular basis.
It’s got a balance of sweet, salty, crunchy and soft – but also is incredible when served hot, warm, or even cold – and, like all salads, is adaptable to what you prefer. With a savoury recipe like this, you can adapt and change it (notes in each section below with tips for that), but honestly, I make it basically weekly now as written and you will love it too.
Sweet potato and more
I always start making this recipe by roasting off the sweet potato. I chop up the sweet potato into inch sized cubes, and add them to a baking/roasting tray. I drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle on some smoked paprika and some dried thyme – because these are particular flavours that I like. You can swap these up to whatever flavours you like to add to potatoes, or even just leave it as salt and pepper – roast these for about 10 minutes
After about ten minutes, I add on some slightly chopped up red onion – I tend to cut these into about 6 bits each as they do break down more themselves in the oven and as you mix the ingredients about. Another little drizzle of oil and salt and pepper, and the first drizzle of honey, but again, these are optional or changeable. Roast for another 20 minutes, making sure to mix things up half way through
After the red onion has been in for 2 minutes, and as long as my sweet potato is basically cooked through, I also add in some tender stem broccoli, partly because it’s probably my favourite vegetable, but I love the most green I can get in a salad, and I timing wise it works to add it towards the end as it doesn’t need long at all
Kale
I wanted to use kale as the base of this salad, in terms of the ‘green’ because I adore it. I often make salads with various types of lettuce leaves, or anything similar such as rocket and spinach, but I adore kale that has been roasted in the oven and become a little crunchy. As the rest of the salad is a ‘roasted’ style salad, it works to use the kale because it needs the oven time (in my opinion)
I tend to add the kale to the top of the tray (you do need a large tray), but the kale does quickly cook down and reduce in volume after it’s gone into the oven. It only needs about 2-3 minutes, before it starts to catch, but usually it’s enough to cook the kale to an al dente texture that I love.
Bacon
Whilst everything is in its various stages of cooking in the oven, I prep my bacon. You can do this on the tray, but I find there is much better control to prep and cook the bacon separately, so that you can make it delicious crispy, and the perfect bacon.
I add my bacon lardons to a dry pan, and heat over a medium-high heat so that the fat can render, but also the bacon has become crispy. When the bacon is 90% cooked, I drizzle over a little honey and cook a little more so the bacon becomes sticky, delicious and heavenly.
Serving the salad
I usually just tip all of the contents of the tray into a large bowl, and then sprinkle the bacon bits on top. Usually everything is seasoned enough at this point, so the only extra that I add now is a drizzle of a thick balsamic glaze, because I adore it and it works wonders with the rest of the recipe.
As mentioned above, this recipe is delicious when served hot out of the oven, or even slightly lukewarm warm, or when it has cooled completely. It’s entirely up to you. It makes a delicious main course, and can likely serve 4, or you can have it as a side – really how much it feeds depends on appetites of those involved.
There are various other toppings you can add that I have seen on other recipes such as sprinkled on cheeses such as crumbled feta, some chopped nuts such as cashews or almonds, or whatever you want.
Swaps and changes
- Kale – collard greens are a good substitute, but also just any chopped lettuce will work if you don’t want to roast any greens.
- Sweet potatoes – you can swap to regular potatoes, or chopped up new potatoes
- Bacon – can be left out, or swapped to another meat like gammon or similar. Chicken is also good too.
- Red onion – white onion works as well, but shallots would be my swap preference
- Honey – maple syrup is a good substitute
- Broccoli – you can use regular broccoli over tender stem, or swap to something else such as asparagus
Kale, Sweet Potato & Bacon Salad
Ingredients
- 1-2 sweet potatoes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper
- 1-2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1-2 tsp dried thyme
- 2 red onions
- 1-2 tbsp honey
- 200 g tenderstem broccoli
- 200-250 g kale
- 200 g bacon lardons
- balsamic glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220c/200ºc fan and grab a large tray (if your oven runs hot, the temp may need lowering towards the end of cooking)
- Chop up the sweet potato into inch sized cubes and sprinkle on the salt and pepper, paprika, thyme and some olive oil and mix
- Tip onto the tray and roast for ten minutes
- Then, add the chopped up red onions, a little more salt and pepper and a drizzle of honey
- Roast for 15-20 minutes, turning everything part of the way through
- Whilst everything is roasting, add the bacon lardons to a dry pan and cook over a medium-high heat, until turning crispy
- Towards the end, drizzle on a little honey and finish cooking. Take off the heat until serving
- Once the sweet potatoes are nearly finished cooking, add the broccoli to the tray for ten minutes.
- Sprinkle on the kale, on top of everything, and roast for 2-3 minutes. Add a little more oil before this, if needed.
- Once everything is roasted, tip into a large serving bowl, and sprinkle on the cooked bacon.
- Drizzle on some balsamic glaze and serve
Notes
- See notes for swaps and changes
- This recipe is just a guide - change flavours/seasonings to what you prefer
- Serve hot, warm, or cold
Enjoy!
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