Mohamed Shili Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad is a rustic, healthy Mediterranean-style dish that focuses on simple, high-quality ingredients. By roasting the sweet potatoes whole and tearing them apart, you get a beautiful mix of caramelized edges and soft, fluffy centers that soak up the tomato juices.
Approach B: If you do nothing else, resist the urge to chop the sweet potatoes before roasting. Baking them whole in their skins for the full hour steams the flesh perfectly and intensifies the sweetness. Tearing them by hand afterward creates more surface area for the red wine vinegar and olive oil to cling to, making every bite more flavorful than a standard cubed salad.
The rocket (arugula) is doing more work than you’d think here. Its peppery bite is the perfect counter to the sweet, soft potatoes and the salty feta. This is one of those brilliant Jamie-style meals that looks like a mess on the plate but tastes like a five-star lunch. I love making this on a Saturday when I can just pop the potatoes in the oven and forget about them while I prep the rest.
Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad Ingredients
- 2 large sweet potatoes (approx. 300g each)
- 500g ripe mixed-colour tomatoes
- 4 spring onions
- 50g rocket (arugula)
- 40g feta cheese
- 1 tbsp olive oil (plus 1 tsp for finishing)
- 1 splash red wine vinegar
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
How To Make Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad
- 1. Preheat and Prep Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 180°C. Give the sweet potatoes a good wash and a scrub to remove any grit, then place them whole on a baking tray.
- 2. Bake the Potatoes: Put the tray in the oven and bake for 1 hour. You’ll know they’re ready when the skins are slightly wrinkled and a knife slides into the center with absolutely no resistance.
- 3. Prepare Tomato Mix: While the potatoes are roasting, roughly chop the tomatoes (different shapes and sizes make it look better) and thinly slice the spring onions. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let this sit so the tomatoes release their juices.
- 4. Assemble the Salad: Once the potatoes are soft, remove them from the oven. Carefully tear or smash them into large, rustic chunks and divide them between two plates.
- 5. Add Toppings: Gently toss the rocket into the tomato and onion mixture. Pile this over the hot sweet potatoes, ensuring the tomato juices run down into the flesh. Crumble the feta cheese over the top, finish with a final drizzle of olive oil, and a good crack of black pepper.
Recipe Tips
- Tomato Selection: Use “mixed-colour” tomatoes if you can find them. The yellow and orange varieties are often sweeter, while the red ones provide that classic acidity.
- Don’t Peel: The skins of roasted sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients and have a lovely, chewy texture. Keep them on for that authentic “Jamie” rustic look.
- The “Wait” Period: Let the tomatoes marinate in the vinegar and oil for at least 15 minutes. This creates a “natural dressing” that is far better than anything you can pour out of a bottle.
- Temperature Contrast: This salad is best when the potatoes are still warm but the tomatoes and rocket are cold. That hot-and-cold contrast is what makes the dish feel fresh.
What To Serve With Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad
This Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad is quite filling on its own for a vegetarian lunch, but it also works well with:
- Grilled Chicken or Fish: The lemon and herb flavors of grilled sea bass or chicken breasts pair perfectly with the sweet potato.
- Toasted Seeds: A handful of toasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds adds a much-needed crunch.
- Warm Flatbread: Great for mopping up the feta and tomato juices left on the plate.
How To Store Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad
- Fridge: This salad is best served fresh. However, you can roast the sweet potatoes ahead of time and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Avoid Soggy Leaves: If you are prepping this for a work lunch, keep the rocket and dressing separate from the tomatoes and potatoes until you are ready to eat.
Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad Nutrition Facts
Per serving (estimated for 2 servings):
| Nutrient | Amount |
| Calories | 410 kcal |
| Protein | 9g |
| Fat | 14g |
| Carbs | 62g |
| Fiber | 11g |
FAQs
Should the tubers be peeled for Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad?
For an authentic Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad, you should leave the skins on after scrubbing them clean. Roasting the wedges with the skin intact at 200°C adds a rustic texture and deep caramelized flavor that provides a much-needed “earthy” contrast to the bright dressing.
What defines the dressing in Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad?
The hallmark of a Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad is a “punchy” dressing, often featuring a mix of extra virgin olive oil, fresh chili, and lime juice or red wine vinegar. Jamie typically suggests “scrunching” fresh herbs like cilantro or mint into the dressing to bruise the leaves and release their aromatic oils.
Can I roast the components of Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad together?
Yes, to build depth in Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad, you can roast the sweet potatoes alongside red onions or even fresh red chilies on a large tray. Spreading them out in a single layer ensures they roast and “gnarl up” rather than steaming, which is vital for the salad’s structural integrity.
Is Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad served hot or cold?
While it can be eaten cold, a Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad is best served warm or at room temperature. Dressing the sweet potatoes while they are still slightly warm allows the porous flesh to soak up the vinaigrette, resulting in a much more flavorful and “moist” finished dish.
Check out More Recipes From Jamie Oliver:
- Jamie Oliver Meatloaf Recipe
- Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato And Leek Soup
- Jamie Oliver 30-Minute Tomato Soup Meal
Jamie Oliver Sweet Potato Salad
Description
Jamie Oliver’s Sweet Potato Salad is a gorgeous, rustic celebration of simple, whole ingredients. By baking sweet potatoes in their skins until meltingly soft and tearing them open, you create the perfect warm, sweet base. Piled high with a vibrant, cold salad of juicy mixed-color tomatoes, peppery rocket, and salty crumbled feta—all naturally dressed in their own juices and a splash of red wine vinegar—it delivers an incredible hot-and-cold temperature contrast that makes for a perfect vegetarian lunch or light dinner.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat and Prep Potatoes: Preheat your oven to 180°C. Give the sweet potatoes a good wash and a scrub to remove any grit, then place them whole on a baking tray.
- Bake the Potatoes: Put the tray in the oven and bake for 1 hour. You’ll know they’re ready when the skins are slightly wrinkled and a knife slides into the center with absolutely no resistance.
- Prepare Tomato Mix: While the potatoes are roasting, roughly chop the tomatoes (different shapes and sizes make it look better) and thinly slice the spring onions. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let this sit so the tomatoes release their juices.
- Assemble the Salad: Once the potatoes are soft, remove them from the oven. Carefully tear or smash them into large, rustic chunks and divide them between two plates.
- Add Toppings: Gently toss the rocket into the tomato and onion mixture. Pile this over the hot sweet potatoes, ensuring the tomato juices run down into the flesh. Crumble the feta cheese over the top, finish with a final drizzle of olive oil, and a good crack of black pepper.
Notes
-
Tomato Selection: Use “mixed-colour” tomatoes if you can find them. The yellow and orange varieties are often sweeter, while the red ones provide that classic acidity.
Don’t Peel: The skins of roasted sweet potatoes are packed with nutrients and have a lovely, chewy texture. Keep them on for that authentic “Jamie” rustic look.
The “Wait” Period: Let the tomatoes marinate in the vinegar and oil for at least 15 minutes. This creates a “natural dressing” that is far better than anything you can pour out of a bottle.
Temperature Contrast: This salad is best when the potatoes are still warm but the tomatoes and rocket are cold. That hot-and-cold contrast is what makes the dish feel fresh.
