Kumara and Potato Salad with Chicken

Forty-five minutes start to finish. Three things on one sheet. Warm kale salad that actually tastes like something.

Why You’ll Love This Kumara and Potato Salad

Roasted sweet potato with crispy edges and that specific soft-on-the-inside texture you want from a salad base. The prosciutto basically cooks into the kumara, so you get salt and savory mixed through everything. Kale gets massaged, stays chewy-not-limp. Works cold the next day, maybe better. One bowl for dressing. Chicken already cooked—just shred it and go. Takes 45 minutes if you’re moving. Walnuts stay crunchy for a while. Tastes like something that took forever but didn’t.

What You Need for Kumara and Potato Salad

Nine hundred grams of sweet potatoes. Peel them, cut them into chunks about half an inch. Doesn’t have to be perfect.

Prosciutto—a hundred and fifteen grams, diced small. It gets salty and crispy in the oven, which is the whole point.

Ground cumin. Five grams. Not a lot. Gives it depth without tasting like spice.

Kale. Three hundred grams, no stems. The leaves just get torn up. Olive oil goes in before heat, which sounds weird but massages it soft.

Cooked chicken breast. Two hundred and fifty grams shredded. Rotisserie works. Yesterday’s chicken works. Doesn’t matter.

Walnuts. Toasted. Thirty grams. Or more. They stay crunchy longer if they’re already toasted before you add them.

For the dressing: Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, honey, one shallot sliced thin. Sounds like a lot of components. It’s not. Five things. Mix them together.

How to Make Kumara and Potato Salad

Heat the oven to 220°C. Get a baking sheet lined with parchment—doesn’t matter if you don’t have parchment, but it helps.

Toss the kumara chunks with the diced prosciutto and cumin in a bowl. Salt it. Pepper it. Spread it flat on the sheet—single layer, things touching a little but not piled. Goes in for 20 minutes.

While that’s going, massage the kale. Sounds weird. Just means pour some olive oil over it and work it with your hands for a minute. Gets darker. Gets softer. Doesn’t cook yet.

How to Get the Kumara Crispy and the Kale Right

The sweet potato should have edges that are starting to brown at 10 minutes. Stir it then. Let it finish at 20. You’re looking for soft inside, slightly hardened outside—the color of caramelized honey in some spots.

Shred your chicken while that happens. Doesn’t need to be pretty. Just pull it apart.

At 20 minutes, pull the sheet out. Add the chicken right on top. The kale goes in for just 5 more minutes—if you put it in earlier it gets too soft and turns into nothing. Just needs to warm up and wilt slightly.

The dressing happens in a bowl while everything’s roasting. Whisk the yogurt, vinegar, mustard, and honey together. Stir in the shallot. Taste it. Fix it if it needs fixing. Some batches need more salt. Some need more honey. Depends.

Kumara Salad Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t crowd the baking sheet. Potatoes steam instead of roast. Space matters.

The prosciutto gets really salty when it cooks. If you hate salt, use less. Or skip it and use bacon. Probably better, actually.

Kale goes in last—this is important. Goes mushy if it’s in there the whole time. Five minutes. That’s it.

Shallot in the dressing is technically optional. Haven’t tried it without. Might work. Probably tastes flatter.

The yogurt breaks if you add heat after it’s in the dressing. Mix the dressing cold. Add it after things cool slightly. Or drizzle it warm and it’ll separate a little—still tastes fine but looks weird.

Walnuts can be swapped for pecans. Sunflower seeds work too but don’t get crispy the same way.

Kumara and Potato Salad with Chicken

By Emma Kitchen

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

20 min

Total:

45 min

Servings:

4 servings

Ingredients

• For the salad
• 900g sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 115g prosciutto, diced
• 5g ground cumin
• 300g kale, stems removed, leaves torn
• 20ml olive oil
• 250g cooked chicken breast, shredded
• 30g walnuts, toasted
• For the dressing
• 60ml Greek yogurt
• 20ml apple cider vinegar
• 20ml whole grain mustard
• 10ml honey
• 1 small shallot, finely sliced

Method

1. Roast the vegetables
2. 1 Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Arrange a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. 2 In a bowl, toss the sweet potatoes with the prosciutto and ground cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
4. 3 Spread the mixture on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until sweet potatoes are tender.
5. Prepare kale and chicken
6. 4 While the sweet potatoes roast, massage olive oil into the kale. Season with salt and pepper.
7. 5 Add the shredded chicken to the baking sheet and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
8. Make the dressing
9. 6 In a mixing bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, and honey. Stir in the sliced shallot. Season to taste.
10. Serve
11. 7 On a large platter, combine the roasted sweet potatoes, chicken, and kale. Drizzle with the dressing.
12. 8 Finish with toasted walnuts on top. Enjoy warm or let cool slightly.

Nutritional information

Calories

550

Protein

35g

Carbs

45g

Fat

30g

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Frequently Asked Questions About Sweet Potato Salad

Can I make this ahead? Yes. Roast everything, let it cool, store it in a container. Dressing separate. Mix it the next day. Actually tastes better cold—the flavors sit longer.

What if I don’t have prosciutto? Bacon does the job. Pancetta. Even just skip it and add more salt to the kumara. Won’t be the same but it works.

How long does it keep? Three days in the fridge easy. After that the kale gets too soft. Dressing stays longer if you keep it separate.

Can I use regular potato instead of sweet potato? White potato works. Russet gets mushier. Yukon Gold stays firmer. Not the same flavor though—sweet potato has something going on that regular potato doesn’t.

Is this warm or cold? Both. Tastes better warm—the chicken and kumara are actually warm, the kale is warm. Can eat it cold. Different thing. Still good.

Can I add more chicken? Sure. This isn’t precious. Double the chicken and it’s a real meal instead of a salad. Whatever you want.