Zucchini Sweet Potato Salad (Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free)

A crunchy, vibrant zucchini sweet potato salad to take your salad game to the next level! Packed with colour, texture and flavour, this is the perfect light lunch or side dish for warm weather. Serve with any sauce or dressing of your choice! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, ready in less than 10 minutes. 

I'm obsessed with vegetables. And not just because I'm your stereotypical vegan. It's always been this way - I can eat them in incredible amounts. Throughout my years of cooking, I've developed many ways to take vegetables to the next level. Sometimes that's cosy soups and stews. On other occasions, you have to really take it back to the basics of vegetables.

Which means: a salad. Now that it's not freezing cold outside and I don't want to eat porridge and soup for every meal, I crave vibrant and colourful salads more and more. And that means you can expect a lot more salad content on this blog going forward!

Vegan zucchini sweet potato salad

Don't get me wrong, I love all varieties of potatoes. But I've been on a sweet potato kick lately, because they're even more versatile than ordinary potatoes. For one, I recognised that you can actually eat them raw - a feature your regular 'taters can't boast. And raw sweet potatoes go such a long way in adding so much crunch and versatility to various salads!

I've been trying out recipes with them non-stop, and this zucchini & sweet p salad is one that I landed on pretty quickly. The main vegetables here - zucchini (courgette), sweet potato, and carrots - make a lot of sense together and the flavours are just incredible. Of course, you can roast the vegetables before combining them, but I love a lot of crunch in my food and nothing quite beats raw!

I kept the dressing very basic: just dried basil, black pepper, tamari and maple syrup. This is to make this salad a bit of a blank canvas for you as far as dressings and sauces go. You can then go ahead and add any dressing or sauce of your choice!

Simple vegan salad dressing suggestions

• Cashew cream. This is usually the one that I go for. Thin it out with a little bit of water, and then stir it together.
• Stir 2-3 tbsp tahini with the juice of ½ lemon and ⅓ cup water. Really easy and versatile!
• Chunky guacamole. Creamy avocado always levels up everything.
• Lemon vinaigrette.
• Peanut butter, maple syrup and a generous pinch of salt, thinned out with water to your desired consistency.

Ingredients

• Zucchini (courgette)
• Sweet potatoes, raw and peeled
• Carrot
• Red onion
• Bell pepper
• Cherry tomatoes
• Dried basil
• Black pepper
• Tamari
• Maple syrup

How to make an easy vegan sweet potato salad

STEP 1: Spiralise the zucchini, sweet potato and carrots or chop them into match sticks. Transfer to a large mixing bowl together with the red onion, bell pepper and cherry tomatoes.

STEP 2: Add the dried basil, black pepper, tamari and maple syrup. Stir together really well before serving with a dressing of your choice.

STEP 3: To make it more filling or turn it into a main course, add some quinoa/rice and/or beans/lentils of your choice.

You will love this amazing salad!

It's...

• Ready in less than 10 minutes.
• Light and refreshing,
• Perfect for a light lunch.
• Nourishing.
• Made with wholesome ingredients.
• Packed full of flavour.
• Versatile.
• Super easy to make.
• Vegan, as always.
• Gluten-free.
• Oil-free.

Other vegan salad recipes

• Massaged kale salad with roasted chickpeas.
• Cold spaghetti salad with balsamic tofu
• Falafel salad with tahini dressing
• Chickpea quinoa salad with pumpkin

Let me know in the comments: what's your favourite way to eat sweet potatoes? If you give this zucchini sweet potato salad a go, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@earthofmariaa) so I can see your creations, and leave your feedback in the comments below!