This beet salad recipe has roasted beets and peppery arugula with an easy homemade dressing. Serve it as a side or a light meal
Holly’s Recipe Highlights For Beet Salad
- Flavor: The beets are earthy and sweet, while the vinaigrette balances it out with a bit of sweet tang. I love arugula because it has a bit of a peppery bite.
- Time-Saving Tip: While it’s easy roasting beets is really easy, it does take time—most grocery stores sell cooked beets.
- Prep ahead: Roast the beets and prepare the dressing up to 4 days before serving.
- Serving suggestions: Make it a light meal by topping with chicken or shrimp.
- Yield: This recipe yields 4 servings, but you can add a bag of shredded coleslaw mix to extend the recipe for extra servings.
Ingredient Tips For Beet Salad
- Greens: Peppery arugula is my first choice for a beet salad, but it can be replaced with spinach, kale, or a spring mix.
- Beets: Beets should be roasted. You can also buy cooked beets at the grocery store, which are different than pickled beets.
- Cheese: I love creamy goat cheese in this recipe aka chevre. Substitutions include crumbled feta cheese or parmesan cheese petals.
- Nuts: Toast the nuts in a skillet for extra flavor. For a nut-free crunch, use pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds but check the ingredients—many are roasted in peanut oil.
Beet Salad Dressing
Dressing: Homemade dressing is very simple, and it’s light and tangy. Since it can be made days ahead of time, I recommend making it homemade.
If using a purchased dressing, I suggest something sweet and tangy like poppy seed dressing or honey mustard dressing.
PRO TIP: For the best crunch and flavor, toast nuts or seeds in a dry pan until just fragrant. They burn fast, so keep them moving and watch closely. Cool before using.
How to Cook Beets for Salad
For the best sweet flavor and velvety soft texture, I recommend oven roasting beets in foil for about an hour. Just cut the ends off. The peels will slip right off after roasting.
For quicker prepping you can also steam or cook on the stovetop.
Storing Beet Salad
- Beet salad can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Simply toss the salad and add extra arugula and dressing if desired.
- Assemble beet salad, without dressing, up to 3 days ahead and chill. Add dressing just before serving.
Our Favorite Fresh Salads
Did you make this Beet Salad recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Beet Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Salad
- 8 cups arugula
- 4 large beets cooked and cooled
- ¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
- ½ cup goat cheese or feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder or ½ clove fresh garlic, minced
- ⅓ to ½ cup vegetable oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place arugula in a large bowl. Top with beets, walnuts, goat cheese, and onions.
- For the dressing: Whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, Dijon mustard, and garlic powder. Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking until the dressing is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Drizzle dressing over salad and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
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Great salad. Very easy to make and do tasty. I substituted a different apple and added a bit of honey to the balsamic vinegar before drizzling.
Everyone loved it!
Gayle, that sounds delicious—love the honey twist with the balsamic! So glad it was a hit with everyone. Thanks for sharing your yummy tweaks!
I made this salad, roasting the beets as suggested. I had fresh kale so I used it instead of the arugula. Used walnuts, goat cheese and red onion. It was delicious!! Next time I’m going to make it with feta. Thank you so much for this recipe!!!