5 16 Published Aug 24, 2022, Updated Oct 04, 2022 For someone who isn’t super adventurous with their vegetables or flavors this beet salad might look intimidating, but trust me on this one… you have to give it a try! If nothing else, promise me you’ll try the zesty garlic tahini dressing because it’s chef’s kiss and definitely the star of this salad! I know I’m biased, but it’s true. I could legit eat it by the spoonful. This beet salad is so easy to make and packed with nutritious ingredients. I love the earthy taste of beets and they’re delicious in this salad paired with crunchy carrots, shredded brussels sprouts, creamy goat cheese, roasted cashews and golden raisins for a hint of sweetness.
Why You’ll Love This Salad
This salad is packed with 19 grams of plant-based protein!The garlic tahini dressing is chef’s kiss!This salad is the perfect meal prep recipe – just layer all of the ingredients into a mason jar for a healthy, portable lunch.Beets are an amazing antioxidant that are highly nutritious and loaded with health-promoting properties that benefit the brain, heart, and digestive system.
Ingredients Needed
beets – beets are delicious, naturally sweet, super nutritious root vegetables! They’re a great source of fiber and packed with antioxidants, folate, potassium, iron and vitamin C. carrots – for some crunch! Carrots are high in beta-carotene and packed with vitamins A and K, iron, calcium and fiber.quinoa – the main source of plant-based protein in this salad. You can buy pre-cooked quinoa or follow my guide on how to cook quinoa.brussels sprouts – I love the addition of shredded brussels sprouts to this salad. They’re also high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. golden raisins – adds a touch of sweetness to this salad and they’re also a great source of potassium and fiber. goat cheese – adds some healthy fats and creaminess to this salad. Feel free to swap it with feta cheese or your favorite creamy cheese. You can also skip it if you want this salad to be dairy-free. cashews – for some crunch and more healthy fat. I used roasted salted cashews, but feel free to use raw cashews if you prefer.spinach – I love using baby spinach for this recipe, but you can use your favorite leafy green.garlic tahini dressing – definitely the star of this recipe if you ask me! This simple dressing combines tahini, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, tamari (or soy sauce), nutritional yeast and garlic.
How to Make Beet Power Salad
Cook quinoa and prep veggies: If you haven’t already, cook quinoa according to the package instructions and prep your veggies. Make dressing: Blend together all the dressing ingredients in a blender. Prep salads: Line up 4 32-ounce wide-mouth mason jars. Add 3 Tablespoons of dressing into each jar then start layering ingredients in this order: carrots, beets, quinoa, raisins, goat cheese, cashews, brussels sprouts and baby spinach. Place lid on jars and keep in fridge until ready to serve. When ready to enjoy, shake jar and pour into a serving bowl.
How to Cook Beets
When it comes to cooking beets I usually boil or roast them. I also like buying pre-cooked beets as a shortcut! Boil: Boiling beets is super easy. Place washed and trimmed beets in a large saucepan, add water to cover, as well as, a little lemon juice or vinegar – the lemon juice or vinegar help to prevent the beets from bleeding. Bring beets to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your beets. Drain and place pot under cold running water. Keep rinsing until beets are cool enough to be handled. At this point the skin will slip right now off. Peel skin off the beets, quarter and set aside. Roast: Roasting beets is also simple, it just takes some time. Start by cutting the beet greens off of the beets and save them for another recipe like my sautéed beet greens. Scrub the beets well, removing any dirt. After you have cleaned your beets well, poke 2-3 times with a fork and wrap the full beet tightly in aluminum foil. Roast at 400ºF for 75-90 minutes – on the shorter end if your beets are smaller and on the longer end if your beets are larger! Carefully unwrap the beets and run cool water over them. The skin should easily peel off while you do this. Check out my full guide on roasted beets.
Substitutions & Variations
Switch up the greens – if you’re not a spinach fan, feel free to use your favorite leafy green instead. Other options I love are kale, arugula, leafy lettuce or chard!Swap out the nuts – if you don’t like cashews or don’t have any on hand feel free to swap them out for your favorite nut of choice. Almonds, pecans or walnuts are some other great options. For the ultimate treat try adding candied walnuts or candied pecans. If you have a nut allergy you could use seeds instead. Pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas), hemp seeds, and sunflower seeds are all amazing options. Swap the grain – swap the quinoa for rice, farro or your favorite grain.Vegan and dairy-free – you could swap out the goat cheese for vegan cheese, or just take it out altogether.Use different veggies – want to use different veggies? Go for it! Zucchini, radish, cucumbers, broccoli and sweet potatoes would all be delicious additions. Switch up the dressing – I’m obsessed with this garlic tahini dressing, but many other dressings would work if you’re in a pinch. Some options: balsamic dressing, white balsamic vinaigrette, hummus dressing or lemon vinaigrette.
Pro Tips
For a shortcut I love using pre-cooked beets for this beet power salad. I’ve seen a lot of grocery stores carrying pre-cooked beets in their refrigerated section like these Love Beets, but Trader Joe’s has the best price I’ve seen. If you don’t have time to peel and cook your beets, buy these! Buy pre-shredded carrots and brussels sprouts! This saves so much time. Instead of washing, peeling and shredding I literally just open the package and dump. Winning! You could also dump full carrots and brussels in your food processor to give them a quick chop if you can’t find pre-shredded.Use wide-mouth jars. It’s much easier to get the ingredients in and out of the jars with a wide mouth. I like the wide-mouth quart Ball jars for meal-sized salads, but the wide-mouth pint Ball jars work for smaller side salads.Make sure you add your dressing to the bottom of the jar first. The ingredients you add next will be touching/soaking in the dressing so they should be hearty veggies that will do well marinating.Leave a little room at the top of the jar so you can shake it up right before serving. It helps make sure all parts of the salad have some dressing.Store your mason jar salads upright in the fridge. If they’re stored on their side or tipped over, the dressing will leak up to the top and may cause your greens to get soggy.
Serving and Storing
To make it in advance: You can keep this beet power salad in the fridge until you’re ready to enjoy it. Most salads will keep for about 4-5 days. How to serve: The fun part comes when you’re ready to eat because you get to shake the jar to distribute the dressing. Once shaken, pour the salad into a big plate or large bowl and enjoy.
More Mason Jar Salad Recipes to Try
Black Bean Mason Jar SaladStrawberry Spinach Mason Jar SaladKale Sweet Potato Lentil Mason Jar SaladNicoise Mason Jar SaladChicken Avocado Club Mason Jar SaladHow to Make a Mason Jar Salad10 Mason Jar Salads to Meal Prep
More Beet Recipes to Try
Baby Beet and Clementine SaladBeet HummusSimple Beet GreensEasy Roasted BeetsBeet Salad with Arugula and Balsamic DressingSautéed Beet Greens with Roasted BeetsInstant Pot Beets
Be sure to check out all of the beet recipes as well as the full collection of salad recipes on EBF! Want more meal prep salad ideas? Check out this chicken avocado club salad.
