4.15 21 Published Apr 10, 2024, Updated Oct 30, 2024
Why You’ll Love This Salad
Easy to make – Once your beets are cooked this salad comes together in a matter of minutes! Customizable – Feel free to swap out or add ingredients based on what you have on hand. Make this recipe your own! Delicious – The combo of sweet and earthy beets paired with creamy cheese, crunchy nuts and a zesty salad dressing is so dang good!
Beet Salad Ingredients
You only need 5 simple ingredients to make the base of this salad! Here’s everything you need:
beets – the star of the show adding a delicious, earthy sweetness to a salad. Beets are also rich in fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron and vitamin C (source). I prefer to boil my beets, but you can also make roasted beets in the oven, instant pot beets, or for a shortcut use pre-cooked beets from the grocery store. lemon juice – this is for boiling the beets. The lemon juice helps to prevent the beets from bleeding. You can also use vinegar if you don’t have lemons on hand. raw pecans – for a crunchy texture and a dose of healthy fats and proteins. For a treat you could make these candied pecans instead. Feel free to swap the pecans with another nut or seed of choice like walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds or pepitas. baby arugula – for the base of this salad I went with zesty arugula, but feel free to use your favorite variety of greens. Spinach, baby kale, leafy lettuce, etc. would all be great options. gorgonzola or feta cheese – brings creaminess and a sharp flavor, choose your favorite. Goat cheese would also be a great creamy option. balsamic vinaigrette – we’re using my go-to balsamic vinaigrette recipe for the dressing, which pulls all the flavors of this salad together nicely.
How to Make This Easy Beet Salad
This beet salad doesn’t get much easier to make! Step 1: Toast your pecans and boil your beets. To boil the beets, place washed and trimmed beets in a large saucepan, add water to cover and a little lemon juice or vinegar. 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. Keeping 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. Step 2: To make the salad, add your arugula, cooked beets, pecans and cheese to a large serving dish or salad bowl. Drizzle with the prepared balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy!
Beet Salad Serving Suggestions
I typically serve this beet salad as a side salad for dinner or I’ll top it with my apple cider vinegar chicken or air fryer chicken breast for a meal-sized salad to enjoy on its own for lunch or dinner. It would also be delicious served alongside this sweet potato soup or butternut squash soup for lunch. This beet salad would also be an excellent addition to your holiday menu. Serve it for Thanksgiving alongside this lentil loaf, healthy green bean casserole, healthy mashed potatoes (or these slow cooker mashed potatoes for a real deal version), sourdough stuffing, vegan pumpkin pie and healthy dutch apple pie.
How to Prep in Advance
For this salad, you can prepare most components ahead of time. Here’s what I would do: Right before serving, combine the cooled beets, arugula, pecans, and cheese in a large bowl, add the dressing to taste, and toss everything together. This method keeps the ingredients fresh and makes it easy to assemble the salad quickly when you’re ready to eat.
More Salad Recipes
Winter Salad Roasted Butternut Squash Salad Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad Easy Kale Salad Arugula Salad
Be sure to check out my full collection of healthy salad recipes. This post was originally published on May 6, 2020 and republished on April 10, 2024.
