This beet salad is full of red and yellow beets, avocado, feta cheese and pecans, all tossed with greens in a homemade balsamic dressing. An easy and beautiful salad that’s perfect for the winter and fall months.
I love hearty and colorful salad recipes such as chicken salad with grapes, Christmas salad, chicken pasta salad, Chinese chicken salad, green bean salad and this fresh and totally delicious salad that features roasted beets.
In my opinion, beets are an underrated vegetable. They’re inexpensive, available year round and are loaded with nutrients. This beet salad combines this sweet and earthy veggie with ripe avocado, crumbled feta cheese and pecans, for a salad that’s full of flavor and texture.
Table of Contents
Beet Salad Ingredients
To make this salad, you will need mixed salad greens, beets, avocado, feta cheese, pecans, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make Beet Salad?
Preheat the oven and scrub your beets. Slice the stem and root ends off the beets, then wrap them in aluminum foil. Roast the beets until they are tender. Let the veggies cool, then use a paper towel to gently peel the skins off. Cut the beets into bite sized pieces and let them cool. Place the salad greens, beets, avocado, feta and pecans in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic, honey, mustard, salt and pepper to make a vinaigrette. Pour the dressing over the salad. Toss gently to combine, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For Beet Salad
- Use multiple colors of beets for a fancier presentation.
- This homemade balsamic dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance. Just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
- Make sure to choose a firm, yet ripe avocado so that it doesn’t get mushy in the salad.
- This beet salad is best served immediately, so make it and enjoy it right away.
- Serve your salad alongside hearty main course dishes such as Instant Pot chicken thighs, cheese tortellini in meat sauce, chicken shawarma, lasagna roll ups or Tuscan chicken.
Quick Tip
Cut up a block of feta for your salad. Blocks of feta taste better than pre-crumbled feta cheese.
Recipe FAQs
Beets pair well with a variety of sweet and savory options. You can combine beets with fruit such as pears or apples. They also go well with other root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes. Beets are full of flavor when served with aged cheese such as parmesan, feta or blue cheese.
Beet salad is made of cooked beets, lettuce and a vinaigrette style dressing. It also often contains cheese, nuts and may also contain fruit.
I prefer to roast beets for salad. It’s a hands off method which means you can prepare the rest of the salad components when the beets are in the oven. Roasting the beets also keeps clean up to a minimum, you just throw away the foil and are ready to go without washing pots and pans.
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Flavor Variations
This roasted beet salad dish is delicious as-is, but you can switch up the ingredients to feature other great flavors.
- Nuts: Try almonds, walnuts or pine nuts instead of pecans. You can also used candied walnuts or candied pecans.
- Lettuce: Try baby kale, arugula or spinach instead of mixed greens.
- Cheese: Feel free to use goat cheese, blue cheese or shaved Parmesan cheese instead of feta cheese.
- Other Flavors: You can add other ingredients to the salad such as dried cranberries, thinly sliced red onion, roasted asparagus or cherry tomatoes.
- Protein: Make this salad a meal by adding beans, grilled chicken breast or grilled shrimp on top.
This beet salad is light and refreshing yet packed with flavorful and hearty ingredients. It is a great side salad, or you can add some protein and eat it as a lunch or dinner.
More Great Salad Recipes
Caprese Salad Recipe
11 mins
BLT Pasta Salad
20 mins
Mexican Corn Salad
20 mins
Strawberry Spinach Salad
16 mins
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Beet Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 6 cups mixed spring greens
- 1 1/2 pounds beets red, yellow or a combination of the two, look for small to medium sized beets
- 1 avocado peeled, pitted and sliced
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
For the dressing
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Scrub the beets clean and trim the stem and root ends.
- Place 2-3 beets of the same color on a large sheet of foil. Wrap the beets tightly in foil. Repeat with any remaining beets. Be sure to separate the red beets from the yellow beets.
- Place the foil wrapped beets on a sheet pan. Bake for 1 hour or until beets are tender.
- Unwrap the beets and let them cool for 10-15 minutes. Use a paper towel to gently rub the skins off the beets.
- Cut the beets into 1 inch pieces. Cool the beets completely.
- Place the mixed greens, beets, avocado, feta cheese and pecans in a large bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth.
- Drizzle the dressing over the beet mixture, gently toss to coat. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Use multiple colors of beets for a fancier presentation.
- The balsamic dressing can be made up to 3 days in advance. Just store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
All these recipes sound so delicious. I grew beets this year and one more way to use my beets. Thank you for your wonderful recipes.
Dressing was perfect, I really enjoyed it. Salad itself was delicious as well.
This is an Awesome and Healthy Salad with one of the best dressings also. I will substitute this dressing in other salads I have made with sub par dressing recipes.
I paired it with grilled Salmon.
I got some beets in a box of produce and not sure what to do with them. So I made this recipe and it was awesome!
This is my top 5 favorite recipe for a salad! And I eat alot of different salads! I love the dressing so much but if I make it for my family I would have to leave out the olive oil. Do you know if its possible to substitute the oil with something else?
I use grapeseed oil. It is bland so rest of ingredients shine. I often odd finely minced garlic and shallots.
We loved this delicious salad! So yummy! Can’t wait to make it again!
I love the combination of these flavors! Such a fabulous salad!
All these flavors in this salad! Love how it looks!
This looks so refreshing and delicious!
The perfect lunch idea. So delicious.
We can’t wait to make this again! Loved the combination of beets and avocado together!
One of my favorite ways to enjoy beets is in a salad…this recipe is super!
I have an obsession with beets so this is perfect for me!! The dressing really puts it over the top.
This was a super fun side to my potluck last week. It was a hit!
best salad ever!
Savory and sweet! My family loves this salad! Great, good, flavor!
We love beets! Throwing them in a salad was the perfect way to use them up!