Roasted Beet and Orange Kale Salad
on Mar 06, 2025
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Crisp with tons of color and flavor, this roasted beet and orange kale salad is a recipe to make during peak citrus season. I include navel, cara cara and blood oranges and toss them with diced avocados, red onions and almonds. The base of the salad is chopped kale and a shredded coleslaw mix with cabbage and carrots. Fantastic for lunch or dinner, I toss the salad in a zesty vinaigrette using some of the juice from the oranges.
Als, try this pear, orange and roasted beet salad recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
There is so much great flavor and color with roasted beets, oranges and avocados. Much-needed during winter, these ingredients give you savory and sweet moments while kale and shredded cabbage and carrots add crispiness.
Kale is the perfect base for roasted and fresh ingredients in a salad. Roasted beets, oranges and avocados mellow out the bitterness of the kale leaves. I like this contrast and variation in a bowl of greens.
You can save time and buy cooked beets. Even though it isn’t challenging to roast beets, it does take time. Of course you can do it in advance, but don’t hesitate to pick up a package of cooked beets at the grocery.
The Ingredients
This is what you need:
- Beets: Because you don’t use beet greens for this recipe, buy your beets without tops. You can choose red beets, golden beets or both. If you want a shortcut, buy packaged pre cooked beets. They are in the refrigerator section in the produce department. Pat off the juices with a paper towel before you dice them. Love Beets is a brand that makes them.
- Oranges: For color and flavor, I like using a navel orange, blood orange and cara cara orange. This is not a requirement, but it’s worth doing it if you can.
- Kale: Go with curly kale or lacinato kale for the salad greens. Tear the leaves off the stems and chop them. I like hearty kale with ingredients like beets and oranges, which can weigh down baby spinach or arugula.
- Coleslaw mix: Another one of my produce department favorites, these mixes include red cabbage, green cabbage and shredded carrots. They give the salad crunch.
- Avocados, citrus and beets are a classic combination. Their difference in texture and flavors all work together. You have creamy diced avocados, bright citrus and earthy beets.
- Red onions: Sliced thinly, they add a sharp accent to the salad. You can substitute with scallions.
- Almonds give it something nutty, and they go well with oranges. You can substitute with chopped toasted walnuts or pistachios.
- Orange vinaigrette: I use a tablespoon of the juice from the oranges and whisk it with minced garlic, whole grain mustard, extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, kosher salt and black pepper.
- Olive oil, kosher salt & black pepper: You will need these for roasting the beets as well as the salad dressing.
How To Make This Roasted Beet and Orange Salad
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
1. Put each individual beet on a small piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the beets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Loosely wrap the beets in foil packets. I like to do this right on the baking sheet, so then they can go straight into the oven.
2. Roast the beets for 45-50 minutes. Carefully open the packets. You know the beets are ready when they are fork-tender. You should be able to pierce them with a paring knife. Give the beets a little time to cool off. Peel beets by rubbing off their skins with a towel. Then dice them.
3. Slice the oranges. Trim off the top and bottom. Place a flat side on the cutting board and slice off the peel and white pit following the curve in the fruit. Hold the orange over a bowl and slice out the segments catching the juice. Then dice the oranges.
4. Assemble the salad ingredients. Combine the roasted beets, oranges, kale, coleslaw mix, avocados, red onions and almonds in a large bowl.
5. Make the vinaigrette. Whisk the minced garlic, mustard, salt, black pepper, vinegar, olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the reserved fresh orange juice.
6. Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad, tossing to combine. Be gentle when you toss the salad. The color from the beets will stain the other ingredients.
Serving
I like making this beet orange salad to celebrate the height of citrus season. Spoon it onto a large platter to show off all that color. Depending on the time of year, you may only be able to find navel oranges. It is ok to make the salad with just this kind, but bookmark the recipe to make when you need something fresh during the cold days of winter. It is an instant vacation of a lunch salad.
Leftovers & Storage
You can save the salad in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. The kale leaves will soften the longer you store them. The avocados will brown, but they will still taste good.
With a salad it’s best to plan ahead. If you’re doing meal prep, don’t dress the salad until you are going to eat it. Keep the vinaigrette in a separate mason jar. Then your greens will stay more fresh.
Recipe Tips
- You can roast the beets up to 3 days ahead of time. This is when I like to multitask. I will roast beets when I have the oven on for something else to take advantage of all that heat.
- The vinaigrette can also be made up to 3 days in advance. Let the dressing sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes and then give it a good stir. The oil likely will harden in the cold temperature of the fridge.
- You can add crumbled goat cheese, feta cheese or blue cheese. Keep in mind that the beets will stain it just like they do to the other ingredients in the salad.
More Simple Salad Recipes
Fennel Orange Salad
Lemon Parmesan Arugula Salad
Lemon Orzo Salad
Mandarin Orange Salad
Citrus Salad with Pomegranate & Olives
Roasted Beet and Orange Kale Salad
Ingredients
For beets
- 1 pound beets (without greens)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For salad
- 3 oranges (navel, blood or cara cara)
- 3 cups chopped kale leaves
- 2 cups coleslaw mix
- 1 avocado, diced
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onions
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped almonds
For vinaigrette
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place each beet on an individual piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the beets with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Fold into loose packets and place on a sheet pan. Roast the beets for 45-50 minutes until they can be easily pierced with a knife.
- When the beets are cool enough to handle, use a towel to rub off their skins. Cut the beets into a 1/2-inch dice.
- Cut the skin and white pith off the oranges. Slice between the membranes removing the segments while collecting the juice in a small bowl. Dice the orange segments.
- For the salad, combine the roasted beets, oranges, kale, coleslaw mix, avocados, red onions and almonds in a large bowl.
- For the vinaigrette, whisk the garlic, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the reserved juice from the oranges.
- Drizzle the vinaigrette into the salad. Gently toss to combine. Some of the color of the beets will stain the salad.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I needed a salad that would hold up in the fridge for meal prep. I absolutely love it!
Delicious salad, I served this at a summer pizza party and everyone loved it. I found a separate recipe for the vinaigrette but it would be nice if it was here as well.