Roasted Golden Beet Salad
on Mar 24, 2022, Updated Oct 06, 2024
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There are so many reasons to love beets, especially in salads. With crumbled goat cheese, walnuts, scallions and herbs, this easy roasted golden beet salad even can be served as a side dish too. Beets taste earthy and have a little bit of sweetness that plays well with lots of other salad ingredients.
Also, try this roasted golden beet soup recipe.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This salad has a wonderful balance of flavors and textures. I combine roasted beets and arugula with crunchy walnuts and lightly oniony scallions for great bite. I skip orange juice and citrus (also friends with beets) and stay firmly with greens and fresh herbs.
Golden beets aren’t as messy to prep as red beets. You don’t have to worry about staining with golden beets, and they are a little sweeter.
The arugula vinaigrette is special. It takes inspiration from homemade pesto and swaps out basil leaves and uses arugula instead giving it a pleasantly peppery taste.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This is what you need for the recipe:
- Beets: I think red beets are easier to find at grocery stores than yellow beets especially when you want to buy them without the leafy tops. You can swap beet types or use a mix. Just know that the red color is more likely to stain everything else pink. If you are looking for a shortcut, roasted red beets are sold in vacuum packs in the refrigerator case in the produce department. Pat the juices off with a towel before cutting them and adding them to the salad.
- Arugula: There’s a reason why beets and this specific green pair so well together, the peppery flavor of the leaves creates a nice balance. You can substitute with baby spinach or use a mix of both arugula abs spinach.
- Walnuts are my first choice nut variety, but you can also use chopped almonds or pistachios. Toast them in a 350-degree F oven for 5-7 minutes.
- Goat cheese is creamy and pleasantly rich in the salad. Feta cheese would be fantastic too.
- Scallions: These green onions are crisp and add something fresh.
- Parsley chopped in the salad is nice and herby.
- Garlic: There is a clove pureed in the vinaigrette.
- White wine vinegar is one of the main ingredients in the dressing. You could also use red wine vinegar or champagne vinegar.
- Olive oil: Extra-virgin olive oil is a must for this recipe for the best taste.
- Salt & pepper season the beets and the vinaigrette.
How To Make This Roasted Golden Beet Salad
How To Roast Golden Beets:
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.
2 Loosely wrap the beets into foil packets. I like to do this right on a baking sheet, so then they’re all set to go in the oven.
3. 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.
4. Give the beets a little time to cool off. Then you can peel beets by rubbing off their skins with a towel. Just a warning that the color will stain no matter if you have golden or red beets. Slice or dice the beets to your desired side. For this recipe, cut them into 1/2-inch-wide wedges.
How To Make The Salad:
5. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a food processor or blender. This includes the garlic, arugula, white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.
6. Puree the vinaigrette. Everything should be finely chopped. Pour the vinaigrette into a large bowl.
7. Stir the roasted golden beets into the dressing in a large bowl.
8. Add the arugula, scallions, parsley, cheese and walnuts. Toss to combine.
Serving The Salad
Beets are root vegetables that you can find year round, so this is a super versatile salad that blurs the lines and could be considered a side dish. That’s because of the amount of roasted beets in comparison to greens.
The beets can be assembled and served in the salad when they are warm or at room temperature. If you want to turn the salad into a full meal for lunch or dinner, great additions include shredded chicken or baked tofu to make it more filling.
Leftovers & Storage
For salad, it’s always best to only the toss the amount you are planning to eat in the dressing. Then the greens won’t get soggy. If you have undressed leftovers, keep the beets, salads greens and dressing in three separate airtight containers up to 3 days.
If you store the salad with dressing on it, just add fresh arugula to it when you eat it. Then you will get some of the texture and bite back.
Recipe Tips
You can roast the beets up to 3 days in advance. Often times I roast beets when I have the oven on for something else. I like to just check it off my to-do list, and it doesn’t matter if it’s for that upcoming meal or not.
The dressing can also be made up to 3 days in advance. If you do this prep work ahead of time, then all you have to do is assemble when you’re ready to eat the salad. In the chill of the fridge, the oil may turn solid. Just let it sit out at room temperature to liquefy again. Or rinse the container the dressing is in under warm water and shake it around to do this faster.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. Red beets taste a bit earthier and they will stain the other ingredients, so keep that in mind. You often can find packaged roasted red beets at the grocery, so this would be a potential shortcut if you’re looking for ways to save time.
Besides the obvious color difference, it is more subtle when it comes to taste. Red beets are earthier and yellow beets are a touch sweeter.
Either leave out the goat cheese or use a plant-based version instead.
More Easy Beet Recipes
Roasted Beet Salad with Oranges and Pears
Roasted Beet Wild Rice
Beet Orange Kale Salad with Orange Vinaigrette
Baked Beet Chips
Beet Green Pesto
Fresh Beet Pasta
Beet Grilled Cheese
Tomato Beet Salad
Roasted Golden Beet Salad
Ingredients
For roasted beets
- 2 pounds golden beets greens removed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
For dressing
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup packed baby arugula leaves
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For salad
- 2 cups packed baby arugula
- 1 scallion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place each beet on an individual piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the beets with olive oil and season with salt and 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 the skins. Cut the beets into 1/2-inch-wide wedges.
- Combine the garlic clove, 1/2 cup arugula, white wine vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth and combined. Pour the vinaigrette into a large bowl.
- Stir the roasted beets into the vinaigrette. Then add 2 cups arugula, scallions, parsley, goat cheese and walnuts, tossing to combine.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
