Beet Salad with Arugula and Balsamic Dressing

Roasted Beet Salad Recipe

This roasted beet salad recipe is a perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving menu this year. It’s rustic and earthy, yet light and zesty, made with dark leafy greens, tender sweet beets, briny feta cheese, and crunchy nuts.

Like my apple cranberry spinach salad and mandarin orange salad it adds vibrant color and added nutrients to your dinner table. Once the beets are roasted, everything comes together in a bowl of what can only be described as the most delicious salad!

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

• Beets: You’ll need a couple pounds of beets. Don’t worry about peeling them yet; you’ll do that after roasting them.
• Arugula: You can mix your arugula with another kind of leafy green or swap it altogether and use mixed greens. Wash and dry completely.
• Feta cheese: Adds contrasting color and a salty element.
• Pecans: Candied pecans or toasted pecans, it’s up to you!
• Dried cranberries: The tart and chewy texture balances the crunch of the nuts.
• Balsamic dressing: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.

Substitutions and Variations

There are so many possibilities for salad ingredients to pair with beets:

• Use golden beets instead of red beets, or use a combination of the two.
• Take a couple of shortcuts and use pre-cooked beets and a store-bought dressing.
• Swap pecans for walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, or pistachios, try mixed candied nuts.
• Use raisins if you don’t have cranberries.
• Add some diced apples, pears, or slices of Mandarin oranges.
• Goat cheese is a mild, creamy cheese, that can be used in place of feta.

1. Wrap each individual beat in foil like you would a baked potato. Place all of the wrapped beats on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for an hour in a preheated 400°F oven. Find the biggest beat and pierce it with a fork. If there is no resistance, they are ready!
2. Unwrap each one and allow them to cool until they can be handled. The skin should come off easily. Wearing gloves (so your hands don’t stain), peel them and cut them into cubes.

3. Mix the balsamic vinaigrette ingredients in a mason jar with a lid. Add everything to the jar and shake.
4. Combine the ingredients for this beet salad recipe into a large salad bowl. Drizzle the dressing overtop and toss.

Recipe Tips

• Wear gloves. Once upon a time I learned the hard way that beets stain not only your hands but your clothes, too, so be careful.
• Make ahead dressing. The dressing can be made a couple of days ahead and kept stored in the fridge.
• You can also make the beets ahead of time. If you’ve got leftover roasted beets, toss them in with roasted root vegetables.