Try this Beetroot and Feta Salad – you will be in love! The humble beetroot has finally taken the culinary world by storm! And we are joining in! The sweet, earthy root not only adds a punch of natural sweetness, but its purple hue also provides a wealth of antioxidants. This delicious salad combines beetroot with feta, dates and balsamic dressing to create an easy but luxurious side dish!
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Calling All The Beetroot Lovers
We have been obsessed with beetroot over the last year! If you’ve tried our Beetroot Pasta with Feta, or Beet Dip, we are sure you will absolutely love this salad! It’s just something very special about the sweet earthy beetroot and sharp and tangy feta combination that creates a perfect balance of flavours. We simply love beets and always strive to make them the star of the show!
You will absolutely love this salad:
- It uses simple ingredients that can be easily substituted (suggestion below).
- This simple beetroot salad is actually very versatile. It works great as part of a buffet-style lunch or dinner parties, a side salad to various meat dishes, like pork chops, slow-cooked beef and venison. What is more, it pairs very well with oily fish, like mackerel.
- An easy recipe that requires no special cooking skills or equipment.
But if you’re looking to make a vegan beetroot salad, why not try our Chinese-Spiced Beetroot & Sweet Potato Salad?
Ingredients and Substitutes
- cooked beetroot: you can easily buy vacuum-packed cooked beetroot in almost any grocery store, but if you want to cook your own, you can cook beets in various different ways (read more about that in the section below). What is more, you can make this salad more vibrant by adding some golden beets (also known as yellow beets). Just make sure to add them at the end once the salad is already on the serving platter. The red beets will bleed into the golden ones if you mix them together.
- pecans: can be substituted with crunchy walnuts or even flaked almonds. If you have a nut allergy, add some toasted pumpkin seeds instead.
- red onion: need to be very thinly sliced and blanched so that the flavour of onion doesn’t overpower other ingredients.
- dates: pitted and sliced into rounds. You can use prunes or even dried cranberries as a substitute.
- feta: can be substituted with goat cheese, if you prefer, but I feel that salty feta cheese stands up better to strong-tasting balsamic dressing.
- parsley: or other fresh herbs, like dill, chives or tarragon.
You will also need a few ingredients for the dressing:
- olive oil: extra virgin. Or you can use avocado or cold-pressed rapeseed oil instead.
- balsamic vinegar: use high-quality balsamic vinegar, if you can.
- Dijon mustard: can be replaced with half the amount of English mustard.
- pinch of salt & black pepper.
If you fancy adding a little extra, why not serve this salad on a bed of baby spinach or peppery arugula (rocket) topped with pomegranate seeds? All three make a great addition to this Beetroot Feta Salad.
How To Cook Beetroot If You Have Raw Beets?
If you have raw beets and would like to cook them for this recipe yourself, you have a couple of options. Make sure to trim the root and greens off of the beetroot (but not too much, or the colour will bleed out), then wash the beets gently, not tearing the skin. When your fresh beets are prepped like this, you can
- Boil them. Place them in a pan of water, bring them to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer your beets until tender: around 30-40 minutes depending on their size.
- Steam them in a vegetable steamer, or covered over a pan of simmering water. It will take a little longer than boiling.
- Roast. Wrap individual beets in aluminium foil, place them on a baking sheet and roast them at 200°C for 45-60 minutes, depending on their size, until tender. Roast beets have heaps more flavour.
Once your beetroot is cooked, let them cool down until you can handle them without burning your hands. Peel them (the skin should peel off really easily if the beetroot is well-cooked) and use cooked beets in recipes.
Method: How To Make This Salad?
Place thinly sliced red onion in a small colander and pour a whole kettle of boiling water through it (this will mellow the favour of red onion). Leave the onions to cool down.
Toast pecan nuts in a dry pan until slightly browned and smelling all nutty.
In a small bowl, mix all the balsamic vinaigrette ingredients.
Place the cubed beetroot, finely chopped parsley, dates and blanched onions in a large bowl. Pour vinaigrette over and toss everything together.
Spoon the beet salad onto a serving platter or individual bowls, crumble feta cheese and scatter toasted pecans on top! Serve immediately before the feta turns pink 🙂
How To Store Leftovers?
This beet and feta salad is best stored without the pecans and feta on top for best results (as feta will discolour and pecans will lose their crunchiness). Spoon the salad in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you’re ready to serve, mix the salad again to redistribute the dressing, then top with feta and pecans and enjoy!
What To Serve Beet and Feta Salad With?
Beetroot and Feta Salad With Balsamic is a wonderful salad to serve with a whole range of dishes. It goes equally well as one of the side dishes to a summer BBQ and as an unconventional side to Thanksgiving dinner. But we particularly love this salad with:
- Slow Cooker Duck Confit
- Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce
- Vegetarian Roast (Nut Roast with Cranberries)
Other Salad Recipes To Serve As Side Dishes
We absolutely love a spread of salads to choose from with our mains. Here are some of our favourites for you to try:
- Raw Courgette Ribbon Salad with Honey & Earl Grey Dressing
- Persian Shirazi Salad
- Asian Cabbage Slaw with Sesame Mayo
Recipe Card
Ultimate Beetroot and Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 500 g cooked beetroots cubed
- 15 g pecans
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 30 g dates
- 80 g feta crumbled
- 2 tablespoon parsley finely chopped
For Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Place thinly sliced red onion in a small collander and pour a while kettle of boiling water through it (this will mellow the favour of red onion). Leave the onions to cool down.
- Toast pecan nuts in a dry pan until stlightly browned and smelling all nutty.
- In a small bowl, mix all the balsamic vinaigrette ingredients.
- Place the cubed beetroot, finely chopped parsley, dates and blanched onions in a large bowl. Pour vinaigrette over and toss everything together.
- Spoon the beet salad onto a serving platter or individual bowls, crumble feta cheese and scatter toasted pecans on top!
Notes
- Boil them. Place them in a pan of water, bring them to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer your beets until tender: around 30-40 minutes depending on their size.
- Steam them in a vegetable steamer, or covered over a pan of simmering water. It will take a little longer than boiling.
- Roast. Wrap individual beets in aluminium foil, place them on a baking sheet and roast them at 200°C for 45-60 minutes, depending on their size, until tender. Roast beets have heaps more flavour.
Nutrition
Tayler
I made this salad with dinner last night and it was amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Ieva
You are most welcome 💗
Sisley White - Sew White
So delicious and I love how easy it was to make. This will be a great side salad for the Christmas buffet.
Mahy
Fabulous salad that I love making from time to time. It is easy, delicious and so healthy!
Amanda Wren-Grimwood
This salad is so Christmassy and I love the crunch of the pecans in this. Great tip about pouring the boiling water on the onions too.
Ieva
Thanks, Amanda! Glad you liked the red onion tip to mellow down their flavour 🙂