Beet Salad with Arugula and Balsamic Vinaigrette
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Published Apr 10, 2024, Updated Jan 22, 2025
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An easy beet salad with arugula, pecans, gorgonzola cheese and a simple balsamic vinaigrette. It’s perfect as a side salad or topped with protein for a meal sized salad.
When brainstorming recipes, I began with the idea of making a simple, yet flavorful salad that could work as a starter for dinner or on its own for a light meal. I ended up turning this into a beet salad recipe with arugula as the base, gorgonzola cheese, toasted pecans and a simple balsamic vinaigrette. Easy, fresh, filling and absolutely delicious. I hope you love it just as much as I do!
Why You’ll Love This Salad
- Easy to make – Once your beets are cooked this salad comes together in a matter of minutes!
- Customizable – Feel free to swap out or add ingredients based on what you have on hand. Make this recipe your own!
- Delicious – The combo of sweet and earthy beets paired with creamy cheese, crunchy nuts and a zesty salad dressing is so dang good!
Beet Salad Ingredients
You only need 5 simple ingredients to make the base of this salad! Here’s everything you need:
- beets – the star of the show adding a delicious, earthy sweetness to a salad. Beets are also rich in fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron and vitamin C (source). I prefer to boil my beets, but you can also make roasted beets in the oven, instant pot beets, or for a shortcut use pre-cooked beets from the grocery store.
- lemon juice – this is for boiling the beets. The lemon juice helps to prevent the beets from bleeding. You can also use vinegar if you don’t have lemons on hand.
- raw pecans – for a crunchy texture and a dose of healthy fats and proteins. For a treat you could make these candied pecans instead.
- baby arugula – for the base of this salad I went with zesty arugula, but feel free to use your favorite variety of greens.
- gorgonzola or feta cheese – brings creaminess and a sharp flavor, choose your favorite.
- balsamic vinaigrette – we’re using my go-to balsamic vinaigrette recipe for the dressing, which pulls all the flavors of this salad together nicely.
Substitutions
- Pecans: Toasted pecans add crunch, but walnuts or almonds can easily step in. Need a nut-free option? Try roasted sunflower seeds or pepitas for a satisfying bite.
- Gorgonzola cheese: Goat cheese or feta will deliver that creamy, tangy goodness if gorgonzola isn’t your vibe. Going dairy-free? A sprinkle of nutritional yeast or a plant-based cheese works beautifully.
- Arugula: Swap out the arugula for baby spinach, mixed greens, or even kale if you’re after something with a little less peppery punch.
- Balsamic dressing: Out of balsamic vinaigrette? Use a classic red wine vinaigrette. Or, my citrus tahini dressing is a total game changer with its zesty flavor!
How to Make This Easy Beet Salad
This beet salad doesn’t get much easier to make!
Step 1: Place beets in a large saucepan, cover with water and add lemon juice or vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until tender (45 minutes to 1 hour). Drain, rinse under cold water, peel, quarter, and set aside.
Step 2: Heat pecans in a skillet over medium-low heat for 2-5 minutes until toasted. Remove and let cool.
Step 3: Arrange arugula on a platter or in a salad bowl. Top with cooked beets, toasted pecans, and gorgonzola cheese.
Step 4: Drizzle with the prepared balsamic vinaigrette and enjoy!
Brittany’s Tip!
To save time on cooking the beets, follow my recipe for instant pot beets, which comes together in about 20 minutes. Or you can buy pre-cooked beets at the grocery store! Look for those in the produce section — not canned beets! The pre-cooked beets in the produce section are cooked in their own juices and vacuum-packed for freshness so they’re super flavorful and so easy to use.
Beet Salad Serving Suggestions
I typically serve this beet salad as a side salad for dinner or I’ll top it with my apple cider vinegar chicken or air fryer chicken breast for a meal-sized salad to enjoy on its own for lunch or dinner. It would also be delicious served alongside this sweet potato soup or butternut squash soup for lunch.
This beet salad would also be an excellent addition to your holiday menu. Serve it for Thanksgiving alongside this lentil loaf, healthy green bean casserole, healthy mashed potatoes (or these slow cooker mashed potatoes for a real deal version), sourdough stuffing, vegan pumpkin pie and healthy dutch apple pie.
Storing Leftovers
If you have leftovers of this vibrant beet root salad (lucky you!), here’s how to store it:
- Separate components: Store the beets, toasted pecans, cheese, and greens in separate airtight containers to keep everything fresh. The greens will wilt if mixed ahead of time.
- Refrigeration: The roasted beets will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. The greens are best used within 2-3 days.
- Dressing: Keep the balsamic vinaigrette in a jar in the fridge for up to a week. Give it a good shake before using!
Frequently Asked Questions
Beet root size can vary a lot! Larger beets can take over an hour to become tender, while smaller ones cook faster. To speed up the process, you can quarter the beets before boiling or roast them instead.
Yes, you can absolutely make this beetroot salad ahead of time! Boil, peel, and quarter the beets, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge. Make the dressing and store it separately in the refrigerator, and toast the pecans, keeping them in an airtight container at room temperature. When you’re ready to serve, simply combine the cooled beets, arugula, pecans, and cheese in a bowl, drizzle with the dressing, and toss it all together. This method keeps everything fresh and makes assembly quick and easy!
Beet root stains are no joke! Wear gloves or peel the beets under running water to minimize the mess. If your hands do get stained, rubbing them with lemon juice or vinegar helps remove the color.
Sure, but toasting really brings out their flavor and adds a nutty crunch to the salad. It’s worth the extra 5 minutes—I promise!
More Salad Recipes
- Winter Salad
- Roasted Butternut Squash Salad
- Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
- Kale and Brussels Sprout Salad
- Easy Kale Salad
- Arugula Salad
- Grapefruit Salad
Be sure to check out my full collection of healthy salad recipes.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Beet Salad
Ingredients
- 1 lb bunch beets, about 4 medium beets, washed and trimmed
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar
- ⅓ cup raw pecans
- 2 5 oz packages baby arugula
- 2-3 ounces gorgonzola cheese, or feta cheese
- balsamic vinaigrette
Instructions
- Place the beets in a large saucepan, add water to cover, as well as, the lemon juice or vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. The cook time will vary based on how large the beets are. Drain and place pot under cold running water. Keeping rinsing until beets are cool enough to be handled. Peel skin off the beets, quarter and set aside.
- While beets are cooking, make dressing and toast pecans. To make dressing, place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if needed. Toast pecans by placing them in a skillet over medium-low heat for about 2 to 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and spread on plate to cool.
- To serve the salad, place arugula on a platter or in a large salad bowl. Top with beets, pecans, gorgonzola cheese. Serve with balsamic dressing on the side. You can toss the salad, but I find that all the toppings sink to the bottom and the liquid from the beets make the salad look kind of messy.
Notes
- To make the prep of this salad even faster, you can use pre-cooked beets and/or store-bought dressing. These beets are found in the produce section of most grocery stores.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published on May 6, 2020 and republished on April 10, 2024.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was quick. I mixed can and fresh beets and added blue berries. I didn’t know if the lemon was for the balsamic so I just added it to the arugula.
Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to try your new Mediterranean salad next!!
YUM! I am so excited you are loving this salad and it turned out great for you, Sara. Thanks so much for sharing your review & star rating, I truly appreciate it!
This salad combo is dynamite–especially with arugala and beets grown in our garden!! I sprinkled nutritional yeast on top to keep it dairy free and it was delish!
Yay!! So happy to hear this salad was a hit, Erica! Thanks for trying it out and coming back to leave a review. I really appreciate it!
Beets are great and this salad is beautiful to see. I would suggest sticking with roasted beets as all that boiling and washing destroys so much of the nutrtional value of the beets. I go for as much raw as possible. My best choice is for fermenting the beets by the quart as they keep in the refrig for months and will always be ready for a quick salad with all the benefits of the raw veggie plus the added probiotics. Now that would be a really healthy salads.
Love the idea of using fermented beets for the extra health benefits! Thanks for the tips, Tanya!