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With earthy beets, creamy goat cheese, crunchy walnuts, and a tangy vinaigrette, this salad looks fancy but comes together fast. Add sliced steak, salmon, or chicken, and it doubles as a gorgeous main.
This beet salad recipe with goat cheese and walnuts is my go-to dinner party salad. And I don’t think I’ve ever served it without sending a few people home with the recipe. Years ago, I would roast my own beets, but high-quality vacuum-packed roasted beets, such as Love Beets, are now available in the produce section of most grocery stores, which makes the salad a breeze to prepare.
“Absolutely delicious 💯 The dressing is superb. I follow the recipe to the T, I’ve made this 3x already this week. YUM!”
What You’ll Need to Make Roasted Beet Salad with Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette
- Dressing ingredients (red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, shallots, salt, pepper, and vegetable oil): A bright vinaigrette with subtle sweetness and a little zing. I prefer vegetable oil over olive oil here for its more neutral flavor.
- Mixed greens: The base of the salad—baby spinach and arugula are my go-tos, but any tender greens work.
- Roasted beets: I use vacuum-packed, precooked beets to save time. They’re already cooked and ready to use—no roasting necessary. If you prefer to start with fresh beets, see how to roast beets below.
- Walnuts and goat cheese: Add crunch, tang, and creaminess.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Roasted Beet Salad
Make the vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, shallots, salt, and pepper and whisk to combine. While whisking constantly, slowly stream in the oil until the dressing is emulsified. (Alternatively, you can toss everything into a jar, seal it, and shake vigorously.)
Assemble the salad: Put the greens in a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Arrange on a platter or divide onto plates, then top with walnuts, goat cheese, and beets. Add the beets last so they don’t tint the rest of the salad pink. Serve and enjoy!
Make-Ahead and Storage Instructions
This salad is easy to prepare ahead of time. The vinaigrette can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving, then give it a good shake to bring it back together.
You can also prepare the beets ahead of time and refrigerate them until ready to use. Keep the greens, beets, walnuts, and goat cheese separate, and toss everything together just before serving so the greens stay crisp. Add the beets last to keep them from turning the whole salad pink.
How to Roast Beets for This Salad
As mentioned above, I use vacuum-packed, precooked beets to save time, but you can absolutely roast your own. You’ll need about 3 medium beets.
Preheat the oven to 425°F and set a rack in the middle position. Scrub the beets clean and trim the stems to about 1 inch, leaving the tails intact. Place them on a large piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and wrap into a packet.
Roast directly on the oven rack for about 1 hour, or until a knife slides easily into the largest beet. Let cool until you can handle them, then peel and cut into wedges. Allow the beets to cool before adding them to the salad.
Roasted Beet Salad with Walnuts, Goat Cheese & Honey-Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Vinaigrette
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons minced shallots
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the Salad
- 10 oz mixed greens
- ½ lb vacuum-packed roasted beets, cut into wedges (see note)
- ½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 3 oz goat cheese
Instructions
For the Vinaigrette
- In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, shallots, salt and pepper.
- Whisking constantly, slowly add the oil in a steady stream. (Alternatively, add all the ingredients to a jar, cover with the lid, and shake vigorously to blend.) Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
For the Salad
- Place the greens in a large bowl, drizzle with about half of the vinaigrette and toss to combine. Add as much of the remaining vinaigrette as desired and toss again.
- Arrange the greens on a large platter or divide onto plates, then top with beets, walnuts and goat cheese. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you’re following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
See more recipes:
Roasted Beet Salad Variations
This salad is easy to change up depending on what you have on hand. Try pecans or pistachios instead of walnuts, or swap the goat cheese for feta or blue cheese. For a different take, replace the beets with sliced apples or strawberries. To make it a complete meal, top the salad with sliced steak, grilled chicken, or pan-seared salmon.
More Salads You May Like
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Hello Jenn, I found your website when I googled beet salad and I’m really glad I did. Your food looks amazing! Made your beet salad and it was delicious!! First time roasting beets, I love beets! My husband not so much but even he enjoyed your salad. The dressing is amazing! Will use it on many salads. Oh and I made your strawberry cake too and it was sooooo good! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks ?
Much like Daniella (June 26, 2016), I too have tried this recipe for the first time. I have a question – asked out of the purest ignorance. I candied the walnuts with butter and honey, making enough for several iterations of the beet salad, and am not sure how best to store them. Any suggestions?
Storing them in airtight container, either in the fridge or the kitchen counter, should be fine.
This is an exception all salad. Everything about it is better that the restaurant I frequently go to for this. I’m so glad I tried it, Thanks.
This salad is really delicious! I don’t know why beets are so expensive, I grew some one year and they are so easy to grow. I had bushels of them and could not give them away. Nobody would eat them. I am so glad my mom raised me eating beets as I grew up. Thanks for this great recipe.
Loved it! First time I’ve cooked fresh beets, and the salad was delish!
I’m planning to take this to a friends place – would you suggest taking the dressing, beets, cheese and walnuts separately and assembling there? Or can I put it together at home?
Yes, Marianne. The beets bleed and the cheese is soft, so I would definitely recommend assembling the salad at the last minute. Hope everyone enjoys it!
Just curious – is there a reason you use vegetable oil in your dressings as opposed to EVOO?
Hi Donna, Sometimes the flavor of EVOO is too strong; in those cases, I prefer a more neutral tasting oil like vegetable, canola or grapeseed.
First of all let me say thank you for your site. I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago and have already book marked several recipes.
My question is about the beets in this salad. Mine didn’t come out tasting sweet after roasting them. Is there a secret to selecting the beets? Anything else I should know in order to get the sweet roasted taste?
Hi Karen, So glad you’re enjoying the recipes on the site. If you find that the beets aren’t sweet enough for you, try this recipe with golden beets– they have a sweeter, more mild flavor. And here are some tips on selecting beets at the store.
The beet salad was absolutely delicious. I’m a lover of beets, walnuts and goat cheese so the combination was excellent and pulled together so well with the tangy salad dressing. This isn’t the first recipe of yours I’ve tried, but I’ll be following you more closely. Absolutely delicious!!!
My friends don’t like goat cheese. Would
Blue cheese or feta cheese work. What
do you suggest? Thanks, I love all your
recipes.
Hi Helen, Either would work well — go with your favorite.
Can you serve the beets cold?
Definitely!