This beet salad recipe always gets rave reviews! Just read all our 5-star ratings! It’s made with red and golden beets, feta cheese, pistachios, craisins, and cilantro in a simple citrus vinaigrette.
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside awakens.
Carl Jung
Inspired by Morocco, this beet salad with feta is festive, vibrant, and healthy! Customers at our restaurant always asked for the recipe, so here it is! Perfect for fall gatherings or the holiday table, the flavors pop – earthy, tangy, and bright.
Why You’ll Love This Beet Salad
- Simple & easy! Steam the beets ahead of time, and the salad comes together in 20 minutes!
- So much flavor & texture. Crumbly, tangy feta, crunchy pistachios, earthy sweet beets, and citrusy vinaigrette.
- Great for meal prep! Keep in the fridge for 3 days for quick lunches!
- Incredibly healthy! This anti-inflammatory salad is packed with antioxidants.
Beet Salad with Feta Ingredients
- Beets: Use red, golden, or a mix of both! This salad is extra beautiful using all golden beets. I used both here, but golden beets will lose their color when mixed with red beets. For the photos, I added the golden beets over the red, to preserve their color.
- Red onion and garlic clove: Add pungent flavor and a crunchy texture.
- Olive oil: The base for the citrusy vinaigrette.
- Red wine vinegar: Or sub apple cider vinegar or champagne vinegar.
- Orange: The secret ingredient that brings this salad to life is the addition of orange- both its zest and juice!
- Craisins: Or sub dried currants.
- Cilantro: Tender stems are okay too. You can also sub some fresh mint, Italian parsley, or fresh basil.
- Pistachios: Crunchy, nutty, and sweet. The perfect addition to this beet salad! Candied pecans are a festive sub!
- Feta: Tangy with crumbly texture that pairs beautifully with the sweet beets and crunchy pistachios. I used a block of sheep’s milk feta here, rather than using crumbled, and sliced it into ½ inch cubes.
- Optional garnish: Top with pomegranate seeds for a festive twist!
How to Cook Beets
Do this before preparing the salad!
- FASTEST: Pressure cook! Use an Instant Pot to steam beets. Place the steamer basket in the Instant Pot with 1 cup of water in the bottom, set to pressure High for 16 minutes for 3-inch diameter beets. Cut extra-large beets in half. Naturally release.
- 2nd Fastest: Boil beets in a big pot, totally submerged in salted water until fork-tender. 30-50 minutes, depending on size. Cut extra-large beets in half for faster cooking. Drain.
- Steam beets in a big pot on the stovetop, using a steamer basket. 35-55 minutes, depending on size. Again, I like to cut bigger beets in half for faster cooking.
- Roast beets in a 425F oven. Oil, salt & pepper them, wrapped in foil or place in a baking dish or sheet pan, covered in foil, and bake 45-65 mins depending on size. A roasted beet salad is especially delicious!
Take your pick. 🙂
How to Make Beet Salad
Begin by cooking the beets, and of course, you can do this ahead and refrigerate until ready to make the salad. I like to use the Instant Pot method listed above, refrigerate them, and use them in the salad the next day.
Step 1: Prepare beets. Choose a method for cooking the beets, referencing the list above. Trim and rub under cool running water for peeling the skin. Dice into small, 1/2-inch cubes and place in a large bowl.
Step 2: Add remaining ingredients. Add diced onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, orange zest and orange juice, craisins, salt, and pepper to the bowl. Mix well. Add cilantro, pistachios, and feta. Gently toss.
Step 3: Taste and adjust. Add more pistachios, craisins, or feta to taste. Adjust for salt and pepper. Drizzle more orange juice if you’d like!
Step 4: Garnish and serve. Garnish with additional cilantro and serve in a large salad bowl!
Beet Salad Additions
- Arugula: For an addition of fresh greens!
- Avocado: Sliced or cubed avocado- don’t mix! Simply place the slices or cubed avocado on top.
- Squash: Winter squash like butternut or acorn pair well with beets for a delicious beet and squash salad.
- Chicken: Cooked and sliced or shredded chicken.
- Salmon: Cooked and sliced salmon placed on top.
Health Benefits of Beets!
- Rich in Vitamins and Minerals: Beets are a great source of essential nutrients, including fiber, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. These nutrients are vital for maintaining good health and preventing various diseases.
- Antioxidant Properties: Beets are rich in betalains, powerful antioxidants that help fight oxidative stress and inflammation in the body. This can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease.
- Lower Blood Pressure: The nitrates in beets can help dilate blood vessels, improving blood flow and reducing blood pressure. This can positively impact cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
- Boost Athletic Performance: Beets are known to enhance exercise performance. The nitrates they contain can improve the efficiency of mitochondria, which produce energy in your cells, thereby boosting stamina and endurance.
- Supports Brain Health: The nitrates in beets can improve blood flow to the brain, which may enhance cognitive function and reduce the risk of dementia. This is particularly beneficial as you age.
- Anti-Inflammatory: Chronic inflammation is linked to many diseases, including obesity, heart disease, liver disease, and cancer. Beets contain pigments called betalains, which may also possess anti-inflammatory properties.
- Improves Digestive Health: Beets are high in dietary fiber, which supports healthy digestion and promotes a healthy gut microbiome.
- Supports Detoxification: Beets contain betaine, a substance that supports liver function. The liver is integral to the body’s natural detoxification processes, helping to cleanse the blood and secrete unwanted chemicals.
Incorporating beets into your diet, like in this Beet Salad, can help you take advantage of these fantastic health benefits!
FAQs
Depending on your area, beets are typically in season from early spring to late fall.
Pairing beets with bright, fresh flavors is the best way to enhance their natural earthy sweetness. Ingredients like vinegar, orange juice, herbs, and tangy cheese like feta are the perfect accompaniments.
Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
I hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Have the BEST day,
More Favorite Salads!
Beet Salad with feta video
Beet Salad Recipe
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6-8
- Category: salad, vegetarain
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
This beet salad recipe always gets rave reviews! Just read all our 5-star ratings! It’s made with red and golden beets, feta cheese, pistachios, craisins, and cilantro in a simple citrus vinaigrette. Steam the beets ahead and the salad comes together in 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds beets (red, golden, or a mix) cooked, peeled and diced (see notes)
- 1/3 cup red onion, very finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced, use a garlic press
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (or Apple Cider or Champagne Vinegar)
- 1 orange (2 tablespoons zest and 4 tablespoons juice)
- 1/2– 1 cup craisins ( or sub-dried currants)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup cilantro, chopped, tender stems OK ( or sub some mint, Italian parsley, basil)
- 1/2 –1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup feta, cut into cubes
- Optional Garnish: For a festive twist you could top with pomegrante seed!
Instructions
- Boil, roast or steam beets until fork tender (See notes-you can do this ahead and refrigerate, or purchase steamed beets). Trim and rub under cool running water to remove skin. Dice into small, 1/2 inch cubes. Place in a large bowl.
- Add diced onion, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, orange zest and orange juice, craisins, salt and pepper and mix to combine well. Add cilantro, pistachios and feta. Gently toss.
- Taste, add more pistachios, craisins or feta to taste. Adjust salt and pepper. Sometimes I’ll add another squeeze of orange juice.
- Serve in a bowl and garnish with cilantro.
Notes
Cooking Beets:
- Lately I like using my Instant Pot to steam beets ahead ( like the day before). Place the steamer basket in the Insant pot with 1 cup of water in the bottom, set to pressure High for 16 minutes for 3 inch diameter beets. Cut extra-large beets in half. Naturally release. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- You can always boil beets in a big pot, totally submerged in water or steam them in a big pot on the stovetop, using a steamer basket. Again, I like to cut bigger beets in half for faster cooking. Of course, they can be roasted in the oven as well. ( 425F, oiled, salted & peppered, wrapped in foil or in a baking dish covered in foil, or in a dutch oven 45-65 mins depending on size. ) Take your pick.
This salad is beautiful using all golden beets. I used both here, but golden beets will lose their color when mixed with red beets. For the photos I added the golden beets over the red, to preserve their color for the photos.
This salad will keep 3-4 days in the fridge. If making ahead, toss in the cilantro and pistachios right before serving, and re-taste for salt and vinegar, adding more if necessary.
If you opt to leave the dried cranberries out you may need to balance this with a little sweetness- a small spoonful of maple syrup may do it!
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 214
- Sugar: 12.9 g
- Sodium: 212.7 mg
- Fat: 14.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 17.9 g
- Fiber: 2.8 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 16.7 mg
Made this as a side for Christmas dinner for family- everyone loved it and wanted the recipe! Even my husband who is not a fan of beets went for seconds!! Can’t wait to explore more of your recipes!
Oh I love that! Thanks Kyla!
Very good. Started with the lesser amount of cranberries and pistachios and decided that the recipe really calls for the full amount. The few leftovers were still in great shape the following day, but didn’t last beyond that! Will definitely make again.
Thanks Mary, glad you enjoyed.
This is absolutely delicious!! I made it today for a beautiful Thanksgiving side and am secretly hoping nobody else likes it so I can have all the left overs to myself. I am thankful that you shared this recipe! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Haha! Happy Thanksgiving and glad you enjoyed this!
Here’s a question for you: We routinely can our garden beets for use all winter. If I use my canned beets, what volume of diced cooked beets would equal the 1.5 lbs. of raw beets? 2 cups? More? I’m guessing that our canned cooked beets weigh more than raw beets, so don’t believe I can use weight as a guideline in this case.
Hi Mary- I’m guessing 4-5 cups diced beets 🙂
Truly my favorite food blog. I specially love your vegan salads. Keep up the good work 🙂
Really appreciate the metric unit option on this one, by the way!
Thanks so much Maria!
This is seriously amazing! I used vegan feta and kept everything else as written – we absolutely loved it! I have a hard time using recipes from nearly anywhere else these days…they just don’t turn out nearly as perfect as every single one of yours! 💚 Many thanks for being here!
You are so kind Bailey! Thanks!
First of all, WOW! This is REALLY good. Used our organic garden beets and cilantro and served for Labor Day dinner along with lobster rolls. An impressive and easy side salad. We did prefer the lesser amount of craisins, but that’s obviously an issue of personal taste.
On a separate note, the Metric version of your recipe (I often prefer metric) calls for 680 POUNDS of beets. I’m guessing you may want to change that to grams? 😊
Oppps I’ll double-check the metric version. Glad you enjoyed the salad. 😉
This is one of my favorite recipes! I’ve made it several times for friends, holidays, and it was just requested for tomorrow’s dinner. I’ve used both golden and red beets. I love how healthy it is, the feta makes it betta, and the orange makes it sweet and delicious. Looking forward to more happy eaters of this yummy salad!
If I prep it early, I leave out the feta & pistachios until we’re ready to eat, so they’re not soggy or red sitting overnight.
Love this Jillian! Thanks so much!
Excellent! Did not change a thing. Kept some of the cilantro, feta and pistachios to the side in order to top the whole lot at the end with vibrant color.
Glad you enjoyed this Michelle!
In the printed recipe there is no mention of adding the cilantro except as a garnish. Is that a ‘boo-boo’?
Yes, fixed it- thanks Sue!
Absolutely loved this! I didn’t add the cilantro but it was delicious without. Thank you
Happy you enjoyed Rosie!
This looks amazing!! I’m not a fan of feta, do you have any thoughts on a substitute?
You could leave it out?
We use goat cheese and it’s delicious!!!
I love goat cheese here too!
Just tried this with mini bocconcini balls because it’s what I had on hand and I would highly recommend, very delicious salad!
Love that idea!
Really great recipe, leftovers tasted even better the next day! I only ended up using 2T olive oil because I like things on the tangier side. Also used a mix of chopped raisins and dried cherries because it’s what I had on hand. I also used pre-cooked beets from Costco! Looking forward to making this again very soon.
Awesome Maye!
Loved it !
Great to hear!
Just put this together and am eating it right of the bowl I mixed it in. So good! Great recipe.
Thanks so much Jan- glad you are enjoying it!
Im allergic to oranges, how do you think lemon would work in place of theoranges?
Give it a try-maybe go a bit lighter because lemons are more acidic. 😉
I made this last night for dinner as we are trying to add more vegetarian menu options into our diet. I added a bit of quinoa as a bed for the salad and used pepitas instead of pistachios – it was gobbled up with rave reviews! Another go-to recipe that I will use again and again.
Great to hear Barb!
I made this recipe as a delicious side for Christmas dinner, but I couldn’t justify boiling whole beets for 30-50 minutes. Instead, I peeled and diced the beets and boiled for about 12 minutes, then drained. They came out cooked just fine in far less time.
Thats a great idea! Did they hold their color?
Haven’t made it yet but just wondering about a vegan option?
You could just leave out the feta Romy- or sub a Vegan feta?
Great recipe!
Thanks Bonnie!
Made this for a large Friendsgiving dinner and it was a hit. Thank you so much.
Perfect Molly! Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent!!! I did modify just a bit though as I didn’t have access to a few of the ingredients & we don’t care for dried cranberries (so we omitted those). To cut the time down even more, I use just the (red) beets that are fully cooked in the grocery case at Trader Joe’s. I subbed goat cheese for feta & subbed apple cider vinegar for red wine vinegar. My husband and I love having this as a side with fish for dinner. It’s got a nice richness to it that is filling, and we don’t feel guilty eating it since it has some really healthy ingredients. My husband says it tastes like something that is served at a “fancy” restaurant. Lol. It is beautiful in color, & the taste is amazing. Thanks for the recipe!!!
Sounds perfect! thanks Flower!
Delicious recipe, appreciated explanation with regards to cooking beetroot, extra notes, etc. The orange flavour, feta and pistachios a hit. Definitely our favourite beetroot salad.
Thanks Diane- Glad you liked this one!
Can you use can beets?
Hey Linda, I havent tried this with canned beets, but don’t see why it wouldnt work -unless the beets are pickled?
Delish !! Always looking for ways to serve beets – – so beautiful; so nutritious; so tasty!! (I cut my beets bigger to allow other ingredients to coat and hang on nicely on the fork ! Thank you so much !!
Love it!
Where I work at a camp the people there loves beets.wish me like lol. Thank so much for sharing awesome recipes.
Thanks Shelley and good luck!