Truly one of the most delicious salads- Beet Salad with Feta and Pistachios! Red and golden beets are tossed with pistachios, cubes of feta, cilantro and orange zest in a simple citrus vinaigrette. This can be made ahead and kept for 3 days in the fridge. Perfect for special gatherings – a beautiful addition to the holiday table.
Looking for more? Check out our 20+ Easy, Delicious Beet Recipes
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside awakens.~ Carl Jung
This beautiful Beet Salad with crumbled feta cheese & pistachios would be stunning on your holiday table. But it also works wonderfully for mid-week lunches! Meal-prep this delicious salad ahead, and it will keep 3-4 days in the fridge. A nice treat for yourself!
Not only are beets earthy, sweet and full of flavor, but beets are also a powerhouse of nutrients! They are full of powerful antioxidants, they lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. If you looking for new ways to incorporate beets in the kitchen, take a look at our 20 Best Beet Recipes– you’ll find some delicious inspiration here!
What I love about this salad, is that it can be made in 45 minutes.
Beet Salad | 60-sec video
What you’ll need:
- beets (red, golden, or a mix) cooked, peeled and diced (about 4 1/2 cups diced)
- red onion
- garlic clove
- olive oil
- red wine vinegar (or Apple Cider or Champagne Vinegar)
- an orange – zest and juice
- craisins ( or sub-dried currants)
- salt and pepper
- fresh cilantro- or sub-Italian parsley, basil, mint or dill (or a mix)
- pistachios
- feta cheese , cut into cubes
- Optional Garnish: For a festive twist you could top with pomegranate seeds!
How to make Beet Salad
It starts with cooking the beets and of course, you can do this ahead and refrigerate until ready to make the salad.
I used my Instant Pot, and set the pressure to high for 16 minutes, then naturally released and put them in the fridge, making the salad the next day.
How to cook Beets: (Do this ahead!)
- 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 oil half for faster cooking.
- 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 425 oven. Oil, salt & pepper them, wrapped in foil or place in a baking dish or baking sheet, covered in foil, and bake 45-65 mins depending on size.
- Take your pick. 🙂
TIP: This Beet Salad with Feta 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 for the photos.
Cut the feta into cubes.
I used a block of sheep’s milk feta here, rather than using crumbled, and sliced it into ½ inch cubes.
Feta holds its shape well in the salad!
Add finely chopped red onion and ½ half a bunch of cilantro. ( If you have an aversion to cilantro, fresh mint or Italian parsley works here too.)
The secret ingredient that brings this salad to life is the addition of orange- both its zest and juice!
Then add pistachios and craisins- which give it great flavor & texture!
To make it extra festive, top with pomegranate seeds.
This Beet Salad with Feta will keep 3-4 days in a salad container in the fridge.
I hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Other Recipes you might enjoy!
- Raw Beet Salad with Basil Cashew Dressing
- Heirloom Tomato, Beet and Burrata Salad with Basil Oil
- Beet, Lentil and Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Dressing
- Farro Salad with Beets and their Tops
- Beet Orange and Fennel Salad
- 20 Fresh Beet Recipes
- Make-Ahead Vegan Salads
Have the BEST day,
Sylvia
Beet Salad with Feta
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: salad, vegetarain
- Method: tossed
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Description
Truly one of the most beautiful and delicious Beet Salads with Pistachios, Feta, cilantro and orange in a simple citrus vinaigrette. Can be made ahead and kept for 3 days in the fridge. 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!