Beetroot Salad with Walnuts & Feta

Delicious, flavoursome, healthy beet salad with earthy roasted beetroots, creamy feta and crunchy walnuts. The salad is tossed in an easy peasy lemon balsamic dressing which takes its flavours a notch higher.

In this salad recipe, we will first roast beetroots in oven as the roasting process brings out its deep flavour and slightly caramelises it. Then we will chop it and use it to make the salad.

This beet feta walnut salad is great to serve as side dish or it can even replace a meal as it is quite filling and satisfying. It is:

Vegetarian
Gluten Free
Easy to make
Delicious and healthy
Vegan (skip feta or use vegan feta)

My husband who hates salad ate this beet salad without complaining and even complimented its taste. So even if you are someone who is not fond of salads, I can totally assure you that this tasty beet salad is not like other bland salads and will definitely make you reach for second serving.

Roasted Beet Salad Ingredients:

Beetroot: Beetroot or Beet is a dark red colour edible vegetables with a slightly sweet taste. Always go for firm fresh beetroots for making salad. I have peeled them after roasting but if you wish you can leave the peels on.

Feta Cheese: Feta cheese adds the creamy texture to the salad and gives it necessary saltiness. You can even use goats cheese instead of feta.

Walnuts: Beetroot and walnuts makes an excellent pair in salads. Almonds, Pistachios, Pecans are some other nuts which you can add in this salad.

Onions: Sharp taste of onions balances the sweetness of roasted beetroots. Other vegetables or fruits that you can add are carrots, oranges or apples

Salad Greens: Choose any leafy vegetables of your choice to add in this salad like lettuce, baby spinach, arugula or rocket leaves. Some chopped mint can also be added for freshness.

Variations:

Kale Beets Salad: You can easily add some kale to this salad instead of lettuce or arugula.
Beetroot Pasta Salad: To make this salad more wholesome, toss in some boiled bow tie pasta or macaroni to it.
Chickpea Beet Salad: If you want to add protein it, feel free to add some chickpea or quinoa to it.

Is this beet salad vegan?

The only dairy product in this salad is feta cheese. You can use vegan feta or skip it entirely to make this salad vegan. 50 grams of feta cheese has around 130 calories, 9 grams protein and 10 grams fat (approx). So if you want to reduce calories in this salad then feel free to skip it. I have made this beetroot salad without feta cheese many times and it still tastes good.

How to roast beetroots?

The beets can be roasted in both oven & air fryer. In this post, oven instructions are explained in detail. For air fryer instructions, check our air fryer beets recipe.

We begin by first washing and scrubbing the beetroots well to get rid of any residual soil or dirt. You can peel the beetroots before roasting but as its skin is also edible you can leave it on.

Cut them into halves and sprinkle some olive oil and salt on them. If the beets are big in size you can even cut them in 4 pieces. Wrap them in foil and bake in oven for 180°C for 30 to 40 minutes.

Check the beetroot pieces after 30 minutes with a knife or skewer. If the pieces have become tender then no need to bake them further. However if you find resistance, bake for another 10-15 minutes.

These roasted beetroots can be stored in fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Whenever you want to make this salad microwave them for 10-15 seconds or use them just as it is for making this salad.

Lemon Balsamic Dressing

Balsamic vinegar is an intense flavoured, brown colour vinegar made with grape juice. In this recipe, we have made the salad dressing by mixing balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.

I have added some roasted garlic to it as I personally don’t like raw garlic flavour. Instead of fresh garlic, you can use garlic powder and even add some dijon mustard to the dressing.

More vegetarian salad recipes:

Ingredients: (2-3 servings)

For salad:
- Beetroot (medium)- 3 (~350 grams or 12 oz.)
- Lettuce- 2 cups
- Onion (Small)- 1
- Olive Oil- 1 tsp
- Salt- 1/2 tsp (to taste)
- Walnuts- 10 to 12
- Feta Cheese (crumbled)- 1/3 cup (~50 gms or 2 oz.)
For dressing:
- Olive Oil- 2 tbsp
- Balsamic Vinegar- 1 tbsp
- Lemon Juice- 2 tsp
- Honey / Maple Syrup- 1 tsp
- Garlic Cloves- 3 to 4
- Salt- 1/3 tsp (to taste)
- Crushed Black Pepper- 1/2 tsp

Notes:

As feta cheese is already salty, don’t add too much of salt in dressing initially. Adjust as per your taste later on.
Honey or maple syrup can be replaced with coconut sugar.

Directions:

Step 1:

Wash and scrub the beetroots well to get rid of dirt. Chop the ends & cut them into half. If they are bigger in size, you can cut them in quarters.

Step 2:

Drizzle & rub some olive oil, salt on halved beetroots and wrap them in foil (If you are roasting many beetroots together, wrap in bunches of 3 or 4). Chop the tips of garlic cloves, rub some olive oil on them and wrap in another small piece of foil.

Step 3:

Roast the beets in a preheated oven at 180°C (360°F) for 30-40 minutes. Check the centre of beetroot with a skewer or knife. It should pass through smoothly else bake for another 10 minutes.

Step 4:

Let the beetroots cool down slightly and then peel them (peeling is optional). Chop them into cubes and slice the onions. Keep aside.

Step 5:

Dry roast walnuts in a pan on medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes. It makes the walnuts more crunchy, however if you are short of time you can skip this step. Keep these toasted walnuts aside.

Step 6:

Take balsamic vinegar and rest of the dressing ingredients in a bowl or small jar. Squeeze the pulp of roasted garlic in it. Mix well (If you are using shaker jar, give it a good shake. This way you can even save the leftover dressing for later). Keep it aside.

Step 7:

Tear lettuce leaves into small pieces and transfer into a large bowl. Add chopped roasted beetroots & sliced onions to it. Pour salad dressing and toss gently. Roughly break the toasted walnuts and sprinkle over the salad along with crumbled feta. Enjoy delicious roasted beetroot salad.

Tips:

You can roast the beetroots in advance & store them in fridge. Similarly you can make the salad dressing and keep it in an airtight jar. Assemble the salad whenever you are ready to serve. Mixing salad in advance will make the vegetables soggy and lose their crunch.
Instead of roasted garlic, you can also use garlic powder or finely minced raw garlic.
For adding protein to the salad, you can add cooked chickpeas or quinoa.

Beets are packed with essential nutrients like folate (vitamin B9), vitamin C, fibre and phosphorous etc. You can simply juice them up or boil, steam or roast them to use in various dished like soups, stir fried vegetables, hummus, salads or pickle. More recipes with beetroot:

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