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With delicious beetroots, feta, crunchy walnuts, and a lovely ruby dressing, this fabulous beetroot salad is worthy of festive gatherings!
Plus, it’s light, ready in 10 minutes, packed with vitamins and inexpensive.
And it looks beautiful too!
This simple but delicious recipe centers around beetroots, their juicy sweetness pairs beautifully with savory feta, leafy greens, and nutty walnuts to create a salad that’s loaded with textures and flavors.
Are you wondering if you need to roast the beetroots or not? The answer is not.
Vacuum-packed or canned beetroots work just fine, they have about the same nutritional value of fresh beets and save you the hassle of roasting and peeling beetroots.
In my world, meals and dinner parties don’t have to be stressful. If you want to impress your guests with a delicious and colorful salad that requires zero time and effort, this is the one! 🙂
What ingredients you need
- Cooked beetroot
- Mixed greens
- Feta
- Walnuts
- Red wine vinegar
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Garlic
- Salt & pepper
How to make it
- Arrange mixed green leaves on a large platter
- Add beetroot wedges
- Scatter crumbled feta and chopped walnuts over it
Then make the dressing…
- Whisk red vinegar, olive oil, honey, beetroot juice
- Gently simmer the dressing for about 5 minutes
- Add pressed garlic and season with salt and pepper
Serve the dressing on the side, and let each guest add their own dressing to their salad (otherwise, the dressing and the beets will stain green leaves and feta, and the salad won’t look pretty! 😉
RECIPE NOTES & TIPS
BEETROOTS
Roasted, vacuum-packed or canned beetroots work well in this salad. Roasting beetroots helps retain a lot of the flavor and health benefits, and it intensifies the flavor as well.
Hence, if you love roasting your beets, please do, I promise I won’t put you off ; )
However, I love vacuumed-packed baby beets for this salad. When I lived in California I used to buy them at TJ’s. They don’t contain artificial colors, flavors, seasonings, or preservatives. They have a lovely texture and are juicy, sweet, and tender. Plus, they save me a lot of TIME! ,
For more beetroot recipes, have a look also at the vibrant beetroot hummus and chocolate and beetroot cake.
DRESSING
Skip the expensive bottled stuff, and make your own salad dressing in minutes.
If time allows, I would recommend making a light glaze by gently simmering in a small pan olive oil, red vinegar, honey, and beetroot juice. Then add pressed garlic, and season with salt and black pepper.
This simple step will give a flavorsome ruby dressing with a little more sweetness coming through and a hint of garlic.
However, you can skip this step by simply making a vinegarette: whisk all the ingredients except the beetroot juice, done.
This beetroot salad looks stunning and it’s perfect for a holiday gathering. But I also love this celery salad and cabbage salad they all look so festive, taste delicious and require such a little time and effort. For more inspirations, I’m sure that here you’ll find the salad recipe you’re looking for!
If you make this festive beetroot salad, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it or tag a photo #theclevermeal on Instagram. I would love to hear from you!
Beetroot salad with feta
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 grams) beetroot, cooked*
- 5 oz (140 grams) mixed green salad (baby lettuces, arugula, spinach), washed and drained
- 4 oz (110 grams) feta, crumbled
- 2 oz (60 grams) walnuts, roughly chopped
Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil or extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp beetroot juice (from packed or canned beetroots)
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 small garlic clove, pressed or grated
- 1/4 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
- 1 pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dressing: In a small saucepan whisk olive oil, vinegar, honey, and beetroot juice (from the vacuum pack/ can is fine). Gently simmer the dressing, stirring often, until slightly thickened. This will take about 5 minutes and gives you a ruby glaze.But if you don't have time, see notes*.
- When you turn off the heat, add the garlic, salt, and pepper while it's still warm, whisk and set aside (1/4 heaped tsp of salt is fine for me, but you might want to taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly).
- Assemble the salad: Scatter the green leaves onto a large platter. Slice or cut the beetroots into wedges, arrange them on top of the mixed greens. Scatter over the crumbled feta and chopped walnuts.
- Do not toss the salad until the very last minute, as the beets will stain green leaves and feta and it won't look pretty. I would recommend serving the dressing on the side in a separate jug, and let each guest add their own dressing to their salad.Enjoy!
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