This beet and goat cheese salad is a quick and healthy dish that is perfect for lunch and dinner. The combination of fresh leafy greens, salty goat cheese and a sweet balsamic dressing gives this salad loads of flavor. The salad is perfect as a main dish, side or starter and always tastes amazing!
One thing I love about salads is that they can easily be tossed together, are super healthy and taste amazing! And this beet and goat cheese salad is definitely one of those delicious and healthy salads that are quick and easy to prepare. The salad is ready in only 10 minutes, is super simple to make and is very versatile. You can easily change or add ingredients to give this salad a different taste. Plus, you can serve it on its own or as a side dish. While you can easily modify this salad to switch things up, it already tastes amazing as it is! So, if you love goat cheese and beets, then definitely give this salad a try! It does not disappoint.
Ingredients
The main ingredients for this salad are beets and goat cheese. Here are all the ingredients you’ll need plus a few extra notes.
- Leafy greens. You can use any type of leafy greens. I used baby spinach for the recipe, but I often use whatever I have in the refrigerator. You could also mix your leafy greens.
- Beet. I often buy pre-cooked beets, but you can buy beets and cook them yourself.
- Goat cheese.
- Walnuts.
- Homemade balsamic dressing (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, dijon mustard, salt and pepper). You could substitute the maple syrup with honey and skip the dijon mustard if you don’t like it.
You really don’t need a lot of ingredients to make this salad. It is very basic, but totally delivers in the flavor department!
How to make beet and goat cheese salad
Making this beet and goat cheese salad is super super simple! Just follow these steps:
- Prepare the salad ingredients. Just cut the beet into dices or slices and chop the walnuts.
- Prepare the balsamic dressing. Simply add all of the ingredients for the dressing to a small bowl or jar and mix until everything is well combined.
- Prepare the leafy greens. Add the leafy greens to a bowl, add some of the dressing and mix things until the leafy greens are coated with the dressing. Save some of the dressing if you want to drizzle it on top of the salad.
- Top the salad. Now, you can top the salad with the walnuts, beets and goat cheese. We add them in the end as goat cheese tends to be very soft and the beets would give the whole salad a pink color.
Variations
There are many ways to modify this recipe. Here are a few ideas:
- Cheese: I know, this is a beet and goat cheese salad. But sometimes you just don’t have it or can’t find it. You can definitely use feta as a substitute in case you don’t have goat cheese or simply want to switch things up.
- Nuts: You can substitute the walnuts with any type of nuts you like! I find that pecans and cashews go well with this recipe.
- Veggies: The beet and goat cheese salad tastes great as it is, but if you want to add a bit more veggies, go for it! I sometimes add cucumber or cherry tomatoes. Just modify the recipe to your taste and make a bit more of the dressing if you want to add other vegetables.
Serving beet and goat cheese salad
You can serve this beet and goat cheese salad as a main dish, starter or side dish. Here are some ideas for serving the salad:
- As a main dish: I recommend serving some crusty bread on the side as it makes the salad more filling and just tastes amaziiiing in combination with the beets and goat cheese.
- As a side dish: I often enjoy this salad with salmon or chicken as it adds protein to my meal and tastes super yummy. Just remember to serve this salad with a main dish that is mild in flavor as goat cheese has a strong and very distinct taste.
- As a starter: Serve a smaller size of this beet and goat cheese salad with some warm and crusty bread and your guests are going to love you!
More healthy salad recipes
If you love making healthy and easy salads, then you might want to try out these recipes. They all taste great, are easy to make and are super healthy.
- Kisir (Turkish Bulgur Salad)
- Greek Chicken Pasta Salad
- Arugula Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Green Potato Salad
Beet and Goat Cheese Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 handfuls leafy greens e.g. baby spinach or arugula
- 1 beet medium-sized and cooked, cut into slices or dices
- 1 oz goat cheese or more to taste
- 3 tbsp walnuts chopped
Balsamic Dressing
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 ½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ – 1 tbsp maple syrup alternative: honey
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Wash the leafy greens. Cut the beet and chop the walnuts.
- Prepare the balsamic dressing by adding all ingredients to a small bowl or jar and mixing them.
- Add the greens to a bowl, add some of the dressing and toss everything to coat the greens with the dressing. Save some of the dressing if you want to drizzle it on top of the salad.
- Add the leafy greens to plates and top with the beet, goat cheese, walnuts and more salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with more of the dressing if you want to. Enjoy!
Notes
- I often use pre-cooked beets, but you could cook the beets yourself. Just cook the beets in a pot filled with water for around 40 minutes. Add some salt to the water a few minutes before you take out the beets. Then, peel the beets and cut them. Extra tip: wear gloves when peeling and cutting the beets as they can easily stain your hands!
- If you want to serve this salad as a side or starter, use less servings than stated in the recipe.
- I recommend serving bread if you want to enjoy this salad as a main dish.
Maylien Swenerton
I forget how good Beets are in a salad especially with goat cheese and toasted nuts. Plan to try this soon when I can get the beets. Have you ever tried a grating of orange zest in the dressing for salads such as this? Wonderful! Also beets grated raw are good in salads as well.
Beri
Thanks for the tips, I will definitely try adding orange zest to my dressings! 😊 Enjoy the beet and goat cheese salad! 😊 🥗