This Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad proves that salads are far more than just greens and they don't have to be boring. Ready in just 5 minutes and great as either a side dish or a light lunch. The sweetness of the beetroot and salty creaminess of the goat's cheese make them the perfect combination for an easy salad.
We are all about the salads at the moment and we are on a mission to show just have versatile and filling a salad can be. Once you have a bed of subtly dressed greens, your options are almost endless. We like a mixture of textures with plenty of crunch, some creaminess and some chunky vegetables, and this beetroot salad ticks all the boxes.
What I love about salad is the simplicity of them. You don't want to over complicate the flavours and have too much competing against each other. This is a hearty and filling goat's cheese salad that can either be served on the side of chicken or fish or as a light lunch.
If you are looking for some other salad recipes to try, then why not try our Easy Salad Jars, Cucumber and Radish Salad or Chopped Blue Cheese Salad.
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Why you will love it
- A great way to use beetroot - If you have not had a beetroot salad before, then you are missing out. It adds so much flavour to greens and it's filling too. This is one of our favourite beetroot recipes.
- Ready in just 5 minutes - This is a quick and easy salad recipe, although you can use roasted beetroot which would take a bit longer.
- Easy to adapt with different ingredients - We have kept it simple as a salad with beetroot and goat's cheese, but we have given lots of options below on how to adapt it.
Ingredients needed
- Lettuce - You can use anything here, or a mixture of a few. We used spinach and butterhead, but rocket and little gem work well too.
- Beetroot - We used pre-roasted beetroot that you can buy in packets in the supermarket, but we have given instructions for roasting it yourself below.
- Goat's cheese - It wouldn't be a goat's cheese salad without it. You can use a goat's cheese log, or a round with a rind. If you can't find goat's cheese, or you don't like it, then feta or stilton would work well too.
- Olive oil - This is the base of the salad dressing and we use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Balsamic vinegar - Try to use the best quality you can here, as the cheaper brands tend to be really thin and don't have much flavour.
- Lemon - This adds a nice freshness to the dressing. For extra lemon flavour, add a little zest too.
- Dijon - This adds a punch of flavour, and some creaminess to the dressing. You could swap it for wholegrain mustard if you prefer.
- Walnuts - These add such a lovely crunch to the finished beetroot salad. You can toast them in a dry pan to make them extra crunchy. You could swap them for flaked almonds or pecans instead if you prefer. Pine nuts also add some crunch.
A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.
How to make a beetroot salad - Step by step
One: Make the salad dressing by combining the oil, balsamic, lemon juice, mustard and salt and pepper. Place the salad leaves in a large bowl and add the dressing. Mix well so that all the leaves are coated.
Two: Roughly chop the beetroot and add on top of the salad leaves.
Three: Add the goat's cheese.
Four: And finish with the walnuts. Season with salt and pepper (if desired) and it's ready to serve.
What beetroot to use
We made a shortcut with this beetroot salad and used ready cooked beetroot from a packet. Whilst we are all for making things from scratch, peeling beetroot, cooking for 40 minutes and having purple hands for the rest of the day is just a bit to much sometimes. So we buy it ready cooked.
If you wanted to use raw beetroot, then peel and chop the beetroot in to chunks, mix with some olive oil (I like to add some balsamic too) and then roast for about 40 minutes until softened to make a roasted beetroot salad.
Salad dressing
A dressing can really make or break a salad, so it's important to put some thought in to it. There needs to be a delicate balance of oil and vinegar, some sweetness (in my opinion) and a little kick from some mustard goes a long way. It also needs to be seasoned correctly, so always do a taste test after adding salt and pepper.
We use the best quality olive oil we can buy and often use balsamic vinegar because it has that touch of sweetness to it. Again, you want to use the best quality possible as you can really taste the difference.
We also sometimes add a drizzle of honey over the finished salad which goes really well with the beetroot and goat's cheese.
Variations
The great thing about a salad is that you never have to make it the same way twice. Because this is quite a hearty and filling salad, we like to lighten it up by adding some orange or grapefruit slice to it. You could always add slices of strawberries or some blueberries to it.
Feel free to change the cheese and nuts used too. You could use feta instead of a more traditional soft goat's cheese and you could swap with walnuts for pecans or cashews. Want to give this salad a protein boost? Add some cooked chickpeas or quinoa.
What to serve with a beetroot salad
I think this salad is pretty perfect the way it is, but if you are serving it as a side salad then it would go well with Chicken Skewers, Air Fryer Steak or salmon. If you are having it as a light lunch, then we like some warm crusty bread on the side of it.
We usually serve up small portions of this as a starter to the main dish. However, if we are having it as a main then we would either add some Sourdough Croutons, or serve it with a slice of White Bread or Easy Bagels.
Frequently asked questions
We wouldn't recommend making this too far in advance, as the dressed salad leaves would get soggy. You could mix the beetroot with the salad and pre-make the dressing and then dress it just before serving and adding the goat's cheese.
Salads are always a great opportunity to get lots of nutrients in to a meal. Beetroot is rich in folate (vitamin B9) which helps cells grow and function. They are also a good source of potassium, vitamin A, and iron and they are low in calories.
This is best eaten straight after serving, however if you do have any leftovers then they can be stored in an air tight container in the fridge for up to two day.
More salad recipes
If you’ve tried this beetroot salad recipe, let us know how you got on in the comments below.
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Recipe
Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Salad leaves
- 100 g Beetroot - (ready cooked), chopped into chunks
- 30 g (1 oz) Goat's cheese - crumbled
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 0.5 Lemon - (juice only)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper
- 30 g (0.25 cups) Walnuts - broken into pieces
Instructions
- Make the salad dressing by combining 2 tablespoon Olive oil, 2 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar, juice of 0.5 Lemon, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard and 1 pinch Sea salt and black pepper.
- Place 100 g Salad leaves in a large bowl and add the dressing. Mix well so that all the leaves are coated.
- Top with 100 g Beetroot.
- Add 30 g Goat's cheese.
- And finish with 30 g Walnuts. Season with salt and pepper (if desired) and it's ready to serve.
Notes
- If you don't want to have purple hands for the rest of the day, then wear gloves when chopping the beetroot.
- You can swap the walnuts for pecans or cashews and use feta instead of a goat's cheese log if you prefer.
- Some cooked chickpeas give this salad a little protein boost.
- We used ready cooked beetroot, but you can roast chunks of peeled beetroot with some olive oil for 40 minutes until softened.
- Take this salad to the next level by adding a drizzle of honey over the finished salad.
Tayler Ross
I'm always looking for new salads to try during summer, and this salad is at the top of my list! It looks amazing!
Sharon
I love beets so I'm always looking for new recipes to use them in and this one did not disappoint. So good!
Mirlene
I am in love with making this salad! I love the balsamic dressing used with the goat cheese, beetroots, spinach and nuts. So easy to make and perfect for my lunch to pack up!
April
Beets are so underrated. I loved this salad! Will be making again, thank you!
Sarah
You don’t need to peel raw beetroot before roasting - the skins are super easy to rub away/peel once they are cooked and cooled. Remember to wear gloves to avoid pink hands though. Lovely recipe.
Steph
Made this for dinner tonight and it was to die for! I added some roast pumpkin to it and I loved it
Cookilicious
A salad recipe with nutrition info is a keeper! Thanks for sharing this.
Beth
This looks so fresh and flavorful! Perfect for Summer but also a great festive side for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Krissy Allori
OMG! I am really looking forward to taking this to the next family cookout.
Andrea Metlika
Beetroot and goat cheese with balsamic sounds amazing.
Cookilicious
Love how colorful and flavorful this salad is!