Beet Salad
Posted Nov 16, 2025
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This roasted beet salad recipe is made with beets, creamy goat cheese, candied pecans and green onion all tossed in a delicious balsamic vinaigrette dressing for a flavorful salad that is as beautiful as it is delicious!
If you’re looking for a show-stopping side salad, this beet salad recipe is it!
Made with balsamic roasted beets, creamy goat cheese, crunchy candied pecans, spring mi, and green onions it’s a delicious combination of flavors and textures that will wow your dinner guests.
You can go all-out and make everything from scratch including the delicious balsamic vinaigrette and roasting the beets yourself, or you can buy pre-made dressing and cooked beets to make this recipe even easier.
Whether you’re hosting for the holidays or want a light weeknight dinner, this easy beet salad recipe is a fresh, flavorful, healthy side dish that’s the perfect compliment to any meal.
Beet Salad: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Spring mix. You can use any greens you’d like such as spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, romaine, baby kale, etc.
- Beets. this recipe calls for fresh beets that you roast yourself, or you can use pre-cooked beets to make it easier.
- Green onions. red onions are a great substitute.
- Goat cheese. I love the creamy tangy flavor of goat cheese in this salad. You can substitute feta or sharp white cheddar.
- Candied pecans. I highly recommend that you make your own cinnamon sugar pecans for this recipe. You can also use candied walnuts or candied almonds.
- Balsamic dressing. you can use maple syrup in place of honey and avocado oil in place of olive oil in the dressing if you’d like. Or use store-bought balsamic vinaigrette.
How to Make Beet Salad
Let’s walk through how to make this roasted beet salad recipe together, and as always you can watch the video for further guidance.
Roast the Beets
prepare Beets in advance
You can roast the beets up to 2 days in advance. Store roasted beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to assemble the beet salad.
Begin by preheating the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius) and greasing a large baking sheet or ceramic baking dish.
Then, peel and cut 3 beets into ½’” cubes (I highly recommend using gloves to do this so you don’t stain your hands).
Next, put the beets in a large bowl and stir in the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Then, spread the beets in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Note on baking time
Baking time depends heavily on the size of your beets. If you cut them larger they will take longer to bake, of you cut them smaller they will bake faster. Please use the time as a guide and watch them carefully.
After 20 minutes, stir and bake for 10 additional minutes, or until the beets feel soft to the touch.
While the beets are cooking, whisk the balsamic vinegar and honey together in a small bowl.
After 30 minutes (or when beets are soft to the touch), remove the beets from the oven and drizzle the honey/balsamic vinegar mixture over the beets.
Then, stir until all the beets are evenly coated.
Return the beets to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the balsamic vinegar coats the beets (and isn’t runny), stirring once half way through.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Make the Beet Salad Dressing
When you’re ready to assemble the salad, make the dressing by whisking the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, mustard and garlic powder together in a small bowl.
The dressing can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator.
Assemble the Beet Salad
Once the beets have cooled and the dressing is ready, arrange the spring mix in an even layer on a serving dish. I love this serving dish with handles, I use it every time I make a salad.
Then spread the green onion, roasted beets, goat cheese, and candied nuts over the spring mix
Lightly season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the balsamic dressing. Or, you can serve the dressing on the side and let guests dress their own salads if you prefer.
Serve
Serve this beet salad a side dish to your favorite recipes, or serve as a meal with some protein! Here are some serving suggestions:
- Enjoy it with some grilled chicken kebabs, buttermilk chicken or baked chicken breasts.
- It pairs so well with my baked salmon recipe and maple salmon.
- Make some homemade french bread or no-knead bread.
- Have a soup and salad night and make some of our favorite soup recipes.
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 days. Undressed salad stores much better than dressed, so keep that in mind when you’re deciding how you want to serve this recipe!
I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
Beet Salad Recipe FAQS
I always wear plastic or rubber gloves – usually disposable so I can just throw them away when I’m done.
Yes, this recipe uses roasted beets, but you can cook them any way you want.
You can make parts of this salad in advance. I often roast the beets and make the dressing a day in advance, then assemble the salad right before I want to serve it.
My top recommendations are: spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, romaine, and baby kale.
Yes, you can use pickled, canned, pre-cooked, etc. beets to make this recipe easier!
If you make and love my recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, TikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
Beet Salad Recipe
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
Roasted Beets*
- 1 pound beets (16 ounces, about 2 medium beets before roasting)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon honey
Salad
- 5 ounces spring mix (or arugula)
- 3 green onions (finely sliced)
- ½ cup goat cheese (crumbled)
- ½ cup candied pecans (or walnuts)
- salt & pepper
Dressing
- 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
Roast the Beets*
- *Note: this can be done up to 2 days in advance. Store roasted beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit (218 degrees Celsius).
- Grease a large baking sheet or dish, set aside.
- Peel and cut 3 beets into 1” cubes (I highly recommend using gloves to do this so you don’t stain your hands).
- Put the beets in a large bowl, add the olive oil and sea salt and stir to coat.
- Spread the beets in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, stir and bake for 10 additional minutes or until beets feel soft to the touch.
- While the beets are cooking, whisk the balsamic vinegar and honey together in a small bowl.
- After 30 minutes (or when beets are soft to the touch), remove the beets from the oven and drizzle the honey/balsamic vinegar mixture over the beets.
- Stir until all the beets are evenly coated.
- Return the beets to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the balsamic vinegar coats the beets (and isn’t runny). Stir once half way through.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Make the Dressing
- In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients. Set aside.
Assemble the Beet Salad
- Arrange the spring mix in an even layer on a serving dish
- Then spread the green onion, roasted beets, goat cheese, and candied nuts over the spring mix
- Lightly season with salt and pepper and drizzle with glaze
- Serve.
Notes
- Spring mix. You can use any greens you’d like such as spring mix, baby spinach, arugula, romaine, etc.
- Beets. this recipe calls for fresh beets that you roast yourself, or you can use pre-cooked beets to make it easier.
- Green onions. red onions are a great substitute.
- Goat cheese. I love the creamy tangy flavor of goat cheese in this salad. You can substitute feta or sharp white cheddar.
- Candied pecans. I highly recommend that you make your own cinnamon sugar pecans for this recipe. You can also use candied walnuts or candied almonds.
- Balsamic dressing. you can use maple syrup in place of honey and avocado oil in place of olive oil in the dressing if you’d like. Or use store-bought balsamic vinaigrette.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
