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Roasted Beet Salad

November 13, 2023

A roasted beet salad tossed with roasted carrots and a chèvre green goddess dressing that’s as colorful as it is delectable.

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Roasted beet salad made with beets, carrots, spring salad mix and micro greens drizzled with green goddess dressing
Photography by Gayle McLeod

A Simple Beet Salad For Any Occasion

Beets are a thing of beauty—with their vibrant deep color and uniquely sweet flavor, we’re big fans. Loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they’re healthy, too. Plus, even though they’re technically in season in the fall and winter, beets are available pretty much year round, because they’re easy to store. Pair this with a simple main—maybe Baked Salmon, or Perfect Roast Chicken with Lemon Herb Pan Sauce—and you’ve got yourself a gorgeous dinner, fit for company!

Roasted beet salad made with beets, carrots, spring salad mix and micro greens drizzled with green goddess dressing

How to Prepare Beets for Salad

Learning how to roast beets is super simple, and once you’ve got it down, you’ll probably find yourself making them all the time. For an even easier beet salad, we love our Grated Beet Salad. Not only are they delicious in this salad, their earthy sweetness, brilliant magenta color, and lovely texture makes them a welcome addition to all kinds of things—salads, sandwiches, and sides. Here’s how to roast beets for salad:

  1. Wash your beets. Because they’re a root veggie, beets tend to be a little dirty. Give them a good wash being sure to scrub the surface well.

  2. Trim the beets. If you bought beets that have their whole tops, including the leafy greens, keep the greens! They’re extremely healthy and delicious sautéed in olive oil with a little garlic—prep them just as you would spinach or collards.

  3. Wrap each individual beet in foil for roasting, and drizzle them with a little olive oil before sealing the foil packets.

  4. Roast! Roasting beets takes roughly an hour, depending on the size of the beets. Smaller ones might be ready after 40 minutes or so. You can check for doneness by sliding a knife into the beet. If it slides in easily, the beet is done.

beets, carrots, spring salad mix, green onions, olive oil, goat cheese, spices, basil, parsley and lemon juice in prep bowls

Our Favorite Roasted Beet Salad Dressing

This goat cheese green goddess dressing is the best salad dressing for all things, not just for this roasted beet salad. Plus, it’s not too hard to make! Just dump all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend. If it’s a little thick—different kinds of chèvre have different moisture levels, so the thickness can vary—just pour in a little more olive oil until you’ve got the consistency you want. Here’s what you’ll need to make this fresh, creamy dressing:

  • Fresh goat cheese – This is our favorite way to add a tangy bite, and thicken our salad dressing.

  • Green onions and herbs – Herbs and green onions are what bring our green dressing into the realm of the goddess.

  • Fish sauce – This is the secret to success. A good fish sauce adds an unctuous flavor to any dish, and is a stand-in for the anchovies that traditionally gives Green Goddess Dressing an umami kick.

  • Freshly squeezed lemon juice – A little bit of acidity works to balance the creamy dressing, and adds brightness to the earthy beets and carrots.

sliced roasted beets ready to go in a homemade beet salad
homemade green goddess dressing in a bowl being scooped with a spoon

How to Make Beet Salad

This salad is mostly prep—once you’ve got your ingredients lined up, all you need to do is assemble. You can even make a lot of the components ahead of time—roast the beets a few days before you need to serve, and even the dressing can be made a few hours ahead. Here’s how to approach this yummy beet salad recipe:

  1. Roast the beets. Beets take a while to roast, and you’ll need to let them cool completely before peeling them, so get it going at least a few hours before you want to serve the salad.

  2. Roast the carrots. You’ll pop them in the oven with the beets, but towards the end of the beet roasting time—they only need 15-20 minutes.

  3. Make the goat cheese dressing. This is a simple affair in a high speed blender.

  4. Peel and slice the beets. After roasting, the beet skin should come off easily—you can rub it off with a paper towel, or you can use a small knife or vegetable peeler to get it off.

  5. Assemble the salad. Arrange the beets, carrots and watercress on a platter in a way that looks pretty and makes you happy. Drizzle with dressing, and eat up!

Roasted beet salad made with beets, carrots, spring salad mix and micro greens drizzled with green goddess dressing

More Great Salad Recipes To Try

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Roasted Beet Salad

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  30 min
  • Cook Time:  50 min
  • Calories:  300

Ingredients

  • 8 medium beets, tops trimmed
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly cracked black pepper
  • 2 cups watercress or spring salad mix
  • Microgreens (optional)
  • Green Goddess Dressing

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center position.

  2. Make the salad. Place each beet on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon olive oil and wrap the foil loosely around the beets. Place the wrapped beets on a baking sheet and roast for 45-50 minutes, or until tender.

  3. Meanwhile, place the carrots on a separate baking sheet and toss with the remaining olive oil, salt, and pepper. Once the beets have roasted for 30 minutes, roast the carrots until tender, 15-20 minutes. Let beets and carrots cool completely.

  4. Once the beets have cooled, remove the skins using a knife or peeler and quarter.

  5. On a platter, arrange, alternating the watercress, beets, and carrots. Drizzle with the Green Goddess dressing, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Top with micro greens if using.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 300
  • Protein 5 g
  • Carbohydrates 15 g
  • Total Fat 25 g
  • Dietary Fiber 5 g
  • Cholesterol 17 mg
  • sodium 505 mg
  • Total Sugars 8 g

Roasted Beet Salad

Questions & Reviews

Join the discussion below.

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  • Marcy

    Can you roast the beets and carrots a day ahead of the salad prep?

    Sure! Hope you enjoy Marcy!

  • Ed

    Do you think it would be good served warm? Like roasted veggies warm with cool dressing?

    Yes!

  • katie

    If I wanted to add some nuts for crunch would you recommend candied or non-candied walnuts? or maybe pecans?

    Sure! Any of those sound like a delicious addition!

  • Julia

    How long does the dressing keep in the fridge?

    Up to 1 week.

  • K.

    Our family ‘rates’ our dinners each night out of a 10-point scale. They rated this a 10/10! We loved it! I added two more cups of spring greens to the recipe since we had extra lettuce. Our 6 and 8 year-old girls asked if they could drink the dressing as a smoothie (I will state that they are fantastic eaters). Thank you for yet another delicious recipe!

    Thank you! WE are so happy your whole family loved it so much!

  • Marissa

    I am absolutely OBSESSED with the goat cheese dressing, it is seriously one of the best dressings I have ever eaten in my life. Paired with the beets and arugula, it's a great combination. So glad I found your page!

    Thanks Marissa, we are so glad that you loved this! We are glad you found us too!

  • Hailey

    My husband doesn't think he likes goat cheese or fish sauce. So naturally I made him this... without telling him;) Then he raved about it! Who would have thought all those ingredients would work together. Well done!

    haha! Way to give it a shot anyway, glad it went well and he loved it!