Beet and Feta Cheese Salad with Citric Dressing

This beet and feta cheese salad recipe could not be simpler to make, and the result of a beet salad packed with sweet, citric, and salty flavor make it a perfect gluten-free, vegetarian, side dish all year round.

This beet salad recipe is a delicious way to have a lettuce-free salad packed with nutrients and vitamins.

You can find the print version of this recipe at the end of this post in the recipe card. On this blog post, you'll find some helpful information on how to cook beet without compromising the flavor and texture.

Is this beet and feta cheese salad healthy

This beet salad with feta cheese is healthy because you are adding whole food ingredients to enhance the nutrients and vitamins found in the beet itself. Beets are unusually high in folate, manganese, and copper.

How to make a beet salad

STEP 1. Make the vinaigrette: mixing the orange zest, orange juice, olive oil, and salt, stir and set aside.

STEP 2. Put all together: In a large bowl, add beets, fresh mint, and dressing and toss until everything is mixed together. Top with feta cheese and more fresh mint and serve. Enjoy!

Pro Tips:

You can make this recipe 2 to 3 days ahead of time, but add the fresh mint and crumbled feta cheese the same day of serving.

If you don't like mint, you can use basil instead.

Add red onion to the mix to add extra flavor or have some pickled onion on the side if you don't want to add it directly in the salad.

How to cook beet for salad

For this beet salad with feta cheese, I cooked the beet in the electric pressure cooker.

You can cook beets in three traditional ways; boiling, steaming, or roasting.

How to boil beets

Boiling beets is very simple; you need to submerge the vegetable in hot boiling water and cook until tender. 

You may notice that the red color on beets leeks into the cooking water; 

to prevent this from occurring, try to keep at least 2 inches of stem attached to the beet, and adding vinegar to the water will also help.

How to steam beets

To create steam to cook the beets, you will need a large pot with cover and a steamer basket. Add water to the pot, and don't let the water touch the steamer basket because you want the steam to circulate under and around the beets as it cooks.

The beets will be cooked when tender and easy to peel the skin off. Cook for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of your beets.

This one of my favorite methods because I can do this in the electric pressure cooker, and the nutrients stay in the vegetable and not get lost in the water.

How to roast beets

There are two different ways you can roast beets 

Whole beets

Roasting whole beets take more time, but the result allows you to have more flavor on the outside and more intense flavor inside.

To make whole roasted beets coat the beets with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste, wrap them in foil packets. Bake to 400 F for 40 to 60 minutes, checking the beets for doneness after 40 minutes is required for this method.

Roast cut beets

This method is quicker, and it gets you almost the same results of roasting whole beets but in half of the time.

Cut the beets into ½ to ¾ inch wedges, coat with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste—Bake on a baking sheet to 400 F for 25 to 30 minutes.

If your roasting beets of different colors, you can use aluminum foil as a divider on the baking sheet to prevent stain the lighter color with the red one. Use this tip if you are going to roast any vegetable with red beets.

What dressing goes with beet salad

For this beet and feta salad recipe, the orange dressing is perfect. But if you don't have orange or don't like citric dressings, here is a very simple option that works great with this salad as well.

Honey and balsamic vinaigrette or Dijon mustard honey vinaigrette

What goes well with beets in a salad

There are so many things you can add to a beet salad, but some of my favorites are:

Nuts: the crunch and fat found in nuts perfectly complements beets' sweetness

Apple: Bring two autumnal flavors together and add a hit of sweet acidity by pairing beets with crisp apples

Dijon mustard: Sharp, tangy mustard plays a delightful foil to beets. 

Grapefruit: Beets hit a sweet note, so you need something acidic to offset it

Fennel: This aromatic, licorice-scented Mediterranean vegetable deepens the flavor of beet dishes

Can you freeze beet and feta cheese salad

If you want to freeze beet is better to freeze them before making a salad. You could find the direction on how to freeze beets in this post.

Other salads you should try

Healthy Massaged Kale and Apple Salad

Healthy Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Thank you for reading Enjoy Clean Eating, Please if you make this beet salad recipe, please rate this recipe and leave me a comment.