Roasted Beet Salad

overhead of photo of a large salad with beets, arugula, and carrots

4.5 Stars (4 Reviews)

Yield: 8 servings

prep time: 15

cook time: 40

total time: 55

This Roasted Beet Salad is a striking fresh salad, with colorful layers of arugula, carrots, and beets. Sprinkled with blue cheese and candied pecans, and served with a honey balsamic dressing, it’s loaded with flavor!

Ingredients

for the roasted beets:

4 to 5 cups cubed about ½” in size peeled beets, from about 4 to 5 medium-sized beets
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

for the balsamic dressing:

Balsamic Dressing Recipe

for the salad:

5 ounces baby arugula
10 ounces pre-shredded carrots
½ cup crumbled blue cheese
½ cup coursely chopped candied pecans Trader Joe's brand is also very good
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

For the roasted beets: Preheat oven to 375° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the cubed beets with the olive oil, honey, salt, and pepper.
Roast for 20 minutes and then stir. Roast an additional 20 minutes, or until beets are fully softened and starting to caramelize.
Remove from oven and let cool. You can roast the beets 1-2 days ahead of time and store them in the refrigerator until ready to use.
For the balsamic dressing: This Balsamic Dressing Recipe takes just a few minutes to make, and can be made ahead of time.
To assemble the salad: On a large platter or low wide salad bowl, spread the arugula into an even layer. Spread a layer of shredded carrots over the arugula, in the center, leaving a border of arugula showing at the outer edge. Then add beets on top of the carrots, in the very center, leaving a border of carrots showing. You want to see all the layers distinctively.
Sprinkle the salad with blue cheese and candied pecans. Add more salt and pepper, if desired. Drizzle a bit of the dressing over the top of the salad, if desired, and serve the remainder of the dressing on the side. Or just serve all of the dressing on the side.

Notes

Note that red beets are intensely colored and can stain your hands - wear kitchen gloves if you don't want to stain your hands. Also, when you create this salad, the red beet color will bleed into the carrots and blue cheese after the salad sits for awhile. Which isn't a big deal. But...if you want the salad to look as fresh as possible at serving time, wait to layer the salad until right before serving. It's very easy to have all the individual portions of this salad prepared up to a day prior to serving.

Recipe slightly adapted from Michaela Mahady’s recipe box.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 312kcal Carbohydrates: 54g Protein: 10g Fat: 9g Saturated Fat: 2g Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 7mg Sodium: 706mg Fiber: 10g Sugar: 43g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.