Roasted Beet and Orange Salad is a nutritious and delicious meal! Roasted beets and fresh oranges are layered over a bed of arugula and topped with goat cheese and a simple salad dressing.
Beets are one of my favorite vegetables because they are packed with nutrients and flavor. Layering them over salad is a great way to eat beets. You can pair them with other fresh flavors for a complete meal.
Roasting beets yields a buttery sweet flavor. Even if you don’t like the earthy taste of raw beets, you MUST try roasted beets. Roasting brings out the sweet beet flavor.
Add beet salad to your Thanksgiving dinner menu or eat it all season long with the freshest flavors. We love serving this salad with Roasted Half Chicken or as a side to Alfredo Pasta.
The best seasonal flavors combine to create a colorful and flavorful salad!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy Side Dish – Pair this delicious and nutritious orange beet salad with an array of main dishes. It’s perfect for a dinner party or a relaxed family meal.
- Simple and Fresh Ingredients – All of the ingredients are readily available at your local grocery store or farmer’s market all year round, allowing you to make this easy salad whenever you desire.
- Roasting for Sweetness – Roasting the beets intensifies their natural sweetness, complementing the sweet and tangy oranges.
- Eye-catching Salad – Easily impress your dinner guests with this beautiful salad!
Ingredients Needed
This delicious beet salad combines fresh and vibrant ingredients with an easy sweet and citrusy dressing for maximum flavor! Here’s everything you need to get started.
- Beets: I use medium-sized red beets and yellow beets for this colorful salad. Small and medium beets usually have the most flavor so stick with those.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use high quality olive oil for the best flavor. You can also use avocado oil, if desired.
- Arugula: Regular or baby arugula will work.
- Oranges: Peeled and cut into wedges or orange slices. You can use any of your favorite types of oranges.
- Walnuts: Substitute with another type of nut like pecans or sliced almonds, or omit completely.
- Goat cheese crumbles: Crumbled goat cheese is found in most grocery stores. Or you can crumble a block of goat cheese instead. Crumbled soft feta cheese or ricotta cheese may also be used. You can omit the cheese to make this salad vegan.
- Salad dressing: This beet salad consists of fresh orange juice, extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, honey, salt and black pepper. You can substitute with dark balsamic vingear, if needed.
Equipment Needed
You will need a large cutting board, a vegetable peeler, baking sheet, aluminum foil, bowls, whisk and a sharp knife.
How to Make Roasted Beet and Orange Salad
Making this beet salad with oranges is as easy as roasting the beets and layering the ingredients in a salad bowl. Follow these fail-proof steps outlined below:
- Prepare the beets: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a baking pan with a sheet of foil for both halves of the pan. Wash the beets with cold water, peel and slice them into two-inch pieces.
- Roast the beets: Transfer the red sliced beets to one half of the pan and the golden beets to the other side. Drizzle olive oil over the beets and fold up the edges of the foil to pinch close as a way to prevent the colors from bleeding. Bake for 30 minutes or until the beets are tender.
- Make the beet salad dressing: While the beets are roasting, whisk the dressing ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
- Assemble the salad: Divide the salad dressing into two separate bowls and mix the roasted red beets in one bowl and then golden beets in the other bowl to further prevent bleeding. Layer the arugula on a salad plate or in a bowl and top with the beets, juicy orange segments, walnuts and goat cheese crumbles. Drizzle the salad with any remaining salad dressing as desired and season with salt and pepper.
Variations
- Oranges: Cara cara oranges, navel oranges, blood oranges or mandarin oranges can be used in this beetroot salad.
- Leafy greens: Baby spinach or a mix of leafy greens can be used instead of regular arugula. It’s also great to add sautéed beet greens, fresh mint leaves or fresh herbs to the mix.
- Cheese: Salty feta cheese is a great alternative to goat cheese. Another type of soft cheese would also work.
- Add onions or other vegetables: Sliced red onions or carrots would be a great addition to this salad.
- Salad dressing: Maple syrup can replace the honey as a sweetener in the dressing. Orange vinaigrette and orange zest can be added for a stronger citrus flavor. Do not use white vinegar instead of white balsamic as it is more acidic and pungent.
Other Seasonal Salad Recipes
You can’t go wrong with a fresh and flavorful salad. Try a few of our favorite seasonal salads that are made with winter or early spring produce.
- Citrus Salad – another beautiful salad recipe with impressive color and flavor!
- Strawberry, Spinach and Asparagus Salad – an easy, beautiful and flavorful spinach salad.
- Easy Mango Salad – a vibrant salad that is the prefect blend of sweet, spicy and refreshing.
Did you try this Beet Orange Salad recipe? Leave a recipe rating and review below.
Roasted Beet and Orange Salad
Ingredients
For the beets:
- 6 medium sized beets, red and yellow
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 heaping cups arugula
- 3 oranges, peeled and cut into wedges
- ½ cup walnuts
- ½ cup goat cheese crumbles
For the beet salad dressing:
- 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the beets with a vegetable peeler and slice into two inch pieces. Line a baking pan with two pieces of aluminum foil. Place the red beets in the middle of one sheet of foil and the yellow beets on the other. Drizzle one tablespoon olive oil over each sheet of beets. Fold up edges and pinch to close and form two pouches. I don’t want colors to bleed so I make two separate pouches. Place on baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until tender.
- While the beets are roasting, prepare the dressing by whisking together the orange juice, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and honey.
- Once beets are done roasting, mix them together with half of the salad dressing. You can mix two separate bowls to prevent the colors from bleeding. Layer arugula on plate or bowl then top with beets, orange wedges, walnuts and goat cheese. Drizzle with remaining dressing, as desired. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Enjoy!
Loved this salad! It was really refreshing, good for the winter season, and easy to make!