Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Vinaigrette

We can’t get enough of this Beet Salad with Goat Cheese & Balsamic Vinaigrette. When you pair beets with creamy goat cheese and pile on other nutritious toppings like toasted walnuts, juicy oranges, zesty arugula and a sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette, you end up with a delicious salad packed with antioxidants and fiber. 

You can enjoy this easy beet salad as a side dish or light lunch, or make it a more substantial meal by adding extra protein with toppings like grilled chicken, salmon or tofu. The versatility and combination of flavors have us reaching for this recipe again and again. Check out our expert tips and tricks to make this simple beet salad one of your all-time favorites too.

How to Make Beet Salad

1. Start with the Vinaigrette

While salad dressing may seem like a finishing touch, it’s actually better if you make it the first step. Why? It saves time and mess! Making the vinaigrette in the same large bowl the salad gets tossed in saves an extra bowl from needing a wash. Plus, a large bowl leaves plenty of space to whisk, and a good whisking is what the vinaigrette needs to emulsify properly.

2. Cut the Beets

Cooked beets are easy to cut with a chef’s knife, or a paring knife if they’re small. You will want to make sure your beets are peeled before you cut them. For this recipe, dicing the beets or cutting the beets into bite-size cubes is the quickest way and ensures you get beets in every forkful. 

3. Segment Your Oranges

Segmenting an orange sounds tricky, but it’s easy once you get the hang of it. Simply cut the bottom and top off the orange and place it flat with a cut-side down on a cutting board. Using a paring knife and following the contour of the fruit, cut off the skin and white pith. Once the skin and pith are removed, hold the orange above a bowl and cut the segments out between the membrane, letting the segments and juice fall into the bowl below. You can squeeze the leftover membrane to extract more juice and save it for another use.

4. Toss Gently

To keep the ingredients from looking wilted and overworked, toss the salad gently. This step is best done with tongs or salad servers. Remember: the dressing is at the bottom of the bowl, so make sure you’re folding or tossing the ingredients from the bottom up. You’re done when the beets and arugula are lightly coated with the dressing.

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• We love the convenience of packaged precooked beets that you can find in the produce section of most grocery stores. They come peeled and ready to go, saving time and mess. If you want to cook your own beets, go for it! Learn how to cook beets, from roasting to steaming. 
• For the best flavor, toast your walnuts. To toast chopped nuts, place in a small dry skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 2 to 4 minutes.
• If you’re cooking for company, you can elevate the way you assemble and serve this salad. For example, slice the beets and oranges into rounds and lay them out on a platter. Top with the arugula, walnuts and goat cheese, and drizzle with the vinaigrette.
• Give this salad your own signature spin by swapping out a few ingredients. Try baby spinach or spring mix in place of the arugula. Crumbled cow’s-milk or sheep’s-milk feta can stand in for the goat cheese, and toasted pecans or sunflower seeds are a nice swap for the walnuts.

Nutrition Notes

• Beets have many health benefits, including being high in betalains, a group of cancer-fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants like betalain have been shown to decrease inflammation. Chronic inflammation increases your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer.
• Oranges are high in vitamin C, which plays a vital role in wound healing, making collagen, maintaining gut health and supporting the body’s tissues and immune system. 
• Walnuts are a nutritional powerhouse. In comparison to other nuts, they harbor the most polyphenol compounds that act like antioxidants, helping to rid the body of harmful free radicals.
• Arugula is one of our favorite greens to add to our salad bowls. Greens like arugula are packed with vitamins A, C and K. Vitamin A supports and strengthens vision, while vitamin K supports heart health and bone health.