An easy beet salad (I used Chioggia “Candy Cane” beets, but any type will taste good), with goat cheese, pistachios and greens and a quick, tangy dressing.

An image of striped Chioggia beets in a bowl tossed with greens and crumbled goat cheese.

This is a simple beet salad that’s easy to make, and it’s a real show-stopper on the table. Thinly sliced beets are blended with sweet red onion, baby greens, goat cheese and pistachios.

The dressing is a quick mixture of olive oil, white wine vinegar and lemon juice, with a touch of honey to balance the sweet and tart flavors.

Colorful beets

An image of a bunch of red beets on a gray surface.

Beets come in deeply intense colors — magenta, orange and yellow — but if you can fine Italian heirloom Chioggia beets, you’ll find that they are exceptionally drop-dead gorgeous.

They’re look unassuming, gnarly and typically beet-like on the outside, and striped liked sweet candy-canes on the inside (which explains their nickname) but if they’re cooked the pattern goes away. Chioggia beets are available at grocery stores with good produce sections as well as at farmer’s markets in the late summer and fall.

An image of striped Chioggia beets in a bowl tossed with greens and crumbled goat cheese.

How to slice raw beets

An image of peeled Chioggia beets with a metal vegetable peeler.
  • Before slicing, use a handy vegetable peeler to remove the skin. Oxo makes my favorite basic peeler, sturdy and sharp enough to deal with beet skins.
  • To make lovely thin ribbons or strips, I often use a spiral slicer, a handy gadget that works magic on firm-textured vegetables and fruits – you can even make “noodles” with produce like zucchini.
  • Sometimes I just use a sharp, heavy knife or a mandoline to make thin, even slices for the salad.
A photo showing striped beets sliced on a mandoline and spiral slicers.

Any kind of beet will work for this recipe, if you’re in the mood for beets or brought home a load from the market, use smaller ones for the salad as they’ll be sweeter and milder-tasting raw. Try using a mixture of colors, which will look pretty and offer a variety of different beet flavors.

5 from 12 ratings

Raw Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Karen Tedesco
A beautiful raw beet salad with thinly sliced beets, pistachios and goat cheese dressed with a tangy-sweet vinaigrette. Use any variety of fresh beets to make this colorful salad!
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Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
 

For the vinaigrette

  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon (10 ml) liquid honey or sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, or use pistachio oil for a special treat

For the salad

  • 1 pound (450 g) raw beets, peeled
  • ¼ cup (40 g) thinly sliced red onion
  • 4 cups (170 g) mixed salad greens
  • ¼ cup (60 g) fresh crumbled goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Instructions
 

Make the dressing

  1. Whisk the lemon juice, vinegar, honey (or sugar) and salt in a small bowl until honey is dissolved. Gradually pour in the oil and whisk to combine.

Assemble the salad

  1. Shave the beets into ribbons with spiral slicer, or cut them into thin discs with a mandoline or sharp knife.
  2. Put the beets in a salad bowl with the onion and greens. Drizzle with enough dressing to coat, about 2 tablespoons, and toss together. Sprinkle the goat cheese and pistachios over the salad. Serve with additional dressing on the side.

Notes

  • Any kind of beet will work for this recipe, if you’re in the mood for beets or brought home a load from the market. Choose smaller ones as they’ll be sweeter and milder-tasting when raw.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 213kcal Carbohydrates: 18g Protein: 7g Fat: 14g Sodium: 298mg Fiber: 4g Sugar: 12g

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

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Fresh and simple beet salad with goat cheese and pistachios. Make this pretty salad with any kind of colorful beet!