This Pickled Beet Salad with Arugula, Feta is complimented with a zingy mustard vinaigrette. Super easy, healthy and a wonderful way to use pickled beets for a side dish.
What Are Pickled Beets?
Pickled beets are simply fresh beets that have been preserved in a flavorful vinegar brine, often with a touch of sugar, salt, and warm spices like cloves or cinnamon. The pickling process brings out their natural sweetness while adding a tangy kick of flavor. You can snack on them straight from the jar, or toss them into salads for a pop of color. Their deep ruby-red color makes them irresistible.
Why This Pickled Beet Salad Works
Tangy and sweet pickled beets, peppery arugula, salty feta. Perfect combo of flavors … this salad comes together in a matter of minutes.
- This garnet colored vegetable, turns an ordinary green salad into an absolutely beautiful showcase side salad.
- With a base of arugula, I found a topping of salty crumbled feta to be a suitable partner for the tangy beets and a wonderful creamy Dijon Vinaigrette a perfect compliment blend both flavors.
- Bright, lively with flavor and color, this pickled beet salad is ready in about 15 minutes.
As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, my friend Greg and I gather in his kitchen every Fall and pickle the heck out of thirty pounds of Colorado grown organic beets. It’s a festive and calculated event… we’ve got the process down. If you’re looking for an old fashioned recipe for pickling beets, take a look at my post for Pickled Beets, How to Pickle Beets the Old Fashioned Way, A Step by Step. it’s one of the most popular posts on my blog. Pickled Beet lovers unite!
Beets are one of those super food root vegetables that can be roasted and served as a side dish, and even make beet soups. We love them pickled and the salad with pickled beets is one of our favorite ways to use them.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dijon Vinaigrette: Dijon Vinaigrette is a very easy homemade vinaigrette that’s ready in minutes.
- Pickled Beets: You can either use homemade pickled beets, or store purchased jarred pickled beets. Not all pickled beets are created equal. A brand I have found to be good quality and reliable is Paisley Farm. I always find jarred pickled beets a bit sweeter than homemade tangy pickled beets. But either will work well here.
- Feta Cheese: You’ll find using a block of feta cheese will give you a higher quality pickled beet salad. It’s richer with flavor and more desirable in texture than the pre-crumbled products in plastic tubs. A block of feta cheese is so easy to crumble, why not go with quality.
- Arugula: How easy is it to pick up a clam shell of beautiful arugula. Easy!
How To Make Pickled Beet Salad with Feta … It’s Easy
This salad is seriously so easy to make. Just grab your favorite salad bowl.
- Mix up the dressing according to my instructions in my recipe for Dijon Vinaigrette. It’s ready to go in just a few minutes.
- Grab you favorite salad bowl and add the arugula.
- Sprinkle on the drained pickled beets. Cut them in smaller chunks if needed.
- Sprinkle with a healthy amount of crumbled feta cheese.
- Top with freshly ground pepper and serve.
Tips for Success
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the pickled beets from the jar. Just a few shakes over the jar will remove the liquid before adding it to your salad.
- Add ¼ cup of chopped Preserved Lemon to the vinaigrette to make a chunkier dressing.
- Purchase a block of feta. It’s a superior product over the crumbled feta in plastic containers.
What To Serve with Pickled Beet Salad
There are so many options:
- My first choice is a steak. You have to admit, a steak and baked potato dinner is absolutely delicious, but lacks color. This vibrant pickled beet salad will make a beautiful side dish for this all American meal. Take a look at my recipe for Grilled T-bone Steaks With Cowboy Butter, this salad will make a perfect side.
- I’ve served this salad with my most favorite chicken recipe, Galliano Chicken with Boursin Cheese. This makes a beautiful restaurant feel meal.
- Serve it with my recipe for Oven Baked Pork Tenderloin. This is a super easy pork tenderloin recipe and with this super easy salad = a dinner you’ll love serving.
- Make it a meal: Add sauteed cubed boneless chicken breast to this salad for a light main course salad dinner.
- Feel like you need some crunch? Add toasted walnuts or pecans.
Variations
- Greens: Any mix of salad greens will work for this salad. I’ve just chosen Arugula for it’s hearty texture. When you place the pickled beets and feta on top of the arugula, they want fall into the salad and get lost … you keep that beautiful color while serving.
- Cheese: I’ve made this salad with crumbled blue cheese and it’s delicious. The flavor combo works well.
Storage and Make Ahead
- Store any left over undressed salad, well sealed in the refrigerator for up to three days. Unfortunately once the salad is dressed, the vinegar in the dressing will wilt even a tough leafed lettuce like arugula.
- Make Ahead: Make the Dijon Vinaigrette up to three days in advance. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
FAQ’s
More than likely, you won’t use the whole jar of Pickled beets for this salad. Depending on whether you’ve used homemade or store purchased will determine how long they’ll last in the refrigerator once opened. Homemade Pickled Beets will last around 6 weeks stored in the refrigerator. Purchased jarred pickled beets will last in the refrigerator for about two months. Just make sure the beets are covered in brine in the jar.
Beet juice is certainly a potent dye and actually is commonly used to dye Easter Eggs. To remove stains from hands or even cutting boards, you can use a small mixture of 50% water and 50% baking soda. Just rub it on your hands and then use your hands to rub the cutting board.
We’ve all been hearing about the health benefits of fermented foods. I’m sold the articles I’ve read on the subject. But since I’m not a registered Nutritionist, I’ll send you over to WebMD for more information.
More Popular Side Salad Recipes
And if you’re salad fans like us, don’t miss my post on 9 Secrets To A Remarkable Tossed Salad. A step by step guide on how to make the best tossed salad ever. And don’t miss the most popular salad dressing recipe on my site for Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing.
If you liked this recipe, please leave a star ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I always appreciate your feedback and hearing how everything went.
And, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter for more delicious recipes and cooking tips. Make it a delicious day … every day.
Pickled Beet Salad with Arugula and Feta
Ingredients
- ½ cup Dijon Vinaigrette
- 4 cups arugula
- 1 cup pickled beets cut into smaller chunks, if needed. Drained
- ½ cup feta cheese
- freshly ground pepper to finish
Instructions
- Prepare the Dijon Vinaigrette. Click on link for recipe.
- Add the arugula to a salad bowl. Sprinkle on pickled beets and then add the chunks of feta cheese. No need to toss, you want the color to stay on top.
- Use tongs to divide the salad among individual plates. Drizzle with Dijon Vinaigrette.
Notes
- Use a slotted spoon to remove the pickled beets from the jar. Just a few shakes over the jar will remove the liquid before adding it to your salad.
- Add ¼ cup of chopped Preserved Lemon to the vinaigrette to make a chunkier dressing.
- Purchase a block of feta. It’s a superior product over the crumbled feta in plastic containers.
Nutrition
Pickled Beet Salad …It’s what’s for a Side Dish
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
So as I was reading this post, I thought of that Remax 80’s picture you posted and you looked so familiar in that picture. I have been racking my brains for who you looked like and it just now hit me – Markie Post! The actress in Night Court wore her hair just like that back then. Sorry…I’m slow and it just clicked.
aw-right. Heading over to Google Markie Post. Always good to hear from you Chris.
I love, love,love beets. Luckily, so does my d-i-l. Either the place you bought the wine was so hectic the bartender/server didn’t notice the dirty glass or their cleanliness standards are below par. I definitely would ask for a new glass and a new pouring. Sometimes, things like this turn us off from patronizing the restaurant again.
I asked for a new glass, and as soon as it arrived, worried that they had wiped it down with a bad rag and reserved. 🙂
I used to pickle beets when my kids were younger. Maybe this fall I’ll give it a whirl again!
This salad looks wonderful. I’d ask for a clean glass!
I love pickling beets RMW. And with most everything, better than store bought.
Such a simple salad. But the colors and the artful way you arranged it makes it special.
Why thank you Carol.
I love beets prepared in any fashion but in this salad they sound perfect pickled. I guess I would have asked for another glass. Hopefully, their dishwasher was just out of spot removing agent 🙂
I’m with you on beets. Love them. And yes, they definitely needed to grab a bottle of that blue stuff.
That glass is disgusting. It’s probably “just” water spots and “probably” safe to drink from, but we eat and drink with our eyes — and any good restaurant knows that. Or should. Can’t believe they’d serve wine like that — what was the waiter thinking? Anyway, love beets and love goat cheese. They pair so well, don’t they? Good stuff — tanks.
And with the west sun shining in the window, those water spots just shined. 🙂 The waiter wasn’t thinking. Thanks John.
I’ve had my pickled beets aging and I was just thinking yesterday that it’s probably about time to pop open a jar. Eeeks to that glass!
My husband has been begging for beets and this just might be the one I could make and please him. I’m not a big beet fan myself, but the goat cheese is a favorite. As far as the glass is concerned, I would ask for another one and cross my fingers they just didn’t wipe it down and return the same one. Most restaurants we patronize wouldn’t do that I don’t think.
Sam
I had my doubts about this one Sam. A peculiar place.
You had me at pickled beets!
Have I not given you a jar of the 2014 batch?
HI Lea Ann, I think I’m going to have to pickle some beets, fantastic recipe. Growing up my mom pickled beets every year, we could not find the recipe, will be using this. thanks!
I think this recipe is really good. And fresh pickling spices sure help.
Yay! I’m in. Two of my favs, goat cheese and your beets!
Thanks Dan. Look forward to our wine night next week.