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    You are here: Home / Salads / Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette

    Beet Salad with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Viniagrette

    Douglas Cullen, This blog generates income via ads and affiliate links which earn us a small commission.

    Colorful Crave-Worthy Salad

    Have an aversion to beets? This is the cold beet salad recipe that will make you crave them. Cooked beetroots lightly dressed with a tart citrus-balsamic vinaigrette and topped with crumbled feta cheese and chopped cilantro. It’s an everyday salad disguised as a date-night or dinner party salad.

    Mexican Beet Salad with Bottle of Citrus Vinaigrette

    A beautiful salad in the colors of the Mexican flag, green, white, and red. If you have never prepared beets before it is far simpler than you may think.

    Beet Salad Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

    How to Make Beet Salad

    First, gather your ingredients.

    Ingredients to Make Beet Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

    You will need:

    For the Salad

    • 4 medium red beets or golden beets
    • ¾ cup feta cheese
    • 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

    For the Vinaigrette

    • Juice of 1 orange
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • 2 tbsp. olive oil
    • 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
    • 1 tbsp. honey
    • ½ tbsp. dijon mustard
    • ½ tsp. salt + plus as needed to taste
    • 1 clove garlic

    How to Choose Beets

    When you are at the market buying beets look for ones that are deep in color and firm with few or no blemishes. Small to medium sized beets are more flavorful and tender. If the beets have a lot of soft spots and blemishes they are past their prime and you should avoid them.

    Cooking the Beets

    Cut the green tops off the beets. Cooking note: Save the beet greens for later if you would like because they are edible and delicious. Lightly boiled or sautéed are good ways to prepare them.

    Beet on Cutting Board with Top Cut Off

    Place the beets in a large pot and cover with 2″ of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to low and cook for 45 minutes until they are fork tender.

    Beets Cooking in Pot

    Set the beets aside and allow to cool.

    Beets in Stainless Bowl

    Peel the beets once they are cool to the touch.

    Peeling Beets

    Cut the beets into 1″ pieces.

    Making the Beet Salad Dressing (Vinaigrette)

    Make the vinaigrette while the beets are cooking. This gives the flavors of the dressing time to blend.

    • In a small mixing bowl add the orange juice, lime juice, balsamic, vinegar, honey, and dijon mustard.
    • Whisk the ingredients briskly while slowly pouring in the olive oil.
    • Whisk vigorously until the ingredients have combined.
    • Add the chopped garlic and salt. Whisk in incorporate.
    • Taste the dressing and add salt to taste if needed.
    • Set Aside.

    Salad dressing tip: When we are adjusting the salt level in a salad dressing we tend to make it a little on the salty side because when you add the dressing to your salad the saltiness will even out.

    Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette in Stainless Mixing Bowl

    Serving the Salad

    • Divide the beets into 4 small salad bowls.
    • Top with crumbled feta cheese and chopped cilantro.
    • Lightly drizzle each salad with vinaigrette. (Shake well before dressing.)
    • Serve lightly chilled.
    Mexican Beet Salad

    Looking for the best beet salad? This may be it. Provecho!

    Beet Salad Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
    Print Pin
    3.36 from 126 votes

    Beet Salad Recipe with Feta Cheese and Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette

    Crave-worthy cold beet salad with a citrus balsamic vinaigrette topped with crumbled feta cheese and cilantro. Thought you didn't like beets? It will totally change your mind. It's a delicious, easy healthy salad.
    Course Salad
    Cuisine Mexican
    Keyword beets, citrus dressing, feta cheese, salad
    Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time 45 minutes minutes
    Total Time 1 hour hour
    Servings 4 servings
    Calories 168kcal
    Author Andrés carnalla

    Ingredients

    Salad

    • 4 medium beets red or golden
    • ¾ cup feta cheese
    • 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

    Vinaigrette

    • Juice of 1 orange
    • Juice of 1 lime
    • 2 tbsp. olive oil
    • 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
    • 1 tbsp. honey
    • ½ tbsp. dijon mustard
    • ½ tsp. salt
    • 1 clove garlic

    Instructions

    Beets

    • Cut the tops off the beets. Place the beets in a large pot and cover with 2″ of water. Bring to a boil then reduce to low and cook for 45 minutes.
    • Set the beets aside and allow to cool.
    • Peel the beets once they are cool to the touch.
    • Cut the beets into 1″ pieces.

    Vinaigrette

    • In a small mixing bowl add the orange juice, lime juice, balsamic, vinager, honey, and dijon mustard.
    • Whisk the ingredients briskly while slowly pouring in the olive oil.
    • Whisk vigorously until the ingredients have combined.
    • Add the chopped garlic and salt. Whisk in incorporate.
    • Taste the dressing and add salt to taste if needed.
    • Set Aside.

    Serving

    • Divide the beets in 4 small salad bowls.
    • Top with crumbled feta cheese and chopped cilantro.
    • Lightly dress with vinaigrette dressing.
    • Serve lightly chilled.

    Notes

    Subsitutions
    • You can substitute goat cheese or ranchero cheese for the feta cheese. The goat cheese will give the salad a sharper taste and the ranchero cheese will give it a milder taste.
    • You can substitute 1 tbsp. lemon juice for the lime juice.
    Additions
    • A tsp. of diced red onion in each bowl adds a little kick.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1cup | Calories: 168kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 6g | Sodium: 368mg | Sugar: 18g

    More Mexican Salads

    Mexico has many great salads. Here are a few of our favorites. They go far beyond the bagged salad mixes.

    • Cucumber Salad
    • Spicy Fruit Salad
    • Spicy Pineapple Salad
    • Chayote and Zucchini Salad
    • Cactus Salad
    • Avocado Salad

    More Salads

    • Salpicon in Mixing Bowl
      Salpicón
    • Mexican Avocado Salad in Ceramic Serving Bowl
      Avocado Salad
    • Mexican Fruit Salad with Tajin
      Spicy Mexican Fruit Salad
    • Mexican Tuna Salad
      Tuna Salad

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. mary says

      October 12, 2021 at 11:53 pm

      5 stars
      Steam beets whole until you can poke a skewer through them, then let cool. Skin etc can then be easily removed. I have used parsley instead of cilantro; also delicious.

      Reply
    2. Sarah says

      June 03, 2022 at 10:01 pm

      This recipe is delicious! By far the best beet salad I have had the pleasure of eating. I followed the recipe exactly and would not change a thing.

      Reply
      • Douglas Cullen says

        June 08, 2022 at 7:31 am

        Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!

        Reply
    3. Marlene VanderLaan says

      August 29, 2022 at 8:48 pm

      5 stars
      I had this beet salad while visiting the Magical Kingdom of Disney in Florida 2 weeks ago. We had lunch at one of the many restaurant’s on site..

      The base of the salad was your recipe and they modified it by adding yogurt, granola, and mandarin oranges. They did not use your Citrus/Balsamic dressing, which i believe would have enhanced their salad greatly.

      I was quite impressed and purchased beets today to make it for my guests coming Friday. I’m looking forward to using your recipe and adding candied pecans.

      Thank you from Canada!

      Reply
    4. lorraine says

      April 15, 2023 at 5:18 pm

      5 stars
      Absolutely fabulous. Will serve this one often.

      Reply
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    Hola, I am Douglas. Let me share my love of Mexican Cuisine with you that developed over 20+ years of living in Mexico.

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