Beet and Apple Salad with Mixed Greens, Pecans, Blue Cheese, and homemade Honey-Lemon Mustard Dressing is a healthy and refreshing addition to your healthy recipe repertoire! Even though it's a perfect salad to make in the Fall when the beets and apples are at their best, you can definitely make it year-round. Serve it as a side, or add protein to turn this into a complete meal.
Beet and apple salad
There is something so utterly delicious about combining earthy, savory, salty, and sweet flavors - all in one salad! This easy Beet and Apple Salad features basic ingredients, such as fresh sweet apples, mixed greens, pecans, blue cheese (or Gorgonzola cheese) - all tossed together with the homemade Honey-Lemon Mustard Dressing. You can use any kind of beets: roasted, boiled, pickled, or marinated. This salad makes a great lunch and a light dinner. Or, serve it as a side salad with your dinner. Simple enough to make on a busy weekday - fancy enough to serve company! Other refreshing salads I recommend are apple spinach salad and beet salad with spinach, mandarin oranges, red onion, pine nuts, and feta cheese.
The Ingredients
- Beets are highly nutritious root vegetables. They contain so many essential vitamins, including Folate, C, and B6. They are also a great source of potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, and iron.
- Apples. Use sweet apples, such as Fuji, Gala or Honey Crisp). I did not peel the apples for presentation purposes.
- Greens. Use your favorite salad greens: mixed greens, baby spinach, arugula, or butter lettuce. Or, a mixture of any of these.
- Pecans add crunch and texture to any salad and are packed with fiber and are rich in many nutrients. This includes zinc and Vitamin B1. I like to lightly toast them in the preheated oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes.
- Blue Cheese and Gorgonzola can be used interchangeably in this recipe. They have similar flavor profiles. If you want cheese with a tamer flavor, use feta or goat cheese instead.
Honey-Mustard Lemon Vinaigrette
- Salad dressing ingredients include extra virgin olive oil, honey, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. I recommend using freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice (not the bottled kind) and extra virgin olive oil. You can use either maple syrup or honey.
- Just combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a mason jar and whisk with the fork. Or close the jar with the lid and shake it vigorously to blend the flavors.
Tips for Success
- Pre-cook the beets. Boil or roast the beets up to 3 days in advance. Keep cooked beets refrigerated in an airtight container (or in a plastic bag).
- Don't add the nuts and salad dressing until right before serving to keep the salad fresh and to prevent the nuts from getting soggy.
- I recommend arranging the salad in individual bowls. Add beets last to prevent the beets from coloring the salad purple.
Variations, substitutions, and recipe notes
Not only does this easy beet and apple salad feature really simple and easily accessible ingredients, but it's also an incredibly flexible recipe that you can easily adjust depending on what you have available.
- Greens. Use your favorite greens with this salad - spinach, arugula, mixed greens, garden greens, and lettuce.
- Nuts. Dress up this salad with your favorite nuts: pecans, walnuts, cashews, or almonds. If using raw nuts, toast them briefly in the oven to make them crunchy. You can also purchase roasted nuts or use candied nuts.
- Add seeds. Add toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds in addition to the nuts or instead of them.
- Dried fruit pairs exceptionally well with beets. Add dried cranberries, dried figs, blueberries, or cherries.
- Cheese. I recommend using goat cheese, feta, blue cheese, or gorgonzola.
Storage Tips
- It's best to serve beet and apple salad right away, so I recommend making just enough so that you have no leftovers.
- If you do have leftovers, the salad can be refrigerated for 2 days. It's best to refrigerate the salad and the dressing separately.
What to serve with it
Beet and apple salad pairs well with any main course, especially grilled meats, red meat (steak, pork, lamb), and chicken. Here are some tasty suggestions:
- Creamy Mushroom Pork Chops
- Lamb Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce
- Creamy Spinach Chicken
- Bacon and Mushroom Pork Chops
Other beet salads you might like
- Beet Salad with Spinach, Mandarin Oranges, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese
- Simple Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Spinach
- Beet Salad with Spinach, Cashews, Cranberries, and Goat Cheese
Other apple salads you might like
- Broccoli Cashew Salad with Apples, Pears, and Cranberries
- Apple Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Pecans, and Goat cheese
- Arugula Salad with Pears, Apples, Cashews, and Balsamic Vinaigrette
Beet and Apple Salad with Honey-Lemon Mustard Dressing
Ingredients
Salad dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 medium lemon juice freshly squeezed
Salad ingredients
- 6 oz mixed greens or spinach, or arugula
- 1 large red apple such as Honey Crisp, Fuji, or Gala (cored and sliced)
- 2 medium red beets (cooked and sliced)
- ½ cup pecans chopped
- ⅓ cup Blue cheese or Gorgonzola (crumbled)
Instructions
Make salad dressing
- Combine all salad dressing ingredients in a mason jar. Whisk well with a fork, until emulsified. Or, close with the lid, and shake vigorously. Add more lemon juice to taste.
Assembly
- I prefer to arrange the salad in individual bowls for presentation purposes. This is especially relevant when the beets are involved since they tend to color everything purple.
- Add mixed greens to each individual salad bowl. Nestle the remaining salad ingredients (sliced apples, sliced cooked beets, chopped pecans, and blue cheese) on top of the green salad.
- Drizzle with the salad dressing.
- Alternatively, you can combine all the salad ingredients (except the beets and pecans) in a large serving bowl, add the dressing, and toss to combine. Then, top the salad with chopped pecans and sliced beets.
Notes
What kind of beets to use?
- Use cooked beets, marinated beets, or pickled beets.
How to roast raw beets in the oven
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Wash beets really well under running water, removing any dirt. Slice off stringy parts from the top and the bottom of each beet.
- Wrap each beet in a piece of foil airtight and arrange the beets on the foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.
- Roast in the preheated oven at 400 F for 1 hour or until the beets are soft when pierced with a fork.
- Remove from oven, unwrap carefully, and let them cool, and only then peel.
How to boil raw beets
- Wash beets really well under running water, removing any dirt. Slice off stringy parts from the top and the bottom of each beet.
- Place raw beets in a large saucepan and cover with water.
- Bring to boil - it usually takes 10 minutes for the water with beets to start boiling.
- Once the water starts to boil, boil the beets for 20-30 minutes or more, depending on the thickness and the size of your beets.
- The beets are done when they can be easily pierced with a fork. Remove from heat.
- Carefully remove the beets from the pot of hot water using a large fork or tongs.
- Let them cool before you peel them.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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