Beet and Burrata Salad with Pine Nuts and Balsamic Dressing is vibrant, healthy, meatless, vegetarian, and gluten-free! You can use oven-roasted, boiled, marinated, or pickled beets.
Beet and Burrata Salad
This salad combines the best of both worlds: healthy, nutrient-dense ingredients + delicious flavors! The recipe uses just a few ingredients: beets, burrata cheese, pine nuts, and fresh basil. The simple balsamic dressing combines extra virgin olive oil with high-quality balsamic vinegar and honey.
When are beets in season?
You can make this salad year-round since beets are usually available all year long. But do keep in mind that the beets are at their best between June and November - that's when they are in season, and that's when you are most likely to find multi-colored beets. I used golden beets and red beets in this recipe, which created a nice presentation! Use any color of the beets you can find.
The Ingredients
- Beets are highly nutritious root vegetables. They contain many essential vitamins, including Folate, C, and B6. They are also a great source of potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, and iron.
- Burrata cheese is a cow's milk cheese combining Mozzarella cheese and cream. The outer shell of the burrata is Mozzarella cheese (solid soft cheese), while the inside is filled with creamy, soft center (basically, fresh cream). It has a rich, buttery flavor. Burrata cheese is usually ball-shaped, similar to fresh, ball-shaped Mozzarella cheese.
- Pine nuts. Toast pine nuts in the oven at 350 F for 5 minutes until golden. Watch them at all times - they burn quickly!
- Fresh basil leaves add flavor and a nice presentation.
- Salad dressing ingredients include extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey. You can use either maple syrup or honey. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a mason jar and whisk with the fork (or close the jar with the lid and shake it vigorously to blend the flavors).
What cheese can you use instead of Burrata?
Because Burrata cheese is pretty much Mozzarella cheese + cream, you can safely use fresh Mozzarella cheese as a substitute. Use small Mozzarella cheese "pearls" or soft, larger balls of Mozzarella cheese. Buffalo mozzarella is a nice choice, too.
Substitutions and variations
- Add your favorite greens: spinach, arugula, mixed greens, garden greens, or lettuce.
- Nuts. Dress up the beet and burrata 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.
- Dried fruit pairs exceptionally well with beets. Add dried cranberries, dried figs, blueberries, or cherries.
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. Or in a large high-sided plate or platter.
Storage Tips
- It's best to serve beet and burrata salad immediately, so I recommend making just enough so you have no leftovers.
- If you have leftovers, the salad can be refrigerated for 2 days. It's best to refrigerate the salad and the dressing separately.
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
- Beet and Apple Salad with Honey-Lemon Mustard Dressing
- Beet and Mozzarella Salad with Arugula and Balsamic Dressing
Beet and Burrata Salad with Pine Nuts and Honey-Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
Balsamic Dressing
- ยผ cup balsamic vinegar
- ยผ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey or more, to taste
Salad ingredients
- 1.5 lb red and golden beets cooked, peeled, diced into small cubes (cook golden and red beets separately)
- 8 oz Burrata cheese
- โ cup pine nuts toasted
- fresh basil leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Salad Dressing
- Combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and honey in a small mason jar. Whisk with the fork until emulsified. Add more honey if you like a sweeter dressing.
Salad assembly
- This recipe uses cooked beets. I highly recommend pre-cooking the beets 1 to 3 days in advance. See the notes below on how to boil the beets on the stovetop or roast them in the oven. Note: cook golden beets separately from red beets so they don't color one another.
- I prefer to arrange the salad in individual bowls for presentation purposes. Or on a large, flat, high-sided plate or platter. It's especially essential for a beet salad as beets tend to color everything they touch.
- Add diced cooked red beets to individual salad bowls or a large platter. Add diced cooked golden bees around them. Add Burrata cheese on top. Add fresh basil around the beets. Top with toasted pine nuts.
- Drizzle with the balsamic dressing. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Notes
What kind of beets to use?
- Use cooked beets, marinated beets, or pickled beets.
- If using multi-colored beets (red and golden) as in this recipe, cook them separately so they don't color one another.
How to roast raw beets in the oven
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Wash beets 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 a boil.
- 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.
How to toast pine nuts in the oven
- Spread the pine nuts in one layer over the parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
- Roast for 5 minutes in the preheated oven at 350 F.
- Note: pine nuts get burned really quickly. Watch them closely and remove them promptly from the oven.
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.
Emma Johnston
So good! I added raw spinach and a warm baguette to mine and it was delicious.
Julia
Spinach and a warm baguette are perfect additions!!
Terri Rooney
Thanks for this great recipe Julia! Iโm always looking for a way to add my red pickled beets to salads, and this one turned out amazing! I couldnโt find golden beets in March (will have to grow some), so I subbed roasted cubed butternut squash and also bulked it up a bit with some arugula. Ooh La La! This is a winner!
Julia
Terri, I love that you used cubed butternut squash to replace golden beets with. It's a perfect choice here! Thank you for sharing all of the tweaks you made to the salad - so delicious!