This beautiful and tasty Arugula Salad with Instant Pot beets, goat cheese and candied walnuts has a delightful balsamic vinaigrette dressing and is perfect as a side salad or as a standalone lunch salad.
It seems as though every restaurant I go to these days has some kind of beet salad. Beets have become really popular in recent years; you can find beets in everything from hummus and salads to drinks and even cakes.
So I order beet salads every chance I get when I go out to eat.
Tips and Substitutions
Don’t throw away the beet greens and stems. They can be cooked the same way you would cook Swiss chard or other greens: put them in a soup or saute them in olive oil. If you don’t use all the Instant Pot beets, you can store the pressure cooked beets in the fridge for a couple of days.
Watch out for beet juice – it gets on everything (I speak from experience!) Make sure you use a cutting board or plate to place your beets on, or you might end up staining your countertop. If you have trouble getting the stain out of your hands, use lemon juice or try this trick using baking soda
To make the salad really stand out, try to use different varieties of beets such as yellow and orange colored beets! I sometimes use pecans instead of walnuts and feta cheese instead of goat cheese.
If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Beet Salad.
Ingredients for Arugula Salad with Instant Pot Beets
Step-by-Step Instructions for Arugula Salad with Instant Pot Beets
- Combine balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, black pepper and sugar using a whisk; set aside.
- Combine butter or ghee, walnuts and brown sugar in a small frying pan.
- Saute until sugar has melted and walnuts are toasted.
- Cool on a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Rinse the beets and trim the stems of the beets, leaving about 1 inch, (and leave the roots intact.)
- Fill inner pot with 1 cup water.
- Place steamer basket in the inner pot.
- Place beets in the steamer basket.
- Close Instant Pot lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
- Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘15’ (15 minutes).
- Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
- Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
- The display will count down from 15 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.
- Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the knob.
- When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
- It’s now safe to open the Instant Pot. (Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.)
- When cool enough to handle, remove steamer basket from inner pot.
- Cool Instant Pot beets completely.
- Cut off both ends of each beet.
- Peel with a vegetable peeler or remove skin with your hands.
- Cube Instant Pot beets into 1/2 inch pieces.
Assemble individual salads:
- Start with a layer of arugula or other greens
- Sprinkle goat cheese, candied walnuts
- Add beet pieces
- Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Delicious Instant Pot Beet Salad with Arugula, Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- 3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp granulated sugar
Candied Walnuts
- 1 Tbsp ghee or butter
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
Beets
- 6 medium beets
Salad
- 6 cups arugula
- 2 oz goat cheese crumbled
- Candied walnuts
- Beets
- Balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
Instructions
Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- Combine balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, black pepper and sugar in a small bowl.
- Stir with a whisk and set aside.
Candied Walnuts
- Combine butter or ghee, walnuts and brown sugar in a small frying pan.
- Saute until sugar has melted and walnuts are toasted.
- Cool on a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.
Beets
- Rinse the beets and trim the stems of the beets, leaving about 1 inch. (Leave the roots intact.)
- Fill inner pot with 1 cup water.
- Place beets in a steamer basket in the inner pot.
- Cook on 'Manual' (or 'Pressure Cook') mode for 15 minutes.
- Do a quick release of pressure and open the Instant Pot.
- When cool enough to handle, remove steamer basket from inner pot.
- Cool Instant Pot beets completely.
- Cut off both ends of each beet.
- Peel beets with a vegetable peeler or remove skin by hand.
- Cube beets into 1/2 inch pieces.
Assemble Individual Salads
- Start with a layer of arugula.
- Sprinkle goat cheese and candied walnuts.
- Add beet pieces.
- Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing.
Nutrition
I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
If you loved this recipe, please give it a 5 Star rating in the comment section below and please share it on social media using the social media share buttons at the top and bottom of this post. Thank you so much!
You might also like to try these Instant Pot Recipes:
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| Instant Pot Moroccan Stew | Instant Pot Ratatouille | Instant Pot Thai Grilled Chicken |
Bruce
A perfect complement to a lazy summer evening meal. Thanks, Bruce
Paint the Kitchen Red
Bruce, I agree! It’s a very refreshing salad. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Heather
I made this salad to take to a family event. The whole salad was great: the pepperiness of the arugula contrasts well with the candied walnuts, along with the acidity of the balsamic dressing and the tartness of the goat cheese. But I wanted to comment of the beets. They were amazing! So many people asked how I made them because their consistency was perfect. I never would have thought about using the Instant Pot to cook them had I not found this recipe. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Heather – you’re so welcome. Comments like yours help out other readers who’re looking at the recipe, so I really appreciate it; thanks for taking the time to comment 🙂
Sam
Wow, amazing flavors! And it was really easy to make, thanks to your awesome instructions and beautiful photos! thanks for sharing!
Paint the Kitchen Red
You’re welcome, Sam!
Lesley
Fantastic salad, have made 4 times already!
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks for the comment, Lesley – I’m so happy you liked it!
Eric Post
Is it possible to cook and cut the beets the night before and assemble the salad the next day?
Paint the Kitchen Red
Eric – I do this sometimes. So, yes. Thanks for your question.
Launa
Excellent salad‼️ The flavor combination is very well balanced. This is a keeper. Thank you.
Paint the Kitchen Red
Thanks, Launa – so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I’ve on beets kick lately and put them in everything!