Instant Pot Beet Salad with Arugula, Goat Cheese, Walnuts

This beautiful and tasty Instant Pot beet salad with arugula, 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.   I love beets and their distinct, earthy flavor but I don’t cook them very often because my kids don’t really care for them.

So I order beet salads every chance I get when I go out to eat.  The combination of ingredients in this Instant Pot Beet Salad is a common one on restaurant menus – arugula, goat cheese, beets, walnuts and balsamic salad dressing – that are simple and taste perfect together.

Another reason people avoid cooking beets is that they can take a long time to cook.  There are different ways to cook beets: you can roast beets in the oven, boil beets in water on a stove-top or you can steam beets.  The best and quickest and easiest way to cook beets is to steam beets in the Instant Pot pressure cooker.  They cook in 20 minutes including time to come to pressure.

Beets or beetroots are loaded with healthy vitamins and minerals, and are full of fiber – in other words, beets are good for you! Having this brightly colored super food in your diet can really pack quite a nutritious punch.  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 beets, you can store the 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.

This beet salad with arugula, goat cheese and walnuts can be served as a side salad to a main course like Instant Pot Coq au Vin or Instant Pot Shrimp and Grits.  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 Manual / Beginner’s Quick Start Guide blog post first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Beet Salad.

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Instant Pot Beet Salad Ingredients

Instant Pot Beet Salad Step-by-Step Instructions

• 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 beets into 1/2 inch pieces.

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Delicious Instant Pot Beet Salad with Arugula, Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Prep 10 mins

Cook 25 mins

Total 35 mins

Author Paint the Kitchen Red

Yield 6 salads

This beautiful and tasty Instant Pot beet salad with toasted candied walnuts, goat cheese and arugula has a delightful balsamic vinaigrette dressing and is perfect as a side salad or as a standalone lunch salad.

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 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

1. Combine balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt, black pepper and sugar in a small bowl.
2. Stir with a whisk and set aside.

Candied Walnuts

1. Combine butter or ghee, walnuts and brown sugar in a small frying pan.
2. Saute until sugar has melted and walnuts are toasted.
3. Cool on a silicone mat or parchment paper and set aside.

Beets

1. Rinse the beets and trim the stems of the beets, leaving about 1 inch. (Leave the roots intact.)
2. Fill inner pot with 1 cup water.
3. Place beets in a steamer basket in the inner pot.
4. Cook on 'Manual' (or 'Pressure Cook') mode for 15 minutes.
5. Do a quick release of pressure and open the Instant Pot.
6. When cool enough to handle, remove steamer basket from inner pot.
7. Cool Instant Pot beets completely.
8. Cut off both ends of each beet.
9. Peel beets with a vegetable peeler or remove skin by hand.
10. Cube beets into 1/2 inch pieces.

Assemble Individual Salads

1. Start with a layer of arugula.
2. Sprinkle goat cheese and candied walnuts.
3. Add beet pieces.
4. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing.

Courses Salad

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving
Calories 319
% Daily Value
Total Fat 27 g		42%
	Saturated Fat 6 g	30%
	Unsaturated Fat 19 g
Cholesterol 4 mg		1%
Sodium 287 mg		12%
Total Carbohydrates 15 g		5%
	Dietary Fiber 4 g	16%
	Sugars 10 g
Protein 7 g		14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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.

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