This beautiful and tasty arugula goat cheese beet salad recipe made with beets, goat cheese, and candied walnuts has a delightful balsamic vinaigrette dressing and is perfect as a side salad or a standalone lunch salad. [Instant Pot and stovetop instructions included for cooking the beets.]
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Table of Contents
Introduction
The combination of ingredients in this salad with beets is common on restaurant menus – peppery arugula leaves, creamy goat cheese, earthy beets, walnuts, and balsamic salad dressing – and the flavors come together perfectly.
One 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. Instant Pot beets cook in 20 minutes including time to come to pressure. Cooking beets on the stovetop takes almost twice as long.
This is my favorite salad! The arugula salad with goat cheese recipe can be served as a side salad to a main course such as Indian Style Shepherd’s Pie, Instant Pot Coq au Vin or Instant Pot Peri Peri Chicken. You could also make it a soup and salad night with Indian curry soup, or creamy chicken soup.
Tips for the best Arugula Goat Cheese Salad
Beets
- You don’t need to stick to red beets; try golden beets.
- Pick beets with the greens still attached and with smooth skin.
- 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.
- Cooking the beets in the pressure cooker is the quickest way to make beets, but you can use roasted beets or boil the beets on the stovetop.
Substitutions
- You can make this salad pecans instead of walnuts.
- You can use feta cheese instead of goat cheese.
- Use maple syrup or honey for the sugar.
- Use blue cheese instead of goat cheese for a stronger flavor.
Staining
- 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.
Beet greens
- 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.
FAQS
It could be the size of the beets. Larger beets and older beets are harder to cook. Just pressure cook them for another couple of minutes. Hard water can also affect cooking time.
Beet Salad with Goat Cheese Ingredients
- Brown sugar
- Chopped nuts
- Ghee or butter
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Black pepper
- Sugar
- Salt
- Garlic
- Beets
More details in the recipe card at the bottom of this post
How to Make Arugula Salad with Beets and Goat Cheese (Step by Step Instructions)
- Make dressing
- Make candied nuts
- Place steamer basket in Instant Pot
- Place beets in basket
- Pressure cook and release pressure
- Cool beets
- Peel and slice the beets
- Assemble the salad
Make the dressing
- To make the balsamic dressing, combine balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper, and sugar using a whisk; set aside.
Make candied nuts
- Combine butter or ghee, walnuts and brown sugar in a small frying pan.
- Saute until sugar has melted and nuts are toasted.
- Cool on a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Place steamer basket in Instant Pot
- 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 basket
- Place beets in the steamer basket.
Pressure cook and release pressure
- Close the lid.
- Select Pressure Cook mode and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes.
- The display will go from On to 15:00. The float valve will go up after a few minutes. The display will count down to 00:00.
- Do a quick release of pressure. Once the float valve goes down, the lid can be opened.
Cool beets
- When cool enough to handle, remove steamer basket from inner pot.
- Cool Instant Pot beets completely.
Peel and slice the beets
- Cut off both ends of each beet.
- Peel with a vegetable peeler or remove skin with your hands.
- Cube Instant Pot beets into ½ inch pieces.
Assemble the beet and goat cheese salad
Assemble individual salads:
- Start with a layer of arugula or other greens
- Sprinkle goat cheese, candied nuts
- Add beet pieces
- Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
How to Make Beet Salad with Arugula using Stovetop Beets
Make the recipe as directed except boil the beets in a large pot and drain.
- Fill a large pot with water.
- Add the beets to the water.
- Bring the water to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Cook beets until tender, about 45 minutes to one hour.
- Carefully drain the beets and allow to cool
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Arugula Beet Salad with Candied Walnuts and Goat Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- 3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ¼ teaspoon granulated sugar
Candied Walnuts
- 1 tablespoon ghee or butter
- 1 cup walnuts chopped
- 1 tablespoon 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.
Instant Pot 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.
- Pressure cook for 15 minutes on High Pressure.
- Do a quick release of pressure and open the Instant Pot. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods]
- Press Cancel to turn of Instant Pot. Open the lid and 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 ½ inch pieces.
Stovetop Beets
- Fill a large pot with water and add the beets to the water.
- Bring the water to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
- Cook beets until tender, about 45 minutes to one hour. Carefully drain the beets and allow to cool.
- Cut off both ends of each beet. Peel beets with a vegetable peeler or remove skin by hand. Cube beets into ½ inch pieces.
Air Fryer Beets
- Peel and cut the beets into 1 inch pieces.
- Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).
- Toss the beets with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Air fry the beets for 20 to 25 minutes or until the beets are cooked through, shaking the basket halfway through.
Assemble Individual Salads
- Start with a layer of arugula.
- Sprinkle goat cheese and candied walnuts.
- Add beet pieces.
- Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing.
Notes
- Substitute pecans for walnuts if you wish.
- See the blog post for detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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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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More Instant Pot Side Dishes
sissi says
great instructions and super recipe
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Sissi, thank you for trying it out and I’m very happy to hear you liked it.
Launa says
Excellent salad‼️ The flavor combination is very well balanced. This is a keeper. Thank you.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks, Launa – so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I’ve on beets kick lately and put them in everything!
Eric Post says
Is it possible to cook and cut the beets the night before and assemble the salad the next day?
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Eric – I do this sometimes. So, yes. Thanks for your question.
Lesley says
Fantastic salad, have made 4 times already!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thanks for the comment, Lesley – I’m so happy you liked it!
Sam says
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 says
You’re welcome, Sam!
Heather says
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 says
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 🙂
Bruce says
A perfect complement to a lazy summer evening meal. Thanks, Bruce
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Bruce, I agree! It’s a very refreshing salad. Thanks for taking the time to comment.