Vegan Beetroot Salad with “Feta” and Balsamic Vinaigrette

This Vegan Beetroot Salad with “Feta” with Balsamic Vinaigrette is the perfect combination of sweet, sour and salty. It makes a wonderful light lunch or as a starter to a meal. Get the recipe below.

Heritage beetroots

Beetroot is one of my favourite vegetables. It’s all sweetness and light but with an earthy heart which makes them great raw like in this beetroot and “feta” salad, roasted or pickled. No matter how they are cooked, I’ll happily eat them. There’s something incredibly satisfying about the way root vegetables need a little scrub under water to brush off some of the dirt before preparing. Seeing the purple skin and crumbly earth under the tap makes my mouth water – I just want to sink my teeth in for that distinctive beetroot flavour.

I also love beetroot for their rich, vibrant colours. You’d be forgiven for automatically thinking of the characteristic plum purple when you hear the word beetroot but delve a little deeper into the many varieties and you’ll find orange, yellow, pastel pinks and bright magenta. Some even have candy cane stripes running through their hearts, perfectly matching their sweet flavour.

This beetroot salad is now one of my favourite ways to show off the humble beetroot. It uses a variety of different beetroot varieties for colour and flavour. Don’t worry though, if you can’t get hold of heritage beetroot just stick to the fresh beetroot in your local store. They will taste just as delicious!

Beetroot – a super food?

But perhaps the best thing about indulging in a beetroot salad like this is that it is good for you too. Did you know that:

• Beetroot contains essential minerals and vitamins such as potassium, magnesium, iron, it A, B6 and C as well as folic acid.
• Just three baby beetroot equal one of your recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day!
• Beetroot has been proven to reduce blood pressure and the risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as lower cholesterol and stabilise blood sugar.
• Beetroot contains the powerful antioxidant betacyanin.
• Eating beetroot can even help to slow the progression of dementia!  

(These facts are courtesy of www.lovebeetroot.co.uk) 

How to prepare beetroots for the salad

Beetroots are usually cooked by either roasting them or boiling them. Roasting can take up to 60 minutes so is a bit of a labour of love. Boiling however gets you a tender beetroot in roughly half the time.

I love both methods but for this recipe I boil them for 25 – 30 minutes for the perfectly cooked beetroot.

There’s no real prep required other than giving them a scrub to remove dirt and trimming the stems (leave roughly 1 – 2 inches to prevent their colour bleeding.

After boiling for 30 minutes they should be tender when pierced by a knife. When they get to this point you need to plunge them into a bowl of cold water. The skins will then rub off easily exposing the brightly coloured flesh below.

Top and tail the beetroot removing the roots and stems. Then cut into quarters or eighths (depending on how large your beetroot are) and leave to cool before using in the salad.

Vegan “feta”

I think this beetroot and feta works so well because it takes your mouth on a journey. The raw, crisp beetroot gives you a taste of the earth, the balsamic vinaigrette gives a slightly sour tang, the feta then balances the whole dish by adding a salty dimension bringing your journey full circle. It also looks incredibly pretty with yellows, oranges, pinks and purples jumping off the white plate – this really is a simple summer salad.

To get that salty flavour it’s essential to find a vegan feta alternative. It’s becoming easier and easier to find these in supermarkets or you can shop at a vegan cheese specialist like La Fauxmargerie, my favourite vegan cheese shop and the first plant based cheesemonger in the UK. 

My favourite vegan feta brands are: Fetamorphasis from I am Nut OK and Betta Feta from Strictly Roots Vegan.

The recipe

Vegan Beetroot and Feta Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Bring some sunshine to your mealtimes with this colourful beetroot salad with vegan feta and balsamic vinaigrette.

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, lunch

Cuisine British

Servings 4 people

Calories 357.98 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the beetroot

• 6 beetroot
• 1 pinch salt

For the feta

• 150 grams vegan feta

For the vinaigrette

• 100 ml olive oil
• 50 ml balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 shallot minced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• Scrub the beetroot until clean and trim the stalks so they are 1-2 inches long.
• Add the beetroot to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 30 minutes or until they are tender when pierced with a knife.
• Immediately plunge the cooked beetroot into a bowl of cold water.
• Rub the skins to remove.
• Cut the stalks off of the top and the roots off of the bottom of the beetroot.
• Depending on their size, cut into 4 wedges or 8 wedges.
• Leave to cool completely.
• In the meantime make the vinaigrette by combining all of the ingredients in a jar and shake well until all combined.
• Once the beetroot is cool, assemble with the feta and some micro greens.
• Drizzle over the dressing and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 357.98kcalCarbohydrates: 19.28gProtein: 10.34gFat: 27.78gSaturated Fat: 5.86gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2.49gMonounsaturated Fat: 16.73gCholesterol: 20.09mgSodium: 458.79mgPotassium: 444.76mgFiber: 3.72gSugar: 13.23gVitamin A: 41.8IUVitamin C: 6.77mgCalcium: 29.91mgIron: 1.32mg

Keyword balsamic vinegar, beetroot, feta

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

How to serve

This salad is a delicious light lunch but also works really well as a starter for a main meal. If you have guests coming over this is a simple recipe that you can make in advance. Prepare the beetroot in advance and assemble just before serving.

More beetroot recipes

Beetroot and Dill Ravioli

Blood Orange, Beetroot and Kale Salad

If you like these recipes you might also like my beetroot hummus.