This Pickled Beet Salad is easy and perfect for the holiday table. Fresh tomatoes, pickled beets, and baby arugula tossed with a simple balsamic vinegar dressing is a great way to add a pop of brightness to balance out your favorite rich and decadent holiday dishes.
Easy Side Salad Recipe
If you need a festive, tasty holiday salad recipe, this tomato and pickled beet salad is the one to try. The color combo is on point, and the fresh flavor complements rich holiday main dishes.
I love the tangy, earthy flavor of the beets with the fresh tomatoes. Add in some peppery arugula, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of feta cheese, and you get a festive salad that’s easy to make. Just what we need this time of year, right?
Ingredients
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
- Grape or cherry tomatoes
- Pickled beets
- Arugula
- Kosher salt
- Crumbled feta cheese
Recipe Tips
I like to use grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes because they are the best option flavor-wise when it’s not tomato season. They’re a little sweeter and not super juicy so your salad won’t get soggy.
New to pickled beets? Look for them near the other jarred pickles at the grocery store. I like the brand, Aunt Nellie’s, which are jarred sliced pickled beets. I like to cut the sliced beets into smaller pieces for the salad.
The juice the beets are stored in can stain everything pink, so I like to remove the slices with a fork and then pat them with a paper towel to remove the excess liquid.
Variations
- Greens: If you don’t like arugula try baby spinach or butter lettuce.
- Dressing: I like this pickled beet salad lightly dressed, but you can double the vinegar and oil if you want more. Or, use your favorite prepared balsamic vinaigrette.
- Cheese: This salad is really good with crumbled goat cheese, too, so feel free to swap the feta cheese.
Here’s to an easy holiday season, friends!
Happy salad-making,
More Fall Salad Recipes
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PrintTomato and Pickled Beet Salad
This pickled beet salad packs a lot of flavors – fresh tomatoes, earthy beets, peppery arugula, and a sprinkle of feta cheese. It’s great year-round, but the colors are perfect for special holiday meals. I like to serve it as a side, so this recipe makes enough for four people if other side dishes are on the menu.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salads
- Method: Toss
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 grape tomatoes, halved
- 8 slices pickled beets, halved (see note)
- 4 cups baby arugula
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- In a large bowl whisk the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add the diced tomatoes, pickled beets, arugula, and salt. Toss it all together.
- Top each serving with some feta cheese and enjoy!
Notes
Look for jars of pickled beets near the other pickles in the grocery store. I like to buy Aunt Nellie’s brand – the beets are already sliced and just need to be halved for the salad.
Substitutions: Use other greens like spinach or butter lettuce. You can also swap the feta for crumbled goat cheese.
Nutrition
- Calories: 72
- Sugar: 2.8g
- Sodium: 415.1mg
- Fat: 5.7g
- Saturated Fat: 1.9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 3.8g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2.3g
- Cholesterol: 8.3mg
Keywords: tomato salad, arugula salad, holiday salad recipe, pickled beet salad
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Post updated from the archives. First published in November 2012.
Anonymous says
Looks inspired.. love the color and taste mix…
Afner says
Great Blog… it´s inspiring seeing people like you doing great things for the love of food and life.
Awesome!