Pickled Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
Updated Mar 19, 2026
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Pickled Beet salad with goat cheese is one of my go-to recipes when I want to serve a salad that feels a little special but takes almost no effort.
This pickled beet salad looks and tastes restaurant-worthy, but it goes together in minutes.
🔍 Quick Look: Pickled Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
- Best for: Light meals, dinner parties, holiday sides.
- Flavor Profile: Sweet, tangy, creamy, slightly peppery
- Texture: Tender beets, creamy cheese, crisp greens, crunchy nuts
- Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes
- Skill Level: Easy
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Yes, (assemble just before serving)
- Best Served: Immediately after cooking.
This pickled beet salad with goat cheese combines tangy beets, creamy cheese, and fresh greens for a simple but elevated taste. It’s quick to assemble, easy to customize, and perfect for entertaining or a light meal
Top Tip from Scott: Don’t overdress this pickled beet salad. I like to drizzle just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat the greens, then toss gently. Overdressing will cause the greens to wilt, and the flavor balance will quickly be lost.
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Why This Pickled Beet Salad with Goat Cheese Works
Balanced Flavor in Every Bite
Pickled beets bring brightness and acidity, while goat cheese softens the sharpness with a creamy, tangy finish.
Texture that Keeps it Interesting
You get tender beets soft cheese, crisp greens, and a bit of crunch from nuts, all in one forkful!
Quick But Impressive
This salad looks and tastes like it takes a lot of effort. Only you’ll know that it takes just minutes to put together.
Try some of my other favorite salad recipes like simple steamed kale, taco salad with western dressing, and this holiday classic, old-fashioned cranberry jello salad.
I’ve made this beet salad more time than I can count, especially when we want something quick but still feels a little special. This is one of those recipes that looks impressive but comes together in minutes, and that’s always a win in our kitchen.
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients and Why They Matter
Pickled Beets – These add a tangy, slightly sweet flavor that makes this salad stand out from salads made with roasted beets.
Goat Cheese – It’s creamy and slightly tangy and adds a beautiful balance to the acidity of the pickled beets.
Italian Dressing and Balsamic Vinegar – The dressing adds some subtle herb flavoring while the balsamic gives a deeper, slightly sweet acidity to balance the pickled beets.
Look for a high-quality, aged balsamic vinegar. I love the stuff that’s aged 10 years or more. The price is a bit higher, but the taste is noticeably enhanced!
This is a very simple and quick salad to put together. I happened to have a bag of mixed greens on hand, but you could use spinach, and that would be just as good.
In addition to the pickled beets and the goat cheese, we used slivered almonds and drizzled aged balsamic vinegar over an initial dose of Italian dressing. The balsamic vinegar added a nice contrast to the goat cheese and beets.
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Substitutions and Variations
- Use roasted beets for a deeper, sweeter flavor.
- Swap the goat cheese for feta for a saltier bite.
- Add orange slices for brightness, like this Mandarin orange salad that we love!
- You can use spinach instead of arugula for a milder taste.
- Add grilled chicken or steak for some extra protein and turn this into a full meal.
How to Make Pickled Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
- Prepare the Greens
- Wash and thoroughly dry your greens so the salad isn’t soggy.
- Drain the Beets
- Drain the pickled beets and scatter them evenly throughout the greens.
- Add Goat Cheese
- Crumble the goat cheese over the top.
- Add Nuts
- Sprinkle walnuts of pecans for crunch.
- Dress lightly and toss
- Add vinaigrette just before serving and toss gently.
How to Build this Salad Like a Pro
- Start with completely dry greens. This salad spinner is one of my favorite kitchen tools. It does a great job of removing all the water after you wash your salad greens. The kids love using it because it’s fun to spin!
- Don’t overload with beets and spread them evenly.
- Add the goat cheese last so it holds its shape.
- Toss the salad gently to avoid breaking the ingredients.
- Add the nuts just before serving to keep them crisp.
Storage Tips
- This is best served fresh
- You can store leftovers in an airtight container for up to one day
- Note: Greens may soften
Questions from Readers
Creamy cheeses, like feta, gorgonzola, and goat cheese, balance the sweet and tangy flavor of pickled beets. Savory, crunchy walnuts and crisp, fresh greens are perfect additions as well.
Give this salad a try. I think that you will be happy that you did. -Scott
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Pickled Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
Save This Recipe for Later (You’ll Want It Again)
Get this recipe sent to your inbox, plus a few of our best easy meals
⭐ Most readers end up making this in a few days.
Ingredients
- 2 cups mixed greens
- 1 cup pickled beets, coarse dice
- 2 tbsp slivered almonds
- 4 tbsp Italian dressing
- 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar, aged
Instructions
- Plate salad greens.
- Top with pickled beets, goat cheese and slivered almonds.
- Dress with Italian dressing.
- Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Notes
- Scott used a 12 1/2 year aged balsamic vinegar for this salad. As an accompaniment, quality and aged balsamic vinegar can elevate its complimenting food to another level, which was the case with this salad.
- The crumpled goat cheese was at room temperature when served. This allowed the cheese to meld with the dressing and the greens and become a part of both as opposed to a separate entity, again bringing the taste to a higher level of excellence.
- Toast the almond slivers to draw out their flavor. We skimped on this procedure with this salad but it would have been even better had we done this.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
If nothing else you photo sold me. Congrats on a new ‘baby’ in your family. Too sweet and very kind. I think we all know what kind of a day you had and also having zero idea what to have for dinner. You certainly came thru however!
I am a huge beet and salad fan! So glad I found your recipe!
WE love this salad! Beets is our favorite! WE too have a jar of pickled beets in the fridge. WE enjoy eating them alone, but you got me thinking about adding them to our salads instead. Thanks!! Have a great weekend!
I LOVE everything about this salad! Thanks so much for making me your featured foodie! I am honored!
Thanks for the great comments, Renee. And, the pleasure was all ours.
Just WOW! I could eat this salad every day! Love goat cheese and these amazing photos! <3
Thanks, Brandi; this would taste great with all of those southern dishes you’re cookin’ up!
This is such a gorgeous and hearty salad! I love the beets! wow!
Thank you Kecia; I think you would love the flavor here!
You guys rock. What a great post and the recipe sounds incredible and the photo is amazing.
Thanks, Patty. We always love hearing from you!
That looks divine Dan, I love a good beet salad, one of my favs!!
Thanks Tara!
Your salad looks amazing! I love goat cheese with beet. I will definitely give it a try!
Thanks, Del. I think you will enjoy!
So simple, yet so elegant! Great salad to make for rushed weeknight dinners but I can also imagine what a beautiful presentation it would make for company. Well done!
Thanks, Linda. And yes, you hit the major highlights of this dish, not the least of which is how wonderful it tastes!