Fall flavors come together in this simple flavor packed salad. It features crunchy walnuts, creamy blue cheese, fresh greens, crisp apples and tender roasted beets. With a snappy dressing, this reader favorite apple salad recipe is versatile enough to pull together with your favorite greens in about 15 minutes.
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Welcoming Fall
Fall has arrived in the Vanilla And Bean kitchen. And so… on to the Fall harvest and cozy food that comes with it. In other words, time to get the stretchy pants out! But first, salad.
With a short ingredient list, my Beet and Apple Salad couldn’t be easier to make. It’s somewhat similar to my Apple Cranberry Salad, but instead of a buttermilk dressing, this one has a scrumptious and easy Apple Cider Vinaigrette. It’s versatile, packed with texture and brings the flavors of fall to the table.
This Recipe Is
- versatile – choose your favorite salad greens, apples and/or nuts
- juicy and crunchy
- simple to make
If you love fresh homemade salad recipes, you’ll enjoy the textures and simplicity of this salad.
About the Key Ingredients
- Salad Greens: choose the freshest greens you can get your hands on. I love the peppery bite of arugula (as seen in the recipe video), but I also make it butter head lettuce or with a salad mix as seen in the photos.
- Beets: you’ll need at least two cooked beets. I shared a simple How to Roast Beets tutorial if needed. Skip the already cooked store bought and pick up fresh. It requires just a little hands on time to roast your own.
- Apples: choose a sweet or sweet-tart variety for this salad such as Honey Crisp, Gala, Red Delicious or any variety you can find locally.
- Nuts: toasted walnuts or pecans are favorites in this salad. But my Candied Maple Pecans or Candied Maple Walnuts take it over the top!
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How to Make Apple Beet Salad
step by step
“This is incredibly delicious. I’ve made this several times exactly as written. Yummm.”
LK
Traci’s Tips
- Avoid Browned Apples: When cutting apples, they tend to turn brownish quickly. To keep their creamy color vibrant, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the chopped apples. This will help keep them lookin’ pretty.
- Make it Pretty: Because red beets tend to stain their gorgeous color on to the apples, I like to assemble the salad just before serving and not toss it until it’s ready to be plated. Or the salad can be assembled on individual salad plates to mitigate the beets shedding their color over other ingredients.
Beet and Apple Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) Walnuts, *see note
- 4 cups (75 grams) Arugula, or salad green(s) of choice, loosely packed
- 2 cups (325 grams) Roasted Beets, skin removed and large dice, about 2 medium beets
- 2 cups (200 grams) Apple, large dice, about 1 large sweet apple
- 1/4 cup (40 grams) Blue or Goat Cheese, crumbled
For the Dressing:
- 1/4 cup (45 grams) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon Mustard , (optional)
- Pinch Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
For the Salad:
- Toast the walnuts in a preheated 400 Fahrenheit (204 Celsius) oven for 7-8 minutes. Keep an eye on them starting at 7 minutes because they can go from toasty to burnt fast. Set aside to cool. Rough chop. Set aside.
- To assemble the salad, arrange the greens first, then layering beets, apples, cheese then walnuts. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, to taste, add a few fresh pepper grinds, then serve right away.
- The beets and nuts can be prepared up to three days in advance. Store beets in a lidded container in the refrigerator and the toasted nuts at room temperature.
For the Dressing:
- Into a jar with a tight fitting lid add the extra virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, a pinch of salt and dijon mustard if using . Shake vigorously to create an emulsion.
- Dressing may be made up to three days in advance. Store at room temperature for three days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Made it? Leave a comment below!
The most helpful comment may include recipe rating, feedback, any modifications or helping other commentors.
I had a pack of 5 beets that I bought from Costco, and some red apples from Trader Joe’s. I Googled for recipes and found one that required diced beets and apples. After dicing the beets and apples, I saw this recipe, and switched over. I’m glad I did. Everyone loved it, especially the dressing.
I made a few changes and used baby spinach and crushed some praline pecans.
Love hearing this, Bud! Thank you for giving a new recipe a try. SO glad everyone love it!
Delicious, easy to assemble and a crowd pleaser!
Love hearing this, Deb! Thank you for your note!
This beet salad has the perfect mix: Beets with goat cheese. Slightly sweet/tangy dressing. Lightly sweetened, lightly roasted pecans! I tried it a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to make it this Christmas Eve for company. It was a winner! Thank you for the hint for roasting beets – it is the first time I had beets come out tender, yet firm and not burnt! The pecans are so easy and much better than candied with sugar and butter.
Hi Dianne! SO glad you’re enjoying the salad (and the roasted beets). Thank you for your note!
Hi Tracy! I roasted the beets last night and made the salad for lunch today. It was delicious and so healthy! I made it exactly as written but did not have the cheese. I hope to make this regularly, so I am going to buy cheese soon because I can imagine it will add a lot of flavor. Thanks for another quick and yummy keeper!!
Hi Janice! Super happy to hear you’re enjoying the salad. Aren’t the beets so nice? LMK what you think about the cheese next time you make it! I hope you love it!
wow that dressing is super good! I eat beets just about daily with spinach so this is right in my flavor wheel house, thanks
Super happy to hear, Albert! Thank you for your note, rating and giving the recipe a go. Beets and spinach are a dream team!
This is incredibly delicious. I’ve made this several times exactly as written. Yummm.
Hi LK!Thank you for your note, rating and giving the recipe a go! SO happy to hear you’re enjoying it!
This salad is delicious. I made it today and cooked the beets per Traci’s roasting directions. Very easy and after 45 minutes in 1/2 inch water in a 2.5 qt Corningware lidded dish, three medium beets were a perfect tenderness. I love the combination of apples (I used Granny Smith), beets, toasted walnuts and goat cheese on arugula, and this yummy dressing tops it off. I will be making this again. Thanks for your wonderful recipes, Traci. I have made several and they are all delicious!
Hi Lees! Thank you for coming back and leaving a note. So happy to read your notes and hear you’re enjoy this and other recipes! I love this salad too… I think the sweetness of the beets and dressing balances the spicy greens. Isn’t that beet technique easy?
Love how you combined these 2 posts. Beets are one of my favorite things to roast and put in salads. This dressing sounds delicious and I think it will become a staple in my fridge. Glad you’re enjoying the fall foliage! I’m in San Diego visiting my daughter so I’m back to the upper 70’s! Hopefully I’ll still catch some of the colowhen I get back next week. I did have an awesome tricolor beet salad here!
Thank you so much Jean! Agreed, I love them too. Forever versatile and so juicy! Have a good time in San Diego!