The Best Pickled Beets Salad to Serve Your Friends

Today I’m sharing the Best Pickled Beets Salad to serve your friends. It’s a real crowd-pleaser and my personal favorite. My favorite salad includes fresh greens, pickled beets, crumbled feta and chopped pecans for a little crunch.

It’s the perfect salad, quick to make, filled with garden-fresh flavor, and a so pretty!

My Love of Pickled Beets Salad

To be honest, as a child pickled beets (along with Brussel Sprouts) was one of my least favorite foods. And thankfully after trying them a few times, my mom didn’t make me eat them. The Brussel Sprouts for some reason were a different story…that I’ll save for another time.

However, several years ago, Bill and I were attending a professional conference in Atlanta, Georgia. On the first night of our arrival, we were walking around near our hotel looking for a restaurant and we spied a pizza restaurant filled with customers.

We decided to give it a try. The pizza was amazing.

And so was Bill’s salad! A pickled beets salad.

I tried a bite of Bill’s salad to see if my dislike of beets when I was a child had carried over to adulthood. To my surprise, the salad, pickled beets and all, was so good.

It was so good (along with the pizza) that we went back to the restaurant a second time during our visit and this time we both ordered the Pickled Beets Salad.

And so, my love of pickled beets was sparked as was the recipe I’m sharing here today.

Printable Recipe Card: Pickled Beets Salad

How to Make the Best Pickled Beets Salad to Serve Your Friends

Ingredients & A Few Notes

Today’s recipe includes pickled beets and fresh greens from our garden as well as pecans that we gathered from our farm. If you don’t have a stash of pecans or pickled beets from your own garden, no worries. You can gather all of these ingredients from a grocery store or, better yet, stop by your local farmers market and pick up a few locally grown ingredients.

Ingredient List

• 5 ounces Arugula and Spinach Mix: I have made this salad so many times and any tender greens will do. You can use arugula only, a spring mix of greens or my favorite, a mix of arugula and spinach. I love the combination of tender baby spinach leaves and the peppery bite of arugula.
• ½ cup Thinly Sliced Red Onions: Red onions add beautiful color to my favorite salad plus I love their mild, sweet flavor. Be sure to give your onion a taste test before adding to your salad. A hot onion can ruin an entire dish.
• ½ cup Chopped Pickled Beets: We have been canning beets for a few years now and my favorite way to enjoy them is in this salad. They have a sweet, tangy taste complimented by briny spicy vinegar. They’re also very messy and stain surfaces easily so be careful to keep your workspace clean as you work with the beets.
• ½ cup Chopped Pecans: A handful of chopped nuts add so much flavor to a salad. I am partial to pecans since we have pecan trees here on the farm. Walnuts are also wonderful in this salad.
• 4 ounces Crumbled Feta Cheese: The distinct tangy and salty flavor of crumbled feta is the perfect addition to my favorite salad. You may notice that I haven’t seasoned the salad with salt, it’s not needed when feta is part of the ingredient list.
• Oil & Vinegar Dressing to Taste: To dress the salad use a simple oil and vinegar dressing. My favorite is made by Newman’s Own.

Step-by-Step Directions

Now that you’ve gathered the needed ingredients, it’s time to make the salad.

Speaking of time, this salad really is quick to make. It requires a bit of chopping and then you’re ready to assemble. I typically throw this salad together in 15-20 minutes.

Let’s Prep and Chop!

To prepare the salad, wash the Arugula and Spinach Mix. Place on a clean dish towel to dry.

Now it’s time to get chopping. Start by thinly slicing the red onion. Next chop the pecans, be sure that all of the shells have been removed.

Finally, chop the pickled beets. I save the beets for last since they make such a mess.

And, if you have a block of feta cheese (as opposed to crumbled feta cheese), crumble the feta cheese. I typically use my hands to break off tiny pieces.

Assemble the Salad

Place the salad greens in a salad bowl. I prefer a shallow bowl (or deep plate) so that the remaining ingredients can be nicely displayed on top of the greens.

Arrange the red onions, pickled beets and pecans on top of the greens.

Top the salad with crumbled feta.

Serve the Best Pickled Beets Salad to Your Friends

Add oil & vinegar dressing before serving or allow your guests to add their own dressing.

A Final Note

I had the honor of preparing this salad for a recent magazine shoot at our home. I was thrilled to share my favorite salad with the magazine. Not only does it taste amazing, but it is so pretty.

Along with my favorite salad, I made my favorite quiche for the magazine shoot: The Best Sweet Corn and Summer Squash Quiche. It pairs perfectly with the salad.

Both recipes will appear in a summer 2025 issue of Country Home magazine. But I didn’t want to wait that long to share the recipes with you. Enjoy!

Cheers to retired life, and as always, happy gardening!

x Penny Pennington Weeks

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