This vegan roasted beet salad is tossed with lentils and a lemon vinaigrette with preserved lemon. It's hardy enough for a main dish at lunch or dinner, or serve as a side salad for the meat eaters at the table.
This beet salad is ready in under 30 minutes if you have an electric pressure cooker to cook the lentils, and an air fryer to roast the beets. But, it's even better made ahead and macerated in the lemon vinaigrette. Serve warm or room temperature.
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My husband swears that beets are an acquired taste. One he will never acquire. Ever. These words typically accompany his holding up two index fingers in the sign of a protective cross.
I, on the other hand, love beets. They're much maligned. If you love beets too, you know how flexible they are. You can roast them, pickle them, and even spiralize them.
And they're perfect in this roasted beet salad with lentils, tossed in a lemon vinaigrette. The lemon vinaigrette has preserved lemon in it, which is worth hunting down to make this dish.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to many dishes often lies in the ingredients. For example, some ingredients make a huge difference to the flavor and/or texture of the finished recipe. And purchasing the right ingredients can save you valuable time in the kitchen.
This list only covers ingredients that require some notes. For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Red beets - You could also use orange beets. I use red beets for a slightly earthier flavor. Orange beets are a little sweeter.
- French green lentils - There is a wide range of lentils in texture, appearance, and taste. French green lentils are the best kind for this dish as they hold their shape very well while they simmer. As a note, French Green Lentils take longer to cook than Brown Lentils.
- Fresh mint - Chopped fresh mint is a great contrasting flavor with the lentils and beets. Do not substitute dried mint as it won't have the same effect.
- Preserved lemon - This ingredient isn't absolutely necessary but it makes a big difference to the overall flavor of the dish. Therefore, while it's isn't critical, it's also not an optional ingredient IMO.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
You don't need any special equipment to make this recipe, but it will go much faster if you have an air fryer for roasting the beets, and an electric pressure cooker (like the Instant Pot) to cook the lentils. Using this equipment, this recipe can be made, from start to finish, in under 30 minutes.
- Chef's knife
- Air fryer (optional) - for roasting the beets
- Dutch oven (or Instant Pot) - for cooking the lentils
- Whisk
👩🍳 How To Roast Beets
Oven Method for Roasting Beets
Preheat the oven to 375˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. For this particular recipe, the beets are peeled and then small diced, to about ½" cubes.
Peel the beets using either a potato peeler or a sharp knife. I've used both, but often have the best luck with a sharp knife. Slice off the bottom, and anchor each beet on that flat bottom before using the knife. Then cut downwards along the top and sides of each beet, and trim the bottoms. Dice into cubes.
Toss in olive oil, spread on the prepared baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 - 40 minutes, or until tender.
Air Fryer Method for Roasting Beets
Preheat the air fryer to 375˚F.
Peel and dice the beets as suggested above in the Oven Method.
Place in a bowl, toss in 1 tablespoon olive oil, and spread in the air fryer basket in one layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast for 10 minutes or until tender.
⏰ Tips to Simplify and Save Time
- Cook the lentils ahead of time and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
- Roast the beets ahead of time and stor in the refrigerator for up to 1 week in an airtight container.
- Use an air fryer instead of a conventional oven to roast the beets. Air frying them takes less than half the time.
- Cook the lentils in an electric pressure cooker such as the Instant Pot. This reduces their cook time from 40 minutes to 8 minutes.
👩🍳 Tips for Succss
Beets are a messy vegetable in that they "bleed" all over everything they're mixed with. If you make this ahead, keep the beets separate and only add them when you're ready to serve this dish. Otherwise the lentils will also turn red.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Instead of making a roasted beet salad, pickle the beets before adding them to the lentils. If you do this, you won't need the preserved lemon.
- Coarsely chop and lightly sauté the beet greens in a little olive oil, and add to the salad.
- Toss the salad with arugula if you want to add raw greens.
- Add roasted nuts, such as cashews or walnuts, a flurry of peanuts, or roasted pumpkin seeds at the end before serving.
- Or go in a different direction and make beet noodles with whipped feta, and serve it over these lentils.
🥗 Lentil Salads
Lentils and cauliflower is another great combination for a lentil salad. If you're ever wondering what to serve with cauliflower steaks, this is a great lentil salad and cauliflower steaks recipe.
I also like French green lentils with potatoes, as in this roasted potato salad.
Or combine cooked lentils with tomatoes and potatoes to make this simple 4-ingredient lentil salad.
Lastly, this vegan potato asparagus salad with lentils adds radishes, sugar snap peas and mint, and the salad is dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. It's my go-to salad when asparagus is in season.
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Roasted Beet Salad with Lentil and Preserved Lemon (Recipe)
Ingredients
Beet Salad with Lentils
- 4 red beets (about 1 pound)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ½ teaspoon kosher salt, divided (or ¾ teaspoon table salt)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup dried French green lentils
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mint
- 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
Lemon Vinaigrette with Preserved Lemon
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 shallot finely diced
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 preserved lemon
Instructions
Beet Salad with Lentils
- Cook the beets. If using an air fryer, preheat it to 375˚F. Peel the beets using a sharp knife, and dice into ½" cubes. Toss in olive oil, and spread across the air fryer basket in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 - 15 minutes, or until tender.
- Note: If using an oven, preheat it to 400˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel the beets using a sharp knife, and dice into ½" cubes. Toss in olive oil, spread across the baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 35 minutes, or until tender.
- Cook the lentils. If cooking in an Instant Pot, or other electric pressure cooker, add the lentils, 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon table salt), pepper and 1¾ cups water or broth. Lock the lid, and cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes. Perform a QUICK RELEASE. Drain any remaining liquid.
- Note: If cooking on the stovetop, combine the lentils with enough water to cover them, and 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or ½ teaspoon table salt) and pepper. Cook for 40 minutes, or until tender. Drain off any liquid. (Or use this recipe for Green lentils towards the bottom of the post.)
- Make the Lemon Vinaigrette. See below for the recipe.
- Toss together the lentils, roasted beets and vinaigrette. Top with the parsley, mint and feta.
Lemon Vinaigrette with Preserved Lemon
- Whisk together the lemon juice, salt, shallot and olive oil.
- Slice the preserved lemon in half. Using a spoon, scrape out the pulp and finely mince. Finely dice the rind of the preserved lemon.
- Whisk 2 teaspoons of the minced pulp and all of the diced rind into the vinaigrette.
Sam
this is so delicious!! I love the dressing on top. So good!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so happy you liked it! Thanks for letting me know!
Kayla DiMaggio
This beet salad was so delicious! I had never used preserved lemons before but they were so great!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
The preserved lemon is the key to this recipe, IMHO!! I'm so glad you liked it!
nancy
the dressing is delicious and the salad is so full of texture and flavours
Liz
I love the color the beets add to this salad! I'm a huge beet lover, so this salad sounds delicious! Excited to give it a try!
Edina R
Love this recipe. Sans dairy.
Have you thought about ditching dairy all together? It’s terrible for the planet and cause mass scale animal suffering. There are so many awesome alternatives today! 😉
The Wimpy Vegetarian
It's easy for you to eliminate the feta cheese - it's only 2 tablespoons. And thanks for your comment. I have a lot of vegan recipes on this site, but it isn't a vegan blog.