Israeli Beetroot Salad
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This Israeli beet salad is simple to put together and is delicious. It’s a healthy beetroot salad that gets even better if you make it ahead (but can be served right away).
Lady Lee’s Note…
I love beets. I love their color, I love their shape, I love that they store so well and last forever, I love their taste, and I even love their greens (that I use to make these amazing veggie patties).
Beets are very low in calories, they contain no cholesterol and are very rich in vitamin C, iron, copper, phosphorus, magnesium, and fiber. They are so healthy, however, they do contain the highest sugar content of all vegetables, which is probably the reason they are so darn tasty!
Ingredients…
- Beets (fresh or canned beets)
- Small onion
- Cilantro
- Canola oil
- Vinegar
- Cumin
- Salt and Black pepper
Kitchen Tools…
- Pressure cooker or large pot
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- mixing bowl
Step-by-Step Instructions…
Step one – boil the beets. Wash the beets well with cold water. Cut the tops of the beets and a little bit of the root. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the beets to the boiling water. Let the beets boil for 20-40 minutes depending on their size. I personally don’t like my beets too soft. To check if they are done, poke them with a fork. It should go into the beet just a bit.
Tip – To shorten the boiling time, you can process the beets in the pressure cooker. Add a couple of cups of water to the pot and add the beets. Close the cooker and place it on high heat. It takes the water a few minutes to come to a boil and for the pressure to build. Once the weight starts to jiggle it only takes 7 minutes or so for the beets to soften.
Step two – peel and slice. Once the beets are soft, wash them with cold water to help them cool (if you have time, you can leave them on the counter and let them cool slowly). Cut the top and the bottom of each beet and use a knife to help remove the skin or simply pinch it off. Next, slice or dice the beets.
Step three – prep the onion and cilantro. Make sure to wash the cilantro well. Then remove the leaves and chocp them. Pell the onion and slice it thinly.
Step four – assemble and season. Add all the vegetables into a large mixing bowl. Add the oil, vinegar, and seasonings and mix well. Taste and correct seasonings.
Serving this Israeli Beet Salad…
If you made the salad right after you cooked the beets and they are still warm, cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. This salad is much better served cold. Serve this salad as a side for…
- Savory Sweet Potato Pies
- One Pan Chicken and Veggies
- Chicken Liver and Onions
- Grilled Whole Tilapia
- Lentil Patties
Storing Leftovers…
One of the best things about this salad is that it gets even better after a day or two in the fridge because the beets have time to soak the flavors. This makes it the best salad for a party or meal prep. You can make a big bowl of it, cover it with plastic food wrap, and keep it in the fridge for up to ten days. Before serving, remember to give it a good mix.
Frequently Asked Questions…
I usually use olive oil in every salad that I make, however, olive oil doesn’t work well with beets. I think that you can try sunflower seed oil, or maybe avocado oil.
It won’t be the same saad if you don’t cook the beets. But you can shred fresh beets, add onions and cilantro, and try to season the same way.
You can use parsley instead of cilantro or maybe celery leaves. Or you can combine all of those.
I hope that you’ll give this recipe a try! It’s a regular in my house and a salad that takes me back to my Israeli childhood every time that I make it. It’s a great way to use beets! And if you liked this recipe, check out these other Israeli salads as well…
More Beetroot Tutorials and Recipes…
Israeli Beetroot Salad
This Israeli beet salad is simple to put together and is delicious. It's a healthy beetroot salad that gets even better if you let it sit a little bit.
Ingredients
- 4 large beets
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1 very small onion
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut the beet tops and wash the roots well. Don't peel your beets. To soften the beets you'll have to steam, boil or process them in the pressure cooker. Usually steaming or boiling takes between 20 to 40 minutes. The pressure cooker is a bit faster. To check if your beets are soft, simply stick a fork in them.
- Let the beets cool (you can wash them with cold water to speed this up a bit), cut their top and bottom and use a knife to peel them. The skin should come right off when the beets are soft.
- Slice or dice your beets and add them to a mixing bowl.
- Remove the stems from a bunch of cilantro and chop the leaves. Add them to the bowl.
- Slice a small onion into very thin slices and add them to the bowl.
- Season with oil, vinegar, cumin, salt, and pepper. Taste and correct seasonings.
Notes
You can serve this salad right away or store it in the fridge for up to a week. The beets absorb the seasonings and it's even tastier a day or two later.
It's a great salad to make for a party because you can make it ahead. I sometimes make myself a large bowl and store it in the fridge, this way I have a ready to go side salad for a sandwich or any other meal.
I personally like it with cilantro, however, you can replace the cilantro with parsley or combine the two if you'd like. It's also optional to add one minced garlic clove.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 64Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 189mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g
This is an interesting recipe. I love my beets, Had not thought of cilantro in the mix. I simply use my bare hands to peel the skins and remove the stems, etc. They clean up easily. If something resists beyond that, then I get out a knife or peeler.
Roasted beets and beet salad are my favorites! Just started more beets indoors today. Can never have too many beets!
Hi Lady Lee,
We’ve communicated previously but not for a long time. I live in a dry climate (Colorado) and, just to make gardening more challenging, live at 7300 ft. elevation. We finished our carport-frame greenhouse early in the summer but not soon enough for the seedlings we started inside in April, so we planted them in a straw-bale garden. The straw bales worked great because our soil is rocky so we didn’t need to dig that up! We placed soaker hoses on the bales, watering every couple days using a timer. To keep the elk, deer, bear, and rabbits out of the veggies, we put up 7 foot vinyl fencing and installed a “Scare Crow” motion-activated water shooter; the elk ran from it! Quite entertaining!
Our beets, yellow squash, kale, leaf lettuce and dill did well. We have a large brown bag of green tomatoes (snow today). Broccoli, peas, swiss chard, and carrots are still out there. I called this year’s garden “an experiment” since we haven’t planted one in many years. Hopefully it will pay for itself next year.
We cooked some of the beets (with 2″ of stem and the root still attached) and, after cooling them, put on latex disposable gloves, rubbed off the peel, stems, and roots; the beets looked beautiful! I suggest you try this method!
We still have our 1952 dump truck which we’ve used for hauling and landscaping.
Thank you for your website and your tips! It’s always a great reprieve from everything else going on!
Kathleen, it’s so good to hear from you again! Thanks for taking the time to write this.
I am surprised that you can grow tomatoes! Isn’t your growing season too short for them up where you are? And for the rest of the stuff that you still have in the garden, do you cover them this time of the year?
It’s funny that you mentioned planting in straw! I am currently filling a few garden beds with old hay from my goat fence. I want to see if I can plant directly in it in the spring without needing to purchase garden soil for new beds. We’ll see how this is going to work.
I’ll try your method with the beets. Unfortunately, they didn’t do good at all in my fall garden so I’ll have to wait for next year.
Again, thanks for stopping by! It’s great hearing from you.