Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh
on Nov 08, 2024
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A delicious side: Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh! Now, let’s take it to the next level using beet tops to make an Italian-inspired salsa verde. You get the earthiness from the beautifully roasted beets and a tangy flavor from salty labneh and the vinegar in the salsa verde.
If you’re looking for more beet recipes, check out our Beet and Burrata Salad with Green Goddess Vinaigrette, and Beet Cured Sockeye Salmon with Crème Fraîche.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
What we love about this recipe is that it utilizes the beet tops, and you can prep the labneh and roasted beets beforehand.
- Easy: All it takes is roasting your beets. While they’re roasting, you’ll make your salsa verde and salty labneh. Prep ahead the components and assemble the dish when ready to serve.
- Adaptable: While the labneh adds a creamy element to this recipe, you can opt to make this completely vegan by removing it, and just making the roasted beet with salsa verde. This would be a great side dish to any meal!
- Zero-Waste: We use the beet tops in the salsa verde, allowing us to use the whole beet in this recipe.
Recipe Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you need to make this recipe. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Medium Beets: We are using a variety of beets, golden beets, pink, and red beets. You can use whatever you can find. Also, if you don’t want to roast your beets, you can use pre-cooked ones, although we do urge you to roast your own!
Beet Top Salsa Verde: We are utilizing the beet tops here by making a zingy, tangy salsa verde. Mix your finely chopped beets top, parsley, chili flakes, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, and sherry vinegar. That’s it!
Salty Labneh: Labneh is thicker in nature than yogurt, so it is the perfect vessel for roasted beets. We are just mixing with kosher salt.
Tips and Substitutions
- Labneh: If you can’t find labneh, you can substitute it with full-fat Greek yogurt, or any other cheese, too, like ricotta cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese.
- Beet Top: If your beets don’t come with beet tops, that’s okay! You can use any other herb of choice, or double up on the parsley.
- Roasted Beets: While we urge you to roast your own beets, to save time, you can also buy pre-roasted beets.
- You know your beets are done when a fork is easily pierced into the beet.
- Make it Vegan: Make this recipe vegan by removing the labneh or adjusting it with coconut yogurt.
- If you have leftover salsa verde, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Pour over any roasted vegetables, or any protein.
- Additions: While this salad is delicious like this, you can opt to add any of your favorite greens and nuts, like arugula, spinach or nuts such as walnuts and almonds.
- We are using sherry vinegar here, but other vinegars, such as balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar will work just fine.
How to Make this Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the tops off your beets, and set aside your beet greens. Transfer your beets to two sheets of large aluminum foil, separating the red and yellow beets. Drizzle over olive oil and salt.
Step 2: Cover tightly and transfer to the preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until tender when pierced with a knife. Once able to handle, peel the outer layer of the beets and discard. Slide into 1-inch wedges.
Step 3: Make your salsa verde. In a bowl, mix together the beet tops, parsley, chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, and sherry vinegar.
Step 4: Mix the labneh and salt in a bowl. Set aside your salsa verde and labneh in the fridge until ready to serve.
Step 5: Layer your labneh on the base of a shallow plate, spreading evenly across the bottom layer of the plate. Top with your beet wedges, finishing with a drizzling of the salsa verde. Top with a crank of black pepper.
Serving Recommendations
If you’re looking for some ideas to serve with this roasted beet recipe, we’ve got you covered!
- Appetizers: This Roasted Bone Marrow with Smashed Olive Salad is a fun pairing with the beets either as an appetizer before dinner or in tandem with the beets.
- Salads: Try this Radicchio Salad with Chives and Hazelnuts, or Citrus Avocado Salad with Chili Crisp.
- Dinner: If you’re having a dinner party, you can serve this dip as a side alongside The Best Steak Frites, or Garlic Herb Roasted Chicken.
Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh FAQs
Labneh is Middle Eastern strained yogurt. It’s thick and creamy, and more tangy that traditional yogurt. You can make labneh yourself by straining our full-fat yogurt and letting the moisture release in the fridge for a couple of days. It’s perfect for dips and spreads.
Substitute with any other fresh herbs of choice, such as basil, rosemary, or thyme, or more parsley!
It ultimately comes to your preference! We love roasting beets, it gives a nice smoky flavor, and cooks the beet nicely. Sometimes boiling beets will result in a more slimy and soggy texture. We would personally prefer shaved raw beets over a boiled beet in a salad.
While you can remove the peel before roasting, it is way easier to peel them off with your hands (or with gloves) after they’ve been roasting.
No, you do not need to poke holes in your beets before roasting. As long as you cover your beet completely with aluminum, they will roast just fine this way.
More Side Dish Recipes
If you do make this Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh recipe, leave a comment and give this recipe a rating, we would love to hear what you think! Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram, we love to see what you’re making! If you’d like to stay in touch and get the latest in your inbox, sign up for our Newsletter. We can also be found on YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Roasted Beet Salad with Labneh
Equipment
Ingredients
Roasted Beets
- 2 pounds red and yellow/golden beets, about 6 medium beets, beet tops reserved
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
Beet Top Salsa Verde
- 1/4 cup beet tops, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- Pinch of chili flakes
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
Salty Labneh
- 1 cup labneh, or Greek yogurt
- Kosher salt
Instructions
- Roast your beets: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the tops off your beets, and set aside your beet greens. Transfer your beets to two sheets of large aluminum foil, separating the red and yellow beets, and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle over olive oil and salt.
- Cover tightly and transfer to the preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven, open up the foil, and let cool until able to handle. Once able to handle, peel the outer layer of the beets and discard, it should come right off with your hands, or you can use a pairing knife.
- Slice into 1-inch wedges.
- Make your Beet Top Salsa Verde: While the beets are roasting, make your salsa verde. In a bowl, mix together the beet tops, parsley, chili flakes, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, and sherry vinegar. Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Prepare the Salty Labneh: Mix the labneh and salt in a bowl. Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.
- To assemble: Layer your labneh on the base of a shallow plate, spreading evenly across the bottom layer of the plate. Top with your beet wedges, finishing with a drizzling of the salsa verde. Top with a crank of black pepper.
Notes
- Labneh: If you can’t find labneh, you can substitute it with full-fat Greek yogurt, or any other cheese, too, like ricotta cheese, feta cheese, or goat cheese.
- Roasted Beets: While we urge you to roast your own beets, to save time, you can also buy pre-roasted beets.
- You know your beets are done when a fork is easily pierced into the beet.
- Make it Vegan: Make this recipe vegan by removing the labneh or adjusting it with coconut yogurt.
- If you have leftover salsa verde, store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Pour over any roasted vegetables, or any protein.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I hope you love this recipe! The roasted beets pair so beautiful with labneh and a tangy salsa verde (using the beet tops!) Happy roasting!