Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

This roasted beet and sweet potato salad with balsamic  vinegar is beautiful and delicious enough for company, yet healthy enough for almost any diet. It’s loaded with colorful and nutrient-packed vegetables but so good, it’s almost decadent.

Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

This salad is a complete meal and perfect for dinner any night. Beets and sweet potatoes are easy-to-find and prepare vegetables that you can combine with a variety of other ingredients to make this a delicious and satisfying meal.

As a big fan of roasted vegetables; I make them often and occasionally use them on salads. Recently, I had the idea to combine beets, sweet potatoes, and apples to make a dinner salad. From a nutrition and energy standpoint, you can’t beat beets and sweet potatoes, especially when they are roasted.

By using a pre-roasted chicken from the store this dinner salad was really easy to prepare . The roasted vegetables take some time in the oven but the preparation is simple.

Why This Salad Tastes So Good

Roasting the vegetables makes them super sweet. In addition, by adding these super flavorful vegetables and olive oil you not only make the salad taste good; it’s actually more satiating.

Here’s another tip to make this salad taste amazing. Use an aged balsamic vinegar. The bottle may seem expensive, I use one that costs about $19. I call it my secret salad ingredient. You only need to use a little but the taste is absolutely unbelievable. (This is not an affiliate link, I just included it so you could see what I use if you happen to live near an HEB.)

I looked on Amazon, and this looks to be about the right price and had good reviews. (This is an affiliate link)

A Word About Beets

Beets are an amazing food, full of taste and nutrition, and they are also gorgeous. I even include them in one of my morning smoothie recipes.

Roasting beets brings out a deeper, mellower flavor. To roast, I keep them whole and wrapped in foil. Once they cool a little, they are very easy to peel and cut. However, they can still stain things, so I use a plastic cutting board on top of my regular wood cutting board to prevent staining. Cooked beets don’t seem to stain my hands like raw ones do.

You can now buy cooked beets in the refrigerated vegetable section in a lot of stores. These are great to have on hand as well.

A Few Options for Roasted Beet and Sweet Potato Salad with Balsamic Vinegar

If you are doing Whole 30 or don’t eat cheese, just leave the cheese off! This salad has plenty going for it without cheese.

I love the taste of fresh herbs on a salad and love to add those if I have some on hand. Herbs such as parsley, chives, and cilantro are great. Another option would be to sprinkle on Italian or Greek dried herb.

Nuts are another optional item that can add extra nutrition, taste, and crunch. Walnuts, pecans, and sunflower seeds are exceptionally good. Toast them up a bit for extra flavor!

My favorite lettuce mixes are baby greens. You can use whatever kind of lettuce or greens you like.

If you are in a hurry you can also use canned beets. If you use canned beets, drain and drizzle with some of the balsamic, olive oil, and salt and let sit while the potatoes are roasting. That will improve their taste a lot.

Use whatever kind of chicken you like or totally leave it off if you are making a side salad. I purchase unseasoned (except for salt and pepper) at the grocery store.

If you have leftover beets and sweet potatoes they are great the next day too.

One last note…these amounts are adjustable. Make more if you want!