Greek Beet Salad (Patzarosalata)

Greek Beet Salad is a healthy and flavor packed side dish. Tender beets in a garlicky Greek salad dressing topped with feta cheese and pickled red onions.

Greek Beet Salad Recipe

The first time I had Greek beet salad, patzarosalata, was on my 25th birthday at a local Greek restaurant. We went for a meze style Greek dinner where you get a tasting menu of all their signature dishes. I never knew that something as simple as a beet could be transformed into such a flavorful and beautiful salad!

If you have been a reader on our site for a while now, you know we are not short on Greek recipes here! We love everything about Greek cuisine and this Greek Beet Salad is one of my favorites!

What is Greek Beet Salad?

Greek Beet Salad (Patzarosalata) is a simple, yet delicious and impressive side dish that is perfect for a weeknight dinner or holiday entertaining! The salad has a beautiful color combination from the deep red beets, the white crumbled feta cheese and the red onions.

The dressing for the salad is a simple Greek salad dressing. The beets are tossed in the salad and they soak up all the flavor from the red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano and parsley. As the beets marinate in the dressing they get even more flavorful, making this salad perfect for make ahead and meal prep. The salad is topped with crumbled feta and quick pickled red onions.

What to Serve with Greek Beet Salad

I love having a Greek inspired dinner at home. It is more cost effective than takeout, healthy and most important incredibly delicious! Pair this Greek Beet Salad with some of my most popular Greek recipes:

• Pork Souvlaki
• Gyro
• Tzatziki
• Spanakorizo
• Yellow Rice
• Greek Roasted Potatoes
• Greek Orzo Salad

What is in Greek Beet Salad?

• Cooked Beets - beets are an underrated vegetable in the kitchen! Not only are they beautiful, they are incredibly healthy and are the perfect blank canvas for so many recipes. Beets on their own may have a very neutral flavor but that just means that you can spice them up however you like!
• Olive Oil - the base of the salad dressing. Use a light tasting olive oil or neutral oil of choice (ex. avocado oil).
• Red Wine Vinegar - a staple ingredient in Greek salad dressing. It has a sweeter flavor than regular white vinegar and a beautiful red color.
• Garlic - everything is better with garlic and this salad dressing is packed with garlic flavor! Don't worry about the garlic going into the dressing raw. The vinegar pickles the garlic and leaves a beautiful garlicky flavor without a raw overpowering flavor.
• Fresh Parsley and Dried Oregano - I love the combination of fresh parsley and dried oregano. You can use dried parsley but fresh has a nice aroma and fresh flavor. If you can find Greek oregano try using that. It has a more earthy flavor than regular oregano. Regular dried oregano works great too.
• Salt & Pepper
• Feta Cheese - one of my favorite cheeses! I love this crumbly, salty and creamy cheese. Greek feta is truly incredible. A note when it comes to serving, if you are prepping the salad in advance, wait until just before serving to add the feta or it will turn red/pink from the beet juice.
• Red Onions - I love raw red onions just as much as I love pickled red onion. In this recipe you can top the salad with fresh raw red onions or a quick pickled onion. I like doing a quick pickle as it pairs perfectly with the salad dressing.

How to Make Greek Beet Salad

Full Printable Recipe at Bottom of Page

1 If using store bought beets skip this step. To cook your own beets, cut the leaves and about an inch of the stem off the beet. Wash thoroughly. Place in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil on medium high heat. Boil for 40 - 50 minutes or until tender to the touch. Drain the beets and allow to cool. Use a paper towel to peel the skins off the beets.

2 For the quick pickled red onions, combine the red onions, warm water and red wine vinegar in a small bowl or jar. Set aside while you prepare the salad. Before serving the salad, drain the red onions from the liquid and serve over top of the salad.

3 Slice the beets into wedges or cubes, or your personal preference. Place sliced beets in a large bowl.

4 In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the beets and very GENTLY toss to combine completely. Take your time and don’t rush this step. If you stir too hard the beets will crumble. Or you can add the beets and salad dressing into a large Ziploc bag and toss to combine.

5 Serve immediately or keep covered in the refrigerator for up to one week. The salad is even better the next day because the herbs and spices have had time to come together.

6 Just before serving, top with crumbled feta cheese and pickled red onions.

Serve the salad warm, at room temperature, or refrigerate until cold for a refreshing taste. Enjoy!

Tips for the Best Greek Beet Salad

• Beets - this recipe is great because you can use any variety of beets. You can buy store bought precooked beets (without flavoring). With the rise in popularity of beets, most grocery stores sell vacuum sealed precooked cooked beets. You can roast your own beets in the oven and then slice them up. Or can you can make the beets in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot and then slice them up for the recipe.
• Feta - the feta cheese will pick up a red/pink color from the beets. For this reason, add the feta on top of the salad just before serving. I also recommend not stirring the salad together before serving or else the feta will turn red/pink from the dressing. But there is nothing wrong with a little red/pink feta cheese!
• Dressing - for a quicker prep recipe you can use a store bought Greek salad dressing instead of homemade. I love using a homemade dressing because the raw garlic has such an amazing flavor. Whereas, when you use a store bought dressing the garlic has already had time to fully pickle and it has a more subtle flavor.

FAQs Greek Beet Salad

Looking for More Easy Salad Recipes?

• Olive Garden Salad
• Strawberry Panzanella Salad
• Dill Pickle Chopped Salad
• BLT Pasta Salad
• Italian Antipasto Tortellini Salad

Enjoy!

- Sab

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.