Beetroot salad
Updated: August 29, 2022, By Swasthi
Beetroot salad, a delicious and protein packed salad made with beets, lentils, fresh coconut, coriander leaves and lemon juice. This easy to make salad is so quick to make, that you just need to toss all of the ingredients in a bowl and you are done. The only task is grating the beetroot and getting the things together. If you don’t like eating beets, then I am sure you will love it this way. This is so refreshing that we just eat it as a snack but it also goes well as a side in a meal. Moreover this beet salad is vegan and gluten-free!
Beetroot salad
Start with choosing young and freshly harvested beetroot. The best tasting beets would be those from the farmers market or the fresh market. Those sitting in the super market shelves and grocery stores are more likely to develop a strong flavor which we don’t want here. Use them right away to make the salad, within a day or 2. Keeping them in the refrigerator for longer is also more likely to change their flavor.
There are so many kinds of beetroot salads made across the world but this one is much simpler. It is roughly adapted from a traditional dish called ‘Kosambari’ from the Southern Indian state Karnataka. The key ingredient is soaked moong lentils which form the base. So this beet salad is protein packed, rich in iron and vitamin C due to the addition of lemon juice.
Combining vitamin C rich foods with iron rich foods is believed to enhance the absorption of iron. So here lemon juice does the job. Even a small bowl of this beetroot salad will give you a good amount of protein, iron, vitamin C and many other nutrients.
Fresh coconut is one of the ingredients you may skip in this recipe. But since I always always stock up fresh coconut, I use it. If you do not have it simply skip it and do not replace with desiccated coconut as it won’t add the same taste and texture to your beetroot salad.
If you love using different veggies in this, you can also use radish, cucumbers, carrots and sweet onions. I personally love soaking up the radish in the lemon juice for a while to kill the pungent flavor of radish.
For more Beetroot recipes, you may like to check
Beetroot thoran
Easy Beetroot rice
Beetroot chutney
Beetroot halwa
Related Recipes
Recipe card
Beetroot salad
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup beetroot grated
- ½ cup moong dal (split skinned moong lentils)
- ¼ to ½ cup coconut ,fresh grated
- 1 to 2 green chilies chopped finely or ¼ tsp coarse crushed black pepper
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Lemon juice (adjust to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (finely chopped)
Optional (for variation)
- 1 small carrot ,grated
- ½ cup radish , grated
- ¼ cup cucumber , grated
- 2 tablespoons onions , chopped
Instructions
- Wash moong dal thoroughly 3 to 4 times and soak for at least 1 hour in enough water. Moong dal has to be soaked well without any hard center. Check by eating a few lentils. If they are hard then soak them for a little longer.
- Wash thoroughly and drain off the water completely to a colander. Spread it in the colander so most of the moisture dries up.
- Rinse beetroot under running water and pat dry with a kitchen tissue/ paper.
- Peel it and cut to quarters.
- Grate it using a grater or a food processor with medium large holes. If you fine grate, beets will release lots of moisture. (check my picture)
- Add it to a mixing bowl along with lentils. Ensure there is no excess moisture in the lentils.
- Add salt, coconut, lemon juice and coriander leaves. Toss well and serve right away without resting. If the salad sits on the counter, it will release juices. So add salt and lemon juice only when you are ready to serve.
- Serve beetroot salad as a side in a meal.
Notes
- Moong lentils don’t need to be cooked. If you want you can soak them longer. They can also be soaked in warm water to quicken the process.
- You can replace moong lentils with other cooked legumes like chickpeas or pinto beans.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
For more salad recipes you may like to check : sprouted moong salad, Egg salad, Vegetable salad
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
Hi. I tried veg biryani and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Rambha
Glad to know! You are welcome
such a healthy and vibrant color…
beautiful clicks swasthi.. never tried this version..
lovely one..
That's a ealthy bowl of goodness u rock with health recipes exerting swasthi
healthy and colorful salad
muy buena y saludable me encanta,saludos.
healthy salad & colorful….
healthy and tempting salad.
Healthy & colorful looking salad.. Looks just yum !
Love this salad,bursting with colours n so fresh 🙂
Just the type of salad I adore. Never tried beets for salad but sure its on my waiting list.
This is one healthy vibrant salad…love it!!