Beet bacon feta salad is full of delicious ingredients. It's made with pan-fried bacon and beets, cooked wild rice, radishes, onions and topped with feta cheese.
Drizzled with a delicious balsamic rosemary salad dressing and feta cheese. This salad is gluten-free, paleo and sugar-free.
Beet Bacon Feta Salad
Every month I've been putting together these fancy salads. First it was the Fall harvest salad with squash and pomegranate (so good), and then it was a roasted vegetable salad with wild rice and apple cider vinegar dressing.
Well today I'm sharing another one! These aren't quick salads - They require a bit of prep work, but they are sooo good! It's totally worth it. These salads have layers of flavor. They're fun to eat and I always get compliments on them when I bring them over for big family dinners.
There are a few steps to making these salads, but all easy steps. I'll break it down for you below.
Recipe Ingredients
This recipe has a few ingredients. Feel free to swap them for something else if you need to.
- Bacon - I used 5 strips of bacon.
- Beets - The beets are pan-fried in leftover bacon grease and dried rosemary. You could also use carrots, parsnips, rutabaga or turnips.
- Radishes - These are kept raw and sliced thin. You could use carrots in replacement.
- Red Onion - I'm a big fan of raw red onion in salads! It has quite a kick that may not be for everyone. Feel free to skip it if you don't like them. You could use chopped green onion instead.
- Salad Greens - I used mixed salad greens. You could also use kale, lettuce or spinach for the base of the salad.
- Wild Rice - I love using wild rice in my salads! It's yummy and looks really beautiful. You could use any kind of rice here - brown rice and white rice will also work.
- Salad Dressing - The homemade salad dressing is made with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried rosemary, salt and vinegar.
If you’d prefer a different dressing flavor, you can try one of my six healthy homemade salad dressings for this recipe.
How To Make Beet Bacon Feta Salad
- Cook Wild Rice - You can cook the wild rice in a pot on the stove or a rice cooker. Use the package instructions for how to cook the rice.
- Fry The Bacon Then Beets - First, cook the bacon in a frying pan. Add cooked bacon to a paper towel to remove excess grease, then chop it into small bite-size pieces. Now cook the beets in a small amount of the leftover bacon grease (drain the rest).
- Prep Ingredients - Wash the veggies. Thinly slice the radishes, and dice the purple onion.
- Make Dressing - Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Assemble Salad - Spread a base of salad greens in the bottom of a large serving bowl. Sprinkle wild rice. Top with cooked beets, radishes, bacon, red onion, and feta cheese. Drizzle the salad dressing over top and toss it together.
Tip: This salad tastes best when eaten on the same day. Otherwise, the salad mix will become soggy. If you want to have this salad last longer, you can use kale instead. It’s a heartier leaf that won’t turn soggy after a day or two.
More Salad Recipes To Try
- Roasted Vegetable Wild Rice Salad is topped with a dijon dressing and goat feta cheese - it's yummy!
- Fall Harvest Salad is made with delicata squash, pomegranate and kale. It’s a beautiful feast for the eyes and full of delicious flavors.
- Carrot Apple Cabbage Coleslaw is a wonderful side dish that is dairy-free and paleo-friendly.
- Chicken Bacon Avocado Salad is an incredible salad topped with a maple dijon dressing – it’s seriously good!
- Ranch Taco Chicken Salad is a popular recipe on my blog. This salad is loaded with all the good stuff and topped with homemade ranch dressing.
Beet Bacon Feta Salad
Ingredients
- 5 bacon strips
- 1 cup chopped beets
- 4 radishes - sliced thin
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 3 cups salad greens - ex. spring mix, lettuce, arugula, spinach or kale
- 1 cup wild rice - cooked
- ¼ cup feta cheese
Dressing:
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- salt and pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Cook the wild rice according to package instructions on the stovetop or in a cooker. I like to cook 1 cup dry wild rice with 2 ¼ cups water.
- Cook the bacon in a frying pan. Remove from pan and lay on paper towel to absorb excess grease.
- Slice the radishes, onion, and bacon into bite-size pieces. Set aside for now.
- Pan fry the beets a bit of the bacon fat with dried rosemary. Beets are cooked when you can poke them easily with a fork. Add beets to a paper towel and set aside.
- In a small bowl combine the salad dressing ingredients: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried rosemary, salt and pepper.
- In a large serving bowl add the salad greens. Sprinkle cooked wild rice over top.
- Add the chopped radishes, onion, beets, bacon and feta cheese. Drizzle the salad dressing overtop of everything and toss together. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition Info
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving.
