Citrus Salad
This colorful and easy to make Citrus Salad is packed full of everyday fresh ingredients and finished with a homemade salad dressing. This will be your new favorite winter side dish, main dish, or brunch as it can be made all year round.
Suitable for vegetarian and gluten free diets. Post includes Weight Watchers points.
This citrus salad recipe is a great go-to winter recipe. Especially when all kinds of fresh citrus fruits are easily found aaaaaall winter in your local grocery store. Hellooooooo citrus season.
I love making this refreshing citrus salad not only because it tastes good, but also because the colors are gorgeous. It is great for the holiday season (I serve this during Christmas), for weeknight dinners, brunches, and parties.
It is basically a whole load of oranges, grapefruit, and roasted beets on a bed of peppery arugula and baby butter lettuce all topped with simple yet delicious dressing. You can also use a honey dressing like this Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe if you prefer.
And you can tweak this refreshing salad as much as you want. Add in your favorite extras – no exact measurements are needed. Make extra dressing and then drizzle on as much as you want. For a simple summer citrus salad, swap in ingredients like blackberries, strawberries and avocado.
There are aaalllll sorts of salads you might like this Peach and Tomato Feta salad as well as this easy Broccoli Cranberry Salad.
Why Make This Recipe
- Simple meal – Salads are simple to prepare yet filling and delicious. The whole family will appreciate this delicious recipe.
- It’s customizable – Swap the version of citrus or greens you use and add in your favorite fruit and veggies.
- The taste is incredible – citrus pairs perfectly with greens and cheese for a flavor explosion you won’t believe.
- Can be quick and easy to make – If you use leftover roasted beets or storebough ones – then you can make this in about 15 minutes.
- It’s diet friendly – Not only is this salad vegetarian, but it’s also gluten-free.
Ingredient Notes
For the Salad
- Beets – this recipe calls for raw beets, peeled and cut into ½” slices.
- Citrus – use oranges and grapefruit that have the peel and pit removed and sliced thinly into 1/4 inch slices. I love using cara oranges, navel oranges etc.
- Olive oil – just use your favorite olive oil.
- Salt – do feel free to use the best ever sea salt flakes.
- Salad greens – This recipe uses mixed greens aka arugula and baby butter lettuce but you can add in the greens you prefer.
- Goat cheese – make sure this is nicely crumbled.
- Onion – this recipe calls for very thinly sliced red onion as this adds a little heat. Feel free to use white onion instead.
For the Citrus Salad Dressing
- Dijon mustard – this adds a little kick.
- Apple cider vinegar – you can also use champagne vinegar instead
- Garlic – use fresh garlic for the best result.
- Fresh thyme – make sure this is finely minced.
- Salt and olive oil complete this.
How to Make Citrus Salad
Get complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.
Handy Tip: Use Good Kitchen Tools!
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For the best tools to make your winter citrus salad even easier and more successful, check out my collection the best kitchen tools on Amazon!
Roast the Beets
- Preheat your oven to 425F / 220 C / gas mark 7.
- Season beets, olive oi, and salt and add into a baking pan.
- Roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the beets have started to caramelize around the edges.
- Do make sure to turn beets half way through roasting so they caramelise and cook rather than burn. Let them cool whilst you make the dressing.
Make the Dressing
- Add the dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, garlic, thyme, and salt into a small bowl and whisk to combine. Slowly pour in the olive oil making sure to whisk continuously till all are well combined.
Assemble the Salad
Combine the roasted beets, salad greens, sliced citrus, goat cheese, and red onion. Drizzle over the salad dressing to taste. Serve immediately
Tips
- Slice fruit thin. Make sure to thinly slice fruit into ¼-inch rounds. These are much easier to eat.
- Serve immediately. This is best eaten fresh, as leftovers don’t keep very well. So prepare just before serving.
- Use the freshest product. For the best results, use the freshest citrus fruit you can find. Store them in your refrigerator crisper drawer and discard if the fruit looks old, dry and has blemishes.
- Prepare fruit well before hand. Be sure to remove the white pith and rind as these will make fruit bitter.
- Sharp knife – use a sharp knife to cut citrus and remove the pith and peel.
- Store bought ingredients – To make this quicker and easier, start with store-bought roasted beets. Make sure to only use roasted beets stored in water (not vinegar which will add extra sharpness to the salad).
Delicious Variations
This colourful salad is good as is. But you can totally add in extra ingredients according to your taste or to make it a more substantial course.
- Vary the citrus fruit – use which ever variety of citrus fruit you have and like. I love adding in tangerines, clementines and blood oranges. You may want to avoid using entirely sour / sharp tasting citrus fruit.
- Vary the beets – whilst this recipe uses red beets you can also add in golden or striped beets for extra color.
- Vary the greens – whilst this recipe uses a mix of arugula and baby butter lettuce, you can also add in green like spinach, watercress, kale etc.
- Add in fruit and veggies – like avocado slices, radishes, roasted squash, apples, pears, fennel, pomegranate seeds etc.
- Add in nuts and seeds – for texture you can add in chopped pistachio nuts, chopped walnuts, pine nuts, pepitas, sunflower seeds or poppy seeds.
- Vary the cheese – you can use feta cheese, blue cheese crumbles, small slices of parmesan cheese etc.
- Add fresh herbs – I love adding in fresh mint leaves.
- Vary the citrus dressing – with things like mix in some lemon juice, orange juice, lime juice and more. You can add sweetness by adding maple syrup or honey.
Prep And Storage
- Prep Ahead – Prepare the dressing ahead of time (but not the salad).
- Store – Store the salad dressing in an airtight container for 3-4 days. The dressed salad should be consumed within 24 hours.
- Freeze – Do not freeze the leftover salad.
FAQs
To peel and cur citrus fruit easily you should lay fruit down and use a sharp knife to cut the top and bottom end of the fruit.
Then turn fruit upright on the cut ends and use the knife to cut peel and pith along the curve of the fruit. Discard the peels. Then lay fruit on the side and slice into 1/4-inch thick rounds.
Serving Suggestions
This is a great salad to serve as a side, light lunch or main. Some of my favorite ways is to serve it with grilled chicken like this Grilled Chicken Tenders recipe or this easy Grilled Whole Chicken or even this Air Fryer Whole Chicken.
You can also serve it with Grilled Shrimp or this Baked Salmon.
Need More Beautiful Salad Recipes?
- Cornbread Salad. So so good.
- Broccoli Canberry Salad. Full of great flavor.
- Tomato Feta Salad with Fresh Peaches. A great summer salad.
- Greek Potato Salad – Comforting and filling.
- Orange Pistachio Pomegranate Couscous Salad – a great holiday recipe.
- A Christmas Fruit Salad. Another great holiday recipe.
Weight Watchers Points
There are 7 Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
Get The Citrus Salad Recipe
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Citrus Salad
Ingredients
For the salad
- 2 beets peeled and cut into half-inch slices
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups (57g) salad greens
- 1 grapefruit peeled and cut into ¼" thick pieces
- 1 orange peeled and cut into ¼" thick pieces
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 2 ounces (56g) crumbled goat cheese
For the dressing
- ¼ cup (59ml) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F / 218 degrees C.
- Place the beets on a sheet pan, add the olive oil and salt, then toss together to combine.
- Place in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cooking time. The beets are done with you see they are fork-tender and the edges have started to caramelize.
- While beets are cooking, make the dressing by combining apple cider vinegar, salt, grated garlic, dijon mustard, and thyme in a small bowl. While whisking continuously, slowly add the olive oil.
- Remove beets from the oven and set them aside.
- Assemble the salad by placing salad greens on a serving platter, then layering with roasted beets and slices of orange, grapefruit, and red onion.
- Top with goat cheese crumbles, and then drizzle on the dressing just before serving.
Video
Notes
- Slice fruit thin. Make sure fruit is sliced thinly into ¼-inch thick slices. These are much easier to eat.
- Serve immediately. This is best served fresh, as leftovers don’t keep very well. So prepare just before serving.
- Use the freshest product. For the best results, use the freshest citrus fruit you can find. Store them in your refrigerator crisper drawer and discard if the fruit looks old and dry and has blemishes.
- Prepare fruit well beforehand. Be sure to remove the pith and rind from the fruit before using as these will be bitter.
- To make this quicker and easier, start with store-bought roasted beets. Make sure to only use roasted beets stored in water (not vinegar which will add extra sharpness to the salad).
- Storage – Keep the dressing in an airtight container inside the fridge for 3-4 days. The assembled salad should be consumed within 24 hours.
- There are 7 WW Blue Plan SmartPoints in one serving of this.
Nutrition
Hi Bintu, this is such a wonderful recipe making great use of some sharp flavours – paired with the red cabbage this would be a really amazing salad to try. Thank you for entering it into Simple and in Season x
Nothing more refreshing than a citrus salad. Like the idea of red cabbage instead of lettuce.
Thanks Denise. I love it too.
Thanks masses Paula. Much appreciated.
I saw this on Marvelous Mondays and this is a beautiful salad! I love citrus fruits and often make them into a salad but mine never look this good!
Thanks Kalamity Kelli. Love your name….
Wow, I am very excited. Heading over to your blog now. Thank you.
This looks just perfect for a summer brunch!
I’m visiting from Aloha Friday. Glad to connect. Please join me on my Friday Flash Blog on The Jenny Evolution (www.thejennyevolution.com) as well and share your favorite post of the week. Happy Friday 🙂
Thank you for stopping by. I will check out your blog too:).
The citrus salad looks beautiful and yummy. I also love the colors and how healthy it.
Thank you Dawn, I am gonna be checking out your spinach dip.
Hi! Visiting you from Linkin With the Ladies Blog Hop!! I am glad to meet you! New follower here ! Allow me to check with you every now and then, ok? Hugs to you dear!!!
ohwooh!! This is my first time to see this. Looks gorgeous!
Hope you can visit and follow me too!
Thank you Joan. Am checking out your site now