Easy beetroot carpaccio with feta and mint

Thinly sliced beets marinated in lemon juice and olive oil, topped with feta and fresh mint. Beetroot carpaccio is a simple but sophisticated salad, side dish or starter.

This year, for the first time, we have grown beetroots (beets) in our garden. Not just any old beetroot either – beautiful golden beetroot, and candy-striped chioggia beetroot.

We have been enjoying the golden beets for a while, and I’m excited to harvest some of the stripy beets in the not-too-distant future. I’m hoping we’ll get to eat our home-grown beetroots at Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) when these beautiful root veggies are one of many traditional foods for the festival.

Beets or beetroot – what’s the difference

Beets and beetroots are both the same! Only the names are different. Here in the UK we generally refer to them as beetroot, while in the USA, they are usually called beets.

They are also occasionally called table beets or dinner beets, to differentiate them from sugar beets, although these terms are not common. Sugar beets are a related but different vegetable which is processed industrially to produce refined sugar.

Different varieties of beets and where to find them

Red beetroot

Most of us are familiar with red beets, and they are definitely the most common type. If you buy beetroot from the supermarket, you’ll almost certainly get red ones.

That said, there are many different kinds of red beets, and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can find baby beets, the size of a ping-pong ball (or smaller), and giant beetroot the size of your fist – or even bigger!

There are also elongated varieties of beetroot that are long and cylindrical rather than ball-shaped. All these beetroot varieties are tasty and nutritious!

Golden beets

Golden beets are less common than red beets, although you may find them in independent greengrocers and specialist shops. Sometimes supermarkets have them in their premium ranges.

Golden beetroot have an orange coloured skin, but when peeled reveal bright yellow flesh. They are typically sweeter and milder than red beets, and have less of an ‘earthy’ flavour.

Chioggia beetroot

Chioggia beets look just like red beets on the outside. However, they have pink and white striped flesh inside, which is why they are sometimes called ‘candy stripe’ beetroot. They really are an extremely beautiful vegetable! We have had them a few times in our organic veg box, and I’ve also seen them on farmers’ markets.

Of course you can also grow them yourself as we have done! They are surprisingly easy to grow, as well as being an attractive addition to the vegetable plot.

White or albino beets

Some varieties of beetroot contain no coloured pigments at all and have white flesh. Known as white or albino beetroot, they typically have a milder flavour than other kinds of beets, and are said to be sweeter, too.

I’ve never seen white beetroot for sale commercially, but that’s not to say they aren’t! However if you really want to try them I suggest that growing your own is probably the most sure-fire way to get your hands on some.

Nutritional value of beetroots

All kinds of beets are excellent sources of nutrition. Like all vegetables they contain plenty of dietary fibre. They are also low in fat and a good source of complex carbohydrates.

Beetroots are an excellent source of folate, and a good source of manganese. They contain lesser amounts of many other vitamins and minerals, including many B vitamins, potassium, phosphorus and iron.

Beetroot carpaccio

When we harvested our first golden beets, I decided to do something new and different with them. I usually roast beetroot, or make it into risotto or a simple pasta sauce, but I felt our home-grown beets deserved something a bit more special.

I have made beetroot salad using cooked beetroot before, but decided to really highlight the fresh flavour and colour of our golden beets by using them raw.

I sliced them super-thinly and then marinated them in lemon juice and olive oil. This enhanced the flavour and also softened the slices slightly.

The beetroot carpaccio salad looked awesome and tasted amazing!

What is carpaccio?

Invented in the 1950s, carpaccio originally referred to thinly sliced meat, dressed with olive oil, lemon and sometimes other seasonings. Over the past 70 years however, the technique has been applied to all kinds of other foods, including fish, vegetables and fruits.

Preparing food this way enables beautiful presentation as well as interesting textures and colours that are not possible when food is cut or cooked in the traditional way.

Beetroot carpaccio – other flavours

As well as the classic dressing of olive oil and lemon juice, I added a couple of other ingredients to this beetroot carpaccio recipe to bring out the flavour of the beetroot and make the finished dish more interesting.

Crumbled feta cheese brought a salty tang to the dish. Meanwhile shredded mint leaves provided freshness as well as a beautiful garnish to the beetroot carpaccio.

Ingredients for beetroot carpaccio

To make this delicious beet carpaccio yourself, you will only need a few simple ingredients. They are:

• Beetroots! – You can use golden beets as I have done, or red or chioggia beets, whichever you prefer.
• Extra virgin olive oil – use a good quality oil as it forms the basis of the dressing/marinade
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Crumbled feta cheese
• Fresh mint leaves

The first time I made this beet carpaccio salad I also added salt and pepper. However the feta cheese is salty enough to make added salt unnecessary. I also left out the pepper as I didn’t like the little black flecks, and I felt it didn’t really add to the flavour anyway. If you love pepper, and want to add it, I suggest a pinch of white pepper instead of black pepper.

How to make beet carpaccio – tools and equipment

The crucial step in making this carpaccio is slicing the beetroot as thinly as possible. To do this, I used a mandolin, which slices beautiful, thin, uniform slices with very little effort.

If you use a mandolin, be careful to always use the finger guard as the blade is usually extremely sharp!

If you don’t have a mandolin, you can slice the beets by hand using a sharp knife, but it is very hard to get the slices even. I would strongly recommend buying a mandolin, as it’s a very handy kitchen tool for slicing all kinds of thing, not only for making beetroot carpaccio!

Marinating and assembling the beetroot carpaccio

Once you have sliced the beets, simply add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix well. Then cover and leave the beetroot slices in the fridge to marinate. Ideally they need about 15-25 minutes minimum, to allow the slices to soften a little.

You can prepare the feta and mint while you’re waiting. And then get on with something else, or just put your feet up with a cup of tea for a few minutes!

Once the slices have marinated, simply arrange them in overlapping rows on a serving plate. Sprinkle over the feta and mint and you’re ready to serve! Alternatively you can cover and return the plate to the fridge for a few hours until you need it.

When to eat beetroot carpaccio

We enjoy eating this beautiful beet carpaccio as a salad or side dish. It’s tasty, fresh and slightly crunchy, and goes very well with leafy salads, cold fish dishes, noodle salads, or just piled onto sliced bread as an open sandwich.

It’s the perfect addition to a buffet lunch menu.

You can also make individual plates of beetroot carpaccio and serve this tasty dish as a chic starter. It really does look very pretty with the cheese and mint sprinkled over. If you really want to go to town with the garnishes, a few edible flowers will look amazing!

As I mentioned above, beets are one of the traditional foods eaten on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, so this gorgeous beet carpaccio is a fabulous addition to a festive YomTov menu.

Beautiful beetroot carpaccio

Even if I haven’t inspired you to grow-your-own, I hope this recipe will encourage you to try something new with beetroots! They are such a delicious, nutritious, and altogether beautiful vegetable.

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📖 Recipe

Beetroot carpaccio with feta and mint

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Beetroot carpaccio is a simple but sophisticated salad, side or starter. Thinly sliced beets are marinated in lemon & olive oil, and topped with feta & fresh mint.

5 from 9 votes

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Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Salad, Side Dish, Starter

Cuisine European, Vegetarian

Servings 6

Calories 65 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 300 g beetroot – I used golden beets, see notes (approx. 5 small/medium beetroot)
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 50 g crumbled feta cheese
• 1 tablespoon shredded fresh mint leaves (approx. 6 leaves)

Instructions

 

• Remove any leaves from the beetroot, peel thoroughly and rinse.
• Using a mandolin, thinly slice the beetroots into a bowl. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix well so that the slices are all separated and coated with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate for 15-25 minutes.
• (This is a good time to crumble the feta and shred the mint leaves if you haven't already done it.)
• When the sliced beets are ready, arrange the slices in overlapping layers on a serving dish, or on individual plates. Finally, sprinkle over the feta and shredded mint.
• You can serve immediately, or cover and chill for up to a few hours until required.

Notes

I used golden beets for this recipe, as you can see in the photos. However the recipe works well with any kind of beetroot – red, candy-striped (chioggia) or golden. Use whichever kind you have available and it should still be delicious!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Beetroot carpaccio with feta and mint

Amount per Serving

Calories

65

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

4

g

6

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

2

g

Cholesterol

 

7

mg

2

%

Sodium

 

132

mg

6

%

Potassium

 

175

mg

5

%

Carbohydrates

 

5

g

2

%

Fiber

 

1

g

4

%

Sugar

 

4

g

4

%

Protein

 

2

g

4

%

Vitamin A

 

87

IU

2

%

Vitamin C

 

4

mg

5

%

Calcium

 

51

mg

5

%

Iron

 

1

mg

6

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword beet, beetroot, feta, lemon, mint, olive oil

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More delicious beetroot recipes

If you’re looking to make more recipes using beetroot, why not try some sweet roasted root vegetables with honey and apples, earthy cumin-roasted beets with chickpeas, zesty beetroot salad with pomegranate, or delicious roasted salmon with a beetroot and horseradish topping.