Roasted Beet and Lentil Chopped Salad with Sweet Potato and Kale

This Roasted Beet and Lentil Chopped Salad is a hearty and satisfying meal that is as beautiful as it is delicious. Growing up my mom always made salads with roasted beets in the fall and I grew to love the color, flavor and texture they add to a chopped salad. I fed this to a friend who claims he hates beets and even he could not stop commenting on how delicious it is!

Sweet potatoes are roasted alongside the beets and then tossed with French lentils, lacinato kale, and crumbled feta in a simple white balsamic vinegar dressing. It is naturally vegetarian, packed with protein and fiber, and tastes even better the next day, so it is one of the best meal prep salads!

Looking for another recipe with lentils? Try this Lentil Potato Soup.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• High fiber salad – This salad is packed with hearty vegetables and lentils to give it a great amount of fiber! It works as a side salad, but it is also sufficient enough to be a meal on its own. Thanks to all of that filling fiber.
• Great vegetarian option – If you need to make a delicious dish that happens to be vegetarian, this salad is perfect! It has so much flavor and is so satisfying that you do not need any meat.
• Perfect for making ahead – This salad holds up and gets better as it sits, so it is perfect for making ahead of a party or meal prep. I made it twice, once for friends and once for meal prep. As a meal prep lunch the flavor intensified as the week went on and it stayed fresh tasting!

For another entree salad to try, check out this Fall Harvest Salad.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Here’s a quick look at the ingredients you need to make this delicious Roasted Beet and Lentil Chopped Salad. For a full list of ingredients, see the full recipe.

• Beets – the beets are the perfect sweet vegetable as the base of the salad. They also add a great source of fiber to the salad.
• French Lentils – I like using french lentils because they hold their shape in the salad after cooking.
• Sweet potatoes – I love pairing beets with sweet potato for sweetness and texture that complement each other in the salad.
• Lacinato kale – kale holds up really well as the salad sits, which makes it perfect for making the salad ahead of time
• Goat cheese – goat cheese adds some tangy creaminess to the salad. You can also use feta or crumbled blue cheese instead
• White balsamic vinegar – I used white balsamic in the dressing to make it a little lighter and brighter
• Maple syrup – the syrup adds the sweetness to the dressing
• Dijon mustard – the mustard provides a depth of flavor to balance out the dressing

For another hearty kale based salad, try this kale cranberry quinoa salad.

What Are French Lentils?

 French lentils, also called Puy lentils, are small dark green-grey lentils that hold their shape after cooking and have a slightly firmer texture than regular green or brown lentils. This makes them perfect for salads because they do not get mushy. Look for them labeled as French or Puy lentils at most grocery stores.

How to make This Roasted Beet and Lentil Chopped Salad

Step 1: Prepare the lentils in a sauce pan and roast veggies on a sheet pan.

While the other ingredients cook, wash the kale, remove the stems and cut the leaves into thin shreds.

Step 2:  Prepare the dressing by blending all of the ingredients together in a standard blender or with an immersion blender.

Step 3: Pour the lentils, roasted beets and sweet potatoes, shredded kale, goat cheese and pistachios into a bowl. Toss to combine. Pour the dressing into the bowl and toss again.

Recipe FAQs

Storage

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you want to prepare for meal prep and you want to keep the lettuce crisp, separate the salad into individual servings and store the dressing on the side.