This beautiful and tasty Arugula Salad with Instant Pot beets, goat cheese and candied walnuts has a delightful balsamic vinaigrette dressing and is perfect as a side salad or as a standalone lunch salad.





It seems as though every restaurant I go to these days has some kind of beet salad. Beets have become really popular in recent years; you can find beets in everything from hummus and salads to drinks and even cakes. It seems as though every restaurant I go to these days has some kind of beet salad. Beets have become really popular in recent years; you can find beets in everything from hummus and salads to drinks and even cakes.

I love beets and their distinct, earthy flavor but I don’t cook them very often because my kids don’t really care for them.

So I order beet salads every chance I get when I go out to eat.

The combination of ingredients in this salad with Instant Pot beets is a common one on restaurant menus – arugula, goat cheese, beets, walnuts, and balsamic salad dressing – that are simple and taste perfect together.

One reason people avoid cooking beets is that they can take a long time to cook. There are different ways to cook beets: you can roast beets in the oven, boil beets in water on a stove-top or you can steam beets.

The best and quickest and easiest way to cook beets is to steam beets in the Instant Pot pressure cooker. Instant Pot beets cook in 20 minutes including time to come to pressure.

Beets or beetroots are loaded with healthy vitamins and minerals, and are full of fiber – in other words, beets are good for you! Having this brightly colored superfood in your diet can really pack quite a nutritious punch.

Tips and Substitutions Don’t throw away the beet greens and stems. They can be cooked the same way you would cook Swiss chard or other greens: put them in a soup or saute them in olive oil. If you don’t use all the Instant Pot beets, you can store the pressure cooked beets in the fridge for a couple of days. Watch out for beet juice – it gets on everything (I speak from experience!) Make sure you use a cutting board or plate to place your beets on, or you might end up staining your countertop. If you have trouble getting the stain out of your hands, use lemon juice or try this trick using baking soda To make the salad really stand out, try to use different varieties of beets such as yellow and orange colored beets! I sometimes use pecans instead of walnuts and feta cheese instead of goat cheese.

If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot DUO Beginner’s Quick Start Guide or the Instant Pot ULTRA Beginner’s Quick Start Guide first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Beet Salad.

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Ingredients for Arugula Salad with Instant Pot Beets

Step-by-Step Instructions for Arugula Salad with Instant Pot Beets

Rinse the beets and trim the stems of the beets, leaving about 1 inch, (and leave the roots intact.)

Fill inner pot with 1 cup water.

Place steamer basket in the inner pot.

Place beets in the steamer basket.

Close Instant Pot lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.

Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘15’ (15 minutes).

Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.

Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.

The display will count down from 15 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.

Do a Quick Release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position. Remove the towel after turning the knob.

When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.

It’s now safe to open the Instant Pot. (Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.)

When cool enough to handle, remove steamer basket from inner pot.

Cool Instant Pot beets completely.

Cut off both ends of each beet.

Peel with a vegetable peeler or remove skin with your hands.

Cube Instant Pot beets into 1/2 inch pieces.

Assemble individual salads: Start with a layer of arugula or other greens

Sprinkle goat cheese, candied walnuts

Add beet pieces

Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

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