This Roast Beetroot and Pumpkin salad with chickpeas is a total crowd pleaser. Sweet butternut squash (pumpkin), with earthy sweet beets, combined with a tangy dressing and some vegan feta is a winning combination that everyone seems to love. I've served various versions of this over the years, at all kinds of parties and gatherings. And there is never ever any left over.
I think this Roast Beetroot and Pumpkin Salad with Chickpeas has the distinction of being the oldest recipe on my website! I first wrote it up back in April 2015! Wow! And just like any classic, this easy-to-make recipe is one we come back to, again and again! Just like some of my other hearty salads, such as this Mediterranean Risoni Salad with Pesto it's great to take along to pot lucks and gatherings where it might stand out on a table for a few hours.
It pairs perfectly with a late summer bbq, maybe with some Vegan Seitan Burgers, and some Peri Peri BBQ Seitan Chicken and is also great as a hearty winter salad with my favourite Mushroom & Smoked Tofu Bourguignon.
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💚Why we love this
It's earthy, sweet & wholesome, with the rich red of the beetroot and the pretty burnished orange of the butternut pumpkin creating a lovely colour palette. The chickpeas provide nutty, delicious ballast and protein. It's equally delicious with or without some vegan feta. I will say however, the pine nuts and loads of parsley are an absolute must.
I also love that everything is made bite-sized, so with the lovely zingy dressing, you can have the perfect combo bite of beet, squash, chickpeas, parsley and pine nuts. Delicious.
⏲When to eat it
As the veggies are roasted, it's quite nice as an Autumn, Winter or Early Spring. Also, Butternut Squash and Beetroot aren't usually at their best in the full heat of summer but it is great for any other season!
The salad keeps quite well in the fridge, so is perfect to make ahead for a week of lunches, or to take to a late Autumn BBQ or on a brisk early Spring picnic.
🌱Key Ingredients
- Roasted Cubes of Pumpkin/Butternut Squash: Simply cut up a squash into bite sized pieces, toss in some olive oil & roast until caramelized. Choose a small sweet type of pumpkin such as Crown prince, or a butternut squash for the best flavour.
- Roasted Beetroot: to keep the beets lovely and juicy, roast them whole in their skin, then slip the skins off and chop. *Do this with washing up gloves on to avoid ending up with pink fingers!
- Toasted Pine Nuts: I adore pine nuts (affiliate link). They make this salad totally luxe. However you could use toasted sunflower or pumpkin seeds, or any other nut you love here instead.
- LOADS of Fresh Flat Parsley: Be generous with the parsley. Its lovely green flavour is the perfect foil for the sweetness of pumpkin and beetroot.
- Chickpeas - Home Made or Good Quality Tinned: Pre-cooked chickpeas that you have soaked and cooked yourself always have the best flavour. Otherwise buy good quality tinned or jarred chickpeas and rinse before adding to the salad.
- Good Vegan "Feta": There are some great feta substitutes around now. Use a posh one such as our favourite from I Am Nut Ok. (not an affiliate link- we just like them!) The Violife feta alternative that is easily found in most supermarkets now is pretty delicious too. If you don't fancy feta, add some slices of green olives or capers for a 'zing'
👩🍳How to Instructions
- Put the beetroot into the oven or air fryer and bake whole, with their skins on. 220°C / Gas Mark 7 / 430°F.
- Peel the pumpkin or squash and chop into chunks. Spritz with oil season with salt, and put into the oven to roast.
- Toast the pine nuts without any oil.
- Let the beetroot cool down, then remove their skins and chop into chunks.
- Chop the parsley and juice the lemon.
- Rinse the tin of chickpeas, then toss the chickpeas, roasted squash, parsley, pine nuts in with lemon juice and olive oil. Season to taste.
- Finally add cubes of vegan feta and toss.
- Gently stir through the beetroot and serve.
❗Top Tip
Gently mix the beetroot into the salad at the last minute to avoid the beets staining the rest of the salad pink!
🌿Variations and Substitutions
The key components to this delicious and colourful salad are the pumpkin and beetroot. Here are some ways you can make it your own:
- Use any kind of squash. The best kinds of squash and pumpkin for this salad are sweet with a good texture.
- Other herbs: Mint, Basil or curly parsley
- Rocket or Arugala are delicious in place of the parsley, or as an additional green.
- Different Nuts: Toasted Pecans, Walnuts or cashews are all a great substitute for more expensive pine nuts.
- No Nuts: Remove the nuts altogether. Add in pumpkin or sunflower seeds if you like.
- Cubes of different types of vegan 'cheese'. Vegan blue cheese or any of your other favourite tangy cheese.
- Instead of vegan cheese, add in a different tangy element with stoned green olives, kalamata olives or capers.
- White beans: choose cannellini or butter beans in place of the chickpeas.
🌿
❓FAQ
This salad stays fresh and tasty for up to 5 days in the fridge.
To avoid your beets staining everything pink, make and toss the rest of the salad first. Then gently fold the beetroot pieces through it.
Absolutely. Either substitute them for some pumpkin seeds, or leave out altogether.
Earthy sweet beetroot goes well with nuts and seeds, as well as tangy flavours such as parsley, rocket, olives, lemon and different cheeses.
📖 Recipe
Roast Beetroot and Pumpkin Salad with Chickpeas
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 500 g (4 ½ cups) Pumpkin (or butternut squash. About 1 small butternut chopped, peeled and de-seeded. Chopped into 2-3cm square chunks)
- 400 g (3 cups) Beetroot (About 4-5 medium beets.)
- 1 Bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
- 100 g (¾ cups) pine nuts
- 240 g (1 ½ cups) Chickpeas ( (Drained. Equivelant to 1 standard 15 oz or 400 g 'cans' ))
- 200 g (1 ⅓ cups) vegan feta ((optional))
- Juice of half a lemon
- Olive oil
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Bake the beetroot in the oven in their skins for around 40 mins or until soft in the oven at 220°C / Gas Mark 7 / 430°F.. You can also use the air fryer. Adjust the time to around 30 minutes.400 g Beetroot
- At the same time, bake the chopped up butternut squash, in a little oil, seasoned with a bit of salt.500 g Pumpkin
- Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a little pan- don't use any oil, and be careful- they catch easily.100 g pine nuts
- Chop the parsley finely.1 Bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
- Once cooked, and a little cooler, peel the beetroot and chop into 1-2cm chunks. (use gloves so your hands don't get pink!)
- Rinse, and rinse again the chickpeas if they are tinned.240 g Chickpeas
- Then, mix together all the ingredients except for the beetroots.200 g vegan feta, Juice of half a lemon, Olive oil, Salt & Pepper
- Taste for seasoning, then add more lemon/olive oil/ salt & pepper if needed.
- Finally, gently toss through the beetroots. Tossing the beets in at the end avoids you having a pink salad.
Notes
- Use any kind of squash. The best kinds of squash and pumpkin for this salad are sweet with a good texture.
- Other herbs: Mint, Basil or curly parsley
- Rocket or Arugala are delicious in place of the parsley, or as an additional green.
- Different Nuts: Toasted Pecans, Walnuts or cashews are all a great substitute for more expensive pine nuts.
- No Nuts: Remove the nuts altogether. Add in pumpkin or sunflower seeds if you like.
- Cubes of different types of vegan 'cheese'. Vegan blue cheese or any of your other favourite tangy cheese.
- Instead of vegan cheese, add in a different tangy element with stoned green olives, kalamata olives or capers.
- White beans: choose cannellini or butter beans in place of the chickpeas.
Pamela says
I would call it as a super healthy salad as the ingredients added are beneficial.
Rebecca@Figs and Pigs says
Looks delicious and such a wonderful colour, I bet its so versatile too, could put it with so many things.
louise says
It's a bit of a crowd pleaser I must say- Gobbled up by veggies and non veggies alike. X