Beet and Wheat Berry Salad With Pickled Apples and Pecans Recipe

Meet the salad that never wilts.

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Editorial Director

Daniel is the editorial director of Serious Eats, where he leads the site's editorial strategy and oversees everything from recipe development to articles on food science, cooking techniques, and more. He's a former food editor at Food & Wine and has cooked in New York City restaurants.

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Updated November 06, 2025
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Vicky Wasik

Why It Works

  • Using both the beet roots and their greens gets the most out of the vegetable.
  • A salted vinegar brine not only gives the apples a tart kick that wakes this salad up big time, it also prevents them from browning.

"Can you bring the salad?" A harmless question from my in-laws in advance of the big Thanksgiving meal they host each year in Boston. The challenge: I'm in New York. This is the second year I've been tasked with bringing the salad, and thus it's the second year in which I've tried to think of something that I can make over the weekend, then bring with me on the train to Boston, and finally eat on Thursday with no loss in quality. I actually love these conundrums.

Sure, I could just ask them to do all the shopping for me by emailing them a list of lettuces and leafy greens, plus the vinaigrette ingredients, and then trying to find a corner in their kitchen to throw it all together right before dinner. But what's the fun in that? And frankly, it shifts so much of the work back onto them—and they do more than enough hosting a huge crew every year—that it hardly seems fair.

A couple of years ago, my solution was a roasted-brassica salad, loaded with potatoes, sunchokes, and frisée. I'll say with no modesty at all that it's pretty great. But it still required asking my in-laws to pick up the frisée. My goal this year was to come 100% prepared and self-sufficient.

What I ended up with was a hearty salad that combines chewy whole grains, winter beets (all parts, from the roasted roots to the sautéed leaves and stalks), toasted pecans, and crisp pickled apples, which add the perfect refreshing and sweet-tart kick to keep each bite truly interesting.

For the grains, I used whole red winter wheat, which still has its bran. (You can read up on whole grains in our guide here.) Even when fully cooked, they retain an impressive amount of chew. It's a texture I love, but if you want something more tender (and quicker-cooking), you could opt for a polished grain, like farro or barley.

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

To prepare the beets, I buy whole bunches, preferably in a variety of colors, with the greens still attached. If for some reason you can't find whole bunches, you can substitute Swiss chard or kale for the beet greens. I roast the roots until they're tender, then peel and dice them, and sauté the chopped-up leaves and stems with olive oil and garlic until they're tender as well.

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

My biggest point of pride in this salad is the pickled apples. I'm sure I'm not the first person to pickle an apple, but I don't think I've ever come across one before, and it really is the secret weapon here. I first thought of it as I wondered how I could slip apple into a make-ahead salad without the apples turning a murky shade of brown, and remembered my own tests on this topic from last year.

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

What I found was that salt was by far the best method out of those that are most accessible to home cooks. By soaking apples in a salty brine, I was able to keep browning at bay for more than a day. If I'm making a salty brine, I thought, why not make it a pickle brine with vinegar and aromatics as well? Not only would that keep my apples from browning for quite a while, it would give them just the blast of acidity I needed to balance out the sweet beets, earthy grains, and nutty pecans.

What I settled on was a quick-pickling brine made from white wine vinegar, salt, and sugar and infused with tarragon—the herb's flavor really carries through. Here's another trick I used: I put the diced apples in a metal mixing bowl nestled in a larger bowl filled with ice water. Then I poured the hot brine on top of them and stirred it to cool it down rapidly with the help of the ice bath. The secret there: Heat is yet one more weapon in the battle to stop apples from browning, but because I'd rapidly chilled them after the initial shock of heat, the apples maintained their crunchy, raw texture. Win-win.

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Toast some pecans, toss it all together, and it's ready to go. Even better is that this is a salad that can be completely combined, vinaigrette and all, as far in advance as you like—it only gets better as it all mingles, and there's not a single ingredient that will wilt in an unappealing way in the interim. (As for the vinaigrette, I just used our very simple and classic one, with Dijon, shallot, garlic, white wine vinegar, and olive oil.)

So, can I bring the salad this Thanksgiving? Absolutely. A couple hundred miles ain't nothing for this guy.

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Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

November 2016

Recipe Details

Beet and Wheat Berry Salad With Pickled Apples and Pecans Recipe

Prep 10 mins
Cook 2 hrs 50 mins
Active 90 mins
Chilling Time 60 mins
Total 4 hrs
Serves 8 to 12 servings
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Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups whole red winter wheat berries or other whole grain (12 ounces; 340 g) (see note)

  • Kosher salt

  • 3 1/2 pounds (1.5 kg) beet roots with their greens, roots and leafy stalks separated, 8 ounces (225 g) worth of leaves and stalks washed and chopped coarsely, remainder reserved for another use (see note)

  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 cup white wine vinegar (8 ounces; 235 ml)

  • 2 tablespoons (25 g) sugar

  • 2 sprigs tarragon

  • 3/4 pound (340 g) very crisp apples, such as Honeycrisps, cored and diced

  • 4 medium shallots, minced (6 ounces; 170 g)

  • 1 1/2 cups pecans (6 ounces; 170 g), toasted and roughly crumbled

  • 1 recipe Simple Vinaigrette

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). In a medium pot, add wheat berries and cover by at least 2 inches of cold water. Add enough salt to taste, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook until berries are tender with a pleasant chewiness, about 1 1/2 hours. Drain and set aside or place in refrigerator.

  2. Place trimmed beet roots in a roasting pan, add a couple of tablespoons of water, and drizzle with enough olive oil to coat each beet root. Cover pan with aluminum foil and roast until beets are easily pierced by a fork or paring knife, about 1 hour. Let cool.

  3. Peel beets, trim ends, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. (The peels should rub off fairly easily with paper towels; if desired, wear latex gloves when peeling red beets to prevent staining fingers.) Set aside or place in refrigerator.

  4. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned, about 30 seconds. Add chopped beet greens and stems and cook, stirring often, until leaves are fully wilted and stalks are tender, about 10 minutes. Lower heat if necessary to prevent scorching. Season with salt. Set aside or place in refrigerator.

  5. In a medium saucepan, combine white wine vinegar with 1 cup (235ml) water, sugar, 1 teaspoon (4g) kosher salt, and tarragon sprigs. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar and salt.

  6. Place apples and shallots in a stainless steel mixing bowl nested in a larger mixing bowl full of ice water. Pour hot vinegar brine over apples, stirring to chill rapidly. Once cool, discard tarragon and press a clean paper towel against the surface to fully submerge apples. Set aside or place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

  7. When ready to assemble, drain apples and shallots. Combine cooked wheat berries, diced beets, sautéed beet greens, pickled apples and shallots, and toasted pecans in a large serving bowl. Toss well. Dress with enough vinaigrette to coat, drizzling on extra olive oil at any point to refresh salad if it appears dry. Season with salt and serve.

  8. To Make Ahead: Salad components can each be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated separately until ready to combine and serve. This salad can also be assembled fully in advance, as it improves with time as the wheat berries absorb flavors from the dressing and other ingredients. If desired, assemble up to 3 days in advance and keep refrigerated. (Red beets will stain everything more if salad is assembled in advance, but otherwise there are no downsides.)

Special equipment

Roasting pan, stainless steel mixing bowl

Notes

Whole grains with their bran, like wheat berries, remain very chewy even when fully cooked; it's a pleasing texture, but if you want something more tender (and quicker-cooking), opt for polished grains, like farro or barley. For the nicest presentation, try to use a mix of beet colors, including red, yellow, and pink. If you can't find beets with their greens, use 2 1/2 pounds (1kg) beet roots and 8 ounces (225g) hearty leafy greens, like Swiss chard or kale.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
250 Calories
15g Fat
28g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 250
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 19%
Saturated Fat 2g 8%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 512mg 22%
Total Carbohydrate 28g 10%
Dietary Fiber 6g 21%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 7mg 35%
Calcium 44mg 3%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 554mg 12%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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