Hazelnut oil vinaigrette over beet and goat cheese salad with candied hazelnuts make the ultimate elegant salad! It only requires a few ingredients and gives a major WOW factor to any meal.

Thank you to Laurel Foods for sponsoring the post.

Hazelnut Oil

Hazelnut oil comes from Hazelnuts. I prefer Laurel Foods brand from Oregon as it is so pure and has great flavors.

Oregon boasts an ideal climate for growing the world’s highest quality hazelnuts. It’s in this corner of the world where temperate ocean, mountain and river climates meet with rich volcanic soils to create prime hazelnut-growing country.

Laurel Foods Hazelnut Oil celebrates the world’s highest quality hazelnuts and is a healthy and delicious addition to your kitchen. Excellent for salad dressings, marinades, baked goods or as an ice cream topping. They don’t filter their oil, which gives it a delicious and subtle hazelnut flavor.

It works great in all kinds of recipes that typically use olive oil. Our crab stack and easy bruschetta chicken are fantastic with hazelnut oil!

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

This salad is so delicious and is definitely a show stopper! You can always make it easier by just putting the ingredients together with diced beets and crumbled feta. It's not necessary to stack it but it sure does make a great presentation.

I had one similar at our local fancy restaurant, Painted Pony, and since then, I have wanted to recreate one myself! It wasn't too hard and I love that the few simple ingredients just shine.

You can easily boil and peel the beets yourself or you can buy the already cooked for a bit easier route. Get creative with your goat cheese flavors too. You can go plain or you can get a flavored variety to change it up.

How to make beet and goat salad

Step 1: Roll goat cheese between two pieces of parchment paper to about ½ inch thick

Step 2: Using a small cutter, cut out discs

Step 3: Cut beets into discs then use the same cutter to cut them down to the same size as the goat cheese

Step 4 and 5: Starting with beets, stack every other beet and goat cheese ending with beets

How to make hazelnut vinaigrette

Step 6: Add thinly sliced shallots and apple cider vinegar to a small bowl

Step 7: Add salt and pepper to the shallot mixture

Step 8: Add hazelnut oil (Laurel Foods) and whisk

Step 9: Add shallots on top of the beet and goat cheese stack

Pro Tip: Use shallots, they are so much more flavorful than onions...

Step 10: Drizzle with hazelnut oil vinaigrette

Step 11: Bring sugar and water to a boil then continue to cook until caramel colored

Step 12: Add hazelnut, cover then remove with a slotted spoon immedietely

Candied Hazelnuts

Hazelnuts are super delicious on their own but when they are candied, they become a sweet little treat. You an enjoy them as a snack but they are also great on meals like this beet and goat cheese stack.

Plus, you only need three simple ingredients to make them...Hazelnuts, sugar and water. Get creative and turn candied hazelnuts into art like Liv for Cake does.