This hearty dish is an interesting answer to the question, “What is a salad?” It hails from the Ukraine and Russia, known there as venegret. Sturdy root vegetables are boiled, then combined with oil, onion, and sour pickles and served cold or room temperature.
What do you think of when you hear the question, “What is a salad?”
I was introduced to this yummy salad by Anya, a gorgeously statuesque Ukrainian immigrant who married a friend of a friend. She was surprised at how much we all loved this salad. But I adore beets, and anything with potatoes in it has my vote as well. I have also made this with leftover roasted veggies; if you don’t eat white potatoes you can use sweet potatoes, parsnips, or butternut squash. Using the pickle juice as the acid in the dressing is genius. I added capers to make it interesting, and arranged it like a composed salad so you could see the colors. Once mixed together, everything turns a vivid beety fuschia.
Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, paleo, reduced-sugar diets
Not for:
low-sodium or migraine diets
All of our recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free, and made with plant-based ingredients to help you build a healthy life. Suitable for Meatless Monday. Look for midweek posts on meditation, service, and life lessons, helping you create inner balance.

Beet-potato-carrot salad with pickles and capers
Ingredients
- 1 beets very large, or two medium (230 g)
- 1 potatoes large, or two medium (345 g)
- 1 carrots large or 2 medium (165 g)
- 1 onions (green) scallions, spring onions
- 1/4 cup dill pickles pickled vegetables, chopped
- 1 tbsp capers with juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin)
- 1/4 cup pickle juice
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, adding 1 T. (5 g) of kosher salt. Scrub the beet, potato, and carrot but do not peel. Add them to the boiling water and boil until tender when pierced with a fork. The carrots might only take 10 minutes; the beet could take 45. Remove each vegetable when cooked and set aside to drain and cool.
- Rub off or peel the skin and dice the vegetables, adding them to a large bowl.
- Wash and slice the green onion and add it to the bowl with the capers. Chop up the pickles and add them. Whisk together 2 T. of oil and pickle juice and add, tossing to coat. Add salt and pepper. Taste. Add additional oil or pickle juice if needed for dressing. The salad should be nicely coated but not slick or oily. Serve as is or over greens.
- To serve it as photographed above, line a platter with butter lettuce and pile each vegetable separately on top. Whisk the capers, pickles, caper juice, oil, and pickle juice together and pour over when serving. Top with salt and pepper.
Notes
- 111 calories
- 7 g fat
- 1 g saturated fat
- 5 g monounsaturated fat
- 1 g polyunsaturated fat
- 0 g trans fat
- 0 g cholesterol
- 365 mg sodium (224 mg sodium with salt omitted)
- 309 mg potassium
- 12 g carbohydrate
- 2 g fiber
- 3 g sugars
- 2 g protein
- 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus
Venegret from Incidental Cooking
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Looks delish! I just finished a jar of dill pickles and have been looking for ways to use up the juice. Thanks for the inspiration.
Hey Sondi, nice to hear from you again. Yes, who would have thought to use pickle juice for the acid? But it totally makes this special.
I’m buying beets at the market tomorrow – maybe bringing to your house Thursday. Thanks for inspiring me…
Commence happy dance!
I’ve read about venegret and it sounds delicious to me–I love all those veggies, too!
Ricki, just seeing the photo makes me want to make it again.
I love to make a similar recipe where only the beets are missing (I’m not a big fan). This salad goes very well with cold meat cuts and my family loves it.
Hi Jane! Thanks for stopping by. I love how adaptable this salad is, and yes it would be great with cold cuts too. You can vary the veggies to suit your taste. I love beets but the Hubs, not so much. :)