Roasted Radish Salad
This roasted radish salad turns bundles of beautiful red radishes into an absolutely stunning spring salad. Once roasted, the radishes become slightly sweet, with a soft, tender bite. Toss them with roasted pearl onions, toasted pine nuts, feta, parsley, and a tangy Dijon vinaigrette for a palate-pleasing and eye-pleasing salad!
I’ve honestly never experimented much with radishes. I typically enjoy them raw, like in this cucumber radish salad or by adding fresh thin slices to tacos. But since I had leftover radishes from making my salmon salad, I thought, why not try roasting them like I do with all other veggies?
Lo and behold – they turned out so juicy and sweet! It’s a side (or in this case a salad) of radishes I’ve never experienced before, and one I’ll come back to again and again with how delicious it turned out. So next time you’re at the farmer’s market and you see stacks of fresh radishes, grab a few bunches – because this is how you make them shine!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Can we just take a moment to admire how truly beautiful this radish salad is? A vibrant red base is topped with pops of white from the pearl onions and feta, earthy specks of beige from the pine nuts, and dots of green from the freshly chopped parsley. So simple yet so good looking – that’s the beauty of salad layering! Here’s everything you’ll need, plus a few notes on each.
- Radishes: When shopping for radishes, make sure they’re firm when you give each bulb a light squeeze. Also, try to grab bunches with the radishes about the same size so that they cook evenly.
- Pearl Onions: You can buy fresh or frozen ones. I used fresh in this recipe, and walk you through blanching and peeling them before roasting. But for a time savings, you can use frozen pearl onions as well!
- Olive Oil, Salt, and Pepper: The basic seasoning mix to roast the radishes and pearl onions.
- Feta Cheese: I’m always a fan of using a fresh block of feta cheese and crumbling it on my own. But, you can always buy the pre-crumbled versions.
- Pine Nuts: Lightly toasted pine nuts always adds such a delicious flavor and crunch to a salad.
- Parsley: I’m using flat leaf parsley for this salad, but curly parsley works as well.
- Dijon Vinaigrette: My homemade Dijon vinaigrette is so easy to whip up and stores well. So feel free to make this a day in advance if you’d like.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How to Make This Roasted Radish Salad
Roasting vegetables really transforms them into something spectacular. And it’s as easy as tossing them in oil, salt, and pepper (with additional spices for more flavor), then letting the oven do its thing. But before we get to the radishes, the fresh pearl onions need a little prep work. Let’s get started.
Boil the pearl onions. Place the onions in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for 5 minutes, then drain. This softens them, so you can easily slice off the tops and peel.
Roast the radishes and onions. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Trim the tops and tails from the radishes, then slice into halves or quarters. Spread the radishes and the onions out on a large baking dish, and toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring a few times, until both ingredients are softened and slightly golden on top.
Toast the pine nuts. While the radishes are roasting, add the pine nuts to a small skillet over medium-low heat and lightly toast. Set this aside.
Toss everything together. Let the radishes and onions cool for a few minutes. Then add the pine nuts, parsley and Dijon vinaigrette, and toss to combine.
Before serving, top with feta cheese. Transfer the mixture into a large serving bowl, top with feta cheese, and serve. You can serve this immediately while it’s warm, or at room temperature.
Easy Ingredient Swaps
Like with most salads, ingredients are easily swappable! So if you’re not able to find certain things or simply want to use a different ingredient, here’s some options.
- Can’t find pearl onions? You can slice a sweet yellow onion into wedges for roasting instead.
- Don’t want to use pine nuts? Sub it for chopped cashews for an equally delicious nutty touch.
- Not a fan of feta cheese? Grab you favorite goat cheese instead and crumble that onto the salad.
Storage Tips For This Radish Salad
- To store: Store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Just note that the radishes will get softer over time, especially when reheated.
- To freeze: If you plan to freeze a portion of this, freeze the radishes and onions on their own without the additional toppings and dressing. You can freeze these for up to 3 months in a freezer safe container or bag.
Keep The Spring Salads Comin’…
With an abundance of fresh produce at the market, there’s really no shortage to what you can make. Here’s some of my favorite spring and summer salads!
If you’re new to radishes, I say give this radish salad a try and let me know what you think in a comment below! It might surprise you.
Roasted Radish Salad
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds radishes
- ½ pound pearl onions
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
- ¼ cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette
Instructions
- Place the onions in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for 5 minutes, then drain. Slice off the tops and peel.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Trim the tops and tails from the radishes, then slice into halves or quarters and place in a large baking dish. Add the pearl onions, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and toss to evenly coat. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes. stirring a few times throughout.
- While the radishes are roasting, add the pine nuts to a small skillet over medium-low heat and lightly toast. Set aside.
- Let the radishes and onions cool for a few minutes in the baking dish. Add the pine nuts, parsley and Dijon vinaigrette. Toss to combine.
- Add the salad into a large serving bowl, then top with feta cheese. Serve warm or at room temperature.
One of my favourite salads so far ! My boyfriend came home and asked what smelled so good, and I said “radish and onions” and he said “there’s no way ONLY radish and onions smell that good”. It was heavenly to smell and taste.
The smell is heavenly! Glad you both are loving this salad Caitlin.
was AWFUL. Calls for a large roasting pan. Joke -only feeds two people Dijon Vinagette Should hae been included un recipe. A small pan or double recipe. Such a disappointment.
Hi Judith – the pan I showed in the photos is a 9×13-inch baking pan (which I consider large). In terms of servings, this is meant to be a side salad recipe and not a main course salad. As a side salad, it does indeed serve 4 people. I hope you enjoy some of my other recipes more!
INCREDIBLY delicious! Love this recipe and all the others on this site. Thank you :)
I’m so happy to hear that!
This was so amazing! Served it on the side of our Easter Leg of Lamb feast. Lovely accompaniment. The feta and pine nuts were such a great addition. Thank you Lisa! This one’s a keeper!
Glad this salad worked out great alongside Easter lamb!
This was a wonderful salad! I served it with the slow roasted salmon, topped with fennel and orange, and a side of broccolini. It was a memorable, gorgeous meal.
I’m sure this tastes amazing alongside roasted salmon!
LOVE this recipe! My partner Dave raved about this dish, amazed that roasted radishes tasted so yummy. I did make one substitution – didn’t have pearl onions, so roasted chunks of fennel instead. Wonderful.
P.S. We made your ultimate summer salad with salmon last week and decided it was the BEST salad ever!
Lisa, thank you for your creativity and talent in the kitchen as well as your skill in teaching us how to make these dishes. Can’t wait to get your cookbook! Judy, Madison CT
Can I replace the pearl onions? I don’t have any or if I do they are frozen. How about shallots or green onions?
You can chop up onion wedges instead. But, you can also use a frozen bag of pearl onions as well. Just defrost them before roasting.
Very nice!! Looking forward to making this
This salad looks REALLY tempting – already on the list for next week’s combo salad! One question: the baking dish that you use for the roasting: is it easy to clean? Thank you so much, Lisa!
Can’t wait for you to make this one! Yes, it’s ceramic, so it’s pretty easy to clean.
Hi!
This looks delicious! I saw that you were kind enough to suggest alternatives for the feta, but I am not a fan of goat cheese either. Do you have any other suggestions?
Thank you!
You could also do crumbled feta. Otherwise, you can just omit it!