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Christmas Eve Beetroot Salad

Name: Christmas Eve Beetroot Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 55 min
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 1 head Lettuce; 2 Limes; 200 g Jícama; 1 Pomegranate; 3 Beetroot; 2 tbsp Olive oil; 100 g Peanuts; 2 Oranges; 1 tsp Salt

55 min (25 prep + 30 cook) Easy 6 servings Nacional

Edmond Bojalil

Recetas Mexas

Published: 30 Mar 2026 · Updated: 30 Mar 2026

The classic Mexican Christmas salad with beetroot, jícama, pomegranate and orange. Colourful, fresh and festive.

About this recipe

Festive Christmas salad with cooked beetroot, lettuce, jícama, orange segments, pomegranate seeds and toasted peanuts, dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. The red, white and green colours represent the Mexican flag and brighten the Nochebuena table.

History & Origin

The Nochebuena salad is one of the most recognisable icons of the Mexican Christmas. With its vibrant red, white and green colours — the same as the national flag — this salad seems designed for the 24 December table. Yet few people know the historical and cultural depth behind this seemingly simple dish. Beetroot arrived in Mexico from Europe during the colonial period. Though not an originally Mesoamerican ingredient, it was embraced enthusiastically in nineteenth-century Mexican cooking, especially during the winter months when the root vegetable is abundant in the markets. Jícama, by contrast, is a tuber native to central Mexico, cultivated since pre-Hispanic times and prized for its crunchy texture and slightly sweet flavour. Pomegranate — another Spanish introduction — arrived in New Spain in the sixteenth century and is now inseparable from both chiles en nogada and this Christmas Eve salad. The combination of these ingredients in a single salad reflects the culinary mestizaje that defines Mexican cuisine: European and American ingredients living in harmony, seasoned with the sharp juice of Mexican lime and olive oil, with the contrast of toasted peanuts that add protein and texture. Regional variations of this salad exist: some households add sugar cane cut into sticks, cooked tejocotes, or even pickled beetroot in vinegar. Other versions include green apple or fried plantain. But the classic version — the one that appears in grandmothers' kitchens and in family recipe books passed down through generations — is this one: beetroot, lettuce, jícama, orange, pomegranate, peanuts and a lemon and olive oil dressing. Beyond its taste, the Nochebuena salad serves an aesthetic function: its presence on the table, with the bright reds of beetroot and pomegranate against the green of the lettuce, announces the celebration and transforms the dinner into a visual event before the meal has even begun.

Estimated cost

£5.50

Total cost

£0.92

Per serving

* Approximate prices based on UK supermarkets

Nutritional information per serving

150

Calories

Protein

24g

Carbohydrates

Fat

4.5g

Fibre

180mg

Sodium

* Approximate values. May vary depending on ingredients used.

Method

1
Cook the beetroot: wash thoroughly without peeling. Place in a saucepan with cold water to cover and cook over medium-high heat for 30 minutes or until a knife slides in easily. Drain and leave to cool completely. Once cold, peel and cut into medium cubes or slices.
💡 To avoid staining everything red, peel and cut the beetroot last, just before assembling the salad.
2
Prepare the remaining ingredients while the beetroot cools: peel the jícama and cut into batons or cubes the same size as the beetroot. Peel the oranges and divide into segments, removing the white pith. De-seed the pomegranate: cut it in half and tap the skin firmly with a spoon over a bowl so the seeds fall out.
💡 If you cannot find fresh jícama, you can substitute with green apple cut into cubes.
3
Make the dressing: in a small bowl, mix the juice of the 2 limes with the olive oil and salt. Whisk with a fork until lightly emulsified.
💡 The dressing should be light and sharp to contrast with the sweetness of the beetroot and orange.
4
Build the salad base: arrange the washed and dried lettuce leaves on a large platter or individual plates. Scatter the jícama cubes and orange segments over the top.
💡 Dry the lettuce thoroughly so the dressing clings better and the salad does not become watery.
5
Add the cooked beetroot and pomegranate seeds over the salad. Scatter the toasted peanuts on top.
💡 Add the beetroot at the end so it does not completely colour the other ingredients before serving.
6
Pour the lime and olive oil dressing over the entire salad just before serving. Serve immediately so the lettuce stays crisp.
💡 This salad can be prepared with all the ingredients ready in advance, but the dressing should always be added at the moment of serving.