Spring has arrived in the South, and along with it my weekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box. This year, I’m getting a weekly shipment of some fruits (strawberries) and mostly vegetables (collard greens) from Up In Farms, and I have to say, it keeps us eating healthy.
It’s hard to stay on top of all the greens that arrive weekly and need to be eaten right away or prepared and frozen, but I love it when the box includes something I can easily “put up” (old-fashioned term for preserve) for later, like beets. It’s amazingly easy to slap some beets into the oven and make pickled beets when they’re done.
For years I avoided cooking with beets because I hated peeling them. That’s before I learned how to peel beets without a knife. Here’s how I do it now:
For more dishes to make with your peeled beets, check out my Roasted Beet and Tofu Burgers, Beet and Quinoa Salad, and the odd but delicious Can’t Be Beet Chocolate Cake.
Pickled Beets
Some people boil beets before pickling them, but I like roasting because it concentrates the beet’s natural sweetness and minimizes the earthiness that some people find objectionable. I like my beets on the vinegary/tangy side, so I don’t add sugar, but you can always add some to this recipe if you want. Lately, I’ve grown fond of the ginger beets in the Whole Foods deli, so I added chopped up ginger root to this batch. It provides a very subtle hint of ginger, which I like, but if you want your beets straight up, you can omit it.
I love having pickled beets on hand to toss into salads. Just remember, they will turn anything they touch pink, so handle them carefully if you’re wearing white.
Roasted Pickled Beets
Roasting concentrates beets' flavors and brings out their sweetness. These tangy picked beets capture and preserve that flavor. For less tang and more sweet, see the Notes below.
Ingredients
- 3-4 beets
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root (may omit or substitute garlic)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Wash the beets well and trim off all but about an inch of the greens. Leave the "tails" on.
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Place the beets on a large sheet of aluminum foil, fold it over the top, and seal the edges. Place the package on a baking sheet and put it in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes and turn over the foil package. Bake for 25 minutes more. Test with a sharp knife to see if the largest been is tender in the middle; if not, give them a little more time.
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Once they're tender, remove the beets from the oven and allow them to cool. Cut off the tops and tails and under running water, rub off the skin. Use a knife to remove any hard-to-remove skin.
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Slice the beets about 1/4-inch thick. Place them in a pint or quart canning jar.
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Combine the vinegar, water, ginger root or garlic, and salt. Pour it over the beets. If it doesn't cover the beets, add a mixture of half vinegar and half water to the jar.
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Refrigerate. Beets will taste best after pickling for a couple of days. They should keep, refrigerated, for at least 2 weeks. Three average sized beets make about 1 pint of pickled beets.
Recipe Notes
I like these beets tangy so I don't add sugar, but if you'd like to take the edge off them, start with 1 teaspoon sugar and add more to taste.
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I hope you’ll give these easy pickled beets a try!
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moonwatcher
Susan! The blog reformat looks fantastic! And the top photo is probably the most beautiful photo of pickled beets I’ve ever seen! I love the idea of adding ginger, or even garlic. I also have enjoyed pickling by the jar in the past and totally agree wtih you it’s a great way to use CSA goods. Alas, over the years I’ve developed a slight allergy to beets–my throat starts to constrict if I eat them. But I SO remember with fondness the tofu beet burgers and the can’t be beet chocolate cake (which I made with carob). Two of my favorites! xoxo
Susan Voisin
Thanks so much, Maria! I think beets are one of those things that practically photograph themselves. The color and swirls inside make it easy. I’m sorry you can’t eat them anymore. I’m really enjoying adding them to a salad these days.
Angie
Thanks for posting about the “earthiness” issue. I’m one of those people who taste that, and since I *really* want to find a way to eat beets (they’re so healthy), I’m ready to try anything. I like pickles too, so this looks like it might work for me! 🙂
Danielle
I love beets! The roasting sounds intriguing–I’ve only made pickled beets with boiled beets. I’ll try this method. Thanks for sharing it.
My grandmother always made pickled beets with a touch of cloves, so I have to add cloves to every batch I make 🙂
Dina Anthony
Thank you for this recipe! You recommend waiting 3 days. Do you recommend not eating before the three days, say like after 3 hours or will the pickling not take effect in that short period of time?
Thank you!
Dina
Susan Voisin
You can eat them right away; I just find that they taste more pickled after a couple of days.
Dina Anthony
Hi,
I just made the pickled Beets, is the 3 days in the fridge a requirement for it to pickle properly or can the beets be consumed earlier and still have the pickled taste?
Thanks for this easy recipe, I was wondering what to do with my bag of beets and your recipe solved that question.
Dina
Susan Voisin
You can eat them right away, but the longer you let them sit, the more pickled they’ll taste. Just 1 day is probably enough.
Trixilie & Bea
The colour is gorgeous and the recipe sounds great. We hope we can find some red, yellow and white beetroots in the market. So we can prepare three different pickled beets / colours 🙂 Did you ever try white or yellow beetroots?
Susan Voisin
I’ve used the yellow ones. Unfortunately, when you pickled them together, they all turn out different shades of red.
Deb Hatton
It’s probably not a very controversial opinion to prefer things pickled but with beats especially it makes all the difference. I honestly cant stand them raw but let them sit in some brine and I love them!
Kelly Mahan
I’ll now wait the 3 days to see how it goes, but I ate a couple right away (crazy about beats hehe) and already found them pretty good. Thanks for this recipe!