Don't think you like beets? You might like pickled beets because they taste like an explosion of fall spices distributed through a sweet and vinegary brine packed with flavour. GREAT on salads.
You haven't lived until you've eaten a pickled beet.
Unless you've kissed someone in front of the Eiffel tower, while cherry blossoms rain out of the sky. That'd probably win out in the "you haven't lived until" contest over the pickled beet thing.
But pickled beets are pretty darn good. I bet they'd taste even better while in Paris. You could clink your fork into the mason jar while wearing a luxurious but casual, all cream, down to the ground dress designed by your best friend Ralph Lauren, who presented it to you at sunset, on horseback, while vacationing at his ranch. That you're considering buying. Once you get back from Paris.
Now that I think of it, pickled beets are kindda shit, compared to all the other great things that could happen in one's life.
Let's try this again. Pickled Beets! They're better than an open wound!
Good. Glad we got that straightened out.
There are a few variations of pickled beetroot and I like the ones with sugar, vinegar and autumn spices. They have a similar taste to my bread and butter pickles. And I mean similar. Not the same. This pickled beet recipe is different but similar.
This year I tried a new pickled beet canning recipe because ... shock of all shocks ... I was finding my old recipe a bit too sweet. I guess my tastes have changed. Or sugar has become sweeter in recent years.
I assume since you're here, and you're still reading, you too have an interest in pickling some of these suckers. Maybe you like them, or maybe you've never tried to make them, or maybe you're going to the Eiffel Tower soon and figure you should bring a jar. Regardless of what the reason is, you're in the right place.
Because I am right now, at this very moment, going to share my most recent Pickled Beet recipe.
Table of Contents
HOW TO MAKE PICKLED BEETS
- Put a large pot of water on the stove. Bring to a boil.
- Cook 10-15 pounds of beets. I normally roast beets but for this many I find boiling them easier.
- Mix brine ingredients together.
- Peel and chop beets.
- Add beets to brine and simmer 10 minutes.
- Pour beets and brine into jars and process.
That's it.
The easiest way to remove the skins is to cut the tip and root off, then rub the skin off with a paper towel. The skins should just come right off. Since this is real life, there will be the odd stubborn one. Those ones are assheads and you can either throw them at someone or use a knife to get the skin off. Or throw them at someone.
You can either quarter or slice your beets. I like to quarter them.
Would you like to save this stuff?
We'll email you this post, so you can refer to it later.
If the quarters are too big, cut the quarters in half.
Even if you don't happen to like the taste of pickled beets I almost feel like you should make them based on how pretty they are.
Don't ever forget to wipe the rim of your jar when you're canning. One little drip will ruin any hopes of getting a proper seal. Then you'll cry.
If you don't have one of these little metal sticks, grab one here. They're made for picking up the sealers out of the hot water and they're great. If you don't have any of the handy canning stuff, get this whole kit. You get the magnetic stick, a can grabber, funnel and a bunch of other stuff.
Are Pickled Beets as Good For You As Raw Beets?
Beets are really high in antioxidants (they're on the top 10 list in fact) But when you pickle them they lose a percentage of their antioxidant qualities.
Plus of course, pickled beets are filled with sugar which isn't what most people would consider a healthy addition to a vitamin packed vegetable.
So no, pickled beets aren't as good for you as fresh beets. If you're looking for the BEST health option, raw or roasted beets are your best choice.
Canned Pickled Beets Recipe
How to make and then can pickled beets to store all winter long.
Ingredients
- 10 lbs beets
- 3 cups water
- 7 cups vinegar
- 4 cups sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoons cloves
- 2 ½ teaspoons allspice
- 2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons Kosher or pickling salt
Instructions
- Cook and peel beets.
- Cut into quarters.
- Mix together remaining ingredients in large pot.
- Add quartered beets to brine in pot and simmer 10 minutes.
- Fill hot, sterilized jars to ½" from top with beets.
- Fill with brine to ½" from top of jar.
- Remove any air bubbles in jar.
- Wipe rim clean.
- Secure with seal and screw band.
- Process beets 30 minutes in hot water bath.
How to Use Pickled Beets
- Throw them in a chef's salad.
- In a spring green and goat cheese salad. This recipe calls for regular beets but you can make it with pickled beets as well. It's actually my preferred way of having it.
- On a burger.
- On a Charcuterie board.
- Quick appetizer: Slather crostini with goat cheese and top with a slice of pickled beet.
- Borscht
- Chuck them on a plate a cold side dish for a summer dinner.
There are a lot of different pickled beet recipes out there and there are a LOT of different ways to process them. Up until a few years ago I always just jarred them in hot jars, covered them with hot liquid and called it a day. It's always worked fine for my family. But now that I have a blog I have to be responsible and suggest methods that might not kill my readers. Because I lose enough readers every month simply by offending them. I can't start actually killing them off now.
So I decided to give them a 30 minute water bath for your benefit. Do you need to refrigerate pickled beets? Not if you process them. Will eating a pickled beet make you think you're dying when you poop the next day? Yes. Pickled beets will make your poop look like its bleeding. Will pickled beets turn your urine red? You'd have to eat a lot of them, but yes. It's possible.
Kissing in front of the Eiffel tower while it rains cherry blossoms? Technically also possible. Thankfully.
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karen r.
These beets have an outstanding flavor. I absolutely love them cut up and added to salad. I didn't process them in a water bath, just put them in a glass jar and saved in the refrigerator since i was planning to eat them within a couple of weeks. i will definitely be making them again.
Karen
Thanks for letting me know karen, I'm glad you like them. I love them in salad too! And you can drizzle a bit of the juice for dressing. ~ karen!
Lynn
Karen your beet recipe is almost identical to my own. I use less sugar than you, in part due to diabetes in family. I have also done it with honey and Splenda . No one cared much for the Splenda , mind family does not care for it’s taste as a rule.
I have done yellow beets a couple of times just for a change in colour, work great I think hubby was Leary about the yellow though.
Will have to look for your roasted beets recipe.
Karen
It's so easy! You just wrap them in foil and bake in the oven at 375 or so. No mess at all. ~ karen!
Cam Pyper
So I've done my first batch of the season based upon this recipe. Done a bit of reading on the tradition of sterilizing the jars, lids and rings. I had wondered why they should be pre-sterilized if they are then immersed in a 30 minute bath and it turns out there is no good reason to do this. My grandmother might be miffed at the thought but I'll skip that bit and get back to the garden earlier. I chose to grow long type beets, peel them, and slice to 4 mm using a madoline. While I did precook the beet slices I suspect that the pre-cooking you do is mostly to get the skins off, which in cylindra types can be achieved by peeling in advance. I am wondering if I could get away with not doing any advance cooking and relying entirely upon the 30 minute bath to cook 'em. The 10 minute sojourn in the brine before jarring might also go. Any thoughts?
Karen
Hi Cam! I'm pretty strict about staying with the recipe for canning because of my fear of botulism and death, but I'm sure you'll be fine. ~ karen!
Jamie
Did you use whole or ground spices?
Thank you
Karen
Hi Jamie! I use powdered spices for this. I'll update the recipe! If you watch the video near the bottom of the post you can see the whole process from beginning to end. ~ karen!
Cam Pyper
I do believe the writer was channelling a drunken Hemmingway when this article was written, if the latter had been a foodie. Delightful.
Karen
Thanks Cam! I'm glad you enjoyed For Whom the Beets Toll. ~ karen!
Mary W
Almost didn't read today - assumed it was a pressure can job. But Gee, pickled beets are yum. So I read and am so happy - got to try this. I just finished a quick pickle sandwich of Heilmanns' mayo on toasted homemade bread with Romano and cracked pepper sprinkles then garden Egyptian spinach stacked high and beautiful neon pink quick red pickles piled on top. It was a thing of beauty but tasted fine, also. It was what I had on hand. I love my tiny backyard garden and my homemade teas and lunches! Especially when I can read your blog while eating.
whitequeen96
Hmm . . . I can't seem to get to the newer comments. I just wanted you to know that while there is no way in h*ll I would eat or can pickled beets, I had to read this post because you're so much fun to follow!
Tim Stone
Hi Karen and Friends,
after you have boiled the beets, quarter and drain them and put them into a jar, top up the jar almost to the top with .....Cider Apple Vinegar! add 1 dessert spoon of brown sugar granules and a teaspoon of flower honey (any honey will probably do in fact), put the top on the jar and gently turn it up and down half a dozen times "slowly" to mix the contents......leave for at least two weeks in a dark cupboard. Even beats that kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower...(done that without the cherry leaves though). Oh, and my beets are home grown...its dead easy from seed! I use Douwe Egberts coffee jars (when they are empty of course).
Catt-in-Kentucky
I love quick refrigerator pickled thinly sliced onions, carrots, and radishes. I don’t eat much sugar, so this spring I made refrigerator quick pickled onions and radishes (no cooking) using pure liquid Stevia for sweetener which I buy from Whole Foods. I seriously could not tell a taste difference between stevia sweetened and sugar sweetened pickled veggies. They stay edible for about 4 to 5 days in the fridge before they start degrading.
I have not tried using this method with beets. If the beets are cooked and cubed or sliced and then pickled with the vinegar and added stevia and put in the fridge for a few hours, they would probably taste just fine.
Julienned pickled beets in salads, tacos even avocado toast (with a fried egg) are delish. Eating them as a condiment might be more appealing to those with “beet aversion” than chowing down on whole pickled beets.
Cherie
Hi Karen I might give this recipe a try. Today I did your recipe for bread and butter pickles and put them in a boiling water bath for 10 mins because, well, because my fridge has no more room. Do you make green tomato chow chow? If not, and it you would like my recipe, just let me brag and tell you that I win friends with them. Everyone needs friends, right? Many years I make a double batch because I have so many people who beg me for a jar every year. Honest! Would I lie about such a thing? Anyway, I'll send it to you via email if you would like it and you can claim it as your own later. My ego is intact, sort of, so I don't even need a reference. Besides which, I got the recipe from a friend whose N.S. friend gave it to her about 40 yrs ago. It is one of the few recipes I have never altered at all. Having eaten it in N.S. -- where I left my soul in grade seven when we moved back to N.B. after two years in N.S.-- I fell in love and have made it every fall for decades.
Karen
Shock alert. I have never had chow chow! So sure, send the recipe along! ~ karen!
Lynn
I have done green tomatoe chow chow , surprisingly family and friends prefer my zucchini chow chow 🤷♀️ . If I don’t have any zucchini chow chow I end up with revolting family and friends go figure. As I found out this year due to not growing any zucchini.
We use same as chow chow some even use it as a salsa.
Hoping to try making Habitat red chow next year…
Lori Leland
Easy to follow and turned out so delicious!
Karen
That's great, thanks so much for leaving a comment and review Lori! (try them in a salad of spring greens and a few nuts or pumpkin seeds by the way ... SO good) ~ karen!
Toni
This is only my second year canning anything. I have my beets peeled and ready was looking for a brime that suited me when I came across yours. The ingredients is what I am looking for but Your sence of Humor is what sold me. Looking forward for more of it
Phyllis Kraemer
I remember in one of your posts you noted which ones were your favourites...could you remind me please which ones they were? Thanks so much!!
Karen
Which what were my favourite? Which beet variety for growing? ~ karen!
Phyllis Kraemer
Aya!! Poor me! Glad u r a mind reader! Beets.. in general!!
Karen
:) I like Kestrel beets and Detroit Dark Red. But there are a LOT of beet varieties - I haven't tried them all yet. ;) ~ karen!
Lynn
I use almost the identical recipe for my beets an yes it's sooo good .
Family loves them except for one son in law he never had beets before an it kind of freaked him out (the after affects ) I mean . So he will not eat any beats again.
I did Candy Cane Beets and Golden Yellow this year as well also gave seeds for Golden beets to sister in law they were a big hit with her as well.
No Red hands .
I agree roasted beets have to be second best way to eat beets. ( roast like a baked potato).
Third way sliced thinly raw on salads .