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.
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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Carolyn
I love beets, however I don't have a cheap supply of them, so won't be canning them anytime soon. Boo!
For those looking for a way to remove the beet juice stains from hands & cutting boards...use salt - kosher salt works very well. Once you are done cutting your beets, wet your hands (or cutting board) in warm water to wash them, and sprinkle salt on them & use it to wash your hands. Then add some soap & voila! Ok, this assumes you have no open cuts, as that would hurt a bit to get the salt in there. Lol! The kosher salt also softens up your hands like you exfoliated them.
Jack Ledger
I just take the beets to my local bar, spend two or three hours sharing shots of tequila and voila, "pickled" beets. I know "groooaaannnn".
Karen
That deserves a, Hah! ~ k
Sarah in Illinois
I'm not sure I am brave enough to try a pickled beet yet. Maybe I should just suck it up and try one.
As someone else said above, I would like some info on the processing part of canning. I would love to can salsa and we planted way too many pickling cucumber this year, but I am scared to death of creating an accidental bomb in my kitchen.
Mary W
I used to can lots of pickles very year and always used the hot water bath method for canning them not the pressure cooker. The cans are put into warm water, covering them by about an inch, brought to and boiled (there is a rack in the bottom so they aren't resting on the actual pot. Once done, they are lifted out and set on a DRY towel to cool. While they cool you will hears the lids pop as they suck down while cooling. That means they are air tight. Any that don't pop must be kept in refrigerator as the seal didn't work. (I never had one that didn't pop.) This method is for sugared or salted with plenty of vinegar recipes only since the sugar or salt in vinegar is enough acid to preserve them. This method is also used for jams and jellies. I got most of my information from the County Agent's office which in USA is in every county. They help you with soil testing, growing information for local crops, and canning and preserving food and have many free handouts for pickles, jelly, gardens, fertilizer, insects, etc. Good luck!
Jenny Ryan
My mom makes pickled beets ALL THE TIME and half the time she tosses in some jalapenos to kick up the spice. And as much as I love things with jalapenos...oh my god do I hate pickled beets. Partially because two years ago at Thanksgiving I thought the pile of pickled beets was a pile of cranberry sauce from the can. It wasn't. What a terrible way to find that out...
Also, my husband still remembers when he was a kid and thought that the pickled beets on his plate were cinnamon apples. Nope. Hello, pickled beets! The old bait and switch got us both. ^_^
Evalyn
The Blue Ball(cough)Canning Book has a receipe they call spicey pickled beets, which contain slices of onion; it's not as vinegar-y as the Pickled Beet receipe and is my favorite, even over my mother's recipe.
Here's a thought - instead of ground spices, use the same ones, only in whole form. Genius, right?
Charissa: the correct way to eat pickled beets is with a fork or your fingers out of the jar.
Removing beet stains from your hands: lemon juice works really well, and even softens your skin.
Mary W
I adore onions that are picked with beets! I forgot and since I'm going to try Karen's recipe, will now remember to add the onions. Great with goat cheese on salads with candied pecans and strawberries.
charissa
Love this! I have to confess though... although I'm finally starting to come around on the idea of pickled things (I'm a recovering vinegar hater. I know; I'm working on it.) I am ashamed to state that I really don't know how I'm supposed to eat pickles! Just, you know, beside the other veggies at dinner? Even though they're cold? Do you throw 'em into salads, or is that weird? I like the Down South idea of using beets as a burger condiment. But a girl can only eat so many burgers in a day!
Nicole2
I love me a good pickled beet. But I hate anything to do with the kitchen. However, you, Karen, make it sound so exciting, easy and doable, that I may run out and buy stuff to try this. You're slowly making me more domesticated. My husband will be so impressed.
Maria
1) These look delicious 2) Thank you for being real about the obsessive safety stuff 3) I need these in my mouth right now.
Spokangela
We pickled some beets for the first time last year. I thought I hated beets until I grew my own and sliced them up & threw them in a salad. Now I can't get enough of them!
I think the deep crimson color of the beet juice/pickling liquid is too beautiful to waste so I am going to dye my stained Ikea dishcloths with it. I'll let you know how it goes :) Thank you Karen for yet another hysterically funny post.
Lynn
If you do the dye that way , a quick word of advice after they get the colour you want let them air dry. Then put them in a pure vinegar bath for at least 30 minutes air dry. Then try washing as normal.
The vinegar bath (should ) lock in the dye so that they will not run. Like a said it ( should ). It would be better to use the water from the first pot you put the beets in , , , rather than the one that had the spices and vinegar added.
I use to do needle point and in order to set the colours I would soak after so that the items could be washed.
Chrissy
I loved pickled beets, but I've never cooked a beet nor eaten a non-pickled variety.
How long do you boil the beets?
Karen
Chrissy - Until they're done. Heh. Depends on the size of the beet. Around 45 minutes to an hour. Just stick a fork in them like a potato. You want a slight amount of resistance, otherwise they'll be mush. Especially after you process them for 10 minutes. ~ karen!
Chrissy
Whoa, glad I asked. I probably would have just blanched them to get the skins off!
Pats
I actually never had a NON-pickled beet until I was an adult. For those who haven't had them, they don't really taste anything like a regular beet. It's a whole different food.
Paula
Growing up, the only way we ate beets was pickled. I HATED the too vinegar-y taste of them and assumed I just didn't like beets. Then I grew up and got to eat them just plain roasted with a little salt - YUM! I love beets! Just had 'em in a salad last night, even! But pickled? No, no, no, no, NOOOOO!
Anna
Now here's a photo op. What does the jar of pickled beets in your fridge look like!?
Rebecca
Well, what I had to say has already been said, but I feel so strongly about it that I'll repeat it... ICK! Beets taste like dirt. You will never make me like them (my husband has tried-he eats them by the jarful). They are to me what Brussels sprouts are to you. I hate Brussels sprout too though! Probably more than beets actually. If I had a gun to my head and a plate of each, and forced to eat one, I'd probably pick the beets just because they don't make me gag.
Atticus
Dirt? You need to wash them, you know. :)
As for Brussels sprouts, I never liked them either until a French chef told me to try slicing them very thinly, then saute'ing then in butter (or bacon fat), salt and pepper until tender. I love them that way! Try cooking a few that way and you might change your mind like I did.
Kelly
I was just thinking longingly about pickled beets when I was planting the little beet seeds this weekend. My recipe is very similar except I just pour the syrup over the beets in the jar and then pop the lids on. Another favorite at our house is pickled carrots. Can't wait.
Pat
Beets as a side dish with perogies! MMMM.
Yes, Karen, you are so right about the processing in the hot water bath. For years my mother and I made her beet "relish" recipe which did not call for the processing and no one ever got sick. Over the past few years we have been adding that part with all the new information on what is in our food now and how the canning process has changed. If you ever take a "Food Safe" course, that'll make your eyes pop and reconsider how you are dealing with food.
White
My preference with pickled beets (any/all pickles, actually) is the amount of "bite".
Two things can adjust that bite:
1) "Pickling vinegar" = 7% acetic acid, not 5%
2) Adding a small "hot" pepper to each jar
Question: do you wear gloves when peeling/handling the cooked beets? If so... wimp :)
Karen
White - I don't wear gloves when handing blindingly hot peppers, so no. Definitely not with beets. The stains rub/wash/wear off after less than a day so it doesn't bother me none. :) Plus if you get hungry you can always suck on your fingers throughout the day. ~ karen
Erin Hall {i can craft that}
I have to admit I have never tried a beat in any form in my entire life. I don't think I would go out and buy them to try but if I am ever somewhere they have beats for offer I might just give one a try.
CBuffy
Mmmmmmmm. Home canned pickled beets and macaroni and cheese. Food of the GODS!!!
Susan
Oh rats, I'm just too much of a realist. My cream-coloured Safari outfit ended up with pickled beet juice splatters on it. I'm one of those people who keep going out and buying white summer tops and wear them once before splattering them with something. Am I the definition of an optimist?
Since I gave up cooking for Lent one year and forgot to start again, I don't pickle any more but there is a lady down the street who keeps me supplied with pickled beets and gluten-free mustard pickles. She is a friend indeed because I sure do love those pickles.