How To Cook Beets
Learn how to cook beets 3 ways with this simple step-by-step guide. Whether you want to make roasted beets, steamed beets, or boiled beets, this blog post will teach you how! Using these easy tested and perfected methods will give you delicious cooked beets every time. Beets are a delicious addition to salads, buddha bowls, soups, hummus, and more.
Ingredients
- 1 pound beets
For roasted beets
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For boiled beets
- ¼ cup distilled white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
How To Roast Beets
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the stems and greens from the beets. Don’t throw them away! Follow my instructions for how to use beet greens.
- Peel the beets, then place them in the middle of a large piece of foil.
- Drizzle olive oil over the peeled beets, then season with salt and pepper on all sides.
- Wrap the foil up and over the beets. Place them on a baking sheet and into the oven for 60 minutes, for medium-to-large beets. The beets used in this recipe are around 1/3 pound each. If your beets are much smaller, it might only take 40 minutes for them to roast. If the beets are smaller, I recommend opening the foil after 40 minutes and piercing one of the beets with a fork. If it’s easy to slide the fork in and out of the beet, that means it’s roasted and can be removed from the oven.
- Unwrap the foil and allow the beets to cool. For most recipes, you’ll want to use cooled, or cold beets.
- Slice or dice the beets. Once the beets are cool, transfer them to a cutting board. Either slice or cube the beets, depending on how you’re going to use them in a recipe. Use them immediately, or transfer them to an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
How to Steam Beets
- Add 2 inches of water to a large pot on the stove over high heat and bring the water to a boil.
- Trim the stems and greens off of the beets, then scrub the beets clean.
- Add the beets to a steamer basket above the boiling water on the stove. Make sure that the beets do not touch the water.
- Cover the pot, keep the stove on high and steam the beets for 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the beets. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and pierce one of the beets with a fork. If it’s easy to slide the fork in and out of the beet, that means it’s cooked and you can turn the heat off on the stove.
- Use tongs to remove the beets from the steamer basket and run them under cold water, then use your hands to peel the beets. The skin of the beets will easily slide off after they’re steamed.
- Place the peeled, steamed beets on a cutting board to cool.
- Once cooled, either store the beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, or cut them into slices or cubes to use the steamed beets in a recipe immediately.
How to Boil Beets
- Trim the stems and greens off of the beets, then scrub the beets clean and place them in a large pot.
- Add 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar to the pot with 1 teaspoon salt, then fill the pot with water, enough to cover the beets.
- Place the beets on the stove over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, turn the heat on the stove down to medium-high, so that the water continues to simmer. Boil the beets for 40 minutes, or until fork tender. After 40 minutes, pierce one of the beets with a fork. If it’s easy to slide the fork in and out of the beet, that means it’s cooked and you can turn the heat off on the stove.
- Use tongs to remove the beets from the boiling water and run them under cold water. Use your hands to peel the beets. The skin of the beets will easily slide off after they’re boiled. Place the peeled, boiled beets on a cutting board to cool.
- Once cooled, either store the beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, or cut them into slices or cubes to use the boiled beets in a recipe immediately.
Notes
- The nutritional information listed above is for roasted beets with olive oil, salt and pepper.
- If roasting the beets, I recommend peeling them first with a vegetable peeler. This will allow the oil and seasoning to cook into the beets. And it won’t be removed when you peel the beets after they roast in the oven.
- If steaming or boiling the beets, I recommend peeling them with your hands after they’ve cooked. Steamed or boiled beets peel so easily after they’ve cooked, you can simply use your hands to peel them right off. Keeping the peels on the beets as they steam or boil will keep more of the vibrant color in the beets, rather than leaking out into the water or steamer basket.
- No matter when or how you peel the beets, I recommend using food-safe disposable gloves when peeling the beets. Otherwise, the beets will stain your hands red. Don’t worry though, if you don’t have gloves, the red tint will wash off in a few hours.
- I made each of these methods using 1 pound of beets, with 3 beets that are each approximately 1/3 pound in size. If your beets are smaller, you may have to adjust the cooking time down. If the beets are larger, you may have to add to the cooking time.
- No matter the cooking method, always use a fork to pierce the largest beet before removing it from the oven, or the stove. If it’s easy to slide the fork in and out of the beet, that means it’s cooked, tender and ready to eat.
- Try to purchase similar size beets to cook together. If one beet is really large and one is really small, they won’t cook at the same time. When shopping for beets, I recommend getting them as close in size as possible.
- This recipe can be made with any type of beet. The most common beets you’ll find at the grocery store are red, golden or chioggia beets (also called candy cane beets or striped beets). If using two different beets, I recommend cooking them separately if you want to keep the color of each of the beets.
- Roasted, steamed or boiled beets can be frozen for up to 3 months. After cooking the beets, make sure they’re completely cooled. Store them in a freezer-safe bag, or vacuum seal them before placing them in the freezer.
Nutrition Facts
Calories 268kcal (13%)Carbohydrates 44g (15%)Protein 7g (14%)Fat 9g (14%)Saturated Fat 1g (5%)Polyunsaturated Fat 1gMonounsaturated Fat 6gSodium 1517mg (63%)Potassium 1488mg (43%)Fiber 13g (52%)Sugar 31g (34%)Vitamin A 155mg (3%)Vitamin C 22mg (27%)Calcium 78mg (8%)Iron 4mg (22%)
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