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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Karen
Right away! Eat em up! ~ karen!
Joe
Though we have pickled beets before, this is the first time we have made "Processed Spiced Pickled Beets". How soon after processing am I safe to dive into them and know that I am experiencing the full flavor?
Thank you.
Joe
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Texas Shay
Thanks for sharing your love of pickled beets. I did not know I even liked beets until I grew some in my garden because my older neighbor said he loved pickled beets. I looked up a recipe, tried it out, and- BAM! I was hooked! I often have roasted beets with my lunch salad 4-5 days a week.
I wanted to add that when our grandmothers and great grandmothers were canning with vinegar, most of that vinegar was 9% acidity- there is a big difference between that an the 5% most of us use today.
Joan
Hi
I did the beets with pickling vinegar. Should I have used regular vinegar? Best recipe ever.
Karen
Hi Joan - As far as I know pickling vinegar and regular distilled vinegar are pretty much the same thing. I use regular distilled, but I'm sure what you used was fine. Apparently it was if it worked out for you! ~ karen
kay
i think this mayhave something to do with being from north west england, but since moving to Canada i have found that all pickling is done with white vinegar.... soooooooo bland. has anyone done this with malt vinegar? i have just done a batch of red cabbage with malt vinegar and will be doing pickles next.... no not dill pickles, pickled onions. now how about beets in malt. any feed back pl
Karen
Hi Kay! I think that Cabbage would be great with a malt vinegar, but I personally wouldn't do beets with malt. I would do white vinegar or even a balsamic if you want to go nuts. ~ karen!
mothership
Hi Karen- did not read ALL comments so maybe somebody mentioned... pickled rat tails???
save the beet tails (scrubbed, but still.... hairy)
& pickle them... serve at your halloween buffet.
My pickled beet recipe is not sweet... & done with raw beets... but longer processing time so beets cook in the jar,,, works especially well for the tails!
mothership
oh yeah & I feel all special since i'm not wasting veg trimmings!
Karen
As a matter of fact, no. No one did mention the rat tails, LOL. ~ karen
Christie
I am growing beets for the first time this spring/summer, and I cannot WAIT to pickle 'em right up. I'm going to have to give your recipe a try! Seriously... pickled beets totally kick African safari's ass.
Gayla T
Beets are beautiful! If they are not washed thoroughly before cooking with the peels on they do get a dirty taste....because the dirt cooks in. Also do not cut off the top part of the beet before cooking. Leave a bit of the stem on or they bleed to death. My mother's words when I cooked the beets and they were very pale pink when done. I hate boiled eggs but in the pickle juice they are yummy. There is still no germ known to man that can survive in all that vinegar and salt. Believe me, our kitchens are much cleaner now than they used to be. We used to do really disgusting things like clean poultry which meant removing the insides. However, you can't cut the amount of vinegar in a recipe. My great great grandmother died from eating her own home made sourkraut. She ran short of vinegar and went ahead with the process which at that time was not done in sterile jars but in open crocks with a rag tied over the top. She told the family what she had done and that it was ok to eat it after she ate some. She said if it made her sick she would reprocess it but she died before bed time that night and it was a horrible death. This story was told by my grandmother every time we made kraut. My other great great grandma was struck by lightening and killed while looking out her screen door at the storm. We are very careful to never eat kraut while standing at a screen door during a storm and we all live long lives.
Alex
I first heard them called 'pickled beets' a few months ago, when I was talking about beets, and my man asked how we cook beets down in this neck of the woods - and I didn't know what he meant. Beets are always in bottles. That's just what beets are, right? RIGHT?! Pickled beets doesn't even make sense, since all beets are pickled.
I guess I shouldn't have broken up with him over that.
Karen
LOL. ~ karen
Blue
GASP.
Beets have come into my house for the first time this evening in my CSA share. I have always wanted to try pickled beets! And there's only enough for me to eat - not enough to worry about canning for later, so I don't even have to worry about canning, just whether or not I can stomach my first attempt at pickled beets.
Thank you for your excellent advice (and good timing)!
Mary Werner
Beet greens are the best of the greens - hope you try them too. I always cook mine with bacon.
Karen
Hi Mary - These beets didn't come with greens, but yes I cook beet greens all the time when I get bunches of beets with greens attached. ~ karen!
Arlene P
Does this mean I have to eat the pickled beets my neighbour gave me, oh, a few years ago?
Karen
Um. No. I always ask if someone likes pickled beets before I offer them any. And sometimes home preserves just freak people out. So .. yeah .. don't eat em if you don't wanna. ~ karen!
Jackie B
No matter what you could possibly pay me, I would NEVER eat a beet. I did once when I was on the "Lose Ten Pounds in Ten Minutes" diet and you had to eat every single thing it listed. I ate the beets and gagged. I thought I was eating dirt. Actually, dirt would have tasted better. Yuck. Beets and califlower are two things on an extremely short list that will never go down my throat. Ever. Tripe either. And probably not the bull balls and other private parts that I saw people eating on a exotic restaurant show. Most everything else, I am game!
pve
Beet it....dadadada da da....sorry I could not resist.
Your beet recipe looks marvelous dahlink.
pve
Karen
LOL! Thank you ma'am. I've given away many jars. 3 just today. I'm gonna have to start being less free with the beets! ~ karen!
Karen Eggleston
After we had eaten the beets, my mother always threw in shelled hard boiled eggs. . I love the beets but don't care for the eggs.
Shauna
Do I have to have 10 lbs. of beets? Is there a smaller recipe perhaps? I'm still freaked out (since last year) of a canning project. I'd like to start small until I earn my big girl canning panties. I know (or so I've read) that one cannot just reduce a recipe for canning like one can for cooking. Any tips? Besides "grow a pair of ovaries and just do it". :)
pumpkin
Yeah Shauna. No harm in reducing this recipe. It will be just fine cut in half or 1/3s. I have only one ovary and am fearless. You will do fine!
NinaMargo
Oh Thank Gawd! I love pickled beets, but it's just me and the hubster and he runs screaming from the house at the sight of beets... so I only eat them when we eat out of when he's out of town. I'll make a small batch and put them in the front of the fridge where he can't find them.
Kim from 3 peanuts
AM I the only one the LOATHES pickled beets? Seriously, I gag looking the photos. My mom tried to force feed them to me as a child (something about them being good for me) YUCK! I usually agree with your taste but I must click away today.
Carla S.
Oh, yes, pickled beets- MMmmm good !Don't throw the juice left in the jar away ! Put some hard boiled eggs (shelled) in it for a week or two and you have pretty pink pickled eggs. My hubby's in heaven ! I'll eat the beets but he can have the pickled eggs. He's even happier if I throw in a jalapeno.
If you don't grow your own beets,I bought the gal. cans of beets at the store one year and pickled them. Couldn't tell the difference and saved all the work of cooking, peeling, & pink hands. Just a thought.
Laura Bee
Growing up with Mennonite grandparents, there was ALWAYS pickled beets on the supper table. I finally started making made my own a few years ago, but never processed them. Nana never did. Thanks for the weird reminder that our food has changed. So weird. This year I'm going to cook them outside on the big burner so the kitchen doesn't turn into a sweaty pink sauna.