30 Delicious Beet Recipes You'll Go Crazy For (2024)

FAQs

What is the most delicious way to eat beets? ›

Beets are delicious roasted, grilled, microwaved, steamed, boiled or air-fried. The key is to experiment with various cooking techniques to find one that gives you the desired flavor.

No need to peel before or after baking. The skin, which is perfectly edible, just seems to disappear during the baking process. The trick to pan-roasted beets is to drop the temperature a bit. I always roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and pretty much all the other veggies at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

TIPS FOR cooking beets

Keep checking whichever method you're using. Don't remove the beet skin before cooking. It's really not necessary and it's much easier to do so after cooking. Some also find that removing the skin prior to cooking takes away some of the beet's earthy test.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir shredded beets in hot butter until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Pour water over the beets, cover skillet with a lid, and simmer beets until completely softened, about 10 minutes. Stir balsamic vinegar with the beets; season with salt and pepper.

Beets are high in nitrates which research suggests improve cardiovascular health in several ways. Some studies show beetroot juice supplementation may lower blood pressure and increase blood flow. It increases oxygen uptake, lengthening the time it takes to become fatigued, which allows people to stay active longer.

Beets and Citrus

The acid in citrus brings out and balances the sweet notes of peak season beets. Try this citrus and beet salad for yourself and let us know how it tastes. If salads aren't your thing, try a beet and citrus juice drink.

Roasting beets gives them a sweeter, richer, and deeper flavor than boiling does. As a cook, I am inspired by colors, so I find beets particularly exciting to work with.

You can even enjoy them raw, either sliced thinly or grated. Choose beets that feel heavy for their size with fresh, unwilted green leafy tops still attached, if possible. Because dietary nitrates are water-soluble, it's best to avoid boiling beets if you'd like to maximize their nitrate content.

You can roast beets without boiling, without foil, and without peeling! Simply slice the beets (a sheet of parchment will keep your cutting board clean), roast them with olive oil and seasonings, and then use the beets however you like.

Place the beets in a large saucepan and add water to cover and the lemon juice or vinegar. This will help to keep the beets from bleeding. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Place pot under running cold water and let rinse until beets can be handled.

What is the healthiest way to cook beets? ›

Oven-Steaming

Steaming in the oven rather than baking helps preserve more of the healthy vitamins and minerals in beets. This method also helps beets better retain their beautiful, vibrant color.

Yes, you can. It's completely safe to drink water that has been used to boil beetroots.

Looking for a quick answer? The best side dishes to serve with beets are steamed vegetables, green beans, salad Nicoise, goat cheese dip, radish chips, potato rosti, zucchini noodles, roasted asparagus, quinoa salad, crispy kale chips, hummus, sautéed spinach, feta and watermelon salad, and corn on the cob.

Also ingredients like dark chocolate, nuts, coffee or roasted onions have earthy flavors and pair well with beetroot. This could be explained by the presence of 'pyrazines', which are aromatic structures formed during the process of roasting ingredients. These pyrazines also contain an earthy smell.

Cure your vegetables as you would a piece of meat for a couple of days. This can be achieved by rubbing the vegetable or mushroom with salt at a concentration of 1.75% of the vegetable's weight, wrapping it tightly in plastic or vacuum sealing it, and letting it sit in the fridge for 2-3 days.

My favorite way to cook beets is to roast them, which gives a sweeter, richer, and deeper flavor than boiling does. Another advantage is that they don't bleed as much, especially if they're roasted whole. Incidentally, to get beet stains off your hands, wet them, rub them with coarse salt, then wash with soap.

Beets take about the same time to steam as they do to roast, and it's a good option if you don't want to heat up your kitchen with the oven. But I find that roasted beets have a richer flavor.

Raw beets contain more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than cooked beets (yes, you can eat beets raw!). Like many vegetables, the longer you cook beets—especially in water—the more the colorful phytonutrients leach out of the food and into the water.