All About Beets
Beets are sweet root vegetables that taste like earth mixed with sugar. They add natural sweetness, moisture, and deep red or golden color to salads, soups, and roasted vegetable dishes. Raw beets have a crisp texture like carrots but turn tender and almost buttery when roasted at 400°F for 45 minutes. Their natural sugars caramelize during cooking, making them taste sweeter than their raw counterparts.
How to Select
Choose beets that feel firm and heavy for their size. The skin should be smooth without soft spots or wrinkles. Small to medium beets (2-3 inches diameter) taste sweeter and cook faster than large ones. Fresh beets with bright green tops attached stay fresh 50% longer than trimmed beets.
How to Store
Store unwashed beets in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer for up to 3 weeks. Cut the greens off first, leaving 1 inch of stem attached. Greens last only 2-3 days wrapped in damp paper towels. Cooked beets keep 5 days refrigerated in an airtight container. You can freeze cooked, peeled beets for up to 8 months.
How to Prep
Scrub beets under cold water with a vegetable brush. Leave skin on for roasting to preserve moisture and nutrients. For raw preparations, peel with a vegetable peeler and dice into 1/4-inch cubes or grate on a box grater. Wear gloves to avoid staining hands. Roast whole beets wrapped in foil at 400°F for 45-60 minutes until a knife slides through easily. The skins slip off after cooling.
Flavor Pairings
Beets love acidic ingredients like balsamic vinegar and lemon juice, which brighten their earthy sweetness. Goat cheese provides creamy tang that balances beet's natural sugars. Walnuts add crunch and bitterness. Maple syrup amplifies sweetness in roasted preparations. Fresh herbs like basil and dill cut through the earthiness.
Cooking Tips
Roast beets at 400°F for 45-60 minutes wrapped in foil with 1 tablespoon olive oil.
Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to boiling water to prevent color bleeding when cooking red beets.
Grate raw beets directly into salads using the large holes of a box grater for best texture.
Cut beets into equal-sized pieces (1/2 to 3/4 inch) for even cooking in 25-30 minutes.
Varieties
FAQ
Why do my roasted beets taste bitter?
Large beets over 3 inches diameter often taste bitter due to higher concentration of geosmin, the compound that gives beets their earthy flavor. Choose smaller beets and roast at 400°F with a drizzle of maple syrup or honey. Adding 1/4 teaspoon salt per pound before roasting also reduces bitterness.
Can I eat beet greens?
Yes, beet greens taste similar to Swiss chard and contain more iron than spinach. Saute young greens for 3-4 minutes in olive oil with garlic. Older greens need 8-10 minutes cooking time. One bunch of beet greens cooks down to about 1 cup. Remove thick stems first as they take twice as long to soften.
How do I prevent beets from staining everything?
Add 2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar to your cooking water. This helps set the color. Work on a plastic cutting board, not wood. Rub lemon juice on stained hands immediately. For salads, toss other ingredients with dressing first, then fold in beets last. Golden beets provide the same nutrition without any staining.
What's the white foam when I boil beets?
The foam consists of proteins and natural sugars rising to the surface, similar to what happens with beans. Skim it off with a spoon if desired, though it's harmless. Adding 1 teaspoon salt per quart of water reduces foaming by 75%. The foam appears more with older beets that have higher sugar content.
