Pickled Beets Recipe
I don’t know about you, but I love pickled beets, especially in my salads. So the other day when I harvested nearly 12 pounds of beets, the first thing that came to mind was canning them.
If you have never gardened or canned anything before in your life, you’re in luck. Not only will I be walking you through how I am planting and harvesting my vegetables this summer and fall, but I’ll be showing you how to can everything under the moon as well.
So don’t be afraid. I’ll walk you through it.
Here is a simple recipe I use every summer to make pickled beets. After you can your beets, you’ll want to store them in a dry, cool place for about 2 months before you pop open the lid and enjoy them. This will allow the beets absorb the pickling juices.
Pickled Beets Recipe
Ingredients
25–30 small beets {about the size of golf balls}
3 1/2 cups white distilled vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon whole allspice
2 small cinnamon sticks
Instructions
- Wash beets, trim the tops, and cook {about 15 minutes}in a large stock pot filled 3/4 full with water.
- Drain beets, and carefully peel.
- Bring vinegar, sugar, water salt allspice, and cinnamon to a boil, reduce heat.
- Simmer the mixture for 15 minutes.
- Remove cinnamon sticks and pack beets into hot jars, leaving about 1/4 inch head space.
- Ladle hot liquid mixture over beets leaving about 1/4 inch head space.
- Remove any air bubbles, add two-piece caps, and process pints and quarts for 30 minutes in a boiling water canner.
- Remove from the canner and cool on a towel in a draft-free location.
Looking for a few more canning recipes? Search my Full List of Canning Recipes
Looking for a good canning book? Here’s a list of my favorites:
- Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
- The Blue Chair Jam Cookbook
- Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It
- Food in Jars
- The Amish Canning Cookbook
- Not Your Mama’s Canning Book
Also, check out these tutorials if you’ve never used a canner before:
Tutorial: Hot Water Bath Canning
Tutorial: How to Use a Pressure Canner
patti m says
being forced to eat canned beets, straight from the grocery store can as a child almost ruined me for life on beets. i can now say, nearing middle age, that i am able to actually enjoy them now. but….i can only eat them roasted with a sweet onion. i have a fantastic recipe if you are interested. it is very easy. seriously easy. i leave some of my beats in the ground over the winter and just pull them as i use them. i have never had any trouble with woody beets as i have seen mentioned in some gardening articles. i checked with the WSU extension and they assured me it would work, and it did! i love them now!
Mavis says
Patti,
send me your recipe, and I’ll try it out! 🙂
patti m says
Mavis, here you go…took me a while to fine this old fb post –
Oven Roasted Beets and Onions
Beets
Sweet Onion (I use Walla Walla when avail.)
Olive Oil – (2-3 Tbs)
Salt (I use Kosher, but have used Table Salt in a pinch)
Pepper
Preheat oven to 400.
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Peel the beets (not sure if you have to do that, I just do). Slice them into 1/4 to 1/2 in coins. Slice the coins into quarters. Do the same with the onions. The onions should be roughly the same size as the beets.
Place each vegetable on the baking sheet, each on its own side. This is to prevent the beets and onions from touching so that other adults in my house, who shall remain nameless, and have not gotten over their childhood aversion to beets, will eat the onions.
Drizzle olive oil over the beets and onions. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt and a generous helping of pepper.
Place in oven and roast for 20 minutes or until beets are fork tender – but NOT mushy.
To serve, I have to keep them separate (see picture 2), but feel free to mix them together if your family can handle it. Make sure you get a bite of beet and a bite of onion. I think you might be surprised!
The beets and onions will have caramelized and have a wonderful flavor. It has a sweet/salty thing going.
**I would like to state that my mom was a wonderful cook. My reference to being served canned beets as a child is in no way a reflection of her cooking abilities. She makes the best Lemon Meringue Pie you have ever eaten in your entire life.
Debbie says
Mavis–how much did your recipe yield? I am looking to can beets for the first time this year, as soon as mine are ready.
Mavis says
3 pints. Yep. 3.
Becky says
I’m also curious about the yield for this–canning beets would’ve saved me a great deal of pregnancy headache!
Ok, when I was pregnant this year, I had the craziest craving for this pickled beet salad. I was roasting and pickling the beets about once a week. One day, my husband saw them sitting on the counter and mistakenly threw them away. It was not one of my finer pregnant moments, but new beets appeared remarkably fast:)
Anyway, here’s the salad with no measurements, because I just made it up after eating a delicious version at a restaurant:)
* Arugula or similar green
* Sliced or chopped pickled beets
* Soft goat cheese (yes, I did eat this while pregnant;)
* Candied pecans
* Balsamic vinegar to dress
The sweetness of the candied pecans is crucial or the salad becomes too tart. Enjoy:)
janelle says
Did you use a pressure cooker or a waterbath canner? It sounded like a waterbath but i wanted to be sure!
Mavis says
Water bath! 🙂
Vickie says
I’m new to canning, but I got a great deal on a gallon size can of beets and would love to pickle them. Will this work if I skip the beet cooking process, since they’re already sliced and cooked? Can I just make the pickling liquid and add it to the jars and process as you described? Blessings to you 🙂
Mavis says
Hmmm. I’ve never tried that, but I don’t see why not. Give it a go and let us know how it turns out.
barb godsey says
This works. Put the lids on as soon as you add the hot liquid.
GBMAXX says
Hi Mavis – It look like you have a bad link on you blog. I tried to click on the “Roasted Red Beet & White Bean Hummus” link and ended up back on the pickled beet page. Could you please send me a link to correct page please.
Thanks, Mavis