If you’re looking for a canning recipe for old fashioned pickled beets {no funky spices!} then you’ve come to the right spot!
Yesterday we harvested a boatload of beets and since I am a HUGE fan of pickled beets, I decided to can a few pints {7 to be exact!}. Although I do plan on canning more beets as the season progresses, this first canning session using the outdoor cook stove was good start to getting our pantry filled with homegrown goodness for fall.
If you are looking for an old fashioned, no frills recipe for canning pickled beets, this is the one. You will not find cinnamon, cloves, or any other funky spices in this recipe. Only a few basic ingredients, plain and simple, just like Grandma used to make.
This recipe to can pickled beets, you’re gonna love it!
~Mavis
Canning Recipe for Old Fashioned Pickled Beets {No Funky Spices!}
Description
Old fashioned beets, just like Grandma used to make.
Ingredients
10 pounds fresh beets
4 cups cups white distilled vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 cups reserved beet water
1 tablespoon pickling salt
Instructions
Bring a boiling-water canner, 3/4 full with water, to simmer. Wash jars {I used wide mouth pint jars for this recipe} and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in saucepan off the heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Drain well before filling.
Wash beets, trim the tops and cook {about 15 -25 minutes depending on size} in a large stock pot filled 3/4 full with water. Once the beets are fork tender, drain, reserving 2 cups of the beet water and set aside the beets a few minutes until they have cooled down enough to handle.
While the beets are cooling, combine the white distilled vinegar, sugar, beet water and pickling salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and then reduce to a simmer.
Peel beets by applying pressure against the skin of the beet with your fingers. Once you have rubbed the skin off the beets, trim the tops of the beet and any remaining root. Quarter or slice beets and pack them into sterilized pint jars.
Ladle hot liquid mixture over beets leaving about 1/4 inch head space. Remove any air bubbles, add two piece caps and place in canning rack. Lower rack into the canner making sure the jars are covered with at least 2 inches of boiling water and process pints for 30 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Remove jars and place upright on towel to cool completely. After the jars have cooled, check the seals by pressing middles of lids with finger. If lids spring back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. Yields 7 pints.
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
Lauralli says
The kind my grandmother and grandfather used to make tasted like the dirt they grew them in. Still can’t even bring myself to try beets again though they appear to be going through a revival as I’m seeing them on lots of cooking blogs. I asked various people at a July 4th gathering and we all had the same opinion of them. So, what do they taste like to you?
Mar-Kea says
Sounds like they were just canned beets, not pickled.
Marv says
Why on earth would you both making a dumb comment like that
Ellie K. says
Thanks, Mavis!
All my local Aldi locations have discontinued their yummy pickled beets. I’ve been trying other brands. Much to my disappointment, I detect a funky spice, cloves perhaps? Canned ones taste tinny. I even tried soaking canned ones in pickling liquid but they retain the tinny taste. Yuck!
Definitely trying your simple, no-nonsense recipe!
Bonnie Schmidt says
Okay, Mavis, since you are a beet lover, I am going to share my recipe with you. This came from my German in-laws who ate this nearly every day. They are now 90 and 93, so maybe it helped! My own children grew up on it and it is a great side dish. It is called Red Beet Stuff in our family. Tastes great and is a great veggie fill-in. You eat it with a spoon. I served it in custard cups. Let me know if you try it. In a blender, pour in 1 cup of apple juice. Add 1 banana, 2 chopped apples, 2 cut up carrots, and half of one medium sized beet, cut into cubes. Drizzle some maple syrup over and blend until pureed.
Heather says
I ad ones that taste like dirt too. Not all kinds do. So I cut them and roasted in the oven with drizzled maple syrup. No more dirt flavour and yummy
Sue says
I bake my beets in the over with cinnamon sticks and a little water, then peel and cut them. My grandmother did this ,she would add a little peace of cinnamon in each jar as well , removes the earthy taste from the beets and you don’t taste the cinnamon .
Kristina says
Do you process 30 min or 10? You say both at different points.
Mavis Butterfield says
30 minutes. 🙂
Sylvia says
Is it necessary to boil 30 minutes, I’m afraid the beets will over cook and become soft
Cathyharrell says
I love Walmart great value pickled beets. I bet those are delicious too. I eat a can a day:)
Teresa hulme says
Me too was mart canned pickled beets great taste.
Karin Carson says
I LoVe pickled beets and put up between 60-80 pints and for the past 3 years I have been roasting them in my oven , I trim tops and a small amount of the root then add a few cups of water to bottom of roasterthen put into my oven at 250 and roast over night (5hrs) then let cool slightly and with gloves I squeeze the beets and the skins slip off , I strain the liquid and use that in the brine , I have found this makes for a firmer and better beet .
Barb says
Pretty daring of your husband to wear a white shirt while working with beets!
Diane says
I would be interested in hearing if anyone has tips on keeping staining your sinks and countertops. I would love to try this but worried about stains. I have a white sink and very light colored laminate countertops.
Kippy says
Clorox cleaner with bleach works on my off white laminate countertop
Nancy says
I use baking soda and it works perfectly!
Sheilagh says
Use golden beets. Hair dye remover (available at beauty supply shops) takes out beet stains. Golden beets have a nice bright yellow water when cooked. Be careful and wear something you don’t mind ruining and you won’t get a drop on you!
Lissa says
Beets are SO pretty. But icky :). My mom used to always make pickled hard boiled eggs for reunions which were gorgeous. But just couldn’t do it.
Helen in Meridian says
What is Pickling Salt and why is it different? Also what is the difference between white vinegar and pickling vinegar?
Deb says
Just use plain un-iodized salt….salt with iodine will impact the flavor and appearance of home canned foods. I believe there are different strengths of vinegar and pickling vinegar may be a certain percentage of acidity.
Lauri Schwantes says
Sorry to hear that someone’s processing spoiled the enjoyment of a super nutritious vegetable. This comes from not washing all the dirt off the beets and probably cutting all the stems off prior to boiling. Properly scrubbing off all the dirt and leaving 1-1/2 inches of tops on during the cooking process would prevent this. Hope this helps you give them another try. BTW, my grandmother always added a bit of ground cloves to the syrup.
Shari Harniss says
Beets are such a beautiful color- they look like jewels to me!
LOVE the stained hands, proof of getting close up and personal.
And, as far as the comment about beets tasting like dirt, well, yeah, that’s why I adore them! Certain peas also taste that way-love it!
Thanks for a great recipe. Simplicity at it’s best.
Michelle O. says
My family and I can cases and cases of beets each fall in Labrador, Canada. In the past we used white vinegar and white sugar but these past few years I’ve been using apple cider vinegar and maple syrup. So delicious, especially on a salad 🙂
Kim Schroth says
I would love to try using maple syrup instead of sugar. Would you share your recipe? Thank you.
Michelle O. says
Hi! I don’t know why I came back to this post today but I did, and saw your comment.
We process the beets the same as Mavis – wash, boil, take off skins and cut the beets to the size you prefer, put in jars. Then in a saucepan, we bring the apple cider vinegar and maple syrup to a boil (the quantity we use is roughly a 4 to 1 ratio – 4 cups vinegar to 1 cup maple syrup – but taste it with a spoon before pouring in the jars. Add more maple syrup to sweeten or ACV for a more pickled flavour). Then pour liquid into the jars and process the jars until sealed. We usually process for 30 minutes as well.
We’ve been using ACV and maple syrup for 4 years and I’ve opened jars 10-11 months after canning and they have been delicious.
PSU06VAL says
Love you beet canning! I wanted to share I am trying to can for the 1st time, and tried 2 different jalapeno pepper jelly recipes that were somewhat successful and one a fail…then I thought to look at your recipes and you jalapeno jelly was an epic success! Made my day to hear the cans ping and the jelly set! Thanks for sharing it with us!
Pat says
I grate raw beets on top of salads. Nice change of pace.
Julie P says
I love them, earthy taste and all. Only ever grew them successfully once. Since then they have been pathetic specimens. I try every year so we shall see. If they come in I will try your recipe. Although I like all the pickling spices too, this recipe reminds me of my mums pickled beetroot recipe.
Kathleen Ambrose says
If you’ve had trouble growing them, look up Charles Dowding Multi-sown beets on YouTube. I always had not great results growing beets. I tried his approach this year and had Detroit dark red beets as big as my fist. Love that guy!!
Nancy says
We love beets here in at our place in Canada! I grow and pickle Detroit Red beets every year….kinda boring I guess but if it ain’t broke…. However, I just use a mixture of 4 parts water to 1 part white vinegar. I’ve never used salt or sugar. I guess it’s just what you grow up with you end up liking the best.
Linda Harber says
Thanks for posting your recipe (WITHOUT all the funky spices) – I prefer the plain ole pickled beets too! Can’t wait to taste them. I got a batch of your recipe going in the canner right now! BTW love your pooch.
Angela Elias says
Hi Mavis,
I’ve been canning 50 of my 63 years and I am stumped. Hope you can help. I bought 5 pounds of small beets at the farmers market today to can. I boiled them until my knife told me they were soft in the middle. I drained them in the sink. The skins would not slip off. Returned them to the boil for another 3o minutes – same result. HH and I peeled them as I am too frugal to throw them away. Some of them actually split in half as we peeled them. They
were hard as a rock when we started. Any suggestions, Thanks Angela
Lauri Schwantes says
Pickled beets are a family favorite here. There’s really no need to reserve the 2 cups of beet water, just increase the vinegar and sugar by 1 cup. Depending on how sweet you prefer your pickled beets, more sugar can be added. My grandmother always added a bit of ground cloves to the syrup and it adds a great touch to the flavor. Start with 1/4 tsp. and increase to desired taste.
Geni says
Try roasting your beets instead of boiling them before making pickled beets or just plain canned ones. The roasting makes them sweeter and more flavorful. Also gives better color. Put them in a single layer in a large roaster pan or casserole, cover with foil or a tight fitting lid and bake for about 1 hour @350-375 degrees. Let them cool until easily handled. The skins slip off easily and then you can prepare them for your canning recipe
Tsering says
How long do I cann before I eat. Have been eating raw. I am new to this. Trying for the first time. Please explain
Mavis Butterfield says
I would let your canned pickled beets sit for a month or two before cracking open. 🙂
Tsering says
Thanks. Do I refrigerate or keep it in a room temperature. I live in Delhi so the temp is usually around 35*C
Judy says
Hi Mavis, do you keep the beet greens to eat? I have a Ukrainian recipe for beet greens and rice if you are interested.
Megan says
I would love that recipe. My oldest and I adore beet leaves sautéed in bone broth.
Reathel Simpson says
I love cooked beet greens with a little butter & salt – I steam them so not so watery getting out of the pot; however some family members eat with apple cider vinegar and mayonnaise. I also prepare with bacon bits.
ashley says
So excited to try this! I recently made pickled cabbage and want to try making pickled beets, I haven’t really considered the canning method but this seems super achievable. Can’t wait to see how they turn out, thanks for sharing!!
Tatiana says
Do these need to be refrigerated or can they be kept room temperature?
Mavis Butterfield says
They are canned, so you can store them on your pantry shelf. When you open a jar of beets, place the opened jar in the fridge. 🙂
Opal says
Hello,
I forgot to reserve the beet water….should I use plain water or something else?
Thanks
Prudence says
Saving beet water is why people are complaining about beets tasting like dirt. There is dirt in the water from the beets. Just use regular water people.
Lynn says
Just tried this recipe for the first time yesterday. I had 9.75 pounds and I needed to almost double the recipe. It made 12 pints.
Anxious to try these when they are ready.
Kay says
When I was a young girl, I was my grandma’s helper in the kitchen. Sadly, I realized after she died, and I was ready to do my own canning, there were no written recipes. Each year I would try a new recipe with no success. BUT this year I found your website. I am on my second batch. The brine tastes just like what my grandma put together with “no funky spices”. I can’t thank you enough. I am now a big fan and look forward to jumping deeper into your creations. Thank you again from Canada!!!
Lynn says
Can you save extra brine and use it the next day?
Kristin says
I don’t usually leave reviews on recipes, but this was absolutely amazing!
I started teaching myself how to water-bath can 2 years ago. Up until this year, I only did some jam and cranberry juice. This year, I unexpectedly started canning pickled vegetables because my kids have certain vegetables they like that my husband doesn’t, so I thought this would be a good way for them to enjoy these vegetables without my husband being forced to eat food he doesn’t like. But I digress…
My mom can canned some pickled beets one year when I was younger that were really good, so I was excited to try it myself. I was really disappointed to find certain seasonings in every recipe, whether they be mustard and celery seed like pickled cucumbers or a weird cinnamon and clove mixture. So I have this recipe a try. The directions were simple and easy to follow, so it wasn’t long before I had almost 12 jars of pickled beets.
My kids and I just tried them for the first time tonight; if I had to say something negative, I would say the brine was a little stronger than I expected. But the flavor is amazing! I will never try making these any differently because the flavor of this recipe can’t be beat!
Thank you so much for this simple but delicious recipe!
Moni says
I am not rating this recipe yet, as I have yet to make it, but I have looking something for something like this. I have a question regarding processing time. It is usual to add time for elevation. I live at 2000′. Normally canning instructions state the processing time for sea level and then how much to add for every 1000 feet above 1000 ft elevation.