Quick Pickled Roasted Beets
If you have a bad opinion about beets, this recipe might change your mind. It is not really a recipe as much as a method of making quick pickled beets. These beets will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks but are not shelf stable. There is no water bath involved. The majority of the labor is just roasting the beets and letting them cool before peeling and assembling. I prefer golden beets, chiaggia beets or albino beets over Detroit red beets. But use what you can source. This is one reason I grow my own beets so I can have the sweeter, milder varieties. Farmers markets or a CSA box are also great options for trying different varieties of beets.
Ingredients:
Beets
Olive oil for roasting
Apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
Herb salt or Diamond Kosher Salt
Sugar or honey
Boiling water
Whole pepper corns-optional
Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Trim the top and bottom off the beets.
Lay out a sheet of aluminum foil (you could skip this but it may be harder to peel the beets and they will turn out darker in color but will still taste good). Place the beets on the foil and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a generous pinch of herb salt.
Fold the foil up to make a little packet for the beets then roast for 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. I like to allow them to cool in the packet and then I’ll put the foil packet directly into the fridge to chill the beets overnight. You do not have to chill them first but it is much easier to peel and chop them when they are cooled.
5. Once the beets are cooled, the skins will just peel off. I push the skins off with my fingers. Then chop the beets into bite sized pieces.
6. Pack the beets into jars. I have 2 different sizes here. I have 16 oz wide mouth and 32 oz wide mouth jars. But you can use whatever jar use have. Just make sure to pack the beets into the jar. Then I fill the jar between 1/3 and 1/2 full of vinegar. I like both apple cider vinegar and rice vinegar for this. For the 16 oz jar I add 1/2 tsp of herb salt and 1 tbsp sugar. For the 32 oz jar, I added 1 tsp herb salt and 2 tbsp sugar. If you are using different sized jars, look at this more as ratios. For a smaller jar, use less salt and sugar. For a larger jar, use more. For each 1/2 tsp of salt, use 1 tbsp of sugar. You can sub honey for sugar if you want. Then top off the jars with boiling water. I like to fill them all the way to the very top.
7. Add the lids back to the jars and invert several times to mix everything together. Store in the fridge. The beets will be ready in an hour or so but are better if you let them marinate overnight.
These are perfect for salads. Just top some Arugula with the pickled beets, add feta cheese, pecans and dress with some of the pickled beet juice and olive oil. Delicious! Or eat them as a healthy snack. You can also use them to make borscht.
I keep them in the fridge for 1-2 weeks as long as there is pickle liquid covering the beets. They are not shelf stable and need to remain chilled. If you note any mold or off smells, discard them but as long as the veg stays submerged, I have never had a problem with them going bad before we consumed them all.
