At my house, we are blessed to enjoy three meals a day plus a few snacks in between on occasion. My Grandmother had a different way of doing food. As a farm family, she served breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, dinner, dessert, early night snack, and if you were up late - late night snack. During most meals, you could almost always find a bowl of sliced pickled beets on the table.
Sadly, though I still make Grandma Bertha’s old-fashioned beet recipe, eating them daily is not a tradition I carried on in my family. Instead, I like to incorporate her pickled beets chopped over salads, sliced thin as a topping on sandwiches or burgers, serve with warm goat cheese for an enticing starter, and enjoyed as a side with meals. They add just the right touch of big flavor without becoming the focus of the dish. These pickled beets would be a delicious addition to my Indian Curry Chickpeas and Spinach Salad and as a side to my Sweet Orange Salmon. But you don’t have to prepare a meal to enjoy this health-packed Super-food whenever the craving calls. Grab a fork and dig in; it’s hard to resist eating them right out of the jar!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you’ve made it please share it with me by tagging @culinarybutterfly on Pinterest.
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- 8 medium beets
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons whole allspice
- 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
Ingredients
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- If you are canning the beets for long-term storage, fill a large pot with a few canning jars and water just above the jars. Bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes. Remove jars from water and set aside. If you are refrigerating the beets, skip this step.
- Rinse the beets and trim tips of the beets on both ends. Place the beets in a large pot, cover the beets with water and cover. Bring to a boil on high heat, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Strain hot water from the pot and fill the pot with cold water and ice over the beets.
- While the beets are cooling, combine the vinegar, sugar, cloves, allspice, and salt into the same pot. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes.
- Once cooled to the touch, rub the skin off of the beets under running water before slicing into 1/4-inch rounds. Place the beets into the jars, leaving a 1/2-inch space at the top for the liquid. Ladle the liquid into the jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace on the top. Use a cloth to wipe the rims of the jars. Place a flat ring and lid on each jar. Finger tighten and place back into the water bath.
- Bring to a boil and process for 5 minutes. Remove jars and let cool.
Note: Beet sizes vary so you may want to double the brine ingredients if you want to ensure enough brine for the number of beets being canned. Discard extra brine not needed for the jars.
Recipe by Bertha Lauer for www.culinarybutterfly.com
Comments
LOOKING FOR A GOOD PICKLED BEET RECIPE
Hi Linda,
Yes this pickled beet recipe was my grandmother’s and it is really simple to make and so good! Hope you enjoy it!
Lisa
i made this last night with 4KG of home grown beetroots, lovely!!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you like the recipe! Enjoy, and happy holidays!
All my best, Lisa
My Mother w4ould let the younger children skin the beets. We had purple hands for a week. She also used cloves in her beets. Made for good eating.
What a great childhood memory! Clover is the beets is so delicious and it adds an extra level of health benefits too! Thanks for sharing, Carolyn!
Lisa
Haha! There is nothing better than food nostalgia, especially when it brings back memories of our moms. Thank you for sharing that wonderful story!
All my best, Lisa
So you dont add any water to the vinegar mixture? Thankyou.
Great question, Jeanette. No water is added to the vinegar. The mixture of vinegar and spices creates the deep flavor of the pickled beets and creates the long shelf life needed when canning beets. Hope this helps. Have a beautiful day!
Lisa
Didn’t have enough liquid for my jars
Hi Lynn
You can always top the jars off with vinegar if you are short on liquid. Hope you enjoy the pickled beets!
Lisa
Hi! I have an old recipe similar to this but the salt is not involved. Is that ok with waterbathing the beets?
Hi Lauren,
If your recipe is a tried and true pickled beet recipe you should be fine. The salt is a preservative and helps to add flavor to the beets as it pickles. Give my recipe a try and decide if it’s noticeably different from yours. I’d love to hear how it goes! Enjoy!
Lisa
I bought 3 cans of red beets, never thought to look for pickled, on the label.
1. How much sugar,vinegar etc do I need for each can ?
2. Can I store the above mixture in the refrigerator ?
3. How long will it keep ?
Hi Carole,
No problem at all. The quantity of liquid depends on how many beets are in your cans. I would follow the quantity I recommend and discard any unneeded liquid after canning your beets. Once you add your beets to the boiled jars, cover them with the lids as directed, and can bring your beets to a boil for 5 minutes. The final results may be a bit softer because they were already processed but the flavor should be perfect. If canned, they will keep on the shelf for a few years. If not, they will last in the refrigerator for up to three months. Let me know how it goes!
Enjoy! Lisa
Love this Recipe but I can’t remember how long to wait before I try these beauties and get all the maximum flavour. Thought it was on your page but couldn’t find it.
Help?
Hi Craig
Good question! I recommend allowing them to pickle for at least a week in the refrigerator if you don’t can them. However, the longer they pickle the better they are! I make large batches in the summer and fall months when beets are in abundance and store the on my shelf after water bath canning them. They are shelf stable for 1-2+ years if sealed properly through the canning process. Enjoy!
Lisa~