Roasted Beets

These Roasted Beets offer a delightful, sweet, and earthy taste and are incredibly simple to prepare, requiring no peeling. You can incorporate them into salads, soups, and side dishes.

Here is another staple/building block in my cooking. I use roasted beets in salads, vinaigrettes, and even sandwiches, but most of the time they are served warm from the oven with a bit of butter and vinegar as a side dish to our meal. Roasting beets brings out their natural, earthy sweetness that my family can’t get enough of. Summer, spring, winter, or fall, we enjoy these tasty gems all year long, and they will be on our upcoming Easter menu in some form or another.

The recipe I am giving you is more of a guideline than a recipe. I have offered several ingredients to suit your own taste. My favorite way is to toss the sliced or quartered beets with a bit of butter, red wine vinegar, salt, and chives. I have family that enjoys them with orange juice and dill (that’s the Scandinavian side). There are also those of us who enjoy them straight from the oven, sprinkled with salt. Just remember, make them for you, make them your own.

Tips for Making Roasted Beets

1. Trim the beet stalks within 1-inch of the beet and leave the root end intact. Wash the beets without tearing the skin. Place the beets in an 8×8-inch baking dish. Add the water and cover tightly with foil. Bake until the beets are tender and can be pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours, depending on the size of the beets.
2. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins while wearing disposable gloves (if you don’t want your hands “beet” red). Using a paring knife, trim the stem and root ends. Slice, dice, or quarter the beets.

Before I give you the recipe, I must leave you with a warning– beets STAIN everything, and I mean everything. With that in mind, I would like to share two tidbits of valuable information on beet preparation and consumption. First, buy a box of disposable gloves from the drug store to wear when you peel them. That will prevent your hands from looking like you walked away from a crime scene. Second, put a little note on the bathroom door to remind yourself that you ate beets the night before. That will stop you from making a frantic phone call to your doctor☺.

Roasted Beets

By Nicole Prep: 5 minsCook: 1 hrTotal: 1 hr 5 mins Servings: 6 Perfectly roasted beets every time!

Ingredients 

• 1 ½ pound of beets
• ¼ cup water
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Pinch of granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon Extra-virgin olive oil, nut oil, or unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice or orange juice
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, chives, or dill
• Freshly ground black pepper, optional

Instructions 

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Trim the beet stalks within 1-inch of the beet and leave the root end intact. Wash the beets without tearing the skin. Place the beets in an 8×8-inch baking dish. Add the water and cover tightly with foil. Bake until the beets are tender and can easily be pierced with a knife, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 ¼ hours, depending on the size of the beets. Remove from the oven and let the beets cool for about 20-25 minutes. When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off the skins while wearing disposable gloves (if you don't want your hands "beet" red). Using a paring knife, trim the stem and root ends. Slice, dice, or quarter the beets, place them in a bowl, and toss them with the butter or oil, vinegar, herbs, and salt and pepper (if using) to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Notes

When preparing beets of different color, make sure you use separate pans for each color.

Nutrition

Calories: 70kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 0.4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 283mg, Potassium: 373mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 94IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.