Got a huge bunch of beets but not sure what to do next? I’m here to help. This root vegetable has become a huge rising star recently!
Beets are becoming more popular as people become more interested in eating a variety of vegetables and whole foods and for good reason: when you cook beets properly, these healthy root vegetables can taste like candy!
But if you’re a beet beginner, don’t worry! This is the Best Way to Cook Beets.
It is pretty simple and results in perfectly tender beets every time. You can use boiled beets in a multitude of ways from smoothies to salads, hummus, and soup recipes.
You’ll also learn a few tricks for getting rid of the red stains on your hands and cutting board, and how use the boiling juice! Interesting huh?
Bring a Pop of Color to Your Plate
What Are Beets?
Beets, also known as beetroots, are the taproot of the beet plant. The taproot, a central root from which other roots sprout laterally, is a well-developed storage organ for the plant that has been cultivated as a vegetable. There are red beets, purple beets, and even striped beets!
Beets can be eaten boiled, roasted, steamed, or raw, and they can be found in everything from soups to salads, cocktails to dips, and everything in between.
Beets are highly nutritious and packed with essential vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds, many of which have medicinal properties, in addition to adding a splash of color to your plate.
Moreover, their flesh can also be used as an organic dye!
A Bulbous, Sweet Root Vegetable
Why You’ll Love these Pressure Cooked Beets
You’ll like instant pot beets because:
- Beets are high in minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.
- They are extremely simple to prepare and incorporate into your regular diet (fits gluten-free, grain-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, whole food diets)
- Beets ate also an excellent source of energy-giving carbohydrates.
- They have an excellent crunch and texture.
How to Choose the Best Beets?
Beets are available in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. Some markets sell beets in “bulk bins” that include only the beetroot and no beet greens, whereas others may only sell beets in a bunch.
Regardless of where you find and buy your beets, choose beets that are:
- free of bruising and other major flaws
- medium sized beets because larger beets will take a longer time in cooking
- If possible, buy beets along with the greens because this is a sign of freshness
Avoid purchasing beets with wrinkly skin as they are a sign of dehydration.
This Will Be Your New Favorite Root vegetable
What is the Best Way to Cook Beets?
Boiling beets is one of the simplest ways to cook this hearty root to tender perfection. Beets normally take a long time to cook, but they are a breeze in the pressure cooker. The intense steam that builds inside a pressure cooker concentrates the flavors of the beets and delivers a great side dish in a short time.
What to Do with Beet Water?
Simply Drink it! Beets are high in nitrates, which are natural chemicals. Your body converts nitrates into nitric oxide via a chain reaction, which can improve blood flow and blood pressure and increase stamina.
You can reuse the beet water in soups, rice, risotto, or pasta.
Make sure, of course, to wash the beets before boiling so your stock is free of unwanted stuff.
Look at this Amazing Color!
Don’t Throw Away Beet Greens
Beet greens are completely edible. They are high in vitamins and nutrients such as iron, protein, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and fiber. They are also very low in calories, fat, and cholesterol.
Beet greens are sweet and mild, and when cooked, they become the silkiest, most tender greens you’ve ever eaten. What about the stems? They’re far more delicious than those of kale and collards. They’re also more nutritious.
How to Peel Boiled Beets
Here are three methods for peeling whole beets after they have been boiled:
- To remove the skin from the beet, use your dominant hand to pull it back. You can use of a paper towel keeps the red stain from spreading all over your hands.
- Remove the peel from the beetroot with your bare fingers
- Use a paring knife to remove the skin from the beetroot. This method is most effective if you have a stubborn peel that is stuck to the root.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Don’t peel your beets before cooking because they can easily be removed after cooking. Leaving the skin on while boiling prevents some of the color, flavor, and nutrients from leaching into the water.
Cooked beets keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Freeze them in plastic, airtight containers or heavy-duty storage bags to extend their shelf life even further.
Check that a fork can be inserted through the flesh. They’re done if it goes through easily. When they are thoroughly cooked, the skin should easily peel off.
Raw beets are just as tasty as their cooked counterparts. They are slightly sweeter and crunchier than cooked beets, and they go great in salads.
Anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on how large or small the are. It also depends on how many you’re adding to the instant pot. 1 hour for larger beets, and ½ hour for small beets.
Tips and Tricks
How to Remove Beet Stains
To remove stains from your hands, squeeze a teaspoon or two of fresh lemon juice onto your hands. Rub them together for at least 10 seconds and set aside. After that, wash your hands with soap and water.
To remove stains from the cutting board, sprinkle a little salt on the surface and scrub it in. Then use soap and water to clean the cutting board.
Cooking Tips
Select firm, high-quality seasonal beetroot.
Cook until the center is soft. Al dente will not work with beets.
Allow the beets to cool in the cooking liquid for the best results.
Tip: Save the beet water and drink it. It has health benefits
What You Will Need to Cook Beets
- raw beets
- Water
- Pressure cooker
Follow these Simple Steps
First wash the beets very well, you don’t have to cut any of the stems off at this point.
Next, place them in the pressure cooker and submerge in water. Do not overfill your pressure cooker with water. Keep water level underneath the line that is marked inside of the pot.
Set your pressure cooker for one hour on high. Once they are finished release the pressure.
Once the beets cool, you can now cut the stems off from the top and the bottom, then cut a slit vertically into the beet and easily peel off the skin.
Enjoy alone, or drizzled with honey, over a salad, in your smoothies, for food coloring etc..
Other Recipes You Will Enjoy:
- Tender Slow Cooked Roast Beef
- Thick Red Lentil Soup (Adas Majroush)
- How to Cook or Roast Chestnuts
- Quick Skin-Peel Roasted Eggplant Hack
- How to Store Lemon and Lime for 3 Months
- The Best Way to Store Lettuce
- Baked Cumin Chicken and Potatoes
- Simple Middle Eastern Salad
- Mujadara Hamra (Reddened Lentils and Bulgur)
- BEST Fattoush Salad with Dressing
Best Way to Cook Beets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds beets
- water
Instructions
- Wash the beets very well, you don’t have to cut any of the stems off at this point.
- Place them in the pressure cooker the submerge in water. Do not overfill your pressure cooker with water.
- Keep water level underneath the line that is marked inside of the pot. Set your pressure cooker for one hour for larger beets and ½ hour for small beets, on high.
- Once they are finished release the pressure. Once the beets cool, you can now cut the stems off from the top and the bottom, then cut a slit vertically into the beet and easily peel off the skin
- Enjoy alone, or drizzled with honey, over a salad, in your smoothies, for food coloring etc.
Video
Notes
- Select firm, high-quality seasonal beetroot.
- Cook until the center is soft. Al dente will not work with beets.
- Allow the beets to cool in the cooking liquid for the best results.
- Save the beet water and drink it. It has health benefits
Nour says
I never knew I could use the beet water. Interesting!!