Soft Pickled Red Beets

Submitted by Satisfied Kris

"Old family recipe. You just can't eat store bought canned beets after tasting these. May also can this recipe, but multiply ingredients. It's not worth canning just one jar. :) Estimated prep time includes cleaning, skinning and cutting."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 20mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 1 jar

ingredients

• 2 lbs beets, greens removed (couple inches of greens left on)
• 1⁄2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1⁄2 cup beet juice
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cloves
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 3 peppercorns
• 1⁄4 bay leaf

directions

1. Wash the dirt off the beets.
2. In a covered pan cook whole beets in boiling salted water until tender (35-50 minutes).
3. Cool slightly, cut off remaining greens and slip off skins.
4. Save 1/2 cup of the beet juice (water beets were cooked in).
5. Cut up beets the way you want them.
6. Put in a clean, empty jar.
7. In a small pan bring the beet juice and the remaining ingredients to a boil.
8. Pour the hot liquid mixture over the beets.
9. Let come to room temperature and then chill.

Reviews

[pigtailone]

So easy...did my beets in the Instantpot then sliced and placed in jars...mixed up the brine and oh my stars good after a couple of weeks marinating

 

[cellocath85]

Mmmmm.... These might be the best beets I've ever had let alone made. They're a great balance of tart and sweet. I like that they're on the savory side. Let's face it, the amount of sugar that most recipes call for is really unhealthy. You don't need it when beets can be this good without it. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. I'm making a second batch as we speak.

 

[Patricia Millen]

This is the first year we've grown beets so it's the first time I pickled them. I chose this recipe because it uses less sugar than most and followed it exactly. The beets are great! They tasted good when we first opened them and seem to get better all the time. Thank you so much!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

This is very, very similar to how I have been making pickled beets for the last few years. I tried a lot of recipes before I found the one I like. I have a slightly heavier hand with the spices, and I use just a little less sugar. However, this recipe avoids what to me is the worst fault in pickled beets - way too much sugar. They just need a touch! Try these, they are great. If you can these, which is what I do, be aware that the clove flavour will get stronger and stronger with time as they sit.

 

[Janie from TX]

Out of three recipes that I tried on this site, this one came in last. We like a sweeter pickled beet and different spices.