A step by step guide on how to make old fashioned pickled beets. A pickling and canning recipe from the Ball Canning Guide with some Colorado flare, makes these the best pickled beets. A picklin’ and cannin’ extravaganza.
“You can pickle a beet, but you can’t beat a pickle” My Aunt used to say that all the time.
Organic Beets from the Highlands Ranch Farmer’s Market[/caption]
Pickling beets has officially become a tradition for friend Greg and me. This fall was our second annual project. Last year we pickled 25 pounds of organic Colorado grown beets.
This year we were so confident in our skills we purchased 50 pounds and went to work.
I have to admit, due to precision teamwork, doubling the amount of beets really didn’t take but 30 minutes longer. It’s a five and a half hour project that produced almost 40 jars.
Sterilizing lids and rings
We pickled beets on a Sunday afternoon smack dab in the middle of a Bronco home game, complete with fighter jets roaring over the house for the National Anthem stadium flyover.
We pickled beets in the midst of two adorable curious toddlers, three underfoot Yorkshire Terriers and two heckling spouses.
Cooked beets ready to be peeled and cubed
Greg was even suffering from complications from wisdom teeth extractions. A couple of pain killers for him, a couple of glasses of wine for me and and we were good to go.
Aside from me running outside to see the fighter jets that were circling for the stadium flyover, a few minor distractions couldn’t stop us.
Peeling and cubing the beets
We were very pleased with the outcome of flavors from last year’s recipe, but did tweak a couple of things this year.
One of Greg’s relatives suggested that instead of pouring the colorful liquid from boiled beets down the drain, to use it for the water in our pickling brine. We did and both agreed it made for a more flavorful brine.
And as always, good quality products such as organic sugar and quality pickling spice from our local spice shop made for a delicious end product.
Pickling ingredients before vinegar is added.
It’s interesting, before making my own, I used to buy a brand from a small Colorado company that used locally grown beets and thought they were the best!
Upon conducting a taste test of ours vs. theirs, I was stunned to find that the brand I used to love fell short on the flavor scale compared to our home made.
I’m impressed In other words…Greg and my pickled beets kick butt with an end result of a great sweet and tangy combination. I also like that our beets have a slight crunch as opposed to being mushy.
Jars of pickled beets cooling and waiting to seal.
Basic Old Fashioned Pickled Beets Recipe
Let’s take a look. This is a basic old fashioned pickled beets recipe from the Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving … with some tweaks from two family recipes.
For your convenience, I’ve included an affiliate link to the book about canning.
Process:
- Disinfect jars and lids. Jars can go in the dishwasher without soap, and run through a regular cycle or a disinfect cycle. Keep the jars in the dishwasher until ready to use so they stay warm. Place lids and rings in a saucepan of boiling water on the stovetop.
- Place beets in a large kettle and boil until tender. No need to clean or peel until after they’re cooked. Depending on size this will take about 40 minutes or longer.
- In the mean time in a large sauce pan, make the pickling solution and set aside.
- After the beets are cooked, place them in a sink full of cold water. Have several large bowls ready for the peeled and cubed beets. Once they’re cool enough to touch, peel the skins off the beets and cube them to desired size.
- Start the canning process by placing beets in the jars and filling the jars with the pickling solution.
- Process jars in a canner pot with rack for easy removal.
- Remove jars to counter and let cool and wait for that “ping” noise to make sure jars seal.
Recipe For How To Make Pickled Beets
I hope you give this Pickled Beets recipe and try and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite pickled vegetable recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
And, don’t forget to visit my Best Spicy Pickles Made From Store Bought Dills. It’s very popular and very easy.
And if you’re a beet fan like we are, you’ll want to take a look at these recipes:
More Pickling Recipes
- Pickled Pineapple, Give this a try on Pork Tenderloin.
- Pickled Red Onions, Friends don’t let friends eat Mexican food without pickled red onions.
How To Make Pickled Beets
Ingredients
- 3 quarts beets about 24 small,
- 2 cups organic sugar
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon Pickling spice or pickling salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 1/2 Cups vinegar
- 1 1/2 Cups water from the boiled beets
Instructions
- After beets have cooked, peel, cut into chunks, and set aside.
- Combine all ingredients excepts beets in a large sauce pan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer 15 minutes. Remove cinnamon sticks.
- Pack beets into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space.Ladle hot liquid over beets leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process jars 30 minutes in boiling water canner.
Notes
How to Make Pickled Beets …It’s What’s for a Project.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
Best pickled beets I have ever eaten & easy to make!
I absolutely love the beets that were sold at Costco. Of course they do not sell them anymore. I am looking for a recipe that is like that one. Can you tell me if you’ve tasted those and if these are like them? I really do not care for beets that much but I know they are good for me and I don’t want to waste money on making something I’m not going to like. I’m hoping you tasted those at the store and can help me. Thank you.
Hi Diantha and thanks so much for your note. Unfortunately I’ve not tasted those Costco beets. Wish I had. Do you think it’s a seasonal item? Maybe they’ll have them again in the Fall? I’ll be watching for them.
no they haven’t had them back in 2 years now, sad, they were wonderful. I’m sure it’s another one they will delete. Seems they always get rid of the stuff that sells a lot. They make me frustrated. If I could remember the name etc. I’d tell you but I forgot. I’ll talk to the girls there when I go maybe they can look back on their computer. Anyway, trying these tonight so I’ll let you know what I think.
Loved these. Made them this morning and already into them. Going to have to make more. Thank you so much. Forgot to add the beet juice but added a little to each jar at the end for color. Still turned out Wonderful. A keeper for sure.
do you wash the beets before you boil them.and do you have to use organic suger i used to make beets many years ago but have lost my recipe thank you
Hi Margaret. I wash any visible dirt from the beets. And you do not have to use organic sugar. Let me know if you have any further questions.
i did 12 pints of beets about a month ago/put them in celler stayed very cold but tonight i went to get one there was clouded substance in bottoms can you tell me if still good
Hi Ethel. I’ve never had this happen but will try to help. If there’s a white substance, check out this article. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/natural-fermentation/white-film-cultured-vegetables-mold/ And if it’s just a cloudy area, I’ve read that the wrong kind of salt can cause that. Like using table salt instead of pickling salt. I hope that helps.
Delicious! The recipe was easy to use and I loved the results. I used your advice about using the beet juice. Nice red colour. Love the light cinnamon taste too. Thanks.
After I water bathed,they lost some color,are they still good,,,what did I so wrong
Hi Reid. I’ve had that happen too. But not every year. Salt will draw out the color sometimes.
I’m an old gardener/canner! I never have very clean beets and unless they are newer smooth-skinned varieties. The older, bigger ones are dirty, even scrubbed because of their skins. But I want their cooking liquid. So I let it settle and pour it through a coffee filter. Voila. and this year I tried the mild, sweet golden beets. They are so sweet that when I steam them, they weep yellow sugar syrup! With the boiling liquid and cider vinegar, the pickling juice was gorgeous. Will remind you a very good bread&butter pickle.
do i need to adjust the time for water bath because of alitude
This recipe is from the Ball Book of Canning. The time should be universal.
Don’t throw away the liquid left after you eat all the beets! Hard-boil and peel some eggs, drop them into the liquid, wait three days, and Presto! Lovely purple pickled eggs!
Hi Barb! Absolutely, I’ve done that and it works like a charm. Thanks so much for your note and the reminder about using that pickling liquid.
What is a serving size?
1 pint.
Hi I am trying this now. When doubling or tripling the recipe do I also double or triple spices?
Yes. I always double the recipe and double the spices.
Hello! I was wondering if I use pickling vinegar or regular whit. Thanks very much!
Hi Shelley, I’ve always used either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Let me know if you have any more questions.
What type of vinegar do you use?
Hi Cindy. I like to use Apple Cider vinegar because it has a slightly milder sweeter flavor than White Vinegar. But both will work. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Pickled the beets last night! Very exciting! First time I have ever canned or pickled anything. How do you store the beets/jars? And how long do they last? Thanks again!
I store by beets in a cabinet. Ball Blue Book of Canning advises the beets will last 12 – 18 months. I’ve kept them longer than that and they’re just fine.
If you don’t wash the beets before you boil them, how can you use the cooking liquid in the brine?
Hi Stephanie. We buy freshly picked beets in bulk. The greens have been removed and there is no visible signs of dirt on the beets. Beets that you buy at the store with greens attached always seems to be clean also, with no visible signs of soil. Boiling the beets, will basically disinfect the vegetable, plus you’re removing the skin anyway. If you do purchase beets that have dirt, which by the way is best if storing, then yes, you need to rinse them. Thanks for the note.
Hi! Thanks for the good looking recipe….perhaps I missed the detail….how many 500ml jars does this make?
i have tried this recipe before and it comes out to be the bestest one going to amke this again this weekend thanks for sharing such good recipe 🙂
Hi Mary and thanks so much for letting me know I’m so glad you like the recipe. Have fun pickling those beets.
Have you ever pressure canned this recipe? I was thinking that beets needed to be pressure canned because they’re a vegetable but I can’t find a recipe that is pressure canned.
Hi Pam
I have not pressure canned these pickled beets, nor do I have any experience with pressure canners.
Sorry I can’t be of more help. And I did take some time to search for a pressure canned version. I’m surprised I couldn’t find any either.