Name: How To Make Pickled Beets
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 150 min
Ingredients: 3 quarts beets (about 24 small,); 2 cups organic sugar; 2 sticks cinnamon; 1 Tablespoon Pickling spice; 1 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 1/2 Cups vinegar; 1 1/2 Cups water from the boiled beets

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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.

A step by step guide to making pickled beets

“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.