Pickled Beets Are Easy to Make at Home With This Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are pickled beets made of? ›

Pickled beets are beets that have gone through a pickling or fermentation process. Pickled foods are preserved in an acidic solution, then sealed in a sterile jar or can so they won't spoil. Beets are often pickled in a solution of vinegar, sugar, and salt. Some pickled beets are also pickled with cloves.

No need to wait to enjoy your pickled beets. They're ready to eat as soon as they've cooled down, however, the longer you wait, the better their flavor. Give them at least a week or two.

Pickled beets are popular on salads or as a side or snack. These naturally sweet root veggies may have a number of health benefits, including improved digestion, physical performance, blood sugar levels, and heart health. However, you should avoid varieties with high levels of added salt or sugar.

Deep red or gold beet varieties provide the most robust flavors, more vibrant juices, and more tender pickled beets. As you embark on the pickled beets adventure, try some of these tried and true beet varieties to grow: 'Detroit Dark Red' 'Ruby Queen'

That's because pickled beets are rich in nitrates. Nitrates convert into nitric oxide in your body. This helps to relax and widen your blood vessels. Nitrates can improve blood flow and lower blood pressure.

Not only do pickled beets add a pop of color and crunch to our diet, they also provide a variety of health benefits across numerous systems in the body. Too many pickled beets, however, can overload our system with sodium if the brine mixture is heavy in salt.

The oxalates found in beets can increase your uric acid level, meaning that too many beets can lead to gout. To avoid this, stick to no more than a single half-cup serving of beets per day.

Their “earthy” flavor comes from a compound called geosmin, which is also the same compound that we associate with the smell of “fresh rain” and “forest soil”. Some people are much more sensitive to this compound than others, that is why some people say they taste like dirt, and others love them.

Beetroots help insulin resistance: Beetroot helps improve insulin sensitivity in people with diabetes and reduces blood sugar. Your body releases metabolites in the process of breaking down food or other substances. The high concentration of this metabolite (nitrate) in beetroot may reduce insulin resistance.

Can I drink beet juice while taking blood pressure medication? ›

Beetroot juice is rich in nitrates, which might negatively interact with certain blood pressure-lowering medicines, leading to a severe drop in blood pressure.

Aunt Nellie's Pickled Beets contain no fat, saturated fat or cholesterol; they are kosher and gluten-free.

The phytosterols, or plant sterols, present in beets, are structurally similar to cholesterol and can help to lower LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. In the body, phytosterols compete with the cholesterol to decrease the amount of cholesterol absorbed and lower harmful LDL cholesterol.

May help fight inflammation

Beets contain pigments called betalains, which possess a number of anti-inflammatory properties ( 8 , 17 , 18 ). This could benefit several aspects of health, as chronic inflammation has been associated with conditions like obesity, heart disease, liver disease, and cancer ( 19 ).

What is the difference between canned beets and pickled beets? Pickled beets are canned in some type of vinegar solution and are usually used in salads. These beets are not pickled, just canned in water, and the ingredients are very basic.

Antioxidants. Raw pickled beets are still a great source of antioxidant compounds that protect the body from free radical damage. Antioxidants such as selenium, flavonoids, and vitamins A, E, and C can be found in pickled beets, as long as they were not cooked prior to canning.

Plain beets must be pressure-canned to be safe. Another way of canning beets is to change the pH. When you add vinegar to beets to pickle them, you are changing the pH of the product. Pickled beets made using the recipe here (at the end of this column) will have a pH of 4.3 to 4.6.

Beets are a sweet vegetable that taste especially delicious when they are roasted in a hot oven. Roasting beets concentrates the natural sugars they contain, resulting in a delicious sweet tasting vegetable. Beets are also available canned and often pickled as an alternative to cooking fresh beets.