Pickled Beets

Growing up I have always loved pickled beets so when I saw a large basket of beets for $3.99 at Block's Farm Stand I decided I need to put some up this year. I have my grandmother's recipe that I grew up with, but to be on the safe side I used the vinegar/water/sugar/salt proportions recommended by the NCHFP but adapted their recipe to taste like my grandma's recipe by omitting the cloves and onions.

My girlfriend, Sylwia, came over and we spent a fun evening pickling the beets. It ended up taking quite a while since the basket ended up making three batches of the recipe, but at the end of the night we had 24 half pints of delicious pickled beets. It's like having a taste of my childhood in a jar.

Ingredients
- 7 pounds beets
- 4 cups vinegar (5 percent)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pickling salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 cinnamon sticks

Directions
Scrub beets thoroughly and cook until tender in boiling water (about 25 to 30 minutes).

Drain the beets, discard the liquid and let the beets cool. Slip off the skins or peel them if the skins are being a little stubborn. Slice the beets into 1/4-inch slices. I used an egg slicer which worked really well.

Combine vinegar, salt, sugar, cinnamon and fresh water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add beets and simmer for five minutes.

If you aren't familiar with canning, I cover the basics in my post about canning applesauce. Remove the cinnamon and fill jars with beets leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Pour hot vinegar solution over the beets leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

If you are at sea level (altitudes less than 1000 feet) then you will need to process pint or quart jars for 30 minutes. If you are at a higher altitude check the NCHFP processing times for pickled beets.

Comments

[Mary-Lou]

Your efforts look very yummy. I have been reacquainting myself with beetroots - also something big from my childhood. Roasted Beetroots are very tasty on pizza along with pesto & mozzarella cheese, although I am not sure what the taste of pickled beetroots would be. The beautiful red in the jars is very Christmasy.

[Rene]

I always, ALWAYS have a jar of pickled beets in my refrigerator. I just might have to try making them this year.

[Lisa]

Mary-Lou- Thank you! If you haven't had pickled beets before you should try them. They are delicious!

Rene- You should definitely try making them. If you don't want to actually process the jars you can just make a jar or two and keep them in the fridge to make it simpler.

[Francesca]

Thank for sharing this Lisa! It seem a great idea to pickle the beats! I am definitely gonna try it out!

[Lisa]

Francesca- Thank you! If you try making them I am sure you will love them like me!