With growing interest in health and nutrition, interest in beets is on the rise but most people do not know what to do with them. Roasting beets is a wonderful entry-level skill to develop. In fact, learn to roast beets and you can use those little darlings as the base for some of the most impressive dishes you could serve. It just requires a little patience from you while the oven does the work.
Try each of these methods and find what works for you.
The simplest way, and my preference, is to roast the beet whole:
Store the roasted beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for as long as a week. They are yours to slice or cube, to use in salads, as the base of a soup, and in baked goods. You have endless possibilities in a container of roasted beets.
I describe the second method in this video:
This approach is a little more work, but what comes out of the oven is ready to eat and it doesn’t take long for it to disappear.
Remove the cubes to a serving bowl or tray. They are delicious warm or at room temperature. Because they are crusted over, there is less chance that these cubes will recolor anything you mix them with.
A: Yes, definitely. The reason for the foil is to keep the beet from drying out during roasting. As an alternative, use a casserole dish with a lid. Arrange your beets in the dish to roast and keep the lid on while they are roasting.
A: We have tested this pairing many, many times and all signs point to, “Yes, absolutely!”
A: Absolutely. It’s an efficient use of your oven to roast a tray full of vegetables. Line them all up, leaving some space in between. Ideally, they would all be a similar size so that their cook time is also similar, but you can certainly check smaller items first and remove them from the oven and then return the larger items to finish roasting.
A: Yes, for sure. We roast beets in their skins to help retain their moisture. However, we do remove the skin before eating them. It can be a little on the tough side.
A: The beet peel will come off the whole beet easily after it roasts. It will nearly fall off but it just needs a little help!
A: The most straight-forward way to reheat the beets is in a skillet with a bit of water. Place a lid on the skillet and reheat them over medium heat.
A: Yes, roasted beets freeze well. Use the “tray freeze” method — spread them out on a tray and freeze them on the tray. Once frozen, scoop the beets off the tray and place them in a freezer bag or other freezer container for longer-term freezer storage.
A: Your roasted beets will last about a week in your refrigerator.
I recently tried baked beets for the first time and was impressed at how simple and delicious they are. I have never tried roasting them as cubes but I think I will try that when I have some on hand. In Arizona we grow beets from September to about March or April. They seem to take four or five months to grow large enough to be worth harvesting.
I have never heard that beets can be roasted. I am looking forward to try this dish tonight and hoping to give a surprise to my family members.
What an interestingly unique way to prepare beets! thanks!