Whole, sliced, wedges or diced. Pickled beetroot are ready to eat from the jar – and certainly a favourite in our household! Beetroot are very easy to pickle – and perfect for preserving your homegrown produce when they’re all harvested at once. Enjoy pickled beetroot hot or cold: add them to burgers and sandwiches, a salad or made into dip.
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Ingredients for PICKLED BEETROOT
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Yield: around 8 cups |
Yield: around 16 cups |
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Beetroot (small to medium size) |
1.5kg |
3kg |
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Apple Cider Vinegar (5% acidity) |
2 cups |
4 cups |
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Onions (optional) |
250g |
500g |
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Water (plus extra for cooking) |
1 cup |
2 cups |
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Sugar (optional) |
1 cup |
2 cups |
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Salt, finely ground (no additives) |
3/4 teaspoon |
1 1/2 teaspoons |
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Cinnamon Sticks |
1 |
2 |
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Cloves, Whole |
1/2 teaspoon |
1 teaspoon |
METHOD: 
1. Wash jars in hot soapy water. Pre-heat the
clean jars by covering them in water and boiling for 10 minutes in a large pot
- or use your dishwasher rinse cycle.
2. Trim beetroot ends short by leaving a
centimetre or two of stems and roots attached to prevent colour loss. Sort into
sizes for cooking.
3. Cover beetroot with some water in a pan and
boil until just tender (20-30 minutes depending on size). Drain and
discard cooking water. Cool to touch.
4. Wearing gloves, discard stems, root ends and
skins. Slice large and medium sized beetroot into 1cm thick rounds or cut into wedges
(or dice) as desired. Baby beetroot can be left whole if you prefer. Peel and
thinly slice onions (if using).
5. Measure cinnamon and cloves into a muslin spice
bag. Place vinegar, water, sugar (if using), salt and spice bag into a pan and
bring to a boil. Add prepared onions and beetroot. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove
spice bag.
6. Warm the lids in a bowl of boiled water,
removing them when you are ready to place them onto the jars to seal.
7. Tightly pack the cooked beetroot (and onions,
if using) into the hot jars, to 1.5cm from the rim of the jars. Ladle hot
vinegar mixture into the jars, to 1cm from the rim. Remove bubbles with a
non-metal utensil. Check headspace is still 1cm then wipe rims and seal.
8. Submerge jars in a pot of boiling water as
per the chart below, starting your timer when the water returns to a full boil.
When the time is up, turn the heat off and rest jars in water for 5 minutes
before placing onto a towel-covered bench overnight to cool.
9. 12-24 hours
later: check jars have sealed before wiping down
jars, labelling and storing in a cool, dry and dark place for up to 12 months.
Pickled beetroot are best enjoyed after 3-6 weeks to allow the vinegar flavour to
subside. Best enjoyed chilled.
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Processing
Time for PICKLED BEETROOT in a Boiling Water Canner
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Jar
Size
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Altitude
≤ 1,000 feet
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Altitude
1,001 - 3,000 feet
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Altitude
3,001 - 6,000 feet
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Altitude
≥ 6,000 feet
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Hot Pack
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≤ 1 Litre
(quarts)
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30 minutes
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35 minutes
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40 minutes
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45 minutes
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Add a little of one (or more) of these ingredients to add flavour to your pickled
beetroot!
o Use brown, red or white onions in this recipe;
o
Replace 1/4 of the apple cider vinegar with balsamic vinegar;
o Sugar
is optional for this recipe – reduce or remove altogether if desired;
o Use
brown sugar instead of white sugar;
o Honey
can replace all or part of the sugar (to taste, less is required than sugar);
o Add
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns or dill seed or yellow mustard seeds per
500ml jar (before filling);
o Add
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds per 500ml jar (before filling);
o Add
a sprig of fresh dill into each jar;
o Add
a peeled fresh garlic clove into each jar (before filling) – even better, add
fresh dill or dill seed with the garlic clove.
SERVING IDEAS:
o Aussie beef burger: beef hamburger with bacon, cheese, barbecue
sauce, white onion, tomato, lettuce and pickled beetroot slices;
o Refrigerator
beetroot relish or chutney (chop up, mix with other ingredients & serve, refrigerate
leftovers and use within a week or so);
o Beetroot
broccoli & rosemary focaccia;
o Beetroot
dip;
o Beetroot
falafel;
o Beetroot
& feta dip;
o Beetroot
& haloumi salad;
o Beetroot
hommus (delicious with lamb burgers, meatballs or seed crackers);
o Beetroot
& lentil dip;
o Beetroot
& lentil salad;
o Beetroot,
peach and walnut salad;
o Beetroot
tzatkiki;
o Beetroot,
walnut & goat cheese tart;
o Kale
& beetroot salad;
o Lamb
grilled with quinoa and beetroot salad
NOTES:
o Spicy pickled beets = as per main recipe, no (or very small amount
of) sugar is added;
o Sweet
pickled beets = as per main recipe, sugar included;
o Baby
beetroot can be pickled whole, quartered, sliced or diced;
o Medium
and large beetroot can be pickled quartered, sliced or diced;
o If
buying beetroot, choose small or medium sized vegetables for best flavour and
texture;
o Once
you finish the jar of beetroot, use the pickling liquid to make some
refrigerator pickled eggs.
Author: Megan Radaich
Image credit: Megan Radaich
Publication: Preserve the Harvest: Pickling Guide