How to Cook Beets in the Oven

Learning how to cook beets in the oven is easy, and it will come in quite handy if you love the superior flavor of  fresh, whole beets.

With their deep, dark red color and vibrant red streaked green leaves, there's just no denying the beauty of a beet.

Cooking Beets at Home

You can certainly buy beets at the store -- in cans, jars, at the salad bar, etc. And yes, they can be quite good -- however, you just can't been the results of a fresh beets cooked at home.

Chock full of nutrients, beets are sweet and delicious -- and when cooked properly, a beet will have a velvety, succulent texture that will melt in your mouth.

There are many different cooking methods for beets, including boiling, steaming and roasting. My preferred method is roasting them in the oven with a bit of steam.

It's easy and the result is an evenly cooked beet that's perfectly tender throughout.

And never throw away the gorgeous beet greens!

Using Beet Greens

• As nutrient rich as a beet root is, its leaves pack even more nutrients!
• If you love the beet flavor, you'll love the greens.
• You can make a beet green salad, or sauté them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Tips

Cooking times may vary depending on your oven, foil thickness, and the size and amount of beets being cooked.

Though not as common, beets are available in a few other very pretty colors -- golden beets are another favorite of mine!

Recipes using cooked beets:

• Pickled Beets
• Beet Pickled Eggs
• Balsamic Roasted Beets

How to Cook Beets

Valentina K. Wein

Learning how to cook beets is easy, and it will come in quite handy if you love the superior flavor of fresh, whole beets.

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Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Course Ingredient

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 30 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 approximately (5-ounce) fresh beets

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Place a large sheet of heavy-duty foil on a baking sheet. Set aside.
• Cut the greens off the beet root, leaving about ¼ inch or so. (Save those greens to cook with later!)
• Wash the beets and without drying them place them in the center of the foil.
• Wrap the beets loosely with the foil -- leaving a good few inches around them, but sealing it tightly.
• Roast in the preheated 400°F oven until they are fork tender, about 1 hour. (Stick a fork into the thickest part of the beet and if it slides off easily, they're done.) You should check the beets after about 20 minutes and sprinkle them with water (a couple tablespoons), and then re-seal the foil to finish the cooking process.
• When the beets are done, remove them from the oven and open the foil. Let them cool until you're able to touch them. Then you can use your hands of the back of a knife to remove the skin. It will peel right off.

Notes

Calorie count is only an estimate.

Keywords great for salads, how to cook root vegetables

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