Salt-Roasted Beets

Salt-roasted golden beets, with one large one sliced in half.

If you’ve never salt-roasted beets, you’re in for a treat. Nestled in a bed of salt and roasted until perfectly tender, the beets become deeply sweet, earthy, and incredibly delicious. And it’s fun - like an art project of sorts!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 45

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: salt roasting vegetables, salt-crusted beets

Servings:

Calories: 49kcal

Author: Valentina K. Wein

Equipment

9 x 13-inch baking dish

Ingredients

3 pounds fresh, raw beets (about 5 large beets)
3 cups coarse salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400℉.
Prep beets. Cut off the stems and root "tail" if there is one, from each beet. Wash them well, leaving them wet, which will help the salt stick to them. DO NOT PEEL THEM, and only cut off badly damaged portions if you have to. Ideally, the beet flesh itself won't come in direct contact with the salt.
Assemble. Add a layer (about ¼ to ½-inch) of the salt to the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Place the wet beets on top of the salt in the baking pan, and pour the remaining salt over them, using your hands to cover them as much as possible.
Roast. Roast (uncovered) in the preheated 400℉ oven until they are very tender, about 90 minutes (for the large beets). Insert the point of a knife right through the salt crust starting after about 1 hour of baking, to check to see if they're ready. It should very easily slide in and out.
Cool and prep to eat. Let them sit until they're cool enough to handle. Gently use your fingers to peel off the salt and then the skins. (You might also need a vegetable peeler to help you.) Rinse the beets under lightly running water, pat them dry, and then slice them any way you'd like to.

Notes

Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so it should only be used as an estimate.

Nutrition