Pickled beets: earthy, sweet-tart, and waiting in the fridge

When a glut of beets shows up, or when you simply want something with deep color and bright flavor ready to grab, this is the jar to make. Simmer whole beets until tender, slice them, and pour over a quick sweet-tart cider brine. They settle overnight and keep for days, so a few minutes of effort now becomes a side dish, a salad topper, or a snack all week.

Beets are a source of folate, involved in cell growth and the methylation your body relies on, and a source of fiber that supports the gut. Their deep red comes from betalain pigments, the natural compounds that give beets their color. The maple sugar or honey here is a modest 1/4 cup across 8 servings, just enough to round out the vinegar.

Earthy, a little sweet, a little sharp, and beautiful on the plate, this is the kind of make-ahead food that makes a full week feel a little more cared for.

Ingredients

• 1 lb beets
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple sugar or honey (cane sugar swapped for AIP; the original calls for 1/4 cup cane sugar, adjust sweetness to taste)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• (black peppercorns omitted for AIP; the original calls for 1/2 tsp)

Method

Put the whole beets in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil, then simmer covered until fork-tender, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Drain the beets and let them cool enough to handle. Trim the ends, slip off the skins, slice thin, and pack into clean jars.

In a small saucepan, boil the apple cider vinegar with the maple sugar or honey for about 5 minutes. Take it off the heat and stir in the bay leaves and sea salt.

Pour the warm brine over the sliced beets. Let everything cool, then refrigerate. Pull out the bay leaves after about an hour, and let the beets brine at least 8 hours before eating.

A note on safety: this is a refrigerator pickle, not shelf-stable canning. Keep it cold and eat it within the fridge window. It is a vinegar pickle, not a ferment, so there is no probiotic claim here.

Instant Pot variation

To speed up the beet cooking, you can pressure cook the whole beets instead of simmering them. Set them on a trivet over about a cup of water and cook on high pressure, then let the pressure release naturally before peeling and slicing as above. Pick the time to the size of the beets, roughly 15 to 20 minutes for medium beets. This time is an estimate and untested in our kitchen, so check for fork-tenderness and adjust. The brine step stays exactly the same.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*