Yes, you CAN freeze beets and after thawing these roasted beets taste just like you cooked them fresh which are perfect for salads, sides and other recipes. Freezing beets is a great storage solution for when you have a lot to take care of at once!
For some reason beets seem to be a pretty divisive vegetable- you either like them or you think they taste like “dirt.” Personally, I don’t get it. I mean, beets are so sweet you can buy beet sugar.*
But I’m the lone beet-liker (beet-liker? Well, you know what I mean…) in my family. The kids won’t touch them and Brian merely puts up with them. So I don’t serve them very often and I don’t grow a ton of them in our garden, just a couple of rows for me.
But you know what happens with even a few rows, right? Most of the beets are all ready to be harvested at once. I have problem of too many beets for just me but then none for the future. Pickling seemed to be the most popular way to preserve beets, but my few small rows never made enough to pickle, so I decided to try freezing some that I had oven roasted–even though I had never heard or read of it being done. (Seems like I’m a rebel like that – see my non-blanched frozen green beans, corn freezing experiments, and best ways to freeze basil.)
The Results
Surprisingly, they tasted just as good after a couple months in the freezer as they did the day I roasted them. So I made my favorite salad with them, Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, and served it to company. Um, didn’t I just say beets are divisive…and I served a salad with beets to company? Yeah, I guess I didn’t get it- but in my defense, I thought I was safe because they were gardeners, and don’t most gardeners grow beets?
MY LATEST VIDEOSWell, not the one sitting at my table. He promptly said, “Beets are the one vegetable I don’t eat” and proceeded to give me the dirt comparison.
Great – of all the vegetables on the planet I pick the one he didn’t eat. Of course I said he didn’t have to eat them, but he decided to try them anyway. The verdict?
“These are the best beets I’ve ever eaten. They don’t taste like beets!”
Whatever that means! Now I make sure to grow enough rows to be able to freeze beets in small packages to last me through the winter. Though I only serve them to people I know will enjoy them – I don’t want to waste them.
How to Prepare, Oven Roast, and Freeze Beets
I’m providing a step-by-step tutorial to prepare, cook, and freeze beets because I didn’t know how to prepare them when I first started growing beets and I’m pretty sure that there are people out there who may be as clueless as I was. Of course, this is just one method for cooking beets, but many of these steps are the same no matter how you decide cook them.
- Wash the beets thoroughly with a vegetable brush in order to get all the dirt off. (Speaking of dirt, one of the reasons I don’t get the dirt comment about beets is because there are lots of other vegetables like carrots and potatoes that grow in the dirt too, and they aren’t described that way…).
- Trim the greens off, leaving about an inch of the tops. Trim the roots as well.
- Place the beets in a shallow baking dish and pour in about 1/4 cup of water. I suppose this isn’t true “roasting” like when we toss vegetables with olive oil (which you can do with beets, by the way… they get nice crispy edges which is great for that application, but not what I want on a salad…), but it’s like roasting beef, I guess. Or is it oven braising? We’ll just stick with roasting for now.
- Cover well with foil and bake for up to an hour, depending on the size of the beets.
- Check doneness by inserting a small knife into the thickest parts of the beets. The beets pictured were fairly large so I cut them in half to speed the cooking time (small to medium beets can be left whole). They were done in about 45 minutes.
- Let cool until you can comfortably handle them.
- Cut the rest of the tops and bottoms off and skin the beets by pulling with a small knife. Some directions say to put gloves on and “rub the skins off” but that hasn’t worked well for me, but you do what works for you. And I don’t wear gloves- I just wash my hands afterwards and don’t have a problem with staining.
- Cut the beets into chunks or slices- however you want to serve them later. I like chunks that are easy to add to a salad.
- Place them in a freezer container, label, and freeze. I remove the air from my freezer baggies with a straw and it keeps most of the frost out of the packages.
Try to use the frozen beets within 6-9 months for best flavor.
One time, though, a few baggies got shoved in the back of my freezer and I found them a year later. I served them anyway and was shocked that they were still pretty tasty. However, a baggie I found after 1-1/2 years didn’t fare as well and the beets were shriveled and soggy. Of course this was before I had the chalkboard freezer organizer which helps me keep better track of what we have for planning menus and using up food.
*Updated to add: what I mean is that there is natural sugar there (like in corn, too) that they then work to scientifically increase to breed varieties that produce more.
Click the arrow for storage tips & a full printable recipe to roast & freeze beets!
Subscribe & Keep Track of Your Preserved Food
This notebook will help you know how much to put up from year to year as well as keep track of the recipes you love. Subscribe to AOC's popular weekly newsletter full of useful information, behind-the-scenes updates, and occasional offers and get access to the Preserving Record Notebook in the VIP Subscriber Library (+lots more goodies!). We'll never send spam - read our Privacy Policy here.
Do you think this would work the same for boiled beets?
Yes!
Hi Jami. I toss my cooked beets with olive oil & spices. They store nicely in the refrigerator for up to a week this way. When cooking them to freeze, should I add the olive oil & spices before freezing or after? Thanks.
I’d probably wait until after, but you can do a test of two, one with and one without to see which you like best.
I wish she would say how to check for doneness. I can stick a knife in a raw beet. That doesn’t mean it’s done. Just sticking a knife in a beet doesn’t tell me a thing. When I stick a knife in a steak I look for the color I want, I’m not just sticking a knife in it. When I stick a toothpick in a cake I look to see if it comes out clean, not just stick a toothpick in a cake. Get my drift?
Testing doneness of root vegetables is often done with a knife – I do this with potatoes, carrots, etc. While a knife can be put in these when they are raw, it doesn’t go in smoothly or far and takes quite a bit of pressure. When they are tender and cooked through, the knife slides in with almost no pressure. I know of no other way to test root vegetables other than to cut a piece and eat it. The knife test seems easier to me.
Sorry if I missed it. Do you have a recommendation for thawing these out. Are there any method that result in an undesirable texture? Thanks!
I haven’t had any issues, Holly, I just defrost in the fridge or in warm water – it doesn’t take much. Hope that helps some!
Jami, big duh from Wyoming. Got it..finally. I may not be good, but I’m slow. Thank you!!!!!
Hello from Wyoming. I’ve read your beet roasting recipe numerous times, and I’ll be darned if I see a roasting temperature. A million pardons if I’m being blind. Maybe it’s somewhat discretionary, but could you put me in the ball-park? Also, can I freeze the greens? I have a good vacuum packer and am thinking zero blanch. I HATE wasting any kind of food.
Click on the arrows to the full recipe either on the top of the recipe or the bottom, Curtis. And I say go for it with the beet tops! I freeze kale and spinach without blanching with good results and these would seem similar.
Hello. What oven temperature? Also, how do you determine when a beet is “ripe”?
Click the arrow at the top or bottom to go to the recipe with full directions.
A beet is ripe when it’s as big as you want it. You can eat it in the baby stage or let it get bigger. It’s more important not to let them get too big or stay too long in the garden after reaching a decent size, as they can get woody.
Thank You!! Damn….a real person out there on this internet thing….a rarity it seems.
🙂
Afterthought: There are many things that can be frozen. Oftentimes, when a bag is filled and then frozen, the contents freeze together and it is tough to pull out one or two servings. To get around this, place what you are freezing on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer. Occasionally, move the peas/beans/cut corn, ect. around so they freeze, individually. Once frozen; bag, suck out the air, seal the bag and you are good to go.
Yep, great tip – this is how I freeze many things on the site like peppers, berries, and even bacon!
Bacon! I love it; we can learn so much from each other!
🙂
This is great! I was looking for a simple way to put up my beets, and here it is. The only reason I planted them in the first place, was as a companion to Brussels sprouts. I got a good laugh when Jami said she removes air from the bags, with a straw. I thought I was the only one to do that; guess not!.
★★★★★
Actually, I don’t use a straw; I use a hollow Bic pen. 🙂
Ha!
Yep, when the beets are ready, you’ve got to figure out some way to use ’em up!
Sugar beets are grown to have more sugar in them they are not the same as ones sold for raw consumption.
Hi Jami, I follow this method all the time now. Super easy and convenient. When I’ve slightly undercooked the beets the skin does not peel away by rubbing with the fingers.
However when they’re well done the skin will rub off very easily. Super method for cooking and freezing. Thanks mum 🙂
I’m so glad this has become routine for you! It certainly is a way to keep beets – I also like that they are ready to go this way, too, for salads.
Nice illustration and very down to earth explaining the process
Hi – Love the straw idea – will definitely use it! I enjoy roasted beets too. At what temperature do you preheat the oven? Going to go read how you freeze basil….
All the steps, including the temperature are included in the printable recipe – click the green arrow at the bottom of the page.
I have a recipe for slow cooked beets (crock pot) and I would like to do in bulk ahead of time … then vacuum seal and freeze for a church dinner…so all they will need to do is defrost and reheat….
It will have a sauce (lemon juice vinager, honey, rosemary) that will cook down with it. Will it freeze okay? – only need to keep it frozen for 1 week…
Suggestions ….
Hmmm, I think it should, but I haven’t frozen them with an acid-based sauce like that. I wonder if it would start to break down in the freezer? But since it’s just for a week, it should be okay.
Sugar beets are a whole other strain of beets than what you woulda be roasting. I I’ve never near sugar beet farms – it’s like sweet corn vs field corn.
Very true, but what I mean is that there is natural sugar there (in corn, too) that they then work to scientifically create varieties that produce more.
That’s not what you said though
I updated to clarify.
Another great tip is after you slip the skin off the beets, cut them in small bite-sized cubes. Then sprinkle pepper, toss in a handful of raisins, and then add some balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
This is the bomb! I’m eating some now. You can also add diced onions and crushed spearmint leaves for a change.
Before you roast the beets, if you drizzle a bit of olive oil over the beets (with some optional salt), the skins will slip off nicely.
If I forget this step, the skins don’t slip. The olive oil seems to do the trick.
Thank you so much for this tip, Chris – I will do that next time for sure!
What oven temp for roasting the beets. to be frozen?
Click on the arrows for the printable recipe and you’ll find all the details there, Barbara!
Do you warm the beets up after you thaw them out? Or do you eat them cold with your salad? Also, do you season them at all? I love beets…and need a way to save them.
When I make the salad I just thaw them and add them to the salad cold. Sometimes I will add the beets to a pan of roasted vegetables that take 15 minutes to cook and I’ll toss them with oil and a spice mix.
What temperature would you reccomend roasting at? Thanks!
400 degrees, Cheryl – if you click the green arrow, you can find a full, printable recipe!
I just made beets last night and didn’t have enough time to roast–cooked them in the electric pressure cooker! Worked great and tasty–and quick! I’ll have to do some to freeze.
Great idea, Sue!
The only way I had ever cooked beets was to boil them on top of the stove. I am so excited to see that they can be cooked in slow cooker and in the oven. I wasnt sure if they could be frozen so I went on line to check it out and found this blog…so glad I did. I am going to go to my local Amish store and purchase some to freeze..they r so healthy. Thanks a bunch…
I’m glad you found your way to AOC, Linda – I think you will love having beets ready to go so easily. It was really a game changer for me to be able to have them when I wanted!
I have always boiled and frozen them so that I have enough beets to get me through the winter. They are OK, but not nearly as great as roasted beets. I am going to give this a try this winter and hopefully I can thaw and then roast them for a bit with oil and spices or other veggies. Thank you! This is the info I have been searching for.
So glad to have helped, Linda!
Thank you! I love roasted beets and just came into a lot of them and was at a loss at what to do!
Great tutorial! Thank you. Why do you need to remove the skin? I just put a raw beet in my smoothie (yum!) so I want to make sure that if I freeze them, it won’t be harmful if the skin is still on.
Thanks,
Dave
You’re the first person I’ve heard of to eat the skin of beets, Dave! They are typically tough and contribute to the “dirt” flavor people seem to be so negative about, so everything I’ve ever heard of includes peeling them. So I don’t know (although I DO know it wouldn’t be harmful, just may be unpleasant texture-wise).
I’d suggest freezing just a few with skins just to see if you like it that way or not before doing a bunch of bags.
PARSNIPS? Can they be frozen? If yes, how is the best way?
Yep, I’ve done the same thing with parsnips as beets, except I just roast them like potatoes – cut them, coat with a bit of olive oil and roast. Let cool and freeze.
I cook mine in my slow cooker. Don’t even wash them if they are from the store. Put about two cups of water in the bottom and top up as many beets as I can fit in. Turn it on high and walk away for 6 hours or so. When they are done, let them cool a little and put they liner in the sink and fill with cool water. Put rubber gloves on and rub the skins off. All done. Make a beet salad with beet chunks, oil, vinegar, red onion garlic salt, and pepper. Wonderful.
What a wonderfully easy method, Ginny, I can’t wait to try this. Thanks for sharing it!!
Thank you so much for this. It was our first year for frowning beets and I just dug them out yesterday. (Good thing, it’s snowing today !). I had no idea what to do with them. Now I can have some for thanksgiving AND for the winter. You’re the best!
Wonderful, Annmarie! I bet they are wonderfully sweet, too, after being in the ground when it was cooling.
Jami, thank you for this post! I love beets and have several favorite recipes for beet salads. In Russia, where I am from, beets are one of the main root vegetables (think borsch!). I bought a laundry basket full of beets at a farm and was trying to come up with a way to preserve the beets. Last year, only half of them made it through winter in a fridge. I am in the same situation as you are – the lone beet-eater, my husband is severely allergic to beets. Thanks to you, I have a way to save the sweet purple goodness! 🙂
I’m so glad, Tatiana! Beet lovers unite. 😉
i just scrubbed mine very well and set them on a pan lined with foil, in case they leaked. set the oven to 375º and cooked for 1 hour. when the time was up i turned off the oven and left them in there until it cooled down… this was out of laziness, not technique. but they came out perfect. i ate them plain just as they were, no nothing. they were huge, though, so i *was* wondering in they would freeze well. i usually like to eat them with a really good chunky blue cheese dressing but i was out.
I freeze all sizes – I just cut into chunks first.
Thank you for sharing your beet-freezing experience. Oddly, my dad who is super picky, includes beets among the few vegetables he likes and will eat. Now that mom is gone I am fixing freezer meals for him and I would like to include beets. I roast mine most of the time so I’m going to try your method!
I’m one of those freaks who eat raw beets in salads along with raw kale. They taste ok to me though I wouldn’t say there’re all that tasty but they are good for you so I can deal with it.
I have a theory that today’s processed foods overwhelm your taste buds and kill your sense for subtle flavors. They are sooo good once in a while but don’t over do it. That’s my 2 cents.
Take care all!
Fashionably late, as usual, but just have to let you know how very happy this post has made me! I learned last year that beets grow well for me (I’m both gardening- and soil-challenged), and I’ve been wondering how I’m going to preserve this year’s crop, since last year’s crop didn’t fare so well in the basement or the garage. I’m also contemplating learning to can — if nothing else, my friends will probably find much to be amused about in this endeavor.
Jami, thanks to you I’ll be eating delicious beets from my garden all winter long!
Oh, it’s never too late to learn a new food preservation method, Jane. 🙂 I hope you enjoy this delicious way to keep beets as much as I do (notice I didn’t say ‘we’ ’cause my family doesn’t like them as much as I do, ha!).
Cooked this up this morning and they are on a pan in the freezer. After they freeze solid I will food seal them and keep them in the freezer. The things I freeze in the food sealed bags do not usually dry out, unless there was not enough air vacuumed form the bag. The food sealer was an investment a few years ago that I am glad I made. Thank you for helping me come up with a way to freeze this years farm share! We like them raw also, but can’t keep up with the farm share unless we preserve.
I am so glad you posted about this! I have had many readers ask this specific question, so I linked to your post in my latest blog about beets: http://www.thescribblepadblog.com/2014/07/farm-share-101-beets.html
Thanks, Shannon!
My cook book says to just freeze them raw (washed and trimmed). First time I’ve tried it but they do seem rather soft now I’ve defrosted them. OK after cooking though. Roasting sounds a great idea so might try that next time – guess it depends if you have more time to cook them before or after freezing.
I like them raw and grated in a salad or even a sandwich, but looks like this won’t work after freezing!
I shread beets in a processor and freeze raw, but I add a little oil to them. I use sandwich bags filled less than half, rolled to get air out. I think the oil keeps the moisture in the vegs, so they don’t get freezer burned. Any other suggestions for cooking?
PS – I’m also going to also try this with sweet potatoes (i’m traveling for a week and trying not to throw away everything in my fridge) and see if they fare as well; we’ll see…
So glad you found this helpful – I know it was a revelation to me! Let us know how the sweet potatoes turn out. 🙂
I know I’m late to the party, but that’s the great thing about google and blogs. “freezing roasted beets” produced your answer and I am elated to know this. Sometimes, well usually, I cook more than I use right away, and this is a great way to ensure freshness and reduce waste! Thank you!
How do you cook beets that have bee frozen ?
I cook & peel them before freezing, Ben, so all I have to do is defrost them to use in a salad, which is how I mostly eat them. If you want them warm, just heat gently until the temperature you’d like!
Thank you for this post! I have a ton of beets to harvest, and I didn’t want to pickle them. How long do they take to defrost?
Not long if they’re cut like I do – I set the bag in warm water to thaw, though I haven’t timed it – maybe 15-20 min?
We’re short on freezer space and long on canning supplies. I know we’d have to use a pressure canner, but have you tried roasting and then canning? Our first pass at boiling / canning beats was a bit bitter.
Ann from NE Portland OR
I haven’t, Ann. I’ve actually only ever tried canning pickled beets. There might be something out there, though, for canning roasted beets – I just haven’t seen it. Sorry I couldn’t be more help!
yes, absolutely, you can raost till done.. dunk into a pot/bowl of icy cold water to seperate the skins for easier peeling, then follow your recipe for canning… less messy than boiling the beets
Thanks for the info. I was searching to see if I could freeze beets and found your site. I’m going to try freezing mine whole and see what happens. I just have the ones that didn’t look like they were ready when I pulled the first batch, so they only fill a quart size bag. I will let you know how that works out in case you may want to do the same sometime.
Thanks so much for this vote of confidence that I can freeze my roasted beets. I want to savor them later, not force myself to eat them all now. I love roasted beets. On a short list of things that have surprised me in my 50s. Had them at a garden club recipe tasting and was amazed how wonderful they were. And could they be any easier to prepare? Don’t think so!
This is so helpful! I just got beets from my CSA and as someone new to the kitchen, I had no idea what to do with them. Is this the same roasted beet that typically pairs well with goat cheese?
Yep, sure is Morgan – in fact I linked to my favorite salad – Roasted Beets and Goat Cheese that I serve with an organ vinaigrette. Yum! 🙂
Thanks for the information and the beautiful pictures. I can’t resist the sale price of beets right now and wondered if I could freeze them. I love to bake and cook and share my bounty with family members but still had a lot of beets left. Now I know I can freeze them.
Thanks! This is great! I went looking on the internet for freezing roasted beets, specifically because I didn’t want to parboil them and I figured someone else had done this. I have the same issue as you — I’m the only beet-eater in my household and didn’t want this last little row to go to waste.
I’m also happy to discover your blog! I love the tip about using a straw to vacuum-seal freezer bags. Like you, I’m not a big gadget fan, except I also cannot live without my (30-year-old) Cuisinart and microplane grater. (Got an immersion blender for a wedding present and returned it – maybe I’ll invest in one some day). Thanks again, and I look forward to checking out more of your posts.
Caroline (urban homesteader in Nashville, TN)
So glad to have you here, Caroline! 30 year-old cuisinart? wow- hope mine last that long. And yeah for urban homesteading! 🙂
Can they be boiled and frozen?
Well, I haven’t tried it, but I would assume it would work the same. Just make sure the beets are still pretty firm before freezing.
Thanks : )
I boiled some up yesterday…still lovely and firm for eating.
Froze some, ate some…we’ll see what happens
I LOVE beets!! I love them roasted and I stumbled across your blog looking for ways to preserve them roasted. I am going to try it =) I find beets are so versatile I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t like them at least cooked one way??! we made beet pasta ravioli the other day and it was fantastic!!!
Beet pasta? Wow. 🙂 I sure hope you like them this way as much as we do!
Thanks for the freezing info. This is my first year growing beets and have a bumper crop. I was always indifferent about them until adding to some roasted root veggies for Thanksgiving last year. I’ve been roasting them dry for salads or snacking. Just clean and toss in the oven. No dripping and no pan to clean up. The ice-water dunk does help with skinning too.
Really, Ken? You put the whole beets (with skins on) right on the oven rack like baking potatoes? I’ve never heard of beets cooked like that – I’m going to have to try it! Thanks for sharing that 🙂
thanks for info on freezing beets. I cook them all the time but did not think about freezing them. Whats with us beet people… talk about passion!
Yeah – I just can’t understand why people don’t like them, I mean, they make sugar out of them for goodness sake. 🙂
In my experience most people who “don’t like beets” have only had two kinds of beets: unimproved commercially-canned (I have bad memories of lukewarm, watery canned beets sloshing around on a school lunch tray) or overgrown, too-long-stored, woody, bitter beets. I had a relative who considered it a “waste” if you picked a beet when it was smaller than a softball and often let them get much larger – while in my opinion they taste the sweetest and have the best texture when they’re closer to a golfball (the tiny beets from thinning the row are wonderful!) and definitely no larger than a tennis ball, and for me that’s the only time the greens are at all palatable since they get bitter as they get older and larger. I just can’t get next to bitter greens no matter how much cream sauce or vinegar you put on them. I like to use golden beets – the smaller the better – for serving to people who are not beet enthuiasts since they have much less earthiness, and there’s no red color to trigger the “aack! beets!” response. I like my little roasted beets cooled to room temperature, with the crumbled goat cheese and chopped walnuts but a balsamic/shallot/walnut-oil dressing – it’s especially pretty with the stripey beets. If you have access to a deep fryer, beet chips are pretty darn awesome; I have not been happy with baked ones though. I line my roasting pan with foil or parchment since if the pan cooks dry that caramelized beet juice can be a stinker to clean off. (On the other hand, I have had many people ask me “how can you not like eggplant/artichokes/kale” – kale is the big one lately, it’s very uncool to not like kale! – with complete shock because it’s _their_ favorite veggie. So I try not to be too unsympathetic to the non-fans… besides, it means more for me.)
A tiny little nitpick, though: sugar beets and garden/table beets are only distant cousins now. I have eaten sugar beets (which look like parsnips on steroids) twice, out of curiosity/challenge, and they actually taste pretty nasty, sweet yes but also throatpuckeringly bitter! Garden beets, conversely, have been bred for flavor and nutrients rather than pure sugar content and are only about 3% sugar vs. sugar beets’ 20%; I have read recipes for making a sweet syrup from juiced/ground garden beets on one of those survivalist/”prepper” websites, but reportedly it tasted very strongly of beets and the process of neutralizing that was very involved.
Thanks for the tip- I’m glad to know I can freeze roasted beets. Here’s a tip for you- drop the roasted beets into a bowl of ice cold water immediately after roasting them, you can then slip the skin off with no problem. Place the bowl in the sink and have a clean bowl handy to drop the beets into.
Awesome tip – thank you! I’ll try that the next time I’m roasting.
I bought a 6 pack of beets, which had about 6-10 beets in each little pot, I soaked them in water and separated them, then planted them. At first they looked awful but I gave them some B-1 and they all perked up and now they are growing beautifully. It took about a week for them to perk up. I’m going to try the roast and freeze method. Thank you.
I love beats & have a bunch on hand from a friend’s CSA. I’m with you — I’m the only member of our family to like them. So glad they freeze well!
I just read an article on what seemed helpful tips to jump start germination indoors, I don’t have a clue about vegetable gardens (my experience is limited to an apartment balcony) so I’ll let you be the judge, decide if it’s worth the try and then tell us about it http://www.canadiangardening.com/how-to/seeds/jump-start-seeds-with-gelatin/a/20027?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=cg_110125
I don’t like beets, my husband does though and whenever my mother cooks them he gets his share. I’m going to suggest this recipe to her with the hope of getting him a share he can freeze and enjoy all year round. Weird enough I really like beet’s leaves as filling for pies, lasagna, buñuelos, empanadas, etc. So I look forward to my mother buying good leafy beets. As soon as we’re able to move from the apartment to a house, we’ll try growing some.
Sherrin- Arrggg- it’s always hit-or-miss with getting beets to germinate for me. Sometimes there’s so many i’m cursing the thinning needed, and other times, nada. I know they don’t like summer sowings, so getting some for the fall garden is always a touchy thing for me. Wish I had some great tips for you!
Just found your site and I glad to know I can freeze beets! Here’s how I’ve had better luck with germination. Seed according to package directions. Cover the bed with thin burlap – I buy some off a roll at a garden center. Then water the bed through the burlap a while to soak it. The burlap keeps the soil from being disturbed over the seeds during watering and, more importantly, keeps the soil from drying out so fast later, which I think is what messes up germination. I keep watering the burlap each day as needed to keep the area underneath moist. When I find a number of sprouts I take it off. Hope it works for you!
Thanks, Eileen, I’ll try that!
I love beets!! This is a great idea for storing any extra, although that hasn’t happened to us yet. We love a beet risotto. I have been having trouble with my seed germination though. Do you have any tips?
Thank you for taking the time to post this – my family and I harvested 30 lbs of beets from our CSA fall garden event (along with 20 lbs of carrots, 40 lbs of onions and potatoes and pumpkins). Beets, although a childhood favorite canned and pickled, are a first for processing for me. I roasted all the beets as per your directions, but drizzled them with some olive oil as well. After they were cool I was able to rub all the skins loose. My two year old even asked for beets to take to school for the next day! Thank You!
My husband plants beets every year in our garden and we always give them to our neighbor. This year I have vowed to learn how to cook and enjoy them. Thank you for the freezing tips. And the recipe.
Heather K.
That’s the way it is at my house, too. No one but me likes beets… so I guess that just means more for me 🙂
BTW… I love roasted beets, too.
Thank you for this post! Just earlier tonight, I yanked an armload of beets out of my dad’s garden, but then realized I had no idea what to do with them. Can’t wait to try your idea!
We’re all beet lovers at our house, Jami, but my guys won’t touch squash of any sort. (Hey, it leaves more for me.) I’ve never frozen beets and will have to give it a try.
My personal opinion is that people don’t know what they like when it comes to veggies like this because all they have to compare it to are the yucky old canned veggies that were popular when we were growing up… canned spinach anyone??
My husband didn’t like them either until he tried them fresh, same with spinach… and my in-laws had fresh beets for the first time at our house a couple of years ago.
I am glad your friend gave them a try… keep on converting them:)
This is a wonderful idea! Thanks so much…I have a whole row of beets that I need to put up.
~Julia
Thank you for such great tutorials. I have to admit, I’m one of those people who think beets taste “earthy”…not necessarily like dirt, but definitely earthy. I craved them while I was pregnant with both of my babies. It’s weird, but every now and again, I get a hankering for them. They have to be pickled, served with cottage cheese and Thousand Island dressing…I know that’s crazy! Talk about cravings!
I roast beets with garlic and olive oil. And this yr I finally put in a garden area. I never thought to freeze them tho. I love to use beets roasted this way in salads when tomatoes are too pricey or just plain not worth it cuz they are the hot house kind.