This pickled beets recipe is quick, easy, and makes outrageously delicious, tangy, and slightly sweet beets.
I love homemade pickled beets. This recipe has tangy, slightly sweet flavor with a subtle hint of spice. Plus, since we add onions, you also get pickled onions!
These are refrigerator pickles, which means you can enjoy them as early as tomorrow. For another easy refrigerator pickle, try our dill pickles.
Key Ingredients
- Beets: Look for firm beets with smooth, unblemished skin. Red or yellow beets work well. Before pickling the beets, you’ll first roast them with a bit of olive oil.
- Onion: I love pickled beets and onions, so we always add a few slices of onion to the top of the jar so they pickle with the beets. If you only want to pickle onions, see our pickled red onions recipe.
- Vinegar: Plain distilled vinegar works, but I prefer the flavor of apple cider vinegar.
- Sugar: This balances the acidity of the vinegar. You can reduce the sugar in our recipe below. When making the brine on the stovetop, add sugar to taste. We enjoy the balance of 4 tablespoons (see the full recipe below). That said, you can adjust the amount as needed. You can also substitute the sugar for honey or maple syrup.
- Pickling Spices: I use salt, a clove, and an allspice berry in this pickle brine. Since I don’t use allspice berries very often, I steal one from a jar of pickling spice, which I also use to make these bread and butter pickles.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Pickled Beets
Tip 1: Ready in no time. These are refrigerator pickled beets, which fall into the refrigerator pickle category, requiring no complicated canning process. They are fast and easy to make, and you can enjoy them in as little as a day. For another easy refrigerator pickle, try these dill pickles.
Tip 2: Roast the beets. For the best flavor and texture, roast your beets in the oven until they are tender enough to be pierced with a fork. Roasting them brings out more flavor. If you prefer to boil them, you can, but you’ll lose a little flavor.
Tip 3: Pickle with onions. Once the cooked beets have cooled down, you can peel and slice them. Then, combine them with sliced onions in a jar and prepare a simple vinegar brine using cider vinegar, sugar, cloves, and allspice berries. As the brine works its magic, you’ll end up with a jar full of delightful pickled beets and a bonus of pickled onions.
Tip 4: Enjoying them. Once you have a jar of these pickled beets in your fridge, you’ll discover endless possibilities for enjoying them. They’re a fantastic addition to sandwiches, wraps, and salads, and they stand alone as a hearty and delightful side dish. I especially love them with sharp cheddar cheese and this cucumber salad for a snack or light lunch.
More Homemade Pickles
- Classic Dill Pickles
- Quick Pickled Carrots
- Pickled Peppers
- Fermented Sauerkraut or Quick Fresh Sauerkraut (not fermented)
- Homemade Kimchi
Perfect Pickled Beets
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
Pickling beets is simple, and our recipe results in amazingly delicious, tangy, and slightly sweet beets. These work wonders in sandwiches, salads, or as a stand-alone side dish. Use any variety or color of beet for this recipe.
You Will Need
4 medium beets
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, for roasting
A quarter of an onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (50g)
1 ¼ cups apple cider vinegar (295ml)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 whole clove
1 allspice berry, see notes
Directions
- Roast Beets
1Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Set aside a large baking sheet.
2Prepare the beets by removing the tops and roots, and then place them on a large sheet of aluminum foil or parchment paper. Drizzle olive oil over them, ensuring they are well coated, and fold up the foil or paper to create a sealed packet.
3Place the packet on the baking sheet and roast in the oven until they are easily pierced with a fork, 45 to 55 minutes. Allow the beets to cool in the packet at room temperature or, better yet, refrigerate until cold.
- Pickle the Beets
1Peel the beets and slice them into 1/4-inch thick pieces. If needed, use a vegetable peeler to help with the peeling. Pack the sliced beets tightly into a clean jar and add the sliced onions.
2Heat the vinegar, sugar, salt, clove, and allspice berry in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering and the sugar dissolves.
3Pour the hot liquid over the onions and beets, leaving a 1/8-inch gap between the pickle brine and the top of the jar. Place the lid on the jar and tighten it until finger-tight. Let cool to room temperature.
4Once cooled, fully tighten the lid and store the jar in the refrigerator. Initially, place the jar upside down in a bowl and flip it right-side up after a day or two. Enjoy pickled beets as early as the next day. As long as the brine covers the beets and onions, they will last in the fridge for up to a month.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Allspice berries taste like a combination of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. We found whole allspice berries less common in the grocery spice aisle, but Chef Richard recommends buying a “pickling spice blend” instead. McCormick “Mixed Pickling Spice” contains allspice berries, which we pick out of the jar and use in this recipe.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I forgot to rate the recipe when leaving my written review. 5 stars!
The pickled beets from this recipe taste so delicious! As described, tangy from the vinegar and not too sweet, and onions add additional flavor. A great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Kate!
I just love pickled beets
I would love to make that recipe for 6 quarts rather than one quart. I’m not very good in math lol
Hi Ruth, You will need to multiply everything in the recipe by six, so you will need 24 medium beets, 9 tablespoons olive oil, for roasting, 1 ½ medium onions, sliced 1/4-inch thick, 24 tablespoons sugar, 7 ½ cups cider vinegar, 3 teaspoons fine sea salt, 6 whole cloves, 6 allspice berries.
Thanks for this timely recipe. I just made some pickled beets today using canned beets. They are marinating in the fridge now, and I told myself that next time I will cook my own beets. Voila, here’s your recipe along with onions, too — Yummo!!!
What great timing. Having the onions in there really adds to the flavor 🙂
I am so excited to try your pickled beets recipe! I love beets, and they are so healthy. Your method of roasting the beets is such a time saver, too. Please share the oven temperature that you recommend for roasting them. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes! I make many of them often. My husband requests your coleslaw all the time! 😊
Hi Patti, We apologize! The oven temperature was missed in the instructions. We roast the beets in a 375°F (190°C) oven.
Hi there, Love the website and use many recipes from it. One question though if you don’t mind? In the pickled beet recipe you suggested using a pickled spice mix which I intend to do but there is no quantity suggested considering only one clove and one all berry is listed in the original. Please advise. Thank you for all your recipes. Best regards. Ian
Hi Ian, we found whole allspice berries less common in the grocery spice aisle so we recommend buying a pickling spice blend instead if you can’t find allspice. McCormick Mixed Pickling Spice contains allspice berries, which we purchased for this recipe. You can use the spice blend for making other pickles. More recipes coming soon! 🙂
Hi Adam, Many thanks for your prompt reply, however you didn’t answer my question. I asked what quantity of the pickling spice mix would recommend to replace the allspice berries? I would think a teaspoon at the most. Many thanks and keep up the good work. Also best regards to Joanne
The pickling spice isn’t to replace the allspice berries. The pickling spice contains allspice berries which can be harder to find by themselves in grocery stores. You can purchase the pickling spice and take out the allspice berries you need from the pickling spice mix. The good news is, you can then use the pickling spice for other recipes.
Thanks Adam
Being English I could feel my hackles rising, pickled beetroot and picked onions are something we British have eaten for centuries and so I read the recipe ready to criticise! Ooops I am now wondering if there are any beetroot for sale in my local green grocers here in Cyprus as that sounds stupendous. I am now goinig to look at your pickled onion recipe.
I appreciate your emphasis on tasty and healthy foods that are well-prepared..