Roasted Beets Recipe
If you are looking for the easiest way to prepare beets, this Roasted Beets recipe is just what you have been searching for. It is as simple as it gets, and works every time! The beets come out perfectly tender and the balsamic and thyme added in at the end takes the flavor to the next level.
Table of contents
Why We Love Roasted Beets
Every summer, I make my mom’s recipe for Pickled Beets over and over, and I never get sick of it. But come wintertime, I want a beet recipe that will warm my soul. This Roasted Beets recipe is just what I want.
Last month, we talked a lot about Storing Crops. Storing crops are hearty fruits and veggies that can be harvested and stored for long periods of time. Beets are yet another example of a great storing crop. While they are grown and harvested in the warmer months, once you remove the beet greens, you can store the beetroots all winter long!
That means if you are trying to buy locally grown produce in an effort to reduce your carbon footprint, while supporting your local farmers, then eating storing crops like beets in the winter is a great way to go!
This easy vegetable side dish goes perfectly with a wide variety of dinners and main courses. They are lightly sweet, and the fresh herbs and balsamic vinegar make them so flavorful.
Ingredients For This Recipe
- 2 pounds beets, (I used Chioggia, golden and red beets)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Step-By-Step Instructions To Roast Beets
Step 1: Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Step 2: Cut and Mix Beets with Seasonings
On a cutting board, peel the whole beets with a sharp vegetable peeler. (Wear gloves if you don’t want your hands to be temporarily stained.) Cut the beets into 1-inch chunks. Toss the raw beets, oil, salt and pepper in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Spread them in a single layer and cover with aluminum foil.
Step 3: Roast in a Covered Baking Dish
Roast, lifting off the piece of foil to stir once or twice, until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 minutes.
Step 4: Season with Balsamic Vinegar and Thyme
Remove the beets from the oven and add in the thyme and balsamic. Toss them and then let them roast again uncovered so that the balsamic creates a glaze of sorts! In 10 more minutes, the beets will be glazed, tender and utterly delicious! Serve warm or at room temperature.
Expert Tips and FAQs for making Perfect Roasted Beets
More on why we recommend roasting the beets after they are peeled
- When you roast whole unpeeled beets (in foil on a rimmed baking sheet) you have to wait for them to cook through. It is important to know that this takes a really long time when they are whole. It can take an hour for small beets or two for larger beets.
- If you have beets that are different sizes, you will have to remove some from the oven and leave others to continue roasting. This whole babysitting thing kind of goes against the spirit of this being a hands-off method.
- You also have to wait until they are cool enough to handle to get the skins off with a paper towel and cut them. That’s no big deal if you have to wait for them to cool anyway like for use in a salad. But if you are intending to serve them hot, it is a waste of time since you will then have to heat them back up again.
- You can’t add flavor to them until after they are peeled.
- We suggest to peel them while they are raw (with a vegetable peeler.) Then cut them into bite-sized pieces so they will cook more quickly.
- They can be roasted until they are tender in literally half the time this way!
- You can season them before you cook them so the seasoning and additional flavors (like the balsamic and thyme in this recipe) cooks into the beets and makes them more flavorful!
Variations To Try
You can make this roasted beet recipe without the addition of balsamic vinegar and thyme, but I really love beets with the vinegar to balance the sweet beet taste. The fresh thyme also makes it more delicious! It is fun to experiment with flavors. This one just happens to be my favorite!
- Feel free to use another type of herb or another vinegar.
- We also love using different colors of beets mixed together, but it’s also really pretty to make this with all one color. Golden beets are a favorite!
- Try adding on crumbled goat cheese or feta at the end.
- Serve these chilled drizzled with Walnut Balsamic Vinaigrette or Tarragon Vinaigrette.
- Blue cheese is a great addition to beets. The flavors just pop together! Top these roasted beets with crumbled blue cheese and chopped toasted walnuts. Instead of thyme, use chives or fresh tarragon.
- You can also try lemon juice or orange juice instead of balsamic vinegar. Add in a little lemon or orange zest for even more citrus flavor.
We suggest peeling before roasting. While it is true that beets are unique in that they can easily be cooked in their skins, then peeled. {This phenomenon is true when you boil them or roast them.} The skin acts like a jacket and holds the moisture in and almost steams them! Once they are tender, you can rub the skin with a paper towel and it just slides right off the beets. This seems like the best most hands-off method, but in reality, it has a few problems. Namely, this is much slower, if the beets are different sizes they cook unevenly, and you can only season them after they are cooked. For these reasons we recommend peeling the beets, cutting them into even pieces and roasting them in a covered baking dish. Read more here.
The key to getting the beets to cook properly once they have been cut is that you have to keep them covered while they roast. Otherwise, they can get tough! Covering them will trap the steam (just like their skin would have done) and yields perfectly tender beets every time!
Normally I like to roast veggies like butternut squash or roasted turnips on a rimmed baking sheet. In the case of beets, I roast them in a 9 by 13-inch pyrex or ceramic baking dish and cover it with aluminum foil because I want to trap that steam in to help soften them.
These are great for meal prep and to add as a side dish in your meal prep containers. Because they reheat so beautifully they make a terrific make-ahead side dish. They are great added to salads too (pair with goat cheese for a classic combination.) We like to serve them with roasted crispy skin chicken or pork loin. In the fall and spring when it is warm enough to grill these beets pair well with Grilled Boneless Chicken Thighs.
Leftover beets can be stored in an airtight container for four days. They can be reheated in the microwave on high heat, stirring occasionally until steaming hot. They can also be reheated in a casserole dish (coat it with cooking spray or brush with extra-virgin olive oil first.) Make sure it is covered with foil so they do not dry out. Bake until they are steaming hot, about 25 minutes on 350 degrees.
More Beet Recipes
- These Beets with Cranberries and Spiced Nuts has raspberry vinegar and are an easy win for a potluck or covered dish.
- This creamy Beets with Tahini recipe was inspired by a dish I had at Zahav in Philadelphia. They’re enigmatic and earthy and just delicious!
- This Spinach Salad with Beets, Bacon and Maple Ranch Dressing is a lovely way to use beets in the springtime when fresh spinach and beets appear at the same time in the farmers’ market.
- These Beet and Caramelized Onion Bruschetta with goat cheese are tasty appetizers to try any time of year.
- If you haven’t tried raw shredded beets in a salad before, get ready to have a brand new experience. These Meal Prep Spinach Beet and Chicken Power Salads are a great place to start.
- You can also use these roasted beets in this 20 minute Pantry Dinner.
- This recipe for French Beet Salad looks so good with the mustard dressing!
Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!
Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintRoasted Beets Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Here is a recipe for basic roasted beets. Peel them, toss them with oil and seasoning. Roast them in a baking dish covered with foil to help them soften. Then season with balsamic vinegar and thyme at the end for added flavor!
Ingredients
2 pounds beets, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Toss beets, oil, salt and pepper in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Cover with foil.
3. Roast, lifting off the foil to stir once or twice, until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork, about 40 minutes.
4. Add balsamic vinegar and thyme and toss to coat. Return to the oven, and roast uncovered for 10 minutes.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
You can use any color beets for this recipe. Note that the red beets will stain the other colors a bit as they cook. To prevent your hands from turning red when you handle the beets, wear disposable gloves.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2/3 cup
- Calories: 161
- Sugar: 15 g
- Fat: 7 g
- Carbohydrates: 20 g
- Fiber: 5 g
- Protein: 5 g
Keywords: roasted beets,how to roast beets,peeled roast beets
How would you adapt for precooked beets from Costco?
I haven’t bought them before, are they peeled? If yes, simply cut them into wedges and pick up at step four adding more time to make sure they are warmed through (maybe about 5 minutes longer.)
very good and easy to make.
★★★★
Thanks Lydia! So glad you enjoyed it!
These are so gorgeous! And the balsamic vinegar and thyme are perfect. Thanks so much for the recipe!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked them! Thank you.
I love the sweetness of beets. I usually pick up 30 lb. in the fall because they store well. Those golden ones in your photos are amazing!
★★★★★
That’s amazing. I had so many in my garden last summer, but we went through them very quickly.
I’ve never tried roasting beets before and this looks like the perfect recipe to try!
★★★★★
It is super simple and they come out great with the balsamic added at the last minute.
This yielded the most tender beets!! Thanks so much!
★★★★★
I am so glad to hear you tried it and that it came out well. Thanks!
Roasted beets are one of my favorite winter sides. The roasting really brings out such a fabulous flavor, and it couldn’t be any easier!
★★★★★
I am so happy to hear you are on team roasted beets in the winter too. In the summer, I am all about pickled beets, but at this time of year their warmth and depth of flavor are all I want!
I loved how flavorful this is!! And it’s so easy to make, too!
★★★★★
Ah, music to my ears Toni! Thanks so much!
I LOVE roasted beets, and these spices make them even tastier!
★★★★★
Hi Jean. I am so glad you like this recipe and the seasoning. Yippee!
This is now the only way I will eat beets again! SO yummy!
★★★★★
Wow! Thank you so much Jen.