Quick Pickled Beets

5 from 13 votes

Published Aug 12, 2024

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If you’re wondering how to pickle beets easily, this is it! These Quick Pickled Beets have just 6 ingredients and you don’t even need to boil the pickling liquid! Just roast, steam or boil the beets, mix the pickling liquid ingredients together and pour over beets stacked in a jar. They’ll be ready to eat in hours and will last up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator!

A glass jar filled with cut, pickled beets is placed on a wooden cutting board. A fork is lifting a beet cube from the jar. There is a blurred, light-colored cloth in the background.

When I call these Pickled Beets ‘quick,’ I mean it. You’ll need just 6 ingredients: beets, water, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. And you won’t even need to heat the pickling mixture, just whisk all of the ingredients together until the honey dissolves. (In a flash this will go from: “this stuff is never going to mix in” to, “oh, that wasn’t so bad.”)

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your recipe for Quick Pickled Beets. I love pickled beets but hesitate to buy them because of the sugar content. I found a couple of recipes online for “no sugar” beets but chose yours. No regrets here! I made them yesterday and they’ve been sitting in my fridge for 24 hours. I love quick and easy pickling recipes. I just tried them, amazing! I love the addition of the cinnamon stick and cloves! This recipe is a definite keeper!!
Angie Taillon

Ingredients for Pickled Beets
How to Make Quick Pickled Beets
3 Ways to Cook Beets for Pickling
7 Recipe Tips
Recipe Options
Serving Suggestions
More Quick Pickling Recipes
Quick Pickled Beets Recipe

Ingredients for Pickled Beets

Image of various ingredients arranged on a surface, including a bowl of apple cider vinegar, a small dish of black pepper, a spoon with salt, a bowl of olive oil, a plate with honey, a glass of water, and four fresh whole beets in brown paper. Each item is labeled.

Fresh, Whole Beets: I prefer red beets for their vibrant color, but golden or striped varieties work just as well. Look for firm beets with smooth skin.
Olive Oil: Any variety you have on hand will do. It’s just for roasting the beets.
Apple Cider Vinegar: This gives a nice, mellow tang. Feel free to experiment with other vinegars, but you might need to adjust the honey to balance the flavors.
Water: I use filtered water for the cleanest taste, but tap water works too.
Honey: Start with 2 tablespoons and adjust up to 4 or more, depending on how sweet you like your pickles. The sweetness also helps balance the vinegar’s acidity.
Salt: I use kosher salt, but sea salt works well too. It enhances the beets’ natural sweetness and balances the flavors.
Freshly Ground Black Pepper: Adds a subtle warmth and depth. Always opt for freshly ground if you can.

I have always loved pickled beets, but I’d almost forgotten about them. That is until we got about 4 pounds of beets in our CSA share and I thought, “What on Earth am I going to do with all of these?” Our typical way to eat beets is simply roasted with a little olive oil and salt. But when you roast 4 pounds of beets for two people, well, you can’t eat them all in one sitting. So why not pickle them?

The first time I made these, I just guessed at the amounts. Since then, I’ve made them many times with different levels of acidity and sweetness and have the recipe that’s just right for us. Feel free to play with the amounts to find the right balance for you.

How to Make Quick Pickled Beets

Cook beets using one of the options above (roast, boil or steam) until tender. When beets are cool enough to handle, peel and cut into bite size pieces and place in clean quart size canning jar.

Five beets are coated with salt and olive oil and positioned on a metal baking sheet. The beets are ready to be baked, their deep red color contrasting with their earthy exteriors. The tray rests on a light gray speckled surface.

Close-up of roasted beets on a metal baking sheet, with some red juice spattered around them, giving it a dramatic, dark, and rustic appearance. The beets' deep red and purple hues contrast with the shiny silver surface.

In a medium pitcher, whisk together pickling liquid ingredients until combined: water, apple cider vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over beets; cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Enjoy within 3 weeks!

A glass measuring cup filled with a light brown liquid, featuring a few bubbles on the surface. A metal whisk with a wooden handle rests inside the cup, with the whisk slightly submerged in the syrup. The background is a speckled gray countertop.

A hand pouring liquid from a glass into an open jar filled with cubed pieces of beet. The jar is placed on a wooden cutting board on a marbled countertop. A pair of tongs and a green cloth are also partially visible beside the cutting board.

A clear glass jar filled with pickled beet cubes is placed on a wooden cutting board. The jar is sealed with a metal clasp lid. In the background, a small white bowl with more beet cubes and a light-colored cloth are visible on a gray surface.

3 Ways to Cook Beets for Pickling

To Roast: Scrub beets and wrap in foil. Place in a baking dish or on a baking sheet (to catch drips) and roast in an oven preheated to 375ºF for 60 to 90 minutes, until tender. Let cool, then peel (using a dry paper towel makes quick work of this).
To Boil: Add scrubbed beets and a generous splash of vinegar or lemon juice (to reduce color bleeding) to a large saucepan and add water to cover. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 45 to 60 minutes until tender. Let cool (at least until cool enough to handle) and peel.
To Steam: Place scrubbed beets in a steamer basket over about 2-inches of boiling water; cover and steam 30 to 40 minutes until tender. Peel when cool enough to handle.

7 Recipe Tips

Size matters: Try to choose beets of similar size for even cooking. If you have a mix of sizes, start checking the smaller ones earlier.
Don’t skip the salt: It might seem counterintuitive, but salt actually enhances the sweetness of the beets while balancing the acidity.
Gloves are your friend: Beets can stain your hands. Wearing gloves when handling them can save you from pink fingers for days.
Mind the headspace: When filling your jar, leave about 1/2 inch of space at the top. This allows the beets to be fully submerged in the pickling liquid.
Patience pays off: While these pickles are quick, they do get better with time. Try to wait at least 24 hours before diving in for the best flavor.
Don’t toss the greens: If your beets come with fresh, healthy-looking greens, don’t throw them away! They’re delicious sautéed with a bit of garlic and olive oil.
Experiment with spices: While the basic recipe is delicious, don’t be afraid to experiment with additional spices like star anise, bay leaves, or mustard seeds for different flavor profiles.

A jar of pickled beets with the lid open, placed on a wooden cutting board. The board rests on a speckled gray surface, accompanied by a gold fork and a beige cloth. A few black peppercorns are scattered nearby.

Recipe Options

For extra spice, add a teaspoon of black peppercorns and/or a cinnamon stick or a few whole cloves.
White vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar will give these beets a sharper vinegar flavor.

Serving Suggestions

My favorite way to eat these easy pickled beets is on top of a fully loaded salad: crispy lettuce, sweet tomatoes, buttery avocado, maybe some crunchy cabbage or cucumber and often shrimp, chicken or crab.

Pickled beets are endlessly versatile though: toss them on almost any salad or make them the main attraction as a beet salad alongside some good, stinky gorgonzola and maybe a few walnuts or just snack on them straight from the jar!

More Quick Pickling Recipes

If you’re looking for more quick pickling inspiration, don’t miss my Giardiniera (Italian pickled vegetables), these Refrigerator Pickles (my favorite summer snack), Pickled Radishes, Pickled Asparagus, Pickled Banana Peppers or these Quick Pickled Red Onions!

Quick Pickled Beets

5 from 13 votes

By: Marissa Stevens

Prep: 15

Cook: 1

Total: 1 15

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Calories: 51

Servings: servings

A fork holding up a cube of pickled beets above an open glass jar filled with more beet cubes. The jar has a metal clasp and sits on a gray surface, with a white cloth blurred in the background.

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Play with the amounts of vinegar, honey and salt and pepper to suit your taste. Taste the pickling liquid before pouring over the beets and adjust as needed.

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Ingredients

▢ 2 pounds red beets trimmed and washed
▢ olive oil for drizzling
▢ salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Pickling Liquid

▢ 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
▢ 1/2 cup water
▢ 2 to 4 tablespoons honey
▢ salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF. (See recipe notes for other cooking options)
Place beets in a deep, lidded baking dish (or foil packet placed on a rimmed baking sheet) in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and bake for 60 to 90 minutes, until tender. Remove from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Peel cool beets (a paper towel makes this very easy) and coarsely dice. Transfer diced beets to a clean, 1-quart canning jar.
Combine vinegar, water and honey in a 2-cup glass pitcher. Whisk until honey has dissolved. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Pour pickling liquid over beets in jar (you may have a little left over), cover and refrigerate.
Refrigerate for several hours or overnight before eating – the longer they marinate, the stronger the beets will taste.

Notes

You can also boil or steam beets for this recipe instead of baking. To boil, place beets in a large saucepan and add water to cover (and 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice if you want to reduce color bleeding). Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 45 to 60 minutes until tender. Drain beets and rinse with cold water (to speed cooling process); let cool to warm room temperature (cool enough to handle). Peel then proceed with recipe. To steam, place in a steamer basket over a couple of inches of boiling water; cover and steam 30 to 40 minutes until tender. Peel once they’re cool enough to handle and proceed with recipe.
This recipe also works great for other beet varieties like golden and chioggia (striped).
Enjoy within 3 weeks.