How to Boil Beets

Want a recipe for boiling beets? Here’s a step by step tutorial on how to boil beets on the stovetop until they’re perfectly tender.

Looking to cook up some beets? We’re big fans of this nutritious pink root vegetable over here too! We love eating it in anything from a salad to hummus to soup. There are many ways to cook beets: you can roast them, or if you’ve got an Instant Pot you can pressure cook them. And lastly: you can boil them! Boiling beets is simple and quick: it’s our favorite method when we’re in a hurry. Keep reading for our tutorial!

How to boil beets: a tutorial

Boiling beets is an easy method that’s also fast! How long to boil beets? It takes between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on the size. Compared to about 1 hour to roast beets, it’s a big time savings! Roasting beets does accentuate their sweet flavor a bit more, so that’s our preferred method. But if you’re in a hurry, boiling beets is the way to go!

We recommend cooking up a big batch, and then keeping them in the refrigerator for the week. Cooked whole beets will keep about 3 to 5 days in a sealed container. (Oh and make sure to make some beet hummus! You’ll thank us later.) Now, ready to get started?

Step 1: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Use the largest pot you have. You can liberally salt the water: add about 1 tablespoon or so, like you would for pasta.

Step 2: Wash the beets and cut off the greens.

Wash the beets. Then trim off all but about 1 inch of the beet greens. Leaving on the stem helps keep too much red juice from “bleeding” out while boiling beets. However, there will still be some leakage into the water! (You can save the beet greens: here’s the best recipe for beet greens! And here’s how to store beets if you’re not using them all.)

Step 3: Boil the beets 20 to 40 minutes until tender, depending on the size.

Boil 20 to 40 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife. Smaller beets take about 20 minutes, medium beets about 30 minutes and large beets about 40 minutes or more.

Step 4: Rinse under cool water and rub off the skins.

Once you’re done boiling the beets, peel them! Allow the beets to cool for a few minutes. Then place them under cool water and rub off the skins with your fingers. Watch out: this process is a little messy! You’ll want to take care not to splash too much, and wipe up any beet juice stains right away! The beet juice will eventually wash off of your hands.

You’re done! You can serve the boiled beets right away. Or, keep them refrigerated in a sealed container for 3 to 5 days to use in recipes throughout the week (keep them whole to stay the freshest).

Ways to use boiled beets

Once you’re done boiling beets, you can use them in so many different ways! Here are some of our favorite beet recipes:

1. Salad. Our favorite is this Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing, starring greens, tangy dressing, and crunchy pistachios. Or try our Beet and Apple Salad with honey mustard dressing.
2. With goat cheese. Try Beets with Goat Cheese: slice them into rounds and top with goat cheese, chives, and a drizzle of olive oil. Yum!
3. As hummus. Boiled beets at a bright pink color to Creamy Beet Hummus.
4. In a veggie burger. Try these Smoky Black Bean and Beet Burgers.
5. In brownies. Haven’t tried them, but how much fun do these Sneaky Beet Brownies sound?

Of course, you probably have your own favorite ways to use this healthy root vegetable! Tell us in the comments below.

Tell us: why are you boiling beets today? (Just wondering.)

This recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, dairy-free, and vegan.

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