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No vegetable makes quite the miraculous transformation as the humble beet. Consider a beet when It’s freshly pulled from its cozy underground home. Covered in dirt, it simply doesn’t look like anything anyone would want to eat. Even after they’re washed, the beet itself still looks… dirty. The beautiful beet green, while tasty, cannot really compare to the hidden jewel of the beet itself. And knowing how to roast beets can give you a major step up over those canned beets in the grocery store. Yikes!

Oven Roasted Beets = Goodness

Once cleaned and oven roasted, the humble beet shines like a jewel among vegetables. Preparing these purpley orbs is worth every bit of finger tip staining and takes any salad from blah to SHAZAM!! Growing up, the only beets I’d ever encountered were the canned or jarred variety. If that’s your only experience with beets, please don’t judge beets based on those lackluster examples. I was pretty hesitant to try beets again until the hubs and I had them on a salad at Chef and the Farmer paired with goat cheese. My life was changed. Thankfully it was summer, and beets were easily had the next morning at the farmer’s market.

Roasting beets is probably the easiest veggie prep on the planet. These root veggies have so much flavor and color. Oven roasting brings both of these qualities to center stage. I know some folks boil their beets, but I feel like the flavor is compromised with this method. (The same is true for sweet potatoes, I digress.) Oven roasting is super simple (see my Roasted Cauliflower recipe or Oven Roasted Okra recipe for proof!), and requires very little monitoring by you. It’s a win in my book. Here’s what you’ll need:

Oven Roasted Beets Ingredients

Fresh beets (cleaned and topped)

Olive oil

Salt (good quality)

Aluminum Foil

How to Roast Beets

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Prepare beets for roasting by washing the beets and cutting off the beet greens. I also cut of the bottom tip of the beet, so they will sit better in the oven, but this is up to you.
2. Then tear off an 8 inch length of aluminum foil and place your cleaned and trimmed beet in the center. Using olive oil, or your favorite oil, drizzle a bit over the top of the beet. You want enough to coat the outside of the beet without having a ton left over. Then lightly sprinkle the oiled beet with salt. Wrap the beet up securely in the foil and place on a baking sheet. (I wrap each beet individually and place them on the same baking sheet.)
   
3. Place baking sheet in oven and roast for 30 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces through to the middle. Remove beets from oven and let cool.
4. Once beets are cool, unwrap them and slide the skin of the beet off by gently rubbing with your fingers. Your fingers will be a little stained after doing this, but it washes off. If you’re prepping these for a dinner party only a few hours away, you may want to wear gloves!
5. Store peeled beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Once you’re ready to serve, simply slice up the beets and serve! They are wonderful on a variety of salads or used in Double Chocolate Beet Muffins. See my video below for the full recipe played out.

Here are some great recipes that call for cooked/roasted beets:

Wellness Mama’s Strawberry Fruit Leather (with beets!)

Elana’s Pantry Beet Hummus

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Double Chocolate Beet Muffins

My luck with growing beets in the garden hasn’t been great over the past few years, but I’m giving them a go again this year. I’ll let you know how they turn out. I’d love to know your favorite way to use beets! Or if you’ve been too scared to try them! Have a great week and Happy Gardening!