How to Roast Beets, in Pictures

Updated on 2/13/2015 at 10:30 AM

Sweet, tender, and packed full of earthy flavor, roasted beets are a stellar inclusion to a variety of salads, soups, and even pizza (more on that later). But before we get carried away praising this oft-maligned root vegetable, let's first tackle how to roast them up with a minimum of stress and effort.

A word to the wise: to make roasted beets a weeknight-friendly meal addition, roast up a big batch over the weekend when time is (relatively) plentiful and add them to dishes all week long.

Rinse the Beets

Give the beets a good rinse. Scrub off any surface dirt with a vegetable brush, but do not peel. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F.

Beets can be roasted at any temperature from 325-425°F, making them flexible to roast alongside a host of other dishes; simply adjust cook time up or down accordingly if using a different temperature than 400°F.

Trim Away the Greens

Trim the greens from the beet roots and save them for a later use. Rinse them thoroughly before use, and then treat them as you would any hearty green; they're especially tasty when coarsely chopped and sautéed till tender.

Trim the Root

Remove and discard the long root end of the beets to promote even roasting.

Drizzle With Oil

Line a half-sheet pan with heavy-duty tinfoil, place the beets larger-side down and generously drizzle them with oil, tossing to coat.

Bundle Up the Beets

Fold the tinfoil up around the beets into a tightly sealed bundle. Distribute the beets amongst more than one tinfoil bundle if necessary (one sheet of tinfoil can typically house four to five beets). Roast the beets for anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on size and oven temperature), or until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork but are not mushy.

Peel the Beets

Carefully remove the beets from their tinfoil packet and allow them to cool until they can be handled comfortably. To peel, rub off the loose skin with your fingertips, using a paring knife to remove any stubborn bits as necessary. If you're worried about staining your skin and fingernails (particularly when working with red beets), wear disposable plastic gloves for this step.

Chop/Slice the Beets

Quarter, coarsely chop, or slice the beets according to the recipe they'll be added to.

Some ideas to get you started: