Beets are a year-round seasonal vegetable in the pacific northwest, and our farm box has beets nearly every week. Fermented beets are one of our favourite recipes. Salty, sour and naturally sweet, they are absolutely delicious.
Healthy Probiotic Beets
Beets are naturally full of antioxidants. They are a great source of vitamins and minerals and are beneficial for a number of health concerns including diabetes and heart disease. This is why beets form the basis for my immune-boosting kvass.
Pickled beets are a perfect addition to most meals. I especially love them with a ploughman’s lunch. There’s something wonderful about the combination of pickled vegetables and cheese. Here are a few more dishes featuring pickled beets:
- A purple addition to a probiotic potato salad.
- Add them to a healthy and wholesome buddha bowl.
- Use them in a beet kvass salad.
- I like using the beet brine to make dark purple pickled eggs.
Flavours for Pickled Beets
The best part of making your own fermented foods is experimenting with flavour! Here are 5 traditional flavours for pickled beets. These are scaled for 1 quart-sized jar.
- Sweet cinnamon beets: Add 1 cinnamon stick and 3 whole cloves.
- Tradition pickle: One of our favourite flavours. Add 1 tbsp pickling spice, 2 cloves of garlic and a flowering head of fresh dill. Be sure to add the cider vinegar because it really helps to develop the flavour.
- Caraway: This is delicious with cheese. Add 2 tsp caraway and 5 black peppercorns to each jar.
- Garlic: Another favourite flavour. Add 1-2 cloves of garlic per jar. Again, I recommend using cider vinegar for the ferment to prevent any issues with the garlic.
- Hot and spicy: Slice one or two hot peppers in half and add to the jar without removing the seeds. The final heat of the beets will depend on the spiciness of the pepper.
Fermented Beets
Fermented beets are probiotic and tangy. Perfect for adding a bit of zest to most meals. Try all five flavour options, see the section above for more details.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 Quart Jar 1x
- Category: Pickles
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Probiotic
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 6 small beets or 3 medium beets
- 1 1/2 tsp non-iodized salt
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar (optional, see notes)
- 1 cup of filtered water to cover (chlorine-free)
Instructions
- Scrub the beets, then chop them into bite-sized pieces. Wear gloves if you don’t want pink fingers!
- Pack the beet slices into a sterilized jar. At this point, you can add spices and other flavours. See the section above for different flavouring options.
- Add the cider vinegar (if you are using it).
- Dissolve the salt in a 1/2 cup of water. Pour over the beets and top with a second 1/2 of water, to cover. There is no need to weigh down the beets as they usually don’t float.
- Leave the jar to ferment at room temperature for about 3-7 days.
- Store in the refrigerator and consume within 1 month.
Notes
- Beets don’t require a starter culture to ferment. Organically grown beets naturally have a lactic bacterial culture. However, I like the added tanginess provided by fermented cider vinegar, so I always add a little to every jar. Adding vinegar actually helps to speed up the ferment!
- If you want to reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp, then increase the cider vinegar to 1/4 cup and only ferment for 3 days. This will result in a pickled beet that is more vinegary than salty.
Keywords: probiotic, fall, winter, vegan, gluten free, grain free, soy free, oil free, nut free, dairy free, sugar-free, healthy
Do the beets soften up after fermenting or do they stay hard?
They will soften up a bit… it depends on how long you ferment them. The longer they ferment, the softer they will be.
Isn’t adding vinegar diminishing the enzymes and naturally occurring good bacteria? I know you add “optional” but I’ve never added vinegar to a natural ferment for this reason. Curious about your thoughts.
Vinegar will kill the naturally occurring bacteria if you use too much. It’s about the pH levels… and the acid-loving bacteria can handle a pH of around 3.6 (not sure the exact amount off the top of my head.) So finishing with a bit of vinegar is fine. Finishing with a lot of vinegar is pointless. 🙂
Should the beets be peeled?
Nope! The skin will help with the ferment and you won’t notice it once it’s finished fermenting. However, do peel off any bits that are gnarly (roots, deep cracks, etc). Enjoy!
Do I put the lid tightly on the jar, or let it breath like a sour dough starter?
Great question! These beets will bubble as they ferment, so you use a loose lid or cover with a tea towel. Enjoy!
i just made these fermented beets & noticed that 1 cup of water wasn’t nearly enough to cover the beets (???)
It will depend on exactly how large your beets are. Just use as much water as you need. Cheers!
Can these be canned as well? Thank you.
Hi Sherri, This isn’t a recipe for canned (pickled) beets. So the acidity isn’t what would be considered safe for typical boil water canning. However, you could pressure can them. Generally, fermented beets will last for quite a while without canning. You could actually leave them to ferment for several months, provided you increased the salt to 3 tsp (1 Tbsp) per quart jar and used a good airlock/fido jar to prevent contamination. Cheers!
Canning will kill the probiotics you are after with the fermentation. Defeats the purpose. Fermented food last quite a long time (many months) in the fridge, or if you are lucky to have one, a cold room or cellar.
Agreed!