Proper heat treatment of any product affects not only its taste qualities, but also for beneficial properties. This is especially true for vegetables, so information on how to properly cook beets and how long to cook them until tender should interest you. There is a myth that heat treatment of foods destroys their vitamin and mineral complex, although this is absolutely not true!
Boiled beets are used in many healthy food dishes. This root vegetable is especially popular in the post-Soviet countries, because it is one of the most affordable food products, and it is also very healthy! Of course, this vegetable crop can be eaten raw, but it is used mainly for medicinal purposes.
In salads and appetizers, the root vegetable is used boiled, and with proper cooking of beets, we can preserve maximum amount its beneficial substances. About how long to cook this vegetable so that it does not lose color and cooks faster - our information!
The method of boiling red beets affects not only the cooking time, but also depends on the size of the root crop and its age. You can quickly cook root vegetables (including carrots) that are small and young, but it is recommended to boil large beets and carrots in the microwave or bake them in foil in the oven.
How to quickly boil beets
Method No. 1
All professional chefs know this secret. Using this method, the root vegetable is cooked for about 20 minutes! The whole secret is that a sharp temperature change accelerates the process of softening plant fibers. That's physics!
We take medium-sized root vegetables, put them in a saucepan, fill it with boiling water and put it on high heat without covering it with a lid. The water should cover the vegetables with a layer of at least 8 cm - otherwise, it will quickly boil away, and the root vegetables will not have time to cook.
After 15 minutes of vigorous boiling, drain the water from the pan and place it along with the vegetables under a stream of very cold water. Soak the boiled product in ice water for 5-10 minutes, making sure that the water remains ice-cold (ice cubes will help). Ready! You can make a salad!
Method number 2
How many minutes does it take to cook beets using this method? Read on!
Pour boiling water over the root vegetables, keep them on medium heat for 30 minutes from the moment they boil again, drain the water and immediately place the pan with the product under a stream of ice water for 15 minutes.
If the tap water is not cold enough, stock up on ice cubes. In general, according to this recipe, beets are cooked for 45-50 minutes, taking into account the cooling time.
* Cook's Advice
To prevent the beets from losing color, pour 1 tbsp into the boiling water. fresh lemon juice, or 1 tsp. sugar, or 1 tsp. vinegar.
How to cook delicious beets for vinaigrette or salad
Method number 1: in the oven
To cook beets so that they do not lose color and are tasty, we will turn to a proven method - the oven! It turns out tasty and not troublesome.
- Preheat the oven, set 190 degrees. Wash the beetroot thoroughly, do not cut off the tail and leaf rosette. Our task is to prevent juice from leaking out through any cuts.
- Wrap the root vegetable tightly in foil and bake for 25-35 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable. Large beets should be baked for 35 minutes, small ones - 20 minutes.
- Unwrap and place in a saucepan with cold water until cool. If you have time, you can leave it in the oven until it cools completely.
Cooking vegetables in this way allows you not only to preserve their bright, beautiful color, but also most of the vitamins, organic acids and mineral compounds. The bright beet color of the vegetable looks great not only in vinaigrettes, but any salad will look very beautiful.
*Scullion's Advice
Red boiled beets should not stain other salad components, but how to achieve this? Very simple! After cutting the vegetable into cubes or any other way, sprinkle the cutting with vegetable oil and mix. The oil envelops the beet pieces, trapping the juice inside. You end up with a very colorful vinaigrette or other vegetable salad!
Method number 2: in the microwave
Microwave oven owners should not have any problems boiling vegetables.
- We take a medium-sized root vegetable, wash it thoroughly with a brush, but leave the tail and leaf rosette, as we advised in the recipe for baking vegetables in the oven.
- But to cook in the microwave, we must still break the integrity of the skin, otherwise the root vegetable may explode from the internal water pressure in the vegetable. That's why we use toothpicks to make deep holes in the vegetable.
- We wrap it in a plastic bag (to keep the inner chamber of the oven clean), put the bag in a special bowl for microwaves and boil the vegetable at a power of 800 kW for 10 minutes. During cooking, turn the vegetable over to the other side once.
How long does it take to cook beets if the microwave oven is of lower power? There is only one piece of advice: look in the instructions for your device. As a rule, no more than 20 minutes! Also take into account the size of the vegetable - large beets will take longer to cook.
How to cook boiled beets the traditional way
How to properly boil root vegetables (and carrots too) for salad so that they retain all the important nutrients?
- Wash the beets and carrots well with a brush, do not cut off any parts of the root vegetables, place them in a saucepan and fill them with cold water to a level of 5 cm above.
- Turn on high heat and wait for the water to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil for 15 minutes. Take out the carrots and put them in ice water. Cook the beets for another 20 minutes over medium heat and then until done over low heat. Check readiness with a knife or toothpick. The point should go in easily.
- Drain the water in which the product was cooked and add ice water. After cooling, clean and crumble to suit your needs.
* Cook's Advice
Always try to use the temperature difference technique when you cook vegetables! Firstly, in this case they retain their color and fiber structure, and secondly, they are very easy to clean!
Also remember that salting the water at the beginning of cooking is not recommended, since boiling food in salted water slows down the process and the vegetables harden.
How long can boiled beets be stored?
This is not an idle question if you are a very busy person and you do not have enough time to boil vegetables before cooking. You can store the cooked product for up to 3 days in the general section of the refrigerator, but in the freezer for up to 6 months!
We hope that our information on how to cook beets correctly and for how long will help you more often include this healthy vegetable in your daily menu. Dishes with vegetables are the best foods for health and High Quality life!
Beets for cooking should be of medium size (no more than 10 cm in diameter), with thin dark red skin, without damage or rot. The Bordeaux variety is considered one of the best.
Regardless of the cooking method, the beets need to be thoroughly washed, the tops cut off (if any) and the tail shortened slightly.
Beets are not cleaned before cooking.
If you remove the peel, the juice will flow out of the beets. The vegetable will become pale and tasteless.
Method 1. Classic
Cooking time: 2 hours.
Place the beets in a saucepan and cover with cold water. The water should completely cover the vegetables. There is no need to salt the water. The sodium will firm up the beets and slow down the already slow cooking process.
Place the pan with the beets over medium heat. When the water boils, reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and leave for a couple of hours.
To keep the beets bright red, you can add lemon juice to the water: ½ teaspoon per liter.
You can check readiness with a fork. If the beets are easily pierced, you can drain the water and cool.
Beets are not cleaned before cooking, and the water is not salted.
Method 2. Express cooking
Cooking time: 45–60 minutes.
To speed up the process, some housewives place the beets in already boiling water and do not reduce the heat to low. To make the water temperature even higher, add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
When the beets have boiled for about 30–35 minutes, they are removed from the heat and placed under running cold water for another 15–25 minutes. The temperature difference brings the vegetable to readiness and cools it at the same time.
Method 1. In the “Steam” mode
Cooking time: about 40 minutes depending on the multicooker model.
Wash the beets and place them on a special steaming rack. Pour a glass of water into the bottom of the bowl. Close the device, set the steamer mode, and you can go about your business for 40 minutes.
Be sure to pour water into the bottom of the bowl Please note: for this method to work, the beets must not be dry. If the root crop has wilted, it is better to first soak it in cold water for several hours. When the beets absorb moisture again, they can be boiled. But it’s better on the stove or in the following way.
Method 2. In the “Stewing” or “Cooking” mode
Cooking time: 60–80 minutes depending on the multicooker model.
Everything is the same as in the classic method, but you don’t need to adjust the heat. Simply place the washed beets in the multicooker bowl, add water and turn on the “Stew” or “Cooking” mode (sometimes called “Soup”) for 60 minutes.
After an hour, check the readiness of the beets with a fork. If it’s still too harsh, turn on the same mode for another 20–30 minutes.
Method 3. In the “Baking” mode
Cooking time: 60 minutes depending on the multicooker model.
This method is good for young vegetables when they are tender and juicy. The beets need to be washed, dried with a paper towel and wrapped in foil greased with vegetable oil (each root vegetable separately).
Then place it in the multicooker bowl and cook in the “Baking” mode for about an hour.
Cooking time: 20–25 minutes.
In the same way as in the previous method, wrap each root vegetable in foil and bake at 190 °C.
It is convenient to cook beets in the oven when you need a lot of them. For example, immediately for vinaigrette and herring under a fur coat.
Don't forget to grease the inside of the foil with vegetable oil. By the way, there is a small life hack for preparing salads with beets. If you want to avoid coloring other ingredients, cut it and sprinkle with vegetable oil, and only then combine it with other products.
In my family they cook beets in. This is the simplest and quick way.
Cooking time: from 8 to 20 minutes.
The time depends on two factors: the size of the beets and the power of the microwave. In microwaves with a power of 1,000 watts or more, beets will cook in 8–10 minutes. If you have a less powerful model, double the time.
The beets need to be washed (not peeled!) and placed in glassware. Try to place large root vegetables at the edges and the smallest ones in the center. Pour 3 tablespoons of water into the bottom of the container, and cover the top with a glass or special microwave lid.
To reduce cooking time in a low-power microwave, place the beets in a plastic baking bag and tie it tightly. In this case, the lid is no longer needed.
This method not only saves time, but also leaves dishes clean. There is no need to pierce or cut the beets: they will not explode. It is not necessary to interrupt the process and turn it from side to side. Also, do not pour cold water over vegetables after cooking. It's better to let it cool at room temperature.
The taste of beets from the microwave is exactly the same as when cooked in a saucepan.
Ready beets can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than two days.
There is absolutely nothing complicated about cooking beets, however, this culinary procedure often causes some difficulties. After all, it is important to cook the vegetable so that it turns out soft, but at the same time elastic and not overcooked. In order to eliminate possible questions in the future, “Culinary Eden” decided to talk in detail about how to cook beets, so that they can then be successfully used to prepare various dishes, for example, salads, soups, stews, side dishes or appetizers.
First of all, let's choose the right root vegetable. In cooking, small or medium-sized table beets with thin burgundy skin are used. A vegetable can have a round, elongated or flattened shape - it is worth considering that exactly two latest options They are particularly juicy and sweet. When purchasing, you should be wary of the presence of pale skin, damage, green spots, and even more so rotten beets - we immediately refuse such specimens. The beets should have bright flesh inside rich color- this is a guarantee that when cooked it will be magnificent. Bordeaux beets are considered the best for cooking - this vegetable cooks faster and turns out very tasty.
Before cooking beets, you need to cut off the tops, if any, and rinse the vegetable thoroughly to remove all contaminants. If there is stuck earth, you can use a sponge or brush, but this should be done carefully so as not to damage the delicate skin. But there is no need to remove the tails, as they help preserve the entire beet juice inside the vegetable. For the same reason, in no case should you peel the beets, otherwise, due to the leaked juice, the root crop will become pale, insipid and completely nutritionally useless. Also keep in mind that you cannot cook beets that have damaged skins. Beets can be cooked on the stove, in the microwave, or in a slow cooker. Let's look at each method in more detail.
How to cook beets in a saucepan on the stove.
The classic method of cooking beets is the longest and takes approximately 2 hours. To do this, place the root vegetables in a saucepan and add water so that it completely covers the beets. For 2-3 medium-sized vegetables you will need about 4-5 liters of water. The water in which the beets are cooked does not need to be salted, as salt will make the already long cooking process even longer. But adding sugar is not forbidden, as it helps make the beets sweeter - therefore, if you doubt the final sweetness of the vegetable, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar to the water. After boiling, cover the pan with a lid and cook the beets over low heat until soft. To preserve the rich color of the root vegetable, you can add lemon juice to the water - half a teaspoon will be enough for 1 liter of water. You can also use table vinegar. The readiness of the beets is checked with a knife - if it easily enters the vegetable, the beets are ready. After cooking, the beets can be immersed in cold water - this will ensure that the vegetable retains its bright color and the peel can be easily removed.
The express cooking method using cold water helps to save a lot of time. A similar option - only with ice instead of water - is used by professional chefs. First, you need to bring the water to a boil and add 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to it, stir and after a few minutes add the beets. After 30-35 minutes, place the pan with beets under running cold water for about 20 minutes. Thanks to such a sharp temperature change, the vegetable quickly reaches readiness, while its pulp remains elastic and the peel is easy to peel off. However, this method suffers from the complete disappearance of vitamin C, which, when cooked, in the classic way still remains present in the vegetable in some quantity. It is worth noting that if you want to preserve the maximum vitamins in the beets, the root vegetables should be cooked over low heat under a lid.
How to cook beets in the microwave.
Cooking beets in the microwave is the fastest way to cook the root vegetable. On average, the entire process takes 10-20 minutes depending on the size of the vegetables and the power of the microwave oven. Agree, a significant time saver! It’s worth mentioning right away that it tastes exactly the same as beets cooked on the stove. Everything here is extremely simple - put the beets in a glass container (it’s better if there are larger vegetables around the edges and smaller ones in the center), pour 100 ml of water and cover the container with a glass lid or a special microwave-safe lid. With a microwave power of 1000 watts or more, the beets will be ready in 8-10 minutes. We check the vegetables and, if they are not soft enough, put them in the microwave for a few more minutes. In a similar way, but without water, you can cook beets in a bag. We tie the edges of the bag and cook for 10-20 minutes. When the bag begins to puff up, the beets are ready.
The advantage of using a microwave is that you can cook beets in it, cut into pieces of the desired size. Place the beet pieces in a glass bowl with a small amount of water (don’t forget about the lid) or in a bag that will need to be pricked with a toothpick, since the chopped vegetable releases steam more actively. In 5-7 minutes the beets will be ready. In the first case, you need to immediately drain the water from the container with the beets so that the beet pieces do not absorb it.
A multicooker comes to the aid of housewives even when cooking beets. There are several options here too. First, let's look at how to steam beets in a slow cooker. To do this, place the root vegetables on a special grill, and pour a glass of water into the bottom of the bowl. Set the “Steam” mode for about 40 minutes. It is worth noting that this method involves the use of fresh juicy beets - if the vegetable has dried out, it is recommended to pre-soak it for several hours in cold water.
You can also cook beets in a slow cooker in the traditional way by placing the root vegetables in a bowl and filling them with water. Next, set the “Cooking”, “Stewing” or “Soup” mode for 1 hour. We check the readiness of the beets with a knife, and if they still need to be done, boil them in the same mode for another 20-30 minutes.
Remember that boiled beets, unpeeled, can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3-4 days. Therefore, hurry up to cook from it delicious dishes, several recipes of which we will share with you below.
Ingredients:
- 1 large beet,
- 200 g dry beans,
- 1 onion,
- 1 apple,
- 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil,
- 2 tablespoons table vinegar,
- salt and spices to taste,
- parsley or cilantro.
Preparation:
Boil the beans that have been pre-soaked overnight until tender. Boil the beets until tender, then peel them and cut into strips. Mix onion cut into half rings with vinegar and let stand for 30 minutes. Mix onion, beans, beets and diced apple. Season the salad with vegetable oil, add salt and spices to taste. Sprinkle with chopped herbs and serve.
Beetroot pancakes with garlic
Ingredients:
- 1 large beet,
- 1 large egg
- 2-3 cloves of garlic,
- 3-4 tablespoons of flour,
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise,
- salt and ground black pepper to taste,
- vegetable oil.
Preparation:
Boil the beets until tender, drain and remove the skin. Grate the vegetable on a coarse grater. Add egg, mayonnaise, flour and pressed garlic. Mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Fry the pancakes in a frying pan in vegetable oil, using 1 heaped tablespoon of the mixture for each pancake. Serve the dish with sour cream.
Well, now you know how to cook beets, so put our tips into practice and let your dishes with beets always turn out tasty and satisfying! Bon appetit!
Do you still think that cooking beets is long and tedious? But knowing the simple and effective tips, whole beets will be cooked as quickly as possible, while retaining all their unique beneficial properties. Step by step recipe with photo. Video recipe.
Beetroot is a unique vegetable with mass beneficial properties, so it is very common in cooking. Salads, first and second courses are prepared with it. For the former, root vegetables are most often required boiled. Beets cook for quite a long time - from 1.5 to 2 hours. It depends on the size and age. Therefore, in most cases, this nuance is taken into account and the tubers are boiled in advance. But sometimes it happens that there is no time for long cooking, and then the task arises of reducing the cooking time of the vegetable. Today we will learn one of these methods.
Secrets of how to cook beets correctly, and not only...
- Do not cut off the tail during cooking. If you violate the integrity of the beets, juice will leak out of them, and they will turn out whitish and watery.
- At the beginning of cooking, do not salt the beets, because... The salt will still evaporate and make the vegetable hard, which will increase the cooking time. Salt the beetroot dish already.
- The beets will retain their beautiful bright color if you add 0.5 tsp to it after boiling. vinegar, 1 tsp. sugar or a little lemon juice.
- Don't like the smell of beets? Neutralize it by placing a crust of bread in a saucepan.
- If the beets are dry, scald them with boiling water, fill them with water at room temperature and leave to swell. After that, send it to the fire without changing the water.
- To prevent other vegetables (for example, potatoes) from becoming “colored” in the vinaigrette, chop boiled beets pieces and sprinkle with vegetable oil.
- Calorie content per 100 g - 89 kcal.
- Number of servings - 3 pcs.
- Cooking time - 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Beetroot - 3 pcs.
- Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp.
- Citric acid - 1 tsp.
Step-by-step preparation of quick cooking of beets, recipe with photo:
1. Pour drinking water into a saucepan and place on the stove.
2. Add vegetable oil to the water.
3. Next, add citric acid and bring the water to a boil.
4. Using a brush, clean and wash the beets well. Do not remove the peel, cook the fruits along with it.
5. Place the beets in boiling water until the roots are completely covered, otherwise the water will boil before the vegetables are cooked.
6. Bring the water to a boil again. big fire, because After adding the beets, the temperature will cool down a little.
7. Boil the beets for half an hour without covering the pan with a lid, and transfer the fruits to a bowl of ice water. Leave it for 15 minutes.
8. Drain the cold water and use the beets for salads and other dishes.
Secret fast cooking beets lies precisely in the temperature difference, which brings the beets to readiness and the entire cooking process takes 40-50 minutes. If you place the root vegetables in a saucepan of cold water and place it on the stove, the cooking time will be 2-3 hours. Therefore, always finish the cooking process with cold water. Then the beets, in addition to being ready, will be easier to peel.
Watch also the video recipe on how to quickly cook beets.
Before cooking beets, you need to prepare them for this process.
Immediately before cooking, the beets should be washed well under cold running water and the roots should be cut off. Do not peel the beets, thanks to which the beets will retain their color and valuable microelements.
How to cook beets?
Place the beets in a saucepan and fill with cold water. It is advisable to take a larger pan, since it will take a long time to cook and the water will boil away. You need to pour enough water so that it covers the entire beet, and there is still about 7-10 cm of water above it.
In general, beets are cooked for about 2 hours, depending on the size: small root vegetables - 1 hour, medium ones - 1.5 hours, large ones - 2 hours. But it is better to use small beets. We start counting the time from the moment the water boils. Cook over low heat. We don't salt the water. Cook under the lid - this reduces processing time and reduces loss of vitamins. To make sure that the beets are already cooked, you need to stick a fork or knife into them. If it comes in softly, it means the beets are ready.
How to peel beets?
After cooking, drain the water from the beets, cool and peel them, and in order for them to peel easily and quickly, the beets should be left in cold water for a while. After 10 minutes, you can drain the water and clean the boiled beets. After such a procedure with cold water, the beet skin simply “flies off” right in your hands, sometimes you don’t even need a knife.
Application of boiled beets:
Boiled beets are served warm or cold. In salads or as an independent dish.
Bon appetit!