How to cook beetroot. Quick beets in a slow cooker

Beetroot is a healthy, but difficult to prepare product. Often, beginners fail to properly cook the root crop so that it becomes soft, but retains an elastic structure and does not turn into gruel. How to choose a tasty and sweet vegetable? How long to boil the workpiece so that it does not remain too hard and tough? What to add to the water for cooking to improve the taste of beets? And how to speed up the preparation of the root crop, but retain all the beneficial properties?

Perfect taste and quality

For salads, stews and first courses, small and medium vegetables are used. If the beet is too large and round, then it belongs to the fodder type. Such root crops are unsweetened and fresh, boil for a long time and contain fewer vitamins than table options.

The basis for vinaigrette is carefully examined. Instances with rot, green dots and pale skin are not worth buying. The right beet has a uniform, rich red or burgundy hue. Which varieties taste best? Round or oblong and flattened? Second. They are juicier and sweeter.

Checking the taste of the workpiece is simple: remove the peel from one vegetable or cut it in half. If the color of the pulp is bright and saturated, the root crop will make an ideal salad. Pale beets tend to be bland and tasteless, like grass.

It is impossible to cook a workpiece with a damaged peel. But what to do with the control instance? Use to make freshly squeezed juice. Or cut into strips and fall asleep in a double boiler or slow cooker. The vegetable will soften in 20-25 minutes. The workpiece can be added to a diet salad or interrupted with a blender with vegetable oil and salt. It will turn out a dietary snack, however, with a minimum amount of vitamin C, because ascorbic acid evaporates during steam treatment.

Preparing vegetables

Beet tails, unlike tops, are not removed. They play the role of a cork that does not allow the juice to flow out. If you cut off the lower part of the root crop, during cooking it will lose most of the useful trace elements, it will become pale and tasteless.

The beet billet is washed under a tap. The peel is gently sanded with a soft brush to wash off the adhering earth, but not damage the top layer. Root crops are not cleaned before cooking. The washed blanks are placed in a saucepan and brought to readiness.

Fast way

How to save an hour and a half and get a soft, juicy vegetable that peels off in seconds? Take advantage of the secrets of professional chefs. It will take only two ingredients: boiling water and 40–60 ml of vegetable oil. Plus a large saucepan and a bowl of ice.

About 4-5 liters of water are taken for 2-3 medium root crops. If there is a lot of liquid and little food, the moisture evaporates quickly and heats up more. First, oil is poured into the boiling base. Stir, and after 3-5 minutes put the beets. They mark for half an hour, drain the liquid, and throw the hot roots into the ice.

The pulp due to temperature changes remains elastic, but not too hard. And the peel peels off and is easily removed even without a knife. The method has only one disadvantage. Ascorbic acid evaporates due to a sharp change in temperature. But in boiled beets, iron, potassium, beta-carotene and calcium remain.

Variant for vinaigrette

In order for the root crop to retain its rich color, it is placed not in hot, but in cold water. And add freshly squeezed lemon juice or table vinegar. Acid retains vitamins and coloring substances contained in beet pulp. For 3-5 liters of liquid, 30-40 ml of the additive will be needed. And in order for the vegetables to remain sweetish, water for cooking is filled with 1-2 tbsp. l. Sahara.

Washed beets are placed in a saucepan and put on maximum heat. When the liquid base boils, note 2 hours. The container must be covered with a lid to raise the temperature of the water and speed up the preparation of root crops. A match is stuck into the workpiece. If it enters easily, remove the pan. Beets can be poured with cold water so that the peel is behind the pulp, but this is not a prerequisite.

If you want vegetables to become sweet without sugar and honey, then they need to be baked. First, bring to half-cooked in boiling water. Then take it out and put it on paper towels for 5-10 minutes to absorb moisture. Half-baked root crops are transferred to foil or a baking sleeve, sent to the oven. Choose a temperature from 190 to 250 degrees. The preparation will take from 30 to 40 minutes. Old beets take longer to cook, while young ones take longer.

1. To preserve the vitamins, the vegetables are brought to a boil at maximum heat, and then switched to the minimum temperature. The product languishes from 3 to 4 hours, always under the lid.
2. Salt can shorten the cooking time. Add 25-35 g of seasoning to boiling water, stir for 5 minutes. The spice purifies water from oxygen, due to which trace elements evaporate. Beets are placed in a salted boiling base. But so that it does not lose its sweetish aftertaste, sugar and a little vinegar are added.
3. Black or rye bread can remove the characteristic beet smell. The crust is placed in a boiling base 30–40 minutes before the root vegetables are ready.
4. Boiled vegetables are stored only under the lid, no longer than 2 days. They quickly lose ascorbic acid and useful properties.
5. If the beetroot has become dry and shriveled, it is not necessary to throw it away. The workpiece is poured over with boiling water, and then placed in warm water so that the product swells.
6. The broth left after boiling the root crop can not be poured out, but used as a laxative and diuretic. Just add a pinch of cinnamon or a few tablespoons of lemon juice to the drink.

Beets are prepared in various ways: in a saucepan, oven, double boiler and even microwave. The main thing is not to cut off the tails and peel when cooking, so that the workpiece does not lose vitamins and color. And dip the hot root crop in cold water or ice. Then the color of the product will be saturated, and the peel will easily separate from the pulp.

Video: how to cook beets quickly

In cooking, beets are an indispensable vegetable for preparing salads, first courses, drinks and desserts. Each method of cooking beetroot depends on what kind of dish and how you cook it. Beets are boiled in water (in a slow cooker or saucepan), steamed in a double boiler or baked in a microwave or oven. Ready beets are cleaned, cut into strips or grated, and then added to the dish. There are quick ways to cook beets, when raw, peeled fruits are cut into cubes or strips and cooked in crushed form. Also, to prepare borscht or beetroot, you can grate peeled raw beets and stew with vinegar or lemon, and then add to the soup.

Cooking time for beets

In a saucepan: 30-40 minutes.
In a slow cooker: 35-40 minutes.
In a steamer: 1 hour.
In the oven: 30-40 minutes.
In the microwave: 10-12 minutes.
In a slow cooker in pieces: 15 minutes.

Cooking methods

How to Peel Beets Before Cooking

Soak the beets in cold water first, and then wash them thoroughly under running water with a brush.


Separate the tubers from the tops, because. tubers and beet tops are always cooked separately.

How to cook beetroot in a pot

1. Beets must be washed well under running water, without cleaning or removing the tails - only the leaves of the tops are removed.


2. Place in a saucepan, pour cold water so that the tubers are completely covered, put to boil.
3. Beets are cooked for an average of 30-40 minutes. You can check the readiness by piercing the vegetable with a fork - the finished beets are soft in the center.
4. Drain the water, clean the finished beets hot - under running cold water, or before cleaning, place in a saucepan with cold water for 10 minutes. Then clean by removing the skin.

How to cook beets in a slow cooker

We choose fruits of medium size, as well as for cooking in a saucepan.
We wash the beets, separate the tops, place them in the multicooker bowl, fill with water.
We cook the vegetable in the "Baking" mode. The cooking time of beets in a slow cooker is 35-40 minutes. For large beets, the time is increased to one hour.
You can bake beets in a slow cooker, as in this recipe: “Beetroot caviar in a slow cooker”

How to bake beets in the oven

Beets can be baked in the oven by wrapping them in foil or placing them in a baking bag. Cook for approximately 30 minutes at a temperature of 190-200 degrees. The time depends on the size of the beets and the individual characteristics of your oven.

1. Wash the beets, separate the tops.
2. Wrap the tubers in foil or place in a baking bag.
3. Put on a baking sheet.
4. Bake beets in an oven preheated to 200 degrees Celsius.
5. Baking time: 30-40 minutes.
6. Open the foil or bag, let the vegetable cool.
7. Peel off the skin.

Fast Cooking Methods

Beets in the microwave

Washed fruits are pierced in several places, placed in a special dish for a microwave oven or a food bag. Cook in the microwave for 10-12 minutes at a power of 800 watts.

Quick beets in a slow cooker

You can quickly cook beets in a slow cooker - after cutting into pieces or straws. To do this, the beets must be peeled and chopped.


Pour vegetable oil into the multicooker bowl, add beets, mix well and cook in the "Baking" mode for 15 minutes.
Such beets can be added to a salad, borscht, or beetroot caviar can be prepared from it.

Beetroot Dishes - Recipes

Beets have firmly entered our diet, and without it it is simply impossible to imagine our daily and festive menu.
In cooking, beets are used to prepare cold appetizers and salads, and not only from the rhizome, but also from the tops. It is difficult to imagine borscht or beetroot soup, botvinnik or beetroot okroshka without beets, not to mention vinaigrette or the famous and healthy salad "Brush". Beets are used to make healthy and tasty drinks, and even desserts and sweets.

* A simple raw beetroot salad.
It is very useful to prepare salads from raw beets, because it is in raw beets that all vitamins and nutrients are stored. So, we bought, washed and dried beets. Peel a few tubers and grate them on a coarse grater or on a grater for Korean carrots. Cook only as much as you can eat in one sitting because, even if stored in the refrigerator, the beetroot dish loses all of its magical properties.
Grate 200 g beets and mix with 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice.
Add a pinch of red hot pepper. A few coriander seeds ground in a mortar, salt to taste and season with olive oil, add 1 tbsp. l. green finely chopped onion.

* Boiled beets with olive oil and lemon.
A very popular appetizer in Greece, which is served with grilled or grilled fatty fish Dorada or Salmon.
Cook 200 g of unpeeled beet tubers and beet tops in a slow cooker in the "Steam" mode. The tops will cook much faster than the tubers, so we will get it in 15 minutes. We check the readiness of the tubers by piercing them with a fork, which enters the finished tuber easily and gently. We clean the hot tubers, cut into circles and beautifully put on a dish. Nearby you need to spread the tops, pour 2 tbsp. l. vegetable oil and 2 tbsp. l. lemon juice, sprinkle with oregano to taste.

* Beet caviar with walnuts and prunes.
Beetroot tubers (200 g) wrap with foil and place in the oven. Bake, peel the prepared beets and grate on a fine (carrot) grater, you can pierce with a blender.
Finely chop an onion and lightly fry in two tablespoons of vegetable oil. Dried and very soft prunes 5-6 pcs. cut in small pieces. Chop dried nuts with a knife. Mix everything together and season with lemon juice 2 tbsp. l., adding a little ground coriander in a mortar, salt and black pepper to taste.

* See also other beetroot recipes:
Beet salad with banana sauce
Snack cake "Beetroot"
Vinaigrette in the microwave
Very simple cheese, egg and beetroot salad
Cold beetroot on yogurt
Salad "Bite off the tongue"
matrimonial beetroot
Vinaigrette "One-two and done"

Making salads and appetizers
Beet chips rose
Beetroot juice is an excellent natural dye and is used in the preparation of desserts and pastries: cookies "Colorful strawberries"

Useful properties of beets

Beets are a valuable food product that contains vitamins, proteins and carbohydrates, magnesium, potassium, iron, etc., as well as organic acids and dyes. It is a true food source of copper, iron, phosphorus and vitamin C. Its leaves contain a lot of vitamin A, and the presence of folic acid in beets promotes the formation of new cells and rejuvenates the body. Vitamin "B 9" prevents heart disease, because it is responsible for the production of hemoglobin by the body. The presence of pectin in beets helps to remove heavy metal salts and radiation from the body, lowers cholesterol.
Despite the sugar content in the beet, it is recommended for people suffering from obesity and fluid retention. It cleans the liver and kidneys well, stimulates the brain, lowers blood pressure, but at the same time, beets are not recommended for people with a weak stomach and high acidity.
Red beets saturated with useful substances are important and necessary for all of us. It helps women on critical days and cope with menopause, in men it stimulates sexual and muscle activity, and for children it is a source of vitamins, iron and iodine.

Energy value of beets

Energy value per 100 gr. fresh beets 43 kcal 180 kJ.
Proteins - 1.6 gr., Fats - 0.2 gr., Carbohydrates - 9.6 gr. - including sugar 6.8 gr.

Beet varieties

All types of beet originated from wild, which grows in India and the Far East. The most common and known to us types of beets: sugar, fodder and ordinary, are quite unpretentious, grow and are found everywhere except Antarctica. We are talking about ordinary beets, which we use to prepare our dishes, we buy in stores and at the market, and we also grow them in our summer cottages. So, beetroot has many varieties: Ataman, Bordeaux, Detroit Cadet, Captain, Aelita, Cylinder, Commander, Cadet and Red Ball. The most popular and loved, for its rich burgundy color and sugar content. Bordeaux beet variety.

Selection, purchase, processing, storage

When buying beets, try to choose tubers that are medium and uniform in size, thin skinned, and deep burgundy in color.
If the beets are with tops, do not rush to throw away the tops - it can be used to make salad, borscht and beetroot.
Separate the tubers from the tops, dry thoroughly if you do not use the beets immediately. Tubers are best stored on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator in special containers for vegetables or in a dry and dark cool place. The tops can be frozen and placed in a food bag to freeze.

Interesting Facts
So that the beetroot cut for mixed salads does not stain the rest of the ingredients, you need to add a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil to it and let it stand for several minutes.
In the old days in the Mediterranean, only beet leaves were eaten, and the roots were used only for medicinal purposes.

A huge number of dishes of classical Russian cuisine can not do without beets. An example of this is borscht, vinaigrette, herring under a fur coat, beetroot and many others. The red root crop was also appreciated by modern chefs, continuing to invent more and more new recipes and dishes with it.

You can talk endlessly about the benefits of beets. It is rich in "loose" vitamins. Proteins, healthy fats, fiber are also in it. Beetroot juice restores metabolism and makes it possible to lose weight. Carrots in combination with our miracle root crop, if you insist them on vodka with honey, will give you “Spartan” immunity and help you forget about colds and SARS.

And now, it would seem, it would be a pity to destroy all the useful properties of beets, throwing it into a pan to cook. But you should not worry, beets after heat treatment become even more useful. While the raw root vegetable is still contraindicated for some people with diabetes or stomach diseases.

But beets cooked correctly in water have no contraindications and gain additional benefits by being enriched with iron, phosphorus, iodine, vitamin U, etc. It is important to understand what are the ways to cook beets correctly and quickly, because in normal mode it is cooked for about 40 minutes , and if you start cooking in cold water - then all 2 hours.

The most important thing with any method is to remember that it is better to cook beets, like potatoes, “in their uniforms”, having washed them thoroughly beforehand. 2 hours of cooking does not suit us, so we will consider only those ways to help us cook it quickly and tasty.

1. How to quickly cook beets in a pan? To do this, it is better to select small or medium fruits, because. they cook faster. And we boil it in an extreme way, which will help, instead of the set hour, to bring our vegetable to readiness in 15 minutes. To do this, you need to lower the fruits into boiling water so that they are under water, about 8 cm. Do not cover with a lid. Then after 15-20 minutes we immerse the fruits under cold water. Everything, the beets are ready for the salad.
2. You can also cook beets in the microwave. It will be a little longer - 25-30 minutes, but no less tasty. Although the process of cooking in a microwave oven will be more like baking a product. Everything is simple here: put the beets in a baking bag, put them on the microwave at 200 degrees and leave for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the fruit.
3. The next method is identical to the previous one. By the same principle, you can bake beets in the oven, after wrapping them in foil. It turns out very tasty.
4. There are many very interesting and mouth-watering videos on the Internet on how to cook beets in a slow cooker. This is perhaps the most ideal way to preserve all the beneficial properties of raw beets, and save on cooking time.

We cook in a multicooker

Consider options for how you can cook beets in a Redmond multicooker, because this particular model has many manual modes and programs.

First way- cook beets for vinaigrette, for example, in the "Cooking" mode. To do this, choose healthy fruits, cut off the tails, wash thoroughly with water. Then put on a wire rack and fill with water by 1.5 cm, leave for 40-60 minutes.

Next method- "Steam" mode. We have all heard about the dietary benefits of steamed foods - the same goes for beets.

It is impossible to digest it with steam at 80-100 degrees, and even more so if you make a mistake about whether you cook it correctly. This method is slightly faster than the previous one (on average 40 minutes), but it can also be accelerated by cutting the beets into pieces, then laying them out on a wire rack.

I repeat, processed and even chopped beets will not lose their properties, and at the end of cooking, you will be surprised how tender and tasty it has become, saturated with water vapor.

What's the best way to cook?

Above, we examined how beets can be cooked. And now we will give examples of how to choose the right beets and what needs to be done so that the beets do not lose their color or boil soft.

• Most people prefer Bordeaux. It is these small and flattened varieties that are the most delicious and cook quickly enough.
• We do not clean it before cooking, as we have already found out above, just wash it well.
• During the cooking process, we do not salt the beets, because. this will increase the cooking time and make the vegetable hard, although here it is already as you like.
• The readiness of beets is checked in the same way as the readiness of boiled potatoes - with a knife or fork.
• Those who do not like the smell of boiled beets can throw some bread into the pan with beets.
• If the beetroot is still peeled and you are afraid that it will lose its color, add a little lemon juice or a spoonful of sugar at the time of cooking.
• You can store an already boiled root crop in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and in the freezer for up to six months and even here all the beneficial properties will be preserved. What can you say about the taste...
• Regardless of the method chosen, after the beets have been boiled, we always rinse them under cold water, so the skin will peel off easier.

We hope our tips will help you cook beets quickly and without problems, and someone will discover this sweet and tasty product for themselves and include it in their regular diet.

Before you cook beets, you need to prepare them for this process.

Immediately before cooking, the beets should be washed well under cold running water, cut off the roots. Do not peel the beets from the peel, so that the beets will retain their color and valuable trace elements.

How to cook beets?

Place the beets in a saucepan and cover with cold water. It is advisable to take a larger pot, as it takes a long time to cook and the water will boil away. You need to pour enough water so that it covers all the beets, and there was still water above it, approximately at a glance, up to 7-10 cm.

In general, beets are cooked for about 2 hours, depending on the size: small root vegetables - 1 hour, medium - 1.5 hours, large - 2 hours. But it is better to use beets of small sizes. Time begins to count from the moment of boiling water. We cook on a small fire. We do not salt the water. We cook under the lid - this reduces the processing time and reduces the loss of vitamins. To make sure that the beets are already cooked, you need to stick a fork or knife into it. If it comes in gently, then the beets are ready.

How to clean beets?

After cooking, drain the water from the beets, cool and peel, and in order for it 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 peel the boiled beets. After such a procedure with cold water, the skin from the beets simply “flies” right in the hands, sometimes even a knife is not needed.

The use of boiled beets:

Boiled beets are served warm or cold. In salads or as an independent dish.

Bon appetit!

It would seem that there is nothing easier than boiling beets, but many, when faced with this vegetable for the first time, experience certain difficulties. It is for them that this simple instruction was written on how to properly boil beets so that they remain tasty, healthy and do not lose their color.

Right choice

Tasty and high-quality beets have a thin skin of a uniform dark color without greenish patches and visible damage. If, after peeling off the skin, you see dark red or burgundy flesh, then the vegetable is sweet enough and can be used to make any salad. Pale-looking, too large beets are most likely fodder, and its taste will be inexpressive, and the benefits are minimal.

How to cook beets - basic rules

1. Thoroughly wash the beetroot under running water, using a stiff brush in case of heavy contamination. In no case should you remove the skin from vegetables or cut off the tails.




2. Put the vegetables in an enamel pot, fill it to the top with water and bring to a boil over high heat.




3. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into boiling water, cover the pan with a lid and cook the beets over medium heat until soft, that is, depending on the size of the vegetable, from 1.5 to 2 hours. Readiness to check with a fork or a toothpick - if the flesh of the vegetable is pierced without difficulty, then it is already ready. By the way, lemon juice can be replaced with a small amount of vinegar, thanks to the acidity of these components, the beets will not lose their rich color during long cooking.

You can boil the beets much faster (from 40 to 60 minutes), but then you need to put them not in cold, but in boiling water.

4. Pour the finished beets for 15 minutes with ice water - this will make it much easier to clean.

An alternative to boiling is baking

Not everyone knows that in order for the beets to retain the maximum of their useful qualities after heat treatment, it is better not to boil it, but to bake it. You can do this both in the microwave and in the oven. When using the oven, the washed and dried vegetable should be wrapped in 2 layers of foil and put in a heat-resistant form, the bottom of which is pre-coated with coarse salt (a finger-thick layer). Bake at 200 degrees for about 1 hour. When baking in the microwave, the beets just need to be wrapped in a heat-resistant plastic bag and after 25 minutes at maximum oven power they will be ready.

Shelf life

It is necessary to store the finished beets in a tightly closed container and not longer than 2 days, then it simply loses its useful and taste properties.
Of course, the most popular beetroot dish is, but sometimes there is absolutely no time to cook it. In this case, it is enough to grate the beets on a coarse grater.




Then sprinkle with vegetable oil, generously sprinkle with coarse salt and ground black pepper and eat with pleasure as a cold snack. Easier and tastier food can not be found.




Well, now you not only know how to cook beets for salads and other dishes, but also how to store them ready-made