Cooking Basics
How to cook beetroot
Beetroot is the vegetable everyone’s eating this year! Even if you might have been a little put off by the earthy vegetable as a child, today you should take the chance to discover how versatile beetroot can be. Whether as beetroot juice, chips, soup or simply roasted in the oven – this tuber really is a true all-rounder. But the main reason why beetroot is so popular is because of its incredible number of health benefits.
In this article we’ll not only tell you all about the health benefits of beetroot, but also show you different methods of how to cook beetroot.
If you always want to have a small supply of beetroot at home, we’ll also show you the right way to freeze beetroot.
For some cooking inspiration, we have listed some of our favourite beetroot recipes at the end of the article. To make sure you always have the right spices, we’ve also included some of our favourite spice blends for beetroot recipes. Get the best out of your beetroot recipes – with spice mixes from Just Spices!
5 reasons why beetroot is good for your health
You could almost say that beetroot works like a miracle cure because of all the healthy nutrients and vitamins that it includes.
The earthy vegetable contains important B vitamins, folic acid and a wide range of minerals including iron and betaine. Studies have already shown that eating beetroot has a positive impact on your health.
Here are 5 reasons why eating beetroot has so many health benefits:
Due to its high amount of nitrates, beetroot lowers your blood pressure.
The antioxidants provide an anti-inflammatory effect.
Beetroot helps in the formation of red blood cells and therefore helps sufferers of anemia.
Beetroot has a cholesterol-reducing effect.
Due to the nitrate contained in beetroot, it dilates blood vessels and promotes blood circulation in the brain. This improves your ability to concentrate.
As you can see, eating beetroot is good for you, your taste buds and your whole body!
How to boil beetroot
Now that you know the health benefits of eating beetroot, you're probably wondering how best to cook beetroot.
But before you start preparing, you should know when the best time is to buy delicious, locally grown beetroot. The main season for beetroot in the UK is from June to October. That’s when the beet tastes fresh and is really tender and juicy.
The best cooking method depends on the dish you want to cook. If you want to cook beetroot soup, it’s best to just boil the tubers so you can purée them later. The same goes for beetroot juice or beetroot smoothies.
Boiling beetroot is not complicated at all, you just need to:
Clean the beetroot and make sure there isn’t any dirt on the skin left.
Fill a pot halfway with water and put the unpeeled beetroot inside.
Bring the water to boil and then let it simmer for about 30-60 minutes. When the skin comes off easily, the beetroot is done.
Let the tubers cool down and then peel them. It’s important to peel the beetroot afterwards, so it doesn’t lose a lot of nutrients during cooking.
Cut the beetroot into small cubes or slices.
Hot Tip: If you get red fingers while preparing your beetroot, don’t worry – just take some lemon juice and wash off the colour in a few seconds!
Have you ever tried beetroot houmous? Just add some of the boiled beetroot to your chickpeas, tahini sauce, garlic and olive oil and then purée all the ingredients. Once you’ve tried this houmous version, you’ll never want to go back! And to make sure that your beetroot houmous also has the right spices, try our authentic Houmous Topping.
How to cook beetroot in the oven
If you want to have more roast aromas, you can also easily roast beetroot in the oven. This method is convenient if you want to, for example, enjoy some roasted vegetables with a dip. You can also add some colour to your sandwiches by adding roasted beetroot.
Here’s how you can easily roast beetroot in the oven:
First you need to preheat your oven to 200°C (convection oven)
Peel the skin from the beetroot and cut the tuber into slices or other forms that you like.
Put the slices on a baking tray and add some olive oil and sea salt. For some extra roast flavour, add some of our Roast Potato Seasoning.
Cook the vegetable for about 40-50 minutes.
When the boiling point is reached, turn the heat down low until the water is simmering.
Tip: If you also like crisps as much as we do, try beetroot crisps as a healthier alternative! To make beetroot crisps you just have to cut the tuber into thin slices and roast them as already described in the oven.
And if you’re still missing the perfect dip for your roasted beetroots or other vegetables, check out our Herb Dip Seasoning. Just mix this seasoning with some yoghurt or sour cream for a delicious, healthy dip.
How to stir fry beetroot
Another method of cooking is stir-frying beetroot in a pan. This way you can also make some delicious beetroot chips. If you season your beetroot chips with our Chips Seasoning, you won’t even taste a difference to regular chips!
First you need to peel your beetroot.
Then cut it into sticks or slices.
Heat up the pan and add some oil.
Fry the beetroot sticks or slices for about 5 minutes on each side.
When the beetroot is ready, put them on a plate with some kitchen paper to drain some of the excess oil.
Sprinkle it with salt or other seasonings and your perfect side dish is ready!
Can you freeze beetroot?
Yes, you can freeze beetroot! This way you can enjoy local beetroot all year long. Even the healthy nutrients are preserved when you freeze your beetroot! However, you’ll need to prepare it before freezing.
Just follow these 3 simple steps:
First you need to boil the beetroot as already described.
When the beetroot is done, cut it into small cubes or slices.
Put the beetroot in small zip-lock bags or containers and seal them airtight. If you make smaller portions, it’s easier to store them and to defrost them later.
You can keep your beetroot for up to 8 months in your freezer.
Healthy beetroot recipes
Get inspired and use your new cooking skills to prepare some delicious, healthy beetroot recipes!
We have a big range of recipes for every occasion, diet and taste! Just check out our recipe collections or take a look at all recipes in our recipe overview.
Beetroot Salad: A colorful salad with beetroot, feta, walnuts and a dressing made with our Balsamic Dressing Mix
Colourful Wholewheat Sandwiches: A healthy sandwich recipe – with extra flavour thanks to our Sandwich Seasoning
If you love sandwiches as much as we do, get inspired and try some new recipes from our Sandwich Recipe Collection!
Roasted Vegetables with Herb Dip: The perfect recipe if you like the combination of sweet and savoury! Our Mediterranean Vegetable Allrounder provides an authentic Mediterranean flavour and the herb dip with our Herb Dip Seasoning rounds off the recipe perfectly.
Best spice blends for beetroot
There are so many different beetroot recipes – and for each one we have a perfectly matched spice blend! All the spices you need in just one pot – so you can save time and energy while always having the right spices at hand.
These spice blends go particularly well with beetroot:
Vegetable Allrounder – this all-rounder spices up all kinds of vegetables in an instant!
Chips Seasoning – to make your beetroot chips taste like regular chips!
Italian Allrounder – for some Italian flavour in any kind of dish
Roast Potato Seasoning – the perfect spice blend for roasted or stir-fried beetroots
Spice up your Greens Set – this spice set has everything you need for vegetarian dishes
Cooking basics with Just Spices
Now you know all the important facts about how to cook beetroot and more! Who would have thought that cooking beetroot is so easy?
If you want to learn more about cooking, check out our Cooking Basics blog category. You’ll learn how to cook any kind of ingredient, like for example how to cook asparagus. Soon you will be a pro at cooking all kinds of vegetables! Of course, we also have some tips and tricks for all the meat lovers like our blog article on how to cook schnitzel correctly. In this blog section, you’ll find all the answers you need!
