Pickled Beetroot Recipe Thermomix & Conventional
Pickled beetroot is a simple recipe whether you use a Thermomix or the conventional method. Just 5 ingredients turn surplus beetroot into an all year round, homemade retro staple.
Having a herb garden for staples is one of my “must-haves.” I love getting in my garden and tending to the plants. At the moment we only have a small, temporary pallet garden. My hubby made it for me when we moved in about 3 months ago, but we are still harvesting an abundance of fresh, organic produce.
I like to grow beetroot in my garden because they’re a crop that keeps giving. The leaves are fabulous in salads and can be harvested as the beetroot grows. I choose the new baby leaves to add to salads and leave the older leaves for the grasshoppers and insects.
If you don’t have an aversion to pesticides you could spray and have an insect free garden but I prefer not to spray as it doesn’t seem to affect the outcome of my crops.
Ordinarily, I will leave my beets in the garden for the whole growing season and harvest only salad leaves. This results in loads of mega beetroots which can be boiled, sliced and preserved ready for sandwiches and burgers.
Growing beetroot in between the slats of a pallet means the beets need to be picked before they’re too big to pull through the timbers.
Pickling is a great way to ensure your surplus of vegetables is ready for use all year round. This retro cooking technique has been coming back into vogue and can be used for a wide variety of vegetables.
The recipe I’m sharing today is my old nan’s recipe. Nan was renowned for having a fridge full of yummy homemade preserves. I’ve been making pickled beetroot for years so I will share the conventional stovetop method and my Thermomix pickled beetroot recipe.
Pickled Beetroot Stove-top Method
- Place the beetroot in a saucepan full water and boil with the lid on.
- Boil for about 30 minutes depending on the size. (to test use a knife to poke into the beetroot).
- Place cooked beets in cold water and remove the skin and tops with fingers.
- Slice or dice the beetroots ready for preserving and add to the sterilised jars.
- Bring the brine ingredients to the boil in another saucepan.
- Stir to dissolve the sugar and infuse any additional spices.
- Continue to boil for another 2 minutes.
- Whilst the sterilising jars are still warm, pour the brine over the beetroots to the top of the jar.
- Seal the beetroot jar whilst hot.
- To create a vacuum place the jars back into boiling water until the pressure seal pops back in.
How To Sterilise Jars for Pickles & Preserves
When making pickles or preserves, sterilising jars and lids is an important step to ensure that your produce stays safe for consumption over a long period. There are two common sterilisation techniques, boiling or heating in an oven.
Sterilising Jars – Boiling Method
- Wash the empty jars and lids.
- Place each jar and the lids in a large saucepan of water and bring it to the boil.
- Boil the jars for 10 minutes ensuring the water is in all the jars and there are no air bubbles which could harbour bacteria.
- Remove the jars and allow them to air dry.
Sterilising Jars – Oven Method
- Wash the empty jars and lids.
- Place each jar and the lids into a cold oven.
- Heat the oven to 160 degrees. Allow the jars to remain in the oven for 15 minutes after the oven has reached temperature.
- Turn off the oven and open the oven door.
- Leave the jars inside the oven until needed. You want them to be hot when you add the beetroot and pickling liquid. (80 to 100 degrees hot, not 160)
Important Note Before Commencing
Never add cold ingredients to a hot sterilised jar! It will shatter the jar. Similarly never add boiling hot ingredients to a cold glass jar. Ideally, the ingredients and the jars should be a similar temperature.
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Pickled beetroot is simple using the convention or Thermomix method. Just 5 ingredients turn surplus beetroot into an all year round, homemade retro staple.
- 400 - 500 g raw beetroot Note 1
- 1000 g hot tap water
- 500 g white vinegar
- 250 g tap water
- 1 tsp salt
- 120 g white sugar
- 1 sprig rosemary optional
- 1 bay leaf optional
Wash the beetroot and cut the top and any roots off. (don't peel)
Add the 1000g water to TM bowl
Add the prepared beetroot to the internal steam basket.
Place the basket in the TM Bowl. Boil 35 min/Varoma/Speed 4.
Place vinegar, water, sugar, salt and any spices being used into the TM Bowl. Cook 6 min/Varoma/Speed 2.
Once the beetroot is cooked place them in cold water.
Use your fingers to rub the skin off the beetroot. (It should come off if the beets are cooked.)
Slice the beetroot or cut into cubes.
Place the beetroot into the prepared jars.
Pour as much of the pickling liquid as is needed to cover the beetroot completely.
Leave a 1 cm space between the brine and the lid.
Seal the pickled beetroot with the lid.
Note 1: Sterilise jars first using one of the methods above.
Note 2: The quantity of beetroot which will fit into the internal steam basket will vary depending on size. If you're boiling whole beetroot the quantity will vary based on if they're large beetroot or small baby beets.
You will be able to fit more in the basket if you quarter the beetroot before boiling.
Note 3: To subtly change the flavour of the pickled beetroot you can use any of the following spices:
- Rosemary sprigs,
- fresh thyme,
- peppercorns,
- star anise,
- mustard seeds,
- bay leaf,
- caraway or fennel seeds
Please feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from everyone 🙂Rating the recipe once you’ve made the dish helps other readers decide whether to make my dishes. Also if you take any pics, please post them to social media and tag me!!
Happy Cooking
Julie
xx
