Roasted Beets Recipe: How to Roast Beets in the Oven

Roasting is a dry-heat cooking technique that relies on air to transfer heat. Unlike wet-heat cooking methods like braising, dry-heat cooking does not involve submerging the food in liquid, which gives successfully roasted food a brown, crispy exterior and tender interior. Roasting is also different from grilling and stovetop cooking techniques—which put one side of the food in contact with a scorching grill or pan—in that all sides of the food get exposed to the heat source.

Though roasting traditionally took place over an open fire, it’s now typically done in the oven, or even a convection oven, which uses a fan to push hot air around the food. Oven-roasting is relatively hands-off, making it ideal for foods that benefit from prolonged cooking, like beets.

Roasted beets are beets (or beetroot) cooked in the oven without liquid until fork-tender. Beets (Beta vulgaris) are root vegetables composed of a taproot (the part of the beet that grows in the soil), the stalks, and the beet greens or leaves. The taproot usually gets roasted, boiled, or steamed, while the spinach-like beet greens often get sautéed, stewed, or added to soups. Roasting is one of the most popular ways to prepare beets because the hands-off, dry-heat method results in a caramelized exterior.

Roasting is different than oven-steaming, which involves cooking beets in a small amount of liquid, covered, in the oven. Cooking the beets in an aluminum foil packet, as Chef Thomas Keller instructs in his baked beets recipe, is another way to trap steam.

Roast a bunch of beets on a Sunday, and you’ll enjoy their sweet, earthy flavor in healthy recipes all week long. Try these suggestions for serving roasted beets:

1. 1. Create a simple side dish. Roasted beets don’t need much to transform into a delicious side dish. Serve roasted beets with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper. You can experiment with different vinegars to complement the flavor and appearance of the type of beet you’re roasting. For example, try apple cider vinegar with golden beets and Champagne vinegar with Chioggia beets.
2. 2. Make pickled beets. If you love the flavor of beets marinated in vinegar, extend their shelf life by making pickled beets. Though most pickled beet recipes suggest boiling the beets, you can pickle roasted beets.
3. 3. Toss together a roasted beet salad. Turn roasted beets into a salad by pairing sliced beets with arugula, a soft and tangy cheese like feta or goat cheese, and crushed pistachios. Toss these ingredients with your favorite vinaigrette recipe. Add a cooked grain like farro or a pseudograin like quinoa to make the salad heartier.

Roasted beets are a meal-plan favorite. You can roast beets whole, which will take slightly longer, but allows their skins to slip off without the use of a vegetable peeler, or peel and chop beets before roasting for a quicker, crispier result. Here’s what else you need to know to make the best roasted beets at home:

1. 1. Slice into smaller pieces. Smaller beets cook quickly, while larger, older beets can take much longer. If your beets are all different sizes, you may want to slice the larger beets in half or quarters so that they cook evenly. Peeling and dicing the raw beets will result in an even shorter cook time.
2. 2. Check the temperature. Roasting beets in the oven at a slightly lower temperature, about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, helps whole beets tenderize without getting crispy or drying out. Choose a higher temperature, like 400 degrees Fahrenheit, for quicker, crispier results with chopped beets.
3. 3. Store in the refrigerator. Store roasted beets in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.