Beet Roasting 101
Ingredients:
Beets (Any size or color, but best to have all similar sizes)
Aromatics (thyme, sage, rosemary, garlic, etc.)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Tin foil
It is important that all your beets are around the same size. You can roast beets of any size but the reason you want them to be the same, is so that they cook all uniformly in the oven. You are going to take your beets and scrub them super clean and make sure all the dirt has been removed. You will also need to trim the beet greens off the top. It is ok to leave a bit of a stub at the top where the root is. You can save the greens to use in another application, such as my Ricotta and Sausage Stuffed Eggplant recipe!
Once your beets are nice and clean, grab a rimmed baking dish that fits all your beets and line it with tin foil. Place about an inch of water in the bottom and place the beets inside. Drizzle a bunch of olive oil all over the top. You want the beets coated in oil as well as some mixed in with the water. Make sure to get all sides of the beets seasoned and to also season the water as well. By seasoning the water, you help to season the beets because when they roast in the oven, they will absorb all that yummy flavor.
Next, sprinkle the beets with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. After that, choose your aromatics. Anything you have will work here. You could use all of them or one of them! I do like to make sure I have some garlic cloves in there but it isn’t necessary. And if you didn’t have any aromatics at all, you could leave them out entirely and the beets would still be delicious. Place your aromatics of choice all around the beets. No need to cut the herbs or peel the garlic. Keep them whole and chuck em in.
Cover your dish super tightly with a few layers of tin foil and preheat your oven to 400F. Place the beets in the oven and set a timer. Depending on the size of your beets will depend on how long they will take to roast. The really large ones will take up to 2 hours to roast. But the smaller ones could only take 1 hour. I like to start with a 1 hour timer and check every 15 to 20 after that. You know they are done when you can poke them with a fork or paring knife and it goes in super easily, like butter.
When the beets are ready, pull them out of the oven and uncover them. They will be SUPER hot so let them cool off for about 15 minutes. You can also put them on a plate to speed up this process. Once you feel comfortable handling them, take a paper towel or clean kitchen towel you don’t mind mucking up and start to rub the skin off. It should come off super easily. Peel all your beets and slice off the root end. And tada!! Perfectly roasted, flavorful and delicious beets ready to be used in any way! Enjoy! Check out my Golden Beet and Pistachio Salad Recipe.
