How to Roast Fresh Beets for Maximum Flavor

Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by Diane Hoffmaster

Roasted beets are a year-round staple in my house. They are fantastic right out of the foil or used for tossing into salads or made into beet smoothies.

Learn how to roast fresh beets and your family will stop turning up their nose at them! Roasted whole beets are a great way to use up fresh herbs!

How do you serve beets?   

When I was growing up, my mom loved to serve us beets.  Only, she didn't serve us FRESH beets...oh, no.

Our beets came in a can, sliced up and rather unappealing to the teenage eye. You can only imagine the eye-rolling and groaning that ensued every time she told us we were having beets for dinner.

I wish she had known how to roast fresh beets because the canned ones are gross!

Love this beet recipe?  Try these healthy recipes, too!

• Basil and Spinach Salad with Blackberries and Feta
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When I moved out on my own, I avoided beets for quite a few years due to the trauma of my early beet exposure.

But, one day I came across fresh beets in the grocery store and decided to figure out how to cook them from scratch.

Once I learned how to make roasted beets, I realized how absolutely delicious they tasted!  Roasting them brings out a sweetness that I never noticed in canned beets.

Adding in a few of my favorite herbs made roasting beets my favorite way to enjoy them. Now, fresh beets are on my grocery list on a regular basis and even the teens will eat them without too much grumbling!

Or, as little grumbling as I can expect from teens who aren't being fed pizza or hot dogs! You can also throw in other root vegetables with this beet recipe.

Make roasted beets and carrots or roasted beet with potatoes.  Just keep in mind that everything in the fool will be pink when it is done cooking.

Best Beets for Oven Roasting

Start looking for fresh beet recipes in the spring because they are at their peak starting in June.  Since they are a root vegetable, they store rather well and you can find locally grown beets through summer and into early fall.  Local is always better, in my opinion!

Generally, beets prefer cool weather while growing and take quite a while to fully mature.  I have never had luck growing beets in the garden here in Georgia.  Our summers just get too hot far too quickly.

Thankfully, my local farmers are better at it than I am so I am hunting down beet recipes to try over the next few months.

You will see quite a variety of colors when looking for fresh beets.  Various shades of red and purple are common and you will even find yellow and white beets occasionally.

Do you leave the skin on beetroot when roasting?

I prefer to peel beets when they are still raw.  Many people roast the beets, then peel once they are cool enough to handle.  I don't really understand that since I want to eat them when they are still warm!

Once you learn how to roast fresh beets, they are easy to peel and dice to put in salads or sliced into a sandwich with goat cheese and arugula.

Roasting beets is easy with some aluminum foil, olive oil, and your choice of herbs!  I have used fresh rosemary when cooking beets but fresh dill is another favorite herb when roasting beets.  

Use only a smidge of sea salt and a bit more pepper when preparing beets.  If you really want to get fancy you can invest in some herb seasoned salts to play with the flavor.

You will need to use a knife to check for tenderness until you figure out how long to cook beets in your own particular oven.

And one thing to keep in mind when figuring out how to roast fresh beets is that beets will stain EVERYTHING you own!  Cutting boards, clothes, hands and everything else it comes into contact with will have beet juice stains that will take forever to come out!

Take care during preparation and don't wear your favorite white shirt!

How to Roast Fresh Beets for Maximum Flavor

Yield: 4 servings

How to Roast Fresh Beets

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Learn how to roast beets and you will have fresh, flavorful beets for as many beet recipes as you can find!

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 large fresh beets
• 2 TBSP olive oil per beet
• Fresh herbs
• Salt, and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Wash beets, scrubbing or peeling as desired. Cut into quarters if desired for faster cooking. Pat dry.
3. Coat the beets lightly with olive oil.
4. Sprinkle beets with herbs and spices.
5. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil
6. Place foil-wrapped beets on a baking sheet and roast them in the oven until cooked through, approximately 45 to 60 minutes.
7. Remove beets from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes
8. Peel and slice each beet into ¼-inch thick slices if you haven't already.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1 beet
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 90Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 123mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g

Example: Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.

 Want more easy beet recipes?

Check out this Roasted Beet Salad with Blue Cheese and Walnuts