We love beets; they are healthy and just so delicious. There are many methods to preserve fresh beets. Preserving allows us to use the abundance of beets in future recipes. Here, we share How to Freeze Beets for Winter in 3 Easy Ways.
We like to grow Cylindra, a lovely Heirloom beet that grows in a long cylindrical shape. It’s very nice for slicing. Sometimes, they get huge.
We also love the Beet Chioggia, an Italian beet variety that is red and white. This variety is a bit sweeter and does not bleed like red beets. I also find that this variety is a bit easier on digestion.
Any beet varieties can be frozen. Small beets are delicious fresh for a beet salad. Large beets are suitable for long-term storage in a cold room or cellar for later use. Anything in between can be used for frozen beets.
Note: To my knowledge, there is no such thing as blanched beets. They must go through a cooking process before freezing or can be frozen raw (see version 3). Beet tops can also be frozen; read more below.
1. How to freeze cooked beets
Beets are best to be cooked whole with the skin on. Just cut up the leaves, leaving about an inch and the root end intact, preventing them from bleeding. Clean the whole beets thoroughly with a vegetable brush and layer larger beets at the bottom of the pot, finishing with a smaller size. As soon as you can put a fork in, they are done. It will take 30-50 minutes, depending on the beet size.
It works very well with cooking up a lot of beets whenever we want them for supper and freezing the rest. I like to cook beets in a pot with about an inch of water at the bottom so that the beets are steamed, not boiled in water. It preserves the vibrant color and tastes better. Read more on How to steam vegetables without a steamer. But beets can also be cooked in water, like potatoes.
After the beets are cooked, peel them under cold running water; the skin will come right off. Or let the beets cool off and then peel them. It does not matter for freezing beets since you want them to be cold anyway.
To freeze beets, slice them and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer to plastic freezer bags or airtight containers for easy portioning.
We can enjoy delicious beets year-round by reheating frozen slices or using thawed ones in salads, soups, and other recipes.
2. How to Freeze Roasted Beets
The idea to freeze roasted beets came from a reader; we tried it and liked it. We used the Chioggia beet, our favorite beat for roasting. However, any beet variety can be used. Medium beets are best for roasting.
After cleaning the root vegetables, cut the beets into the desired size; you can peel them or roast them with skin on and slip the skin off after roasting.
Drizzle with olive oil or balsamic vinegar, spread out on a baking sheet, and roast for 15-30 minutes at 350F so they are barely done; they can be pierced with a fork.
Let cool, and transfer the baking sheet into a freezer. When frozen, transfer the roasted beets into a freezer bag or container. That way, you can easily take portions out as needed. Reheat in the oven; this time, you can use a roasting pan, sprinkle with some seasoning for about 20 minutes, or in a covered dish in the microwave for 5 minutes.
3. How to Freeze chopped raw beets
Beets can also be frozen raw when chopped into small pieces. This is a great way to freeze beets for soups and borscht. Chopped vegetables do not have to be blanched in boiling water before freezing. Just like carrots, they keep well raw.
Peel and cut the raw beets into small pieces with a sharp knife on a cutting board. Transfer them into a freezer bag, label, and freeze. Any beet variety and size can be frozen like that.
To prevent freezer burn and keep the best quality, you want to keep them from air exposure. A vacuum sealer will give you the best results. An airtight container can also be used; ensure not to put much air in it with the frozen food. When using plastic bags, a good practice is to roll the bag before closure to remove excess air. this works great for chopped raw beets and beet tops.
Beet greens can be frozen, too. See how to freeze greens here.
Do you prefer canning? Here is our favorite Pickled beet recipe and a how-to for pressure canning beets.
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That makes me want a Beet right now :/ LOL We used to can them growing up, but I think freezing them would be less work!
That is one of the reasons I like freezing so much, less work!
Can I freeze beets that I have pickled myself?
Sorry, I have never done that to know if you can. Not sure why you would want to, pickled beets store great for a long time.
I think you should do a post called “How to LIKE Beets” HA! I once took a huge bite of beets thinking they were cranberry sauce. Boy, was I surprised! Great freezing idea, though!
That is easy! Just come over and have some home grown beats and you will LIKE them! If the only beats you ever had are store bought ones, I am not surprised you do not like them – I don’t either.
Try cooking your beets in OJ. Drain the beet juice and warm beets in a small amount of Orange juice. It calms the “beety” flavor and was a great way to get my children to like them. There is no measurement just use enough juice to keep them from burning.
That is interesting, thank you for sharing!
I never liked beets until I tried them with apples and ginger. I roast the beets, peel, and chop them and combine them with chopped apples, powdered ginger, a couple turns of freshly ground black pepper, a splash of olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar. From there, I add whatever sounds good at the moment: toasted pecans or walnuts, goat or feta cheese, honey, maple syrup…go wild! It’ll change your mind about beets.
Thanks for this post. I love beets, did not know they could be frozen.
Thank you SO much for posting this – we have been given a lot of beets through our CSA and we didn’t know what to do with them – lol! My husband peeled one into a salad raw & I was thinking that probably isn’t the way to go 🙂 ~Renee
You can eat beats raw, if you slice them thinly or grate. I prefer them cooked though, and they do make great salads too.
I have never grow beets. I got seeds this year but didn’t get my root bed ready in time for them! Maybe next year!
Build (or buy) a good size window box and grow them inside
I never thought about freezing beets. I always thought they would be one of those that would get mushy after being frozen. Thank you for letting me know that! I love them, but my family doesn’t. So freezing them would be perfect for me.
My mom always dices and freezes them. They taste very close to fresh, in my opinion. Just read that they are PACKED with nutrients. I always assumed they were, just by their rich color.
My friend suggested peeling the beets with a potato peeler, slicing and then microwave with just a very small amount of added water until reasonably well done. Much faster than boil and peel and they should still freeze the same.
Possible, however we do not use and even have a microwave. I do steam them without water though (well just a bit on the bottom of the pot so they do not burn). Peeling after they are done is a no-brainer.
Thanks for the instructions. We were just given a large bag of long, slender beets, I’d never seen any before so I assume we have the Cylindra. Anyway, we have too many beets to use without some sort of storage and freezing is always my first choice. Especially helpful is your suggestion to freeze the slices individually. I also wanted to mention that we love fresh beets grated on top of a salad. Most people would probably prefer the milder tasting beets but I love them all. The sweetness really comes out this way.
Beets grated on top of a salad sounds really yummy. I have to try that. Thank you for sharing.
This is awesome! How do you warm them up?
You know – to be honest – I never thought to freeze beets before! This is a great idea! Usually I just store beets or can or pickle them, but now I just might try freezing them. Thanks for the great information!
can you grate and freeze raw beets??
Yes you can, just like carrots, however it will be messy red. I prefer to cook them first so the beet juice stays inside the beet.
Thanks for the directions on how to freeze delicious nutritious beets. One of my favorite ways to eat beets is adding them to hummus……makes the hummus beautiful and delicious.
Deidre
Great idea, thank you for sharing!
First time here. My wife and I like beets cooked in olive oil with a little salt and pepper on the grille using a cast iron skillet. They will Carmelize a little and become like a sweet candy. I was wondering if you think they would freeze well this way?
You can freeze all cooked beats, just don’t expect them to be the same after defreezing. Still they should be yummy.
HARVARD BEETS 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water 4 tbl orange juice a little zest from orange cook until sugar is disolved thicken with a cornstarch slurry add in chopped cooked beets. Can be reheated really good veg.
Thank you for sharing. That sounds sweet :).
Can beets be canned after being frozen?
You can, for canning beats you need a pressure canner or you can pickle them.
Why do beets always have to be cooked? Is it only when freezing them or always? I have been using raw beets in slaw and in smoothies.
You can use raw beets, and you can even freeze raw beets if you chop them. They would be good for smoothies. In this post however, I show how to freeze cooked beats that are sliced. If you freeze sliced beets you should at least blanch them, but that would bleed them out to much. So cooking first is better. Hope this makes sense.
I love beet juice and use our Vitamix to make it with raw beets… Can I make the juice and freeze it for later use.. Or would you recommend I cook and freeze the beets and make the juice at a later date ?? Any suggestions and/or opinions would be appreciated.. Thanks
I don’t see why you would not be able to freeze fresh beet juice. It sure will not be the same as fresh beet juice after freezing, but still much better than no juice or cooked juice. As with anything your best bet is to try it.
I just roasted beets per your instructions for cutting them up and putting olive oil on. I roasted golden and chiogga beets for 15 minutes. They turned completely black. I don’t know if they are even edible.
Not sure what went wrong with your beets, sorry. We roast beets all the time, and this has never happened here. The only difference for freezing is we do not roast them to all done because they will be reheated. You say “for cutting them up and putting olive oil on”, that is what I do before roasting them. Maybe they were too dry and turned black, or your oven setting was too high.