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An easy pickled beets recipe loaded with sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves.
Easy homemade pickled beets are spiced with sweet spices like cloves, cinnamon and allspice.
This is my go to pickled beet recipe, and it is as easy as boiling water. Sometimes I slice the beets in strips, sometimes I leave out the onions and sometimes I mix up the spices based on what is in my spice cabinet at the moment.
If you aren't comfortable with canning, make the recipe up to the canning part and store them in a glass container in the fridge for a few weeks. You could use a plastic container, but don't blame me if it turns purplish pink.
Spiced Pickled Beets
Ingredients
- 4 pounds beets
- 3 cups thinly sliced onions
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 sticks cinnamon (broken into large pieces)
- 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole allspice
- 1 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ cups cider vinegar
- 1 ½ cup water
Instructions
- Clean the beets and trim off the tap-root and all but about two inches of the greens (save them for eating later – prepare like any other green).
- Boil until tender. Drain, remove peel and trim ends. Slice into thin slices.
- In a large sauce pan combine onions, sugar, spices, vinegar and water. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add beets and cook until hot throughout. Remove cinnamon sticks.
- Pack hot beets in to jars leaving a ¼″ head space. ladle hot liquid over beets to ¼″ head space. Remove air bubbles and process for 30 minutes in boiling water canner.
Notes
adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
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Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
JeanMarie
This is it! I’m so excited! I’ve been searching for my mom’s pickled beets recipe and if this isn’t the exact recipe, it’s darn close. I have an abundance of beets right now and will be making this within the next day or so.
Audrey
Yeah! I hope you like them as much as your mom's. I rarely get to eat any I make since I am a nice big sister and send them to my kid brother who eats them in a day or two. 😉
melissa a ortiz
I'm going to be trying these today. I don't see you mention the onion. Does it go into the liquid with the beets and then get put in the jars after warm like the beets?
Audrey
I updated the recipe to clarify. Originally I wrote "add all of the other ingredients to the pot." After cooking and cutting your beets you just throw everything else in the pot and boil it for a bit then add the sliced beets.
Melissa
Thank you for the clarification 😃
Deb
How much does this make?
Audrey
About 4 pints for 4 pounds of beets. It depends on how tightly you pack them.
Colleen Henson
What type of onion do you use?
Audrey
I typically use yellow onion since that is what I usually have on hand.
Kelly
Made today with my tiny harvest of beets. Husband isn’t a fan of beets, so all for me! I only got 2 pints in Weck jars but saved the pickling vinegar to use on another pickled veg.
Thanks!