The pioneers often stored vegetables in root cellars but to keep them lasting much longer, they preserved their vegetables either by making pickles, relishes or chutneys or even drying them to help prevent spoilage since there were no freezers. I love making a variety of pickles and relishes to preserve our garden goodies. We enjoy eating them with an assortment of meals as a side or simply on their own.
My family loves beets so what better way to preserve them than to turn them into a tasty pickle!! My mom’s beet pickles are the most delicious and she often has requests for her beet pickle recipe that I am sharing with you today. There’s a few steps to them, but they are well worth it.
I am going to show you just how easy it is to make delicious beet pickles your family will love!
Let’s get started!
First we need to cook the beets. Rinse the dirt off, cut the ends, and toss in a large pot. Cover with water and add a spoon of salt. Boil until fork tender.
Drain. Rinse with cold water. When cool enough to handle, remove skin – it should rub right off with your fingers. Chop in bite size pieces. I used regular beets, golden beets and candy (striped) beets.
Brine. Combine altogether and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.
In sterilized jars, add beets. Pour brine over to 1/2″ headspace. Wipe rims, place seals and rings on just to finger tight.
Place in canning pot that has been boiling. Cover and process 10 minutes.
Remove from canning pot carefully. Set on towels that have been placed on cutting boards. Jars will snap when sealed. Jars that do not seal need to be refrigerated.
Beet Pickles
4 cups vinegar
4 cups water
2 cups brown sugar
3 tbsp course salt
3/4 tbsp pickling spice
Boil sauce/brine together for 5 to 10 minutes. Sauce makes 4 – 1L jars.
Cook beets with salt. Leave skin on when boiling. Once tender, drain, cool slightly and peel. Chop, cube or slice. Place beets in sterilized jars. (I use 500ml jars). Pour brine over top. Wipe rims and seal. Process 10 minutes in water bath canning pot. Remove from canning pot carefully. Let cool. Store sealed jars and refrigerate unsealed jars.
