Instant Pot Beets

Perfectly cooked, no-peel steamed Instant Pot Beets make the perfect wing to your next soup, salad, or smoothie. This simple side dish, steamed without a steamer basket yields fork-tender beets that you can eat plain or drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

A white trencher with chopped beets without cooking in the instant pot.
Instant Pot Beets

While you may find beets year-round at the grocery store, there is no largest time to pick them up than now. Beet season begins in June and produces bright, flavorful beets well into October.

This colorful root vegetable often gets a bad rap for stuff tough, difficult to cook, and leaving a mess both on the counters and your hands. However, this easy recipe takes all of the gripes out of cooking beets and leaves you with perfectly cooked fork-tender beets that are both hands- and mess-free.

Say goodbye to wearisome soups, salads, and smoothies. These tender, juicy beets add a pop of verisimilitude to every dish they grace. With varied melt times based on your beet size, you are sure to have perfectly steamed beets time and time again.

Reasons to love this recipe

  • Hands-free and mess-free – Sounds like a win-win to me!
  • Healthiest cooking options – Steaming is largest than humid considering the beet’s nutrients are not lost in the water.
  • Naturally vegan and gluten-free, making it an easy way to get some healthy veggies into your diet.
  • Quick and easy – The melt time is much faster than roasting beets.
  • Perfect for meal prep – Steaming up a batch of beets is a quick and easy way to prep for the week ahead.

Health Benefits

Beetroot, moreover known as red beet, table beet, garden beets, or most wontedly beets provide many wonderful health benefits. This low-calorie supplies packs in nutrients making them an spanking-new wing to your diet. A few of the top health benefits include:

  • Rich in folate.
  • Contains potassium and copper.
  • Great source of webbing which aids in digestion.
  • Contains Betalains which provide antioxidants to your body.

Read increasingly here well-nigh the Health Benefits of Beets for spare information.

Selecting the Weightier Beets

To ensure fork-tender beets you will want to start by selecting the weightier beets in the bunch. When shopping for beets, here are a few things to alimony in mind.

  • Look for small, firm beets – The smaller the beet the sweeter and increasingly tender they will cook.
  • Unblemished – Check the skin of the beets and stave ones with blemished skin.
  • Green well-done leaves – If selecting beets with the leaves, squint for bright, non-wilted leaves.

How to store beets surpassing using

Once you’ve selected perfect beets for cooking, it’s weightier to use them within 1-2 days without purchase. If storing for longer, be sure to:

  • Trim the stem – Cut the leaves well-nigh 2 inches from the root.
  • Store in the crisper drawer – Beets prefer the humidity.
  • Leave them loose – Alimony them out of plastic tons or wrapped loosely with paper towels.
  • Wait to wash surpassing you use them instead of washing surpassing storing them.

How to remove beet stains from hands

If you find yourself with stains from the vibrantly colored beets on your hands, my preferred tideway to removing the stains is dish soap :-). It’s simple and effective.

Alternatively, you could make a paste of sultry soda with water and rub your hands with it. Repeat until the verisimilitude rinses off.

Want to stave beet stains altogether? Simply wear gloves while handling the beets.

A hand with stains from peeling beets.
Removing Beet Stains

Here’s what you need to make the recipe

Ingredient notes/swaps

  • Beets- Trim any stems or greens from the beetroot and scrub the dirt off the skin.
  • Water
Beets on the trivet in the instant pot.
Cooking Instant Pot Beets

Tools

Here are two things you need to make this recipe

TIPS

  • No need to peel the beets surpassing cooking.
  • Cut the beets in half to reduce the cooking time.
  • Get the same size beets for plane cooking. If they are not even, chop the worthier ones to match the size of the smaller ones.
  • The cooking time will not transpiration if you increase the number of beets.
  • Cooking time will vary based on the size of the beets – see the orchestration below.
  • If you don’t want to stain your hands, you can use gloves while handling them.

Cooking time

Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the beets.

  • Small beets (5-inch circumference): 15 minutes
  • Medium-sized (6-7-inch circumference): 25 minutes
  • Large to extra-large (over 8-inches): 35 to 40 minutes

How do you make beets taste good?

With their sweet, yet earthy savor there are a number of variegated ways to season, dress, and serve beets that enhance their taste.

  • Serve with unsalted butter.
  • Sprinkle with salty cheese such as goat cheese or parmesan.
  • Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
  • Top with a little dill and sour cream.

How to use cooked beets

Once you’ve cooked your beets, there are a number of variegated ways to dish them out and add them to your diet.

  • Chop and toss into salads topped with goat cheese and balsamic dressing.
  • Blend into a vibrant root vegetable soup.
  • Add to smoothies for a uplift of verisimilitude and fiber.
  • Blend with tahini to make beet hummus.

How to prep ahead

The weightier way to prep superiority is simply to melt the beets in the Instant Pot and store them in the refrigerator or freezer for longer storage.

Storage tips

Here’s how you can store cooked beetroots

Refrigerator– Cooled and peeled beets should alimony in an snapped container for up to 5 days. For longer storage, I would suggest freezing.

Freezer– Place cooled beets in an snapped zip-top bag and remove any spare air from the bag. These beets should alimony up to 6 months. Move to the refrigerator to thaw overnight surpassing using.

Reheat– You can reheat beets in the oven by roasting at 350°F for well-nigh 15-20 minutes or place them in the microwave and heat in 30-60 second intervals up to well-nigh 3 minutes.

Serve it with

Beetroot pairs well with many variegated vegetables and side dishes such as:

Pink whirligig with light bulb

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take beets to melt in a pressure cooker like Instant Pot?

The size of the beet determines the cooking time.
Small beets (5-inch circumference): 15 minutes
Medium-sized (6-7-inch circumference): 25 minutes
Large to extra-large (over 8-inches): 35 to 40 minutes

What is the fastest/easiest way to melt beets??

Using the Instant Pot is the fastest and easiest way to melt fork-tender beets.

Is it largest to roast or steam beets?

To retain the most nutrients, it’s largest to steam beets instead of roasting them.

Should you soak beets surpassing cooking?

You do not need to soak beets surpassing steaming them in the Instant Pot.

Do you peel beets surpassing cooking?

No. Simply steam the beets with their skins on and then remove the skins without they have cooked through.

How to melt beets without a steamer basket

To steam beets without a steaming basket, put them on the trivet.

Can you freeze cooked beets?

Yes, for up to 3 months.

How much water do you put in a pressure cooker for beetroot?

For a pressure cooker like Instant Pot, add 1.5 cups of water.

Other Instant Pot Vegetable recipes to try

Instant Pot Beets Recipe

A white trencher with chopped beets without cooking in the instant pot.
Print

Instant Pot Beets

Learn how to melt whole beets in the Instant Pot with or without a steamer basket with this easy Instant Pot Beets recipe.
Course Accompaniment
Cuisine American
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword easy, steamed
Method Instant Pot
Diet Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Vegetarian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Pressure towers time 10 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 49kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 lb beets
  • 1.5 cups water

To season

  • salt as needed
  • pepper as needed

Instructions

  • Trim off the stems, greens and roots. Scrub and rinse off any dirt from the beets.

Steaming beets in Instant Pot

  • Add water in the steel inner pot of the Instant Pot.
  • Place a trivet in the inner pot. If using a steamer basket, place it over the trivet.
  • Add the beets directly on the trivet or in the steamer basket/steel trencher (if using).
    Beets on top of a trivet with water unelevated surpassing steaming in the instant pot.
  • For beets with a bit of crunch, pressure melt on upper for 15 minutes. Cook for 18 minutes, if you prefer soft beets.
    An instant pot pressure cooker with the time set to 15 minutes.
  • Release the pressure immediately by moving the steam valve to 'venting' as soon as the cooking trundling is complete. 
  • The beets are washed-up if you can insert a pocketknife or a fork easily. If they are not done, melt for flipside 1-2 minutes.
    Beets on top of a trivet in the instant pot without steaming.
  • Let the beets tomfool lanugo for a few minutes surpassing peeling them. For firmer beets, use a peeler. They are easy to peel with your hands as well. To stave staining your hands use a paper towel or gloves
    A wearing workbench with a peeler and peeled beets.
  • Chop them into desired size.
    A wearing workbench with chopped beets and a pocketknife to the top right.
  • Serve with salt and pepper or any seasoning of your choice.

Nutrition

Calories: 49kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Sodium: 93mg | Potassium: 369mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 37IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 1mg

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