With freshly cooked beets and a brine consisting of sugar, pickling salt, and vinegar, pickled beets are simple to create. When I have a bountiful crop of fresh beets, this recipe is one of my annual “must-do” canning recipes.
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Additional Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 60 |
| Yield: | 10 (1-pint) jars |
Ingredients
- 10 pounds fresh small beets, stems removed
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 tablespoon pickling salt
- 1 quart white vinegar
- ¼ cup whole cloves, or as needed
Instructions
- Gather all ingredients.
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- Place beets in a large stockpot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, inspect 10 pint-sized jars for cracks and rings for rust, discarding any defective ones. Immerse in simmering water until beets are ready. Wash new, unused lids and rings in warm soapy water.
- Drain beets, reserving 2 cups of beet water. When beets are cool enough to handle, peel and discard skins.
- Fill each sterilized jar with beets. Evenly divide cloves among the jars.
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- Combine sugar, 2 cups of beet water, vinegar, and pickling salt in a large saucepan; bring to a rapid boil.
- Pour the hot brine over the beets in the jars, and seal the lids.
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- Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then carefully lower the jars into the pot using a holder. Leave a 2-inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary until the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a full boil, cover the pot, and process for 10 minutes.
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- Enjoy!
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- If using large beets, cut them into quarters before boiling.
Reviews
Great recipe, I make these every year. They’re sweet tartness is delicious the only issue with this recipe is the cloves. I only put about three cloves per jar.
I really enjoyed these beets, perfect sweetness/tart. however I omitted the cloves as I dont like cloves. Added garlic cloves and dill.
This was a very easy recipe to make the only change I did is I only put two cloves per jar. Cloves are very strong and over powering so two cloves is plenty
Quick, easy and above all DEEElishious!
was looking for a recipe that was more or less the same as I had when growing up in Scotland .. This is as close as that got, but then every household tweaked their recipes for the Rural bake sales etc.. Competition was at Full Contact level. Next time will cut back slightly the cloves, probably should have only used the stem .. Later talked with my older siblings, and they said that there was also a few peppercorns and a pinch of nutmeg.. So, perhaps I’ll try that too ..sweet but with a slight tang .. Nothing wrong with this recipe, thousand tastes all differ ..
have been making these in my family for decades. recipe handed down for generations. just trim the tops really short and they slide off like the skin once cooked. we used equal parts vinegar and beet juice brought to a boil 2 cups each with pickling salt. so easy to make small batches, you just have to keep the beet juice instead of throwing it out till you are done. have had some beets that were over 5 yrs old that were just great. Store them in a cool dark place and keep an eye on the seal. if it’s broke, throw them out.
Love this pickled beets recipe. This is a very simple process for canning.
Lv it
I only had one pound of beets so I had to do some math. Followed recipe but used a few sprinkles of cloves powder. I let the beets sit in the hot liquid for half an hour and we ate them when they were cooled down. Delicious!
Make sure you add the same amount of cloves to each jar.
The thing I changed was the Clive’s,left that out,also used one cup sugar to one vinegar,no water,yum
Second time using this recipe. Only adjustment was to ad half a cinnamon stick to each jar
Love these beets – I prefer the more natural, don’t like cloves. Ruins the taste. So easy to make – I usually do triple batch for 36 jars. My family eat them like crazy. ENJOY.
I did not use cloves The whole family loved them I had to make more for other family members
Very good and easy to follow. Changes I made: 1) I needed more brine than what was called for. Recommend making 1.5x the amount in the recipe, 2) I used about 1/3 the amount of cloves
Was very helpful
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this recipe. Delicious !! I included 1 Tbls. Pickling Spice along with 1 Tbls. Pickling Salt and added a touch more sugar to sweeten.
I leave an inch on top of picked beets of the stem and leave bottom root on. When you boil it no color dissipates from beet. Do not cut beets up when cooking as lose the color. They need to be processed for full 30 minutes in boiling bath with 1 inch of water covering jars.
I haven’t tasted them yet but the step by step directions where great for a person who has never canned before. Seems like you put a lot of thought into it.
Instead of canning the cloves inside the jar I tied 3T of pickling spices in a coffee filter and simmered in the brine. Excellent, my family is crazy of them.
I added onions and not the cloves