Pickled Beets with Cumin
March 22, 2012
Pickled Beets with Cumin. Who would have thought that such a short list of ingredients could produce a condiment with so much flavor, texture, and interest? After making these for the first time, I have been determined to keep the refrigerator stocked with them ever since. A huge thanks to Linda Ziedrich to introducing me to this recipe via The Joy of Pickling.
To prepare, roast the beets until just tender. Peel and dice them into small chunks, then drown them in red wine vinegar infused with peppercorns, salt, and of course cumin. Cap them off and keep them in the refrigerator. Letting them sit at least a few days will allow the flavors to meld. They will keep up to 3 weeks.
These tasty chunks of beet are fantastic on their own, but pair them with feta and you have a very tasty snack. Toss a few in the salad along with the vinegar and finish up with a drizzle of olive oil for an easy salad dressing. There are probably a million more ways to eat these, but the beets never stick around long enough for me to dream up new ideas. How will you eat them?
Pickled Beets with Cumin
adapted from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich
makes 2 1/2 cup
5 medium sized beets (2 1/2 cup diced)
olive oil
2 cups red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons whole cumin seed
1/2 teaspoons whole peppercorns
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and and quarter the beets. Toss in a bit of olive oil, cover, and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the beets are tender when pierced with a fork. When the beets are cool enough to handle, dice into small chunks. Measure out 2 1/2 cups of chunks and place in a sterile jar.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, salt, sugar, cumin, and peppercorns to a boil. Pour the hot liquid over the beets. Put a lid on the jar. Place the jar in the refrigerator until ready to use. They will be flavorful after one day and will keep up to three weeks.
Print this recipe: Pickled Beets with Cumin
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My Pantry Shelf 
March 22, 2012 at 9:00 am
I just bought some beets at our farmers market yesterday – will try this!
March 22, 2012 at 9:04 am
Great Liz! Let me know how they turn out.
March 22, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Thank you! I was just saying to my husband that I have to learn how to pickle beats because I’m planning on planting them in my vegetable garden this year. I’ll give this recipe a try!
March 22, 2012 at 3:06 pm
I hope you like them! Beets are so easy to grow, so it is nice to have a number of recipes to use them up.
March 22, 2012 at 3:49 pm
I can imagine how could these taste. What a perfect combination of flavors.
March 25, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Yay pickled beets! These sound like they’d be nice and tart–perfect. I’d probably eat them cold out of the jar. :)
March 28, 2012 at 9:48 am
My taste buds are tingling thinking about these beets – I adore pickled beets and the addition of cumin sounds delicious. These would not last up to 3 weeks in my fridge – more like 3 hours!
March 28, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Great! Better make a triple batch!
May 31, 2012 at 3:49 pm
Do you know if it would be possible to can this recipe?
June 4, 2012 at 7:28 am
Kaity,
The recipe is adapted from Linda Ziedrich. She did not indicate canning it, but I compared it with this
recipe at The National Center for Home Food Preservation.
As long as you use vinegar with 5% acidity, they will actually end up more acidic than the NCHFP recipe. I would follow the processing guidelines on the recipe as well. My only concern would be the beets being overcooked after processing. Hope this helps!
Karen
June 21, 2012 at 11:47 am
Thanks for the info! They are so delicious!