Skillet-Cooked Duck Breast with Beets and Watercress
Skillet-Cooked Duck Breast with Beets and Watercress. Ariana Lindquist
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We love beets for their earthy flavor and vibrant flavor. This cool-weather root vegetable is delicious both raw and cooked. From roasted beets to beet “tartare” to even ice cream and cocktails, we’ve rounded up our favorite beet recipes.

Roasting beets softens their texture and brings out their complex sweetness. We like to simply roast them with other winter vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, and Brussels sprouts. Roasted beets are a great accompaniment to grilled duck or lobster salad. To give raita, the cooling Indian yogurt sauce, a brilliant pink hue, mix in diced roasted beets. Check out our lentil and deep salad brightened by a floral, citrusy lavender-mustard vinaigrette.

Pureed beets are creamy and earthy. We use them to flavor a honey-mustard vinaigrette for farmer’s salad and as the base for our rich beet ketchup. Pureed beets are a great addition to ricotta gnocchi, adding flavor and a gorgeous color. Wilted beet greens are perfect for accompanying the gnocchi.

Beets don’t seem like an obvious drink ingredient, but their complex sweetness is perfect for adding depth to both cocktails and nonalcoholic beverages. To make a surprising twist on pink lemonade, mix beet juice, lemon juice, sugar, and water. On the alcoholic side, try the Moradita. The sweetness of this beet-augmented margarita is tempered through the use of jalapeño-infused tequila.

Find all kinds of uses for this striking root vegetable in our collection of our favorite beet recipes.

"Skillet-Cooked

Skillet-Cooked Duck Breast with Beets and Watercress

Skillet-Cooked Duck Breast with Beets and Watercress
"Char

Char Siu Chicken

"Sautéed

Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce

Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce
"Oyster

Oyster Club’s Lobster

Sweet, tender pieces of lobster and beets are topped with a rich asparagus cream sauce in this recipe from Oyster Club in Mystic, Connecticut.
"Beet

Beet and Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Beet Greens and Aged Balsamic

For this Piedmontese dish, a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar adds a tangy complexity. Get the recipe for Beet and Ricotta Gnocchi with Wilted Beet Greens and Aged Balsamic »
"Beet

Beet Ketchup

Ketchup made with roasted beets has a surprising, slightly earthy flavor—we love it in place of tomato ketchup on turkey burgers. It’s easiest to cook it over the course of two days: On day one, cook, cool, peel, and chop the beets; on day two, cook them into ketchup. A splatter screen will help keep splashes contained while cooking the purée.
"Beet

Beet “Tartare”

Earthy roasted beets are brightened by fresh orange zest and tangy balsamic in this clever appetizer, which looks beautiful presented in individual endive spears.
"Roasted

Roasted Beets with Orange and Crème Fraîche

A cool and tangy crème fraîche dressing adorns roasted beets for a simple, colorful side dish. We like to use a combination of red and golden beets for presentation.
"Beet

Beet Raita

This cooling yogurt mix can be served as relish, dip, salad, or side.
"Roasted

Roasted Winter Vegetables

"Shredded

Shredded Apple, Beet, and Carrot Salad

This stunning red salad gets its color from raw shredded beets, which mix with crunchy carrots and sweet-tart apples to make a crisp accompaniment for pork chops.
"Beets

Beets in Tart Cherry Sauce (Charkhlis Chogi)

Tart cherries bring sweet-sour flavor to this simple salad of herbs and roasted beets.
"Grilled

Grilled Vegetable Salad (Sallad på Rostade Grönsaker)

Grilled Vegetable Salad
"Chile-Rubbed

Chile-Rubbed Turkey with Beet Stuffing

New Mexico and arbol chiles create a sauce similar to a mole that coats the turkey, while adding spice and depth.
"Beet

Beet Lemonade

This hot pink lemonade gets its vibrant color and extra boost of sweetness from an unexpected source: beets.
"Beet

Beet Ice Cream with Mascarpone, Orange Zest, and Poppy Seeds

Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, OH has some of the most amazing flavors around. In this recipe, the addition of roasted beets and poppy seeds lends the end product a festive hue and a bit of crunch. ‪
"Cold

Cold Beet Yogurt Soup

Earthy beets, cooked and chilled, and blended with yogurt, dill, and lemon, make for a bright, perfectly balanced borscht-inspired bowl.
"Moradita"

Moradita

A jalapeño-infused, blood-colored tequila and beet cocktail, the Moradita (“Little Death”), is a fresh, nearly healthy-tasting drink with some real body and a balancing hint of elegant richness.
"Toast

Toast with Roasted Beet Dip, Smoked Salmon, and Watercress

Roasting beets and puréeing them with a little balsamic vinegar makes a sweet, earthy spread that’s a perfect base for slices of smoked salmon and peppery watercress.
"Farmer's

Farmer’s Salad with Beet Vinaigrette

This salad is topped with a bright thick sweet-tart pickled beet dressing. Get the recipe for Farmer’s Salad with Beet Vinaigrette »
"Lentil

Lentil and Beet Salad with Lavender-Mustard Vinaigrette

A honey-sweetened dressing of orange juice infused with lavender lends floral notes to a hearty lentil salad.
"Lobster

Lobster and Avocado Salad

Sliced ripe avocados add a silky bite to an elegant salad tossed with lobster and juicy grapefruit segments. Get the recipe for Lobster and Avocado Salad »
"Fermented

Fermented Beets with Orange and Ginger

This recipe is inspired by rosl, a Jewish specialty from the Ukraine that calls for pickling beets in brine.
"Layered

Layered Herring Salad (Selyodka Pod Shuboy)

Salt-cured herring becomes a lavish centerpiece when layered with apples and a sour cream mayonnaise dressing in this beautiful composed salad.
"Guatemalan

Guatemalan Composed Salad (Fiambre)

Fiambre, which means “served cold,” is only eaten in Guatemala on All Saint’s Day.
"Beet

Beet and Goat Cheese Napoleons

These elegant appetizers come from Wolfgang Puck’s Los Angeles restaurant Spago. Laurie Ochoa wrote about the groundbreaking chef in “The King of LA,” part of our special Los Angeles issue (March 2010).
"Danish

Danish Smoked Herring, Beet, and Potato Salad (Sildesalat)

Danish smoked herring, beet, and potato salad is terrific on whole wheat.

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