Food

17 Bright Beet Recipes

We love them for their earthy sweetness, brilliant red color, and versatility

By SAVEUR Editors

March 22, 2016

With their earth sweetness and striking red color, beets are our favorite red vegetable. Here's how we show them that we appreciate them.

Sprouts, Kohlrabi, and Beet Salad with Herbed Crème Fraîche Dressing — Sprouted lentils, mung beans, and sunflower seeds lighten up a salad of beets and kohlrabi spooned atop a creamy, herb-loaded dressing.Ryan Liebe

Dried Beet Powder — Chef Chris Shepherd of Underbelly in Houston uses beet powder, made from pulverized dried beets, to give his char siu chicken a distinctive pinkish hue that typically comes from chemically produced red food dye. Similarly, the ingredient can color everything from pickling liquid and aïoli to baked goods and frosting. "It adds an inherent sweetness," says Shepherd, "but it's not a strong flavor."Matt Taylor-Gross

Grilled Vegetable Salad (Sallad på Rostade Grönsaker) — Beets, asparagus, eggplant, cauliflower, and fennel are slathered in olive oil and grilled, then tossed with lemon juice and zest to make this warm, smoky grilled salad.Felix Odell

Beet Stew with Lamb Meatballs — For this traditional Iraqi-Jewish dish, ground-lamb meatballs are braised in a vibrant beet stew. Get the recipe for Beet Stew with Lamb Meatballs »

Sautéed Quail with Black Barley, Beets, and Fig Sauce — Mustard-and-herb-marinated quail gets a quick sauté for this earthy dish and is served with poached beets and a sweet-tart fig and ruby port sauce. Adapted from a recipe by chef Stuart Bell of Ten Minutes by Tractor in Mornington Peninsula, Australia, the dish has black barley, a variety with the bran still attached to the wheat kernel.Matt Taylor-Gross

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.Con Poulos

Lentil Salad with Beets and Pomegranate — Packed full of glowing produce, this lentil salad makes a colorful addition to any table.Farideh Sadeghin

Tahini-Beet Dip — Tahini's nutty, luxurious properties don't stop at hummus. Keep the sesame paste flowing with this bright red purée of boiled beets, lemon, and garlic. Get the recipe for Tahini-Beet Dip »Helen Cathcart

Beet Raita — This cooling yogurt mix can be served as relish, dip, salad, or side.Ingalls Photography

Roasted Beets with Orange and Crème Fraîche — A cool and tangy crème fraîche dressing adorns roasted beets for a simple, colorful side dish.Vanessa Rees

Three-Beet Salad with Orange-Yogurt Dressing — In this bold salad, roasted, pickled, and raw beets tangle with a creamy orange–yogurt dressing. Get the recipe for Three-Beet Salad with Orange-Yogurt Dressing »Ryan Liebe

Lentil Salad with Beets and Pomegranate — Packed full of glowing winter produce—sweet roasted beets, tart pomegranate seeds—this lentil salad makes a colorful addition to the winter table. Pair it with chicken, beef, lamb, or fish, or serve it as a vegetarian main; it's hearty enough to stand on its own.Farideh Sadeghin

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.James Roper

Beets in Tart Cherry Sauce (Charkhlis Chohgi) — Tart cherries bring sweet-sour flavor to this simple salad of herbs and roasted beets.Landon Nordeman

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. ‪Todd Coleman

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.Yossy Arefi

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.Khushbu Shah

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