Instant Pot Beets

This Instant Pot Beets Recipe (a.k.a. Pressure Cooker Beets) is one of the simplest and quickest ways to cook the whole beetroot which is full of health-boosting nutrients and perfect as a side dish, healthy snack, desserts, purees, smoothies, pickles, green juices, spiralized pasta, soups, and salads. It’s also gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, paleo, and whole food!

Beets... superfoods with an earthy and sweet flavor and versatile uses.

Either red or golden/yellow they come packed with nutrients and flavor and make my plate all year round, especially in springtime when they are harvested.

My favorite ways to eat them are pickled, juices that also incorporate carrots and oranges, and in cold salads.

What’s your favorite way to have them?

Reasons to Cook beets in the Instant Pot:

• They cook faster than roasting or baking.
• Because you can cook them whole in the Instant Pot, they keep nutrients and can improve your health: rich in antioxidants, essential vitamins, low in calories, high in iron, fiber, vitamin C, and contain no cholesterol.
• Beets cooked in the pressure cooker or Instant Pot are easy to peel. Just slide a pairing knife on and the peel comes off quickly.
• Versatile – use to make soups, salads, grain-free pasta/zoodles, juices, smoothies, and more.
• Easy to incorporate into your regular diet (fits gluten-free, grain-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, whole food diets)
• Energy-boosters -- because they are a source of beneficial carbohydrates

Pro Tip: you can also eat beets raw after washing, peeling, and slicing.

Choosing Beets

 

When buying beets in the grocery store look for the following:

1. Avoid beets with soft, moist spots and flabby skin.
2. Pickequal-sized ones so that they will cook evenly.
3. If the leaves are attached, they should be small, crisp, and dark green.

Peeling Beets

If you try to peel them raw, it will take more time than when they are first cooked and then peeled. Moreover, it will be quite messy – more than cooked beets because their juices run free and stain everything. If you prefer, wear disposable gloves and a large cutting board.

If the juices reach your counter, wipe them up with bleach in some water as soon as possible.

The best way to peel them easily and avoid a bigger mess is to cook beets in a pressure cooker. After cooking them, just run a pairing on their skin or rub their skin under cold water. It is easier than peeling pumpkin!

After peeling them, you can slice them to the size you want for your recipe.

Because beets vary in size, how long cooking beets for?

It will depend on their size and thickness. There’s no one-size-fits-all cooking time! The ideal is once cooked in the pressure cooker, they will have a soft yet firm texture, enough to be pricked easily by a fork. 

Here is Instant Pot Cooking Time Chart to guide you.

Beets Pressure Cooking Time Chart

Pressure Cooking Method: High Pressure (manual mode), then wait for 5 minutes and do a Quick Release

Beets Circumference/diameter:

• 5 inches:11 – 15 minutes
• 5.5 inches:14 – 18 minutes
• 6 inches:17 – 21 minutes
• 6.5 inches:18 – 23 minutes
• 7 inches:20 – 25 minutes
• 7.5 inches:24 – 28 minutes
• 8 inches:27 – 31 minutes
• 8.5 inches:30 – 34 minutes
• 9 inches:32 – 36 minutes

Although we pressure cook beets, they are the same as steaming beets. We just use a different gadget to steam them under pressure!

Take a look at our cooking charts for other veggies and also find out how a pressure cooker works.

How to remove beet stains?

I found the best way to avoid stains is to wear disposable gloves and use either a paring knife or paper tower to peel them.

But by just washing your hands and the used utensils with tap water right away after handling the beets remove the red coloring stains easily. The problem is when you let them sit too long.

If that is the case, use lemon juice or baking soda to remove their stains.

Is beetroot healthy?

Beetroot is a root vegetable also known as red beets, table beets, garden beets, or just beets. They can be consumed raw, cooked, or pickled… and their leaves, also known as beet greens, are edible.

They contain great health benefits as they are low in calories and fat, and are a great source of fiber, Vitamin C, potassium, manganese, iron, and folate, among others. They are not low carb because of their natural sugars, but they help to improve blood flow, low blood pressure, and increase exercise performance.

How to Cook Instant Pot Beets

1. Scrub beets well in order to remove excess soil from the peel (SEE PIC. 1).
2. Cut off the stems.
3. Pour water into the pot of your Instant Pot – Use 1 cup of water for a 6-qt and 1 ½ cups for an 8-qt. Instant Pot. 
4. Place steaming rack or trivet inside of the Instant Pot.
5. Place beets on steaming rack in one layer. Make sure to not pile them on top of each other (SEE PIC. 2).
6. Using Instant Pot manual mode or the steam button, set time manually for 15 minutes (or less or more depending on the size of your beets).
7. Lock the lid and turn the valve to the sealing position, cook beats for 15 minutes. Larger beets will need more time to cook.
8. Remove them from the Instant Pot using tongs (SEE PIC. 3).
9. Peel them by sliding a paring knife on the peel (SEE PIC. 4).
10. Remove ends and cut as desired (SEE PICS. 5 & 6).

What to Do with Pressure Cooker Beets

Cooked instant pot beets bring endless possibilities.

• You can slice them for snacking.
• Chop them for salads, smoothies, and juices.
• Spiralize them into noodles for a side dish.
• Use them for recipes such as this appetizer pickled beets and goat cheese tartlets.
• You can use them to color pasta

No matter what you decide to do with these instant pot beets, you will wind up with the perfect dish!

Storing beets

If fresh, store beets in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable crisper drawer of your fridge. They will keep for 1 to 3 months.

If cooked, keep them in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. Or freeze them in a freezer bag, removing as much air as possible, for up to 2 months. They make an easy freezer meal! 

Other Instant Pot Vegetable Recipes

• Instant Pot Brussels Sprouts
• Instant Pot Stuffed Acorn Squash
• Mushroom Curry
• Vegan Creamy Pumpkin Soup
• Panera Autumn Squash Soup
• Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe

PIN & ENJOY!

 

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