Category: Beets

I am a recent convert to cooking beets in a pressure cooker. For years I exclusively roasted beets or stewed or braised them.

I learned that cooking them in a pressure cooker or instant pot is so quick and the beets are tender and super easy to peel. The slight flavor boost you get from roasting is easily mitigated by dressing the beets in a beautiful dressing or sauce.

Beets in an Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker.

You’ll need some beets, scrubbed clean and roughly the same size. If not the same size cut them into similar sizes.  You’ll need a cup of water to add the to pot and if your pressure cooker or instant pot has a steam rack use that. If it doesn’t it’s fine. Just put the beets in the pot in the water.

Add a cup of water and the rack if using and the beets. If you have more beets add them, it won’t change the cooking time. I only had 4 medium sized beets.

Seal the pot and cook all beet sizes on high pressure
* Very small (1 1/2” to 1 3/4” diameter) – 15 min
* Small (2” diameter) – 20 min
* Medium (2 1/4” diameter) – 25 min
* Medium-Large (2 1/2” diameter) – 30 min

When the time is up I like to allow the pressure to release naturally. I have never had my beets over cook to be too soft from allowing for a natural pressure release. I have had to cook them more because I released the pressure after a few minutes off the stove and they were still firm. So, I like to do a natural release.

Here is a photo of them cooked. It’s hard to see ‘cooked’ lol.

Here they are peeled. You can see how the skin slid off and they almost look like peaches.

This is the big reason I like using the pressure cooker, it’s so easy and fast and the beets are done to perfection.

Your beets are ready for using or you can store them until you need them covered in the refrigerator for a week.

(Post updated on 9/23/2025)

I like to roast beets and keep them handy in the refrigerator so they are ready for quick meals. I throw into salads or sandwiches…

Or tacos

A local restaurant features beet tacos and this is my attempt at recreating them at home. The menu description says “Griddled cotija cheese, roasted beets, pickled onions, cilantro aioli.” I looked online at a couple of beet taco recipes and liked the idea of garbanzo beans in a taco with beets. I didn’t use a recipe (does anyone for tacos?) but I did use the idea of adding garbanzo beans. Here are some photos of how I made these tacos.

I had the beets roasted and I had corn tortillas, Cotija cheese is easy to find in most any grocery store and really makes this taco. You can use feta or halloumi cheese, or anything you have. But the Cotija is a little salty and holds it shape and gets toasty brown when you cook it.

It took me longer to photograph these tacos than to make them. Once you have the beets cooked there is almost nothing to this delicious taco meal.

I started with some onions and garbanzo beans in a skillet.

When they were brown I added some diced beets and the Cotija cheese and browned all of that.

That’s it. I made the tacos and topped them with what I had. I had some corn salsa and  crema Mexicana. Any salsa would do but the I would for sure use a tart spicy salsa.

This was so good. The sweetness of the beets and the salty browned cheese and tangy salsa and the earthy tortilla together were delicious, it tasted like a restaurant meal.

This isn’t a great photo and I couldn’t take any more because we ate them before I looked to see if I got a good picture. You’d think I would know better than that by now.

You should make these. And if you are taking photos don’t eat them all before you see if any of the photos are any good.

Have a great week. See you at pickup.

Mo

 

I had never heard of beet taztziki, I thought all taztziki was cucumber based. I was at a friends house this weekend and this beet taztziki was in the center of the pre-meal snack table. Look at that color! I love everything about this dish. It is beautiful, it can be a snack a salad, a side dish for any grilled meat or fish,  a filling for a wrap or pita, or a spread for a nice vegetable sandwich, AND it is so easy-fast-healthy.

My friend who made the taztziki at the party is a member of Isabelle Farm CSA and they send out recipes and this was included.

I adapted it just a little bit from the Isabelle Farm recipe.

Here is what you need;

Beet Taztziki

3 beets roasted or steamed. Use red or Chioggia for the pretty red/pink. You could use golden beets and have a lovely gold taztziki too. I wouldn’t mix them though.

2 garlic cloves crushed

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice from 1/2 a lemon and the zest of 1/2 the lemon

2 cups thick low-fat Greek style yogurt

Black pepper to taste

A splash of olive oil

2 or 3 tablespoon finely chopped dill

Grate the roasted beets on the large holes of a grater.

Smash the garlic with the the side of a chef knife and mix in the salt.

Add the lemon juice and zest, beets, dill, olive oil, and yogurt and stir.

Add back pepper to taste, and adjust salt and more dill of you like.

I served mine last night more as a salad. I used the red Romaine lettuce we got in our CSA share and made little boats out of the leaves. We just picked up the leaves and ate them like lettuce wraps, or tacos.

Tzatziki will last in the refrigerator for a week.

I am so grateful for Wyatt and all the Farm Crew, for their work and passion for growing and bringing us beautiful, delicious food.

Have a great week.

Mo

I got this recipe off of Whole Foods website.
I have made it twice. Once as written, then a second time I replaced the cooked beets with pickled beets like the ones I made here last week.
Both versions are delicious but the hummus made with pickled beets had a more interesting and more ‘beet’ flavor.

That’s it. Short post but worth a mention as it was easy, fast, tasty, and keeps for a long time.
Have a great week.

This recipe is a little more involved then I usually post but these burgers are so darned good I felt like I needed to share it with you.

We entertain a lot and at any given gathering about 1/2 the people here are vegetarian. Serving vegetarian burgers is somewhat unsatisfying to me. It feels like a cop-out, especially if I put any effort at all into the meat dish.

Until now. This is a deliciously interesting and satisfying burger.

I found the recipe here and pretty much follow amounts exactly. Most beet recipes want you to roast the beets. In the summer using the oven is off putting to me. In this recipe you grate the raw beets and then you saute them with the other ingredient, so this comes together pretty quickly.
Sometimes I use sunflower seeds instead of walnuts or I sub chipoltle powder for smoked paprika. The smokiness of one or the other of the spices is an important element of the burgers so don’t use plain paprika or omit it, you’ll be missing out.

The other tip I can give you in this recipe is to make sure you caramelize the onions. The char sweet taste of the onions with the smoked paprika bring a really satisfying element to this (and other vegetarian) dishes.

The recipe is pretty straightforward once you have all the ingredients assembled. You throw it all in the food processor and form patties. The author of the recipe says that she had trouble forming the patties and that the mix is crumbly. That has not been my experience, ever. The burgers hold together well, and aren’t dry or crumbly.
Here they are on the grill. When I grill them I wipe a little oil on the patties so they don’t stick, that is why they are kind of shiny.

Add a little cheese if you like.

And yum. Here you go.

This recipe is easily doubled or tripled. You can make these ahead and they freeze really well.
Leave a comment if you make these and let me know how you liked them.
Until next week.
Mo