Pickled Beets

The kind of pickled beets your grandmother kept in rows on the basement shelf. Two pounds of fresh beets, boiled until tender, slipped from their skins, and packed into jars with a sweet-spiced syrup that turns them jewel-toned and irresistible.

The syrup is equal parts sugar, water, and apple cider vinegar, spiked with cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and thin lemon slices. That warm spice combination gives these pickled beets their old-fashioned character. The vinegar tang hits first, then the sweetness, then a gentle warmth from the spices lingers.

Leaving an inch of stem on the beets during cooking is the key to keeping them from bleeding out all their color and sweetness into the cooking water. The skins slip right off under cold water once they’re tender.

Chef Tips

• Keep the stems and root tip intact while boiling. Trimming too close opens the beet and lets its deep magenta color leach into the water. You want that color in the beet, not in the pot.
• Shock in cold water immediately after draining. The skins slide off easily when you do this. Wait too long and they stick.
• Use rubber gloves when peeling unless you want pink-stained hands for the next two days. Beet juice is a natural dye that doesn’t wash off easily.
• Let the beets sit in the syrup at least 24 hours before eating. They’re edible immediately, but the flavor improves dramatically after a day of absorbing the spiced vinegar.

Variations

• Orange-ginger pickled beets: Replace the lemon with orange slices and add 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger to the syrup for a brighter, more modern take.
• Less sweet version: Reduce sugar to 1 cup and increase vinegar to 2½ cups for a tangier pickle that works well in salads.