Roasted Beet Fries ⋆ Easy Oven-Baked Red and Golden Beet Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Roasted Beet Fries ⋆ Easy Oven-Baked Red and Golden Beet Recipe? ›

No need to peel before or after baking. The skin, which is perfectly edible, just seems to disappear during the baking process.

No need to peel before or after baking. The skin, which is perfectly edible, just seems to disappear during the baking process.

Roast Them

Roasting is an overall healthy cooking method with minimal vitamin loss, particularly vitamin C. Roasted beets are rich and sweet with slight mineral flavors. Remember to avoid long cooking times and high temperatures, as these can reduce nutrients. Try using smaller bulbs if you want to prepare them faster.

Roasting beets gives them a sweeter, richer, and deeper flavor than boiling does. As a cook, I am inspired by colors, so I find beets particularly exciting to work with. My favorite way to cook beets is to roast them, which gives a sweeter, richer, and deeper flavor than boiling does.

Steaming in the oven rather than baking helps preserve more of the healthy vitamins and minerals in beets. This method also helps beets better retain their beautiful, vibrant color. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place prepped beets and 3 tablespoons to ¼ cup water in a shallow baking dish.

Steaming beets is a healthful cooking method because they retain most of their vitamins and minerals—they're not boiled out in water—and stay incredibly vibrant. Plus, steaming small beets or beet quarters is quick and easy for weeknights.

ROAST IN THE OVEN UNTIL TENDER

This will vary based on the size of each beet, but generally speaking, medium beets will take around 45 minutes to roast at 400F. You'll know the beets are almost done when you start to smell a deep, subtly-sweet, and borderline burned beet flavor.

Beetroot is low in carbohydrates and rich in fiber, which slows down the absorption of carbohydrates preventing spikes in the blood sugar levels.

It's true that beets do have more sugars than many other vegetables—about 8 grams in a serving of two small beets. But that's hardly the same as getting 8 grams of sugars from a cookie. "Beets are high in fiber, which traps the sugar and slows its absorption into the bloodstream," Linsenmeyer says.

Beets and beet juice are high in nitrates, substances that turn into nitric oxide inside your body. Your body naturally produces nitric oxide, which is crucial for blood vessel health. Nitric oxide relaxes and widens your arteries, allowing more blood to flow through and significantly lowering blood pressure.

What is the healthiest way to eat beets? ›

Eating beets raw or juicing and roasting them may be more beneficial than boiling them. Beetroots, commonly known as beets, are a vibrant and versatile type of vegetable. They're known for their earthy flavor and aroma. Many people call them a superfood because of their rich nutritional profile.

Roasting beets deepens their natural sugars while tempering bitterness. Bake whole, wrapped beets at 400°F for 60-75 minutes until easily pierced by a fork. Allow to cool before peeling and juicing. Incorporating roasted beets creates a smoother, mellower, almost nutty-flavored blended juice.

If you're really into beets, including one serving of beets or beet juice a day should be okay, unless you have one of the conditions previously mentioned. One serving is about 1 cup of beetroot or 8 oz. of juice.

Despite a difference in color, the two beets are essentially the same when it comes to nutritional value and both add plenty of essential vitamins and minerals to your diet.

In fact, whether you roast them, juice or grate them into a salad, there is no need to peel off the skin. When you roast your beets with the skin on it softens into the main fleshy part of the beetroot and you can barely even tell that it is there. Be sure to clean your beetroot before roasting.

Slow-roasting beets in a foil packet or covered baking dish takes away much of the earthy taste and intensifies the flavor, but you will still have a bit of bleeding and nutrient loss. Grilling beets over wood or charcoal will add a layer of smokiness.

While some people peel beets, they're kind of messy and to be honest, it's not necessary to do before cooking. Once cooked the skins just slide right off. If the beets are large, cut them in halves or quarters so they cook faster.

Every part of the beet—from the stem to the bulb—is edible. If you're using the whole beet, be sure to wash it well before cooking to get rid of any fertilizers or dirt. You can peel the beet before cooking or eat it with the skin on. Beets have a distinctive, earthy flavor.

Most people do peel beets, because the skin is a bit unattractive and can be dirty even after a good scrub. But beet skins are rich in nutrients and perfectly fine to eat too.

Like many vegetables, the longer you cook beets—especially in water—the more the colorful phytonutrients leach out of the food and into the water. Retain the good-for-you nutrients in beets by roasting them or sautéing them instead. Or lightly steam them for just a few minutes, suggests Doyle.