Instant Pot Beets are cooked in under a half hour and come out fork tender. You can eat them as is or add them to salads and smoothies. You will never want to cook beets any other way again.
If you enjoy beets you will love this easy recipe for Instant Pot Beets. One of my biggest complaints about beets is the time it takes to cook them. That’s when it occurred to me that I should try cooking them in my Instant Pot. After I tried this method once I was hooked.
While the beats cook I like to sautee the beet greens for an easy side dish for dinner and then once the beets are done I eat them as is or make my favorite beetroot and feta salad. However you like to enjoy beets–I’m confident that you will love this quicker method of cooking beets.
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Why this Recipe Works
Cook beets quickly and with ease thanks to the Instant Pot.
Rinse, chop tops off, set it in and let the Instant Pot cook for you!
Make a large batch of beets for salads, side dishes, and more.
Ingredients
- Beets – This is really the only thing you need for this recipe. You can use any color you would like.
- Water – A cup of water is all you need to cook the beets.
How to Cook Beets in the Instant Pot
First, wash and cut the tops off of the beets.
Place the beets on a wire rack inside the Instant Pot. Add a cup of water to the pot.
Place lid on Instant Pot. Set to the “STEAM” setting for 20 minutes. As soon as the beets are done cooking. Carefully force pressure out of the Instant Pot.
NOTE – You can do a natural pressure release if you happen to need to leave the house and run an errand or two. The beets will be completely fine if this is needed instead. With that being said. I would recommend you reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes (only steam for 15 minutes) since they will sit longer in the Instant Pot.
How to Peel Beets
Once you’ve cooked the whole beets in the Instant Pot, carefully remove the beets using tongs and place them into a bowl filled with ice water. Let the beets sit for 1 minute in the ice bath. This ice bath is necessary in order to be able to handle the beets for peeling. If you skip this step they will be too hot to hold.
Before you peel the beetroot make sure you put on food safe gloves. Carefully pick up a whole beet. Then, make a light slit using a pairing knife into the beet skin. Carefully, peel the skin off the beet. Repeat until all your beets have been peeled. Then, enjoy immediately or add to your favorite salad.
FAQs
I prefer to use the Instant Pot which is an electronic pressure cooker to quickly cook the beets. However, you can boil the beets for 30-40 minutes or roast them in the oven for an hour.
I have found that 20 minutes is all that is needed to cook about 6 average size beets. If you have beets on the smaller side you can reduce the cooking time to 15 minutes. Or if you have extra large beets you may need to add on an additional 5 minutes.
Yes, you should always wash all the dirt and grit off beets before cooking. Regardless of the cooking method you don’t want to cook dirt on your food.
Yes, you can drink the water from boiled beets as long as you’ve scrubbed them well before cooking. You can also add in a tablespoon of vinegar to the cooled water and dye eggs for Easter in the beet water. Beets are a great natural egg dye.
There is no reason to peel beets before cooking. Beets are hard to peel when they are in the raw form. I highly suggest waiting to peel them until after they have been cooked. See my notes above on how to easily peel beets.
Tips & Tricks
Here are all my tips and tricks when cooking beets in Instant Pot.
- Gloves – I highly recommend you wear food safe plastic gloves whenever you handle beets. From the cutting of the raw beets all the way to the peeling the skin off.
- Staining – Beets will instantly stain your hands and anything around it. Be extremely careful with your kitchen countertop so you don’t ruin it if it’s a lighter color.
- Peeling – I never peel beets before cooking. I always use the water bath method and peel while they are hot. They peel with ease and in seconds!
- Storing – You can store cooked beets in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Easy Beet Recipes
Not sure what to make with your steamed beets? Check out these delicious beet recipes.
If you make this pressure cooker beets recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a ⭐ star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Instant Pot Beets
Equipment
- 1 Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 6 Beets stems removed
- 1 cup Water
Instructions
- Wash and cut the tops off of the beets.
- Place the beets on a wire rack inside the Instant Pot. Add a cup of water to the pot.
- Place lid on Instant Pot. Set to the "STEAM" setting for 20 minutes. As soon as the beets are done cooking. Carefully force pressure out of the Instant Pot.
- Using tongs, carefully remove the beets to a bowl filled with ice water. Let the beets sit for 1 minute in the ice bath. Put gloves on and make a light slit into the beet and peel the skin off the beet. Enjoy immediately or add to your favorite salad.
Notes
- Gloves – I highly recommend you wear food safe plastic gloves whenever you handle beets. From the cutting of the raw beets all the way to the peeling the skin off.
- Staining – Beets will instantly stain your hands and anything around it. Be extremely careful with your kitchen countertop so you don’t ruin it if it’s a lighter color.
- Peeling – I never peel beets before cooking. I always use the water bath method and peel while they are hot. They peel with ease and in seconds!
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!